Pesachim 87b (פז:) — the Talmud in English

“Daughter

of Diblaim”

from the expression of two “slanderous reports”—

a bad report, the daughter of a bad report,

as Gomer’s mother resembled her.

And Shmuel said:

She was called Diblaim because

she was as sweet to everyone’s mouth as a dried fig

[a dried fig].

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because everyone trampled her, like a

piece of

dried fig.

Alternatively:

Why was she called

“Gomer”?

Rav Yehuda said:

Because

the nations sought

to

consume the wealth of Israel in her days.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

They did not merely seek to consume it; they succeeded, for

they plundered and consumed it, as it is stated:

[in II Kings 13] “For

the king of Aram destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled.”

The Gemara brings the continuation of the passage in Hosea, after he took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim:

[Verses 3–4]

“And she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him: Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I shall punish the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I shall bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.”

Verse 6

Verses 8–9: “And she weaned Lo-Ruhama.” “And she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.”

And He said to him: “Call her name

‘Lo-Ruhama,’

for I will no longer continue to have compassion on the House of Israel, for I will utterly bear them away.”

Verses 8–9: “And she weaned Lo-Ruhama.”

“And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And He said: ‘Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be yours.’”

And

after two sons and one daughter had been born to him, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hosea:

Did you really

not have the opportunity to learn from your master Moses?

For once I spoke with him, he separated from his wife! You too, separate yourself from her!

Hosea said

to the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Master of the universe! I have children by her, and I cannot send her away or divorce her!”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “And what of you, whose wife is a harlot, whose sons are children of harlotry, and you do not know whether they belong to others,

nevertheless

this

is what you say, that you cannot divorce her.

“Israel, who are My children, My tested children, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

and they are one

of the four acquisitions that I acquired for Myself in My world.

As an aside, the Gemara explains the four things that are important in the eyes of the Holy One, blessed be He, and are called “His acquisitions,” like a person who takes pains to acquire something precious to him:

A.

One acquisition is Torah, as it is written

in Proverbs 8, where the Torah says:

“The Lord acquired me

as the beginning of His way.”

B.

One acquisition is heaven and earth, as it is written:

in Genesis 14: “Acquirer of heaven and earth.”

C.

One acquisition is the Temple, as it is written:

in Psalms 78,

“This mountain His right hand acquired.”

D.

One acquisition is Israel, as it is written

in Exodus 15:

“This people

You acquired.”

The Gemara continues explaining the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, who reproached Hosea: Hosea should have said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “They are Your children, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they are one of Your four acquisitions,” but instead Hosea said that they should be exchanged for another nation.

“And you said

to Me:

‘Exchange them for another nation’?!”

Once he knew

Hosea

that he had sinned

by prosecuting Israel,

he began to seek mercy for himself.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “Before you seek mercy for yourself, seek mercy for Israel.”

For

“I decreed three decrees against them because of you”:

The Sages expounded that the Holy One, blessed be He, told Hosea to name his first son Jezreel, indicating that they would be scattered in exile [Tosafot]—that was one decree.

And he named his daughter Lo-Ruhama, and that was the second decree: He would not have compassion on Israel.

And he named his last son Lo-Ammi, the third decree: Israel would not be called the people of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Hosea arose

Hosea,

and sought mercy

for Israel,

and he annulled the decree. And he began to bless them.

As it is stated,

in Hosea 2:1, where Hosea prophesied:

“And the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea

which cannot be measured or numbered.”

“And it shall be that in the place where it is said to them

‘Lo-Ammi’

‘You are,’—

it shall be said to them: ‘Children of the living God.’”

There, verse 2,

“And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall gather together”

—thus the decree of exile was annulled.

There, verse 25,

“And I will sow her for Myself in the land, and I will have compassion on Lo-Ruhama”

—thus the decree of “Lo-Ruhama” was annulled.

There,

“And I will say to Lo-Ammi, ‘You are My people’”

—thus the decree of “Lo-Ammi” was annulled.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Woe to authority

[to dominion],

for it buries its holders.

For there is no prophet who did not bury

[literally, “bury”]

four kings during his lifetime.

That is, the prophet lived longer than four kings who were buried during his lifetime. For when kings become haughty through their authority, they die within a short period.

As it is stated

in Isaiah 1:

“The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem,

during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

Rabbi

Yohanan

said: Why did Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, merit being counted among the kings of Judah?

[This is explained below.]

Because he did not accept the evil report about Amos

as follows.

The Gemara explains:

“From where do we know that he was counted”

—from where do we know that Jeroboam son of Joash was counted among the kings of Judah?

As it is written

in Hosea 1:

“The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,

and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”

And from where do we know

[from where do we know]

that he did not accept the evil report?

As it is written

in Amos 7:10:

“And Amaziah the priest of Bethel

[a priest of idolatry]

sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying: ‘Amos has conspired against you

within the house of Israel; the land cannot contain all his words.’”

And it is written

there, verse 11:

“For so said Amos: ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword.’”

Jeroboam said

Jeroboam:

“God forbid,”

not

“that righteous man said this.

And if he did say it, what can I do to him?”

For

the Divine Presence told him so.

Rabbi Elazar said: Even when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry,

He

remembers compassion.

As it is stated

in Hosea 1:

“For I will no longer continue to have compassion on the House of Israel.”

The expression “I will have compassion” is mentioned within a prophecy of calamity.

Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Hanina said: From here

this matter is learned. As it is stated later in the verse, “For I will no longer continue to have compassion on the House of Israel—

‘for I will utterly bear them away.’”

Although the meaning of the verse is phrased as a question: “Shall I indeed bear them away [forgive them]?” nevertheless, since the expression “I will utterly bear them away” is mentioned here, an expression of forgiveness, the Sages expounded that the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers His compassion in the midst of His anger.

And Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would be added to them.

As it is stated:

in Hosea 2:25,

“And I will sow her for Myself in the land.”

Does a person

for what purpose

sow

in the ground

a se’a?

Rather,

in order

to bring in

from the produce that will grow from the seeds

several kor.

[A kor is thirty se’a.]

So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, sowed Israel among the nations so that they would increase in exile through converts being added to them.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: From here.

From here we learn that the Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel so that converts would be added to them:

As it is stated:

“And I will have compassion on Lo-Ruhama,

and I will say to Lo-Ammi, ‘You are My people.’” Those gentiles who are “not My people” will convert, and He will say to them, “You are My people,” so that they become part of the people of Israel.

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

in Proverbs 30:10,

“Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you bear guilt”?

And it is written:

there, verse 11,

“There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.”

The verse appears to give a reason: Do not slander a servant to his master, because there is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai wondered: Even

because there is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother,

therefore—

do not slander?!

What reason is this?

Rather,

this is the meaning of the verse:

Even

in

a generation

that is wicked,

whose father curses and whose mother does not bless—

do not slander

him,

a servant to his master.

From where do we know this

—from where do we know that this is so?

From Hosea.

He slandered Israel, saying, “Exchange them for another nation.” And although they had sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, punished him and said to him, “Take for yourself a wife of harlotry.”

Rabbi Oshaya said: What is the meaning of that which is written:

in Judges 5:11, “There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,”

“the righteous acts of His open places in Israel” —

the Holy One, blessed be He, acted righteously toward Israel

by

scattering them among the nations.

[“His open places” is an expression of dispersion], so that the nations would not be able to destroy them all together.

And this is

how we learned Rabbi Oshaya’s words, from an incident that occurred:

for a certain sectarian

a gentile

said to Rabbi Hanina: “We

are superior to you.”

We are better than you, the Jews:

For

it is written concerning you,

it is said about you, in I Kings 11: “And it was when David was with Edom, when Joab, the commander of the army, went up to bury the slain, and he struck every male in Edom.

For six months he remained there

[in Edom], Joab and all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom.”

Whereas we,

we are better than you, for

you are with us

you are in exile among us

for many years

[many years],

and we do nothing to you,

we do not harm you.

Rabbi Hanina said to him:

If

you wish, let one student deal with you!

One student has it in him to give you an answer.

Rabbi Oshaya came forward to deal with him

to answer him.

Rabbi Oshaya said to him:

The reason you do not kill us is

because you do not know how to deal with us.

You do not know how to destroy us.

For if

you were to destroy all of us,

if you were to destroy all the Jews—

they are not all with you!

They are not all located among you.

And if you were to destroy only

whatever is with you,

the Jews who are located among you, in your kingdom alone, then

you would be called

“a severed kingdom,”

you would be called “a severed kingdom” [for if you killed us, you would rule over only a small people].

The sectarian said to him,

the gentile: I swear by

the Roman deity

[which is a designation for their idolatry] that indeed

with this we descend,

we constantly approach this thought of how to destroy you,

and with this we ascend,

and with this thought we also leave.

That is, we are constantly occupied with this thought.

Rabbi Hiyya taught: What is the meaning of that which is written

what is the meaning of the verse in Job 28:23:

“God understands its way, and He knows its place”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, knows

recognizes

Israel,

that they cannot withstand cruel decrees

of

Edom.

Therefore He exiled them to Babylonia,

for the Babylonians are not as cruel as the other nations.

And Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel to Babylonia only because it is as deep as Sheol,

and He would redeem them from there quickly, as He had promised them.

As it is stated

in Hosea 13:

“From the hand of Sheol I will redeem them; from death I will redeem them.”

Rabbi Hanina said: Because their language

the language of the Babylonians

is close to the language of Torah

[it resembles the language of Torah], and therefore Torah would not quickly be forgotten by them.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Because He sent them back to their mother’s house,

to the house of their forefather Abraham, who left Ur of the Chaldeans in Babylonia.

This is analogous to a man who became angry with his wife.

Where does he send her?

To her mother’s house!

And this is

a similar expression to the words

of Rabbi Alexandri.

For he said: Three returned to their place of planting

—three returned to the place where they had been planted.

These are they: Israel, the silver of Egypt, and the writing of the Tablets.

Israel

—this is what we said,

that they returned to Babylonia, where their forefather Abraham had grown up.

The silver of Egypt

—the silver that Israel plundered when they left Egypt. And in the days of Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, went up and took all the treasuries.

As it is written

in I Kings 14:

“And it was in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak, king of Egypt, went up against Jerusalem.

And he took the treasuries of the House of the Lord, and the treasuries of the king’s palace; he took everything.”

The writing of the Tablets—

as it is written

in Deuteronomy 9: “And I grasped the two Tablets and cast them from my two hands,

and I broke them before your eyes.”

The verse changed its wording and did not say, “And I broke them before you,” but rather, “before your eyes.” This implies that it was a wondrous event, something at which the eye turns to gaze. Therefore they expounded in the beraita:

The tanna taught: The Tablets were broken, but the letters flew away

in the air. It follows that the letters flew through the air and rose to the heavens, the place from which they had been given.