Pesachim 117a — the Talmud in English

Rav Hisda said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: “Halleluyah,” and “Kis-yah”

“For a hand is on the throne of Yah” at the end of the portion of Beshalah,

and “Yedidyah”

the word that the prophet Nathan called Solomon,

are one word

and it is not divided into two.

For “Halleluyah” in its entirety is an expression of praise, and not “Praise Yah.” Rather, it is the way of Scripture to end the word with the letters “Yah.”

And likewise “Kis-yah” is an expression of throne, and not “the throne of Yah.” And likewise “Yedidyah” is his name, and not “the beloved of Yah.”

The practical difference is that it must be written on one line, and it is permitted to erase all of it.

Rav said: “Kis-yah”

and “Merhavyah”

mentioned in Hallel, “From the straits I called Yah; He answered me with Merhavyah,” are

one word,

for “Merhavyah” is an expression of expansiveness, and not that Yah answered me in an expanse.

Rabba said: Only Merhavyah

is one word, whereas the others are two words.

They raised a dilemma before them: “Merhav Yah,” according to Rav Hisda, what is the ruling?

Is it one word or two?

The matter stands unresolved.

They raised a dilemma before them: “Yedidyah,” according to Rav, what is the ruling?

Does he come to add to Rav Hisda, that “Kis-yah” and “Merhavyah” too are one word, or does he disagree with him, that only “Kis-yah” and “Merhavyah,” but not “Yedidyah,” are one word?

Come and hear: For Rav said: “Yedidyah”

is divided into two.

Therefore,

“Yedid”

is

ordinary.

“Yah”

is

sacred.

They raised a dilemma before him: “Halleluyah,” according to Rav, what is the ruling?

Come and hear: For Rav said: I saw the scrolls of the house of Ḥaviva

I saw the scrolls of Psalms belonging to my uncle, Rabbi Ḥiyya,

in which it was written

“Hallelu”

on one side,

at the end of the line,

and “Yah”

on one side,

at the beginning of another line. And it is proven from this that they are two words.

And it disagrees

Rabbi Ḥiyya with

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is

“Halleluyah”?

Praise Him with many praises,

that is, it is one word.

And he disagrees with himself.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi himself says elsewhere the opposite.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The Book of Psalms was said with ten expressions of praise.

a.

With victory, “

For the leader.”

b.

With melody, “

For the leader, with melodies.”

c.

With insight, “

An insight of David.”

d.

With a psalm, “

A psalm of David.”

e.

With song, “

A psalm, a song.”

f.

With beatitude.

g.

With praise, “

A praise of David.”

h.

With prayer, “

A prayer for the poor man when he wraps himself.”

i.

With thanksgiving, “

Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good.”

j.

With Halleluyah.

Greater than all of them

is “Halleluyah,”

which includes the Name

of Yah

and praise at once.

Thus, Halleluyah is two words: “Praise Yah.”

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: The song in the Torah, “

Then Moses sang,”

Moses and Israel said it when they came up from the sea,

and this song had not existed before then.

And this Hallel

that we recite on New Moons and Festivals,

who said it?

The prophets among them instituted for Israel that they should recite it at every season,

at every Festival,

and at every trouble that should not come upon them

he formulated his language as praise; that is, the intention is that if trouble should come upon them,

and when they are redeemed

from that trouble,

they recite it over their redemption,

such as the Hallel of Hanukkah.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir used to say: All the praises stated in the Book of Psalms

Rashi’s version reads

all the prayers

and explains: all the psalms that begin with prayer, such as “A prayer for the poor man when he wraps himself”

all of them David said.

As it is stated: “The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.”

Do not read

“kallu,” but rather

“kol elu,”

the prayers of David son of Jesse.

This Hallel

in the Book of Psalms,

who said it?

Rabbi Yose says: Elazar my son says: Moses and Israel said it when they came up from the sea.

For it is written there, “When Israel went out from Egypt,” “The sea saw and fled,” and afterward David established the Hallel in his book.

And his colleagues disagree with him, saying that David said it.

And his words appear more plausible than theirs!

For is it not so that

possible

that

Israel slaughtered their Paschal offerings and took their lulavim

from the Exodus from Egypt until David

and did not recite song?

Surely every mitzva matter such as this requires Hallel! Rather, necessarily, the Hallel had already been instituted from the days of Moses.

Alternatively:

Is it possible that

Micah’s idol stood in Bochim

a place-name, in the days of David,

and Israel recited the Hallel

in which it is written, “Those who make them shall become like them”?

Rather, certainly Moses and Israel said it first at the sea, and afterward they never ceased reciting it.

The Sages taught: All the songs and praises that David said in the Book of Psalms,

Rabbi Eliezer says: He said them concerning himself,

for he prayed for himself.

Rabbi Yehoshua says:

that

he said them concerning the community,

for he prophesied about their exile and prayed for them.

And the Sages say: Some of them

he said

concerning the community, and some of them

he said

concerning himself,

Those stated in the singular are concerning himself.

Those stated in the plural are concerning the community.

“Victory” and “melody”:

Every place where it says, “For the leader, with melodies,”

he is speaking of the future.

Every place where it says

“insight,” through an interpreter

David said it, for he would speak and another person would interpret. For “insight” means that he whispers to the interpreter.

David said it, and another person explained it: “with understanding” means that he whispered it to the interpreter.

“A psalm of David”: This teaches that the Divine Presence rested upon him

first,

and afterward he said song.

“A song of David”: This teaches that he said

first

song, and afterward the Divine Presence rested upon him.

To teach you that the Divine Presence rests neither through idleness, nor through sadness, nor through laughter, nor through frivolity, nor through idle matters, but through a matter of joy involving a mitzva.

And this is also proven from another verse.

As it is stated:

“And now, bring me a musician.

And it was, when the musician played, that the hand of Yahweh came upon him.”

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: And likewise for a matter of halakha,

one must begin with a joyful matter.

Rav Naḥman said: And likewise for a good dream,

if one goes to sleep in a state of joy, he sees a good dream.

And we raise an objection to what Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav, that a matter of halakha must be studied מתוך שמחה של מצוה:

Is that so?

But Rav Giddel said in the name of Rav: Any Torah scholar who sits before his teacher and whose lips do not drip with gall

bitterness on account of fear,

they shall be burned!

As it is stated

in the Song of Songs:

“His lips are roses, dripping flowing myrrh.”

Do not read “shoshanim,” but rather “sheshanim,”

words of Torah.

Do not read

“flowing myrrh,” but rather

“bitter gall.”

Thus, one must study מתוך אימה, and not מתוך שמחה?

It is not difficult: This one is in the case of the teacher,

the teacher himself who studies must study through a joyful matter.

This one is in the case of the student,

the student must sit before his teacher in fear.

And if you wish, say: Both this and that are in the case of the teacher.

And it is not difficult: This one is before he begins,

before beginning to study, one must be in a state of joy.

And this one is after he begins,

after he begins and engages in Torah, he must sit in fear.

As with Rabba: Before he began teaching the Sages,

Torah,

he would say a humorous matter, and the Sages would be merry.

And afterward,

when he finished the humorous matter,

he would sit in fear and begin the discussion.

The Sages taught: This Hallel—who said it?

Rabbi Elazar says: Moses and Israel said it when they stood at the sea,

after they crossed the sea, as it is written, “The sea saw and fled.”

They said: “Not for our sake, Yahweh, not for our sake,”

for they prayed that Pharaoh and his army should not cross the sea after them.

The Divine Spirit responds and says to them: “For My sake, for My sake, I shall act.”

Rabbi Yehudah says:

also

Joshua and Israel said it when the kings of Canaan stood against them.

They said

“Not for our sake,”

and it responds, and so forth.

Rabbi Elazar Ha-Moda'i says: Deborah and Barak said it when Sisera stood against them.

They said

“Not for our sake,”

and the Divine Spirit responds and says to them

“For My sake, for My sake, I shall act.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says: Hezekiah and his company said it when Sennacherib stood against them.

They said

“Not for our sake,” and it responds, and so forth.

Rabbi Akiva says: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah said it when the wicked Nebuchadnezzar stood against them.

They said

“Not for our sake,” and it responds, and so forth.

Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: Mordecai and Esther said it when the wicked Haman stood against them.

They said

“Not for our sake,”

and it responds, and so forth.

And the Sages say: The prophets among them instituted for Israel that they should recite it at every season and at every trouble that should not come upon Israel, and when they are redeemed they recite it over their redemption.

Rav Hisda said:

Every

“Halleluyah”

in Psalms that is between one section and another

is the end of the section,

it is the end of the preceding section.

Rabba bar Rav Huna said: “Halleluyah”

is the beginning of the section,

it is the beginning of the following section.

The dispute is when there is only one Halleluyah between the two sections. But when there are two Halleluyahs, according to all opinions, one of them belongs to the preceding section, and the other belongs to the following section. Rashbam.

Rav Hisda said: I saw the scrolls

of the Book of Psalms

of the house of Rav Ḥanin bar Rav, in which it was written

“Halleluyah”

in the middle of the section,

between one section and another.

Apparently,

it is proven that

it was uncertain to him

to which section it belongs.

Rav Ḥanin bar Rava said: All agree concerning “A praise of Yahweh,

My mouth shall speak, and all flesh shall bless His holy Name forever and ever,”

Psalms 145, that

the Halleluyah after it

which follows it

is the beginning of the section,

of the section “Praise, my soul, Yahweh.”

And likewise all agree concerning

“The wicked shall see and be vexed; he shall gnash his teeth and melt; the desire of the wicked shall perish,”

there, chapter 112, that

the Halleluyah after it is the beginning of the section.

And

likewise all agree concerning

“Those who stand in the house of Yahweh,”

there, chapter 135,

the Halleluyah after it

is

the beginning of the section.

Those versed in Scripture,

“the masters of Scripture,”

add these as well: “He shall drink from the stream on the way; therefore he shall lift up his head,”

there, chapter 110, for

the Halleluyah after it

is

the beginning of the section.

And likewise

“The beginning of wisdom is fear of Yahweh; good understanding belongs to all who perform them,”

there, chapter 111,

the Halleluyah after it

is

the beginning of the section.

And the Gemara analyzes:

Shall we say that it is a dispute between tannaim

concerning every Halleluyah—did tannaim disagree about whether it is the beginning of a section or the end of a section?

For we learned in the Mishna:

Until where does he recite?

Beit Shammai say: Until

“The mother of children is joyful.”

And Beit Hillel say: Until

“The flint into a fountain of water.”

And it was taught in another beraita: Until where does he recite?

Beit Shammai say: Until

“When Israel went out from Egypt.”

And Beit Hillel say: Until

“Not for our sake, Yahweh, not for our sake.”