Megillah 3a (ג.) — the Talmud in English

The letters

mem and samekh in the Tablets

(exact page location) -

stood miraculously .

.

For they were surrounded by air on all sides, and had no point of attachment to the Tablets. We see, then, that the final mem already existed at the time the Torah was given!?

We answer:

Yes,

indeed,

the letters

of Mantzepakh existed in both open and closed forms

from the very beginning

already from the giving of the Torah.

But they did not know

which

of them was used

in the middle of a word, and which

at the end of a word.

.

Then the seers came and established

that the

open forms

are used in the middle of a word, and the closed forms

at the end of a word.

We object:

Ultimately,

we derive

“These are the mitzvot” \-

that no prophet will ever introduce anything new from this point onward!

So how could the seers establish which form was to be used in the middle and which at the end?

Rather,

in fact they originally knew which was for the middle of a word and which for the end, but

they forgot them.

.

And

the seers

returned and reestablished them. .

.

And

furthermore

Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba: The Aramaic translation of the Torah

was stated by Onkelos the Convert, ,

as he heard it

from Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua.

The Aramaic translation of the Prophets

was stated by Jonathan ben Uzziel, from the mouth of

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

And

when Jonathan ben Uzziel stated it,

the Land of Israel was shaken over an area of four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs .

.

A Divine voice emerged and said: Who is this who has revealed My secrets to human beings?!

Jonathan ben Uzziel stood on his feet and said: I am the one who revealed Your secrets to human beings! It is manifest and known before You that I did not do this for my own honor, nor for the honor of my father’s house; rather, I did it for Your honor, so that controversy would not increase in Israel

over how to interpret the obscure verses.

Jonathan ben Uzziel further sought

to

reveal the translation of the Writings.

A Divine voice emerged and said to him: That is enough for you!

Why

did it say this to him?

Because it contains

in the book of Daniel

the end of the Messiah.

We ask:

But was the translation of the Torah stated by Onkelos the Convert? And

was there not already a translation of the Torah in the days of Ezra? For

Rav Ika bar Avin said that Rav Hananel said that Rav said: What

is this

that is written

in Nehemiah 8:1–9: “And they said to Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Torah of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel, etc., and the Levites gave the people understanding of the Torah, etc. And they read in the scroll, in the Torah of God, distinctly, giving the sense, and they understood the reading”?

?

What is this

that is written: “And they read in the scroll, in the Torah of God”

? This is Scripture,

namely, the Hebrew language of the Torah.

“Distinctly”

—this is the translation

of the Torah, since the translation explains the Torah.

“Giving the sense”

—these are the divisions of the verses,

that is, how they are divided. They are called “giving the sense” because through the division a person understands the Scripture [Ran, tractate Nedarim 37b].

“And they understood the reading”

—these are the cantillation marks,

namely, the melodies that divide the meaning through the melody.

And some say

these are the Masoretic traditions,

namely, the deficient and plene spellings in the Torah that were transmitted through tradition [ Tosafot, tractate Nedarim, there].

We see that there was already a translation before Onkelos; so how can we say that he stated it?!

We answer: In fact, there had already been a translation of the Torah, but

they forgot it, and

Onkelos

returned and reestablished it.

We inquire:

What is different

about the translation

of the Torah

that the Land of Israel was not shaken,

and

the

translation

of the Prophets \-

was shaken?

We explain: Because

the Torah

has the matter already explained

in the

text

of Scripture, and no secrets were revealed through the translation. This is not so with regard to

the Prophets,

for

there are matters that are explained

in the text of Scripture,

and there are matters that are only hinted at

in Scripture—and were revealed through the translation.

An example of this is

that which is written: “On that day the mourning will be great

for the Messiah son of Joseph, who will be killed in the future, Metzudat David

in Jerusalem, like the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”

And Rav Yosef said

:

Were it not for the translation of this verse, I would not know what the verse is saying

. For nowhere in Scripture do we find that there was mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo!

The translation explained that this verse refers to two eulogies, and this is its meaning:

On that day,

when the Messiah son of Joseph will be killed,

the mourning will increase

[increase]

in Jerusalem, like the mourning for Ahab son of Omri

king of Israel,

whom Hadad-rimmon

son of Tabrimmon

killed at Ramot-gilead, and like the mourning for Josiah son of Amon

king of Judah,

whom Pharaoh Neco

[who was lame]

killed in the plain of

Megiddo ,

,

and Jeremiah lamented over him before all Israel.

And since we stated above that the book of Daniel contains the end of the Messiah, we cite the following verse to say that although Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who lived in Daniel’s generation, were superior to him in that they were prophets, nevertheless he was also superior to them: He saw the vision, as stated below, and he also knew the end

[Maharsha].

It is written: “And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen, etc.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide

[to a place of concealment].”

Who were

those

men

who were with Daniel?

Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba: They were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi .

?

Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba: They were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi .

They

—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—

were superior to him

[to Daniel],

and he

was superior to them.

They were superior to him because they were prophets,

for they prophesied to Israel as emissaries of the Omnipresent,

whereas he was not a prophet,

since he was not sent to Israel with any prophecy. But the Divine Spirit rested upon him, and he knew everything [Tosafot of the Rosh].

But

he

was superior to them because he saw

that vision, whereas

they

did not see it.

We ask:

But since

they

did not see it, why were they frightened,

as it is written: “Nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them”?

We answer:

Although they themselves

did not

see it, their celestial appointed angels

[their angelic overseers above]

saw it,

and therefore they were frightened.

Ravina said: Learn from this that when a person is frightened

and does not know what he fears,

although he himself does not see

anything,

his celestial appointed angel sees it,

and therefore he is frightened.

What is his remedy,

what should he do so that he will not be harmed?

He should recite the Shema!

And if he is standing in a place of filth,

where he cannot recite the Shema,

he should leap

[jump]

four cubits from his place

[cubits], for changing one’s place changes one’s fortune.

And if not,

if he cannot jump away from there,

let him say the following: “The goat of the slaughterhouse is fatter than I!” [Rashi explains in Sanhedrin [94a] that this is an incantation. That is, “Go to the goats and leave me alone.” See there, where the version of the Gemara differs from the version before us].

[Rashi explains in Sanhedrin [94a] that this is an incantation, meaning: Go to the goats and leave me alone. See there, where the Gemara’s version differs from the version before us].

And now we return to what was stated above, where we expounded the verse: "And these days are remembered and observed in every generation, every family, every province, and every city".

And now that you have said

that the verse

"every province and every city" —

comes for an exposition,

what is the purpose of that which is written:

"every family" —

what does it come for ?

Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: To include the families of the kohanim and Levites, who suspend their service

in the Temple

and come to hear the reading of the Megilla.

As Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: The kohanim in their service ,

the Levites on their platform

who would sing on the platform,

and the Israelites at their watches

who would stand over the communal offerings at the time they were sacrificed, as we learned in tractate Ta'anit, page 26a; see there,

all suspend their service and come to hear the reading of the Megilla .

It was taught likewise in a beraita: The kohanim in their service, the Levites on their platform, and the Israelites at their watches—all suspend their service —

and come to hear the reading of the Megilla.

From here —

the members of the house of Rabbi derived that they

were

suspending Torah study ,

and coming

to hear the reading of the Megilla .

For they derived

a kal va-chomer from the service: If the service, which is more stringent

than Torah study,

we suspend it

because of the reading of the Megilla,

then Torah study —

all the more so

that they suspend it!?

And we object:

But

if

the service is more stringent

than

Torah study?

For is it not written: “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho

in battle,

that he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a man stood opposite him, etc.”

And behold, a man stood opposite him, with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went toward him and said to him: “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” And he said: “No, but I am the captain of the army of Hashem; I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground

and prostrated himself.”

But we do not allow the questioner to finish presenting the objection, and we ask:

How did

Joshua

do this,

in prostrating himself before that man,

when Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is forbidden for a person to offer a greeting

to his fellow at night ,

because

we are concerned that perhaps he is a demon ?!

And we answer:

It is different there, for he said to him

that man:

“For I am the captain of the army of Hashem.”

And we object:

Perhaps they were lying,

and how did he know that he was truly the captain of the army of Hashem?

And we answer:

It is an established tradition that demons do not utter

the divine Name

lightly.

And now we return to the objection stated above.

It is written there that Joshua asked him: “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” And the angel replied: “I am the captain of the army of Hashem; I have now come.” And we expound the angel’s reply as accusing them of two matters.

And so

the angel said to him

the angel:

“Last night,

when evening fell, you remained in ambush outside the city, and therefore

you suspended the evening daily offering.”

You should have offered it, since there is no time for battle at night .

And now —

at night,

you suspended Torah study,

since there is no fighting at night, and you should have occupied yourselves with Torah study!

Joshua said to him

Joshua:

“For which of them ,

these two transgressions,

have you come ?”

He said to him:

For that of

“I have now come,”

for the transgression of the present time, namely, the suspension of Torah study .

Immediately

Joshua withdrew, and when another night came during the siege [of Ai], he engaged in Torah study. As it is written:

“And Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the valley”

see Tosafot, who wrote that the verse is not written exactly this way,