Sanhedrin 104a (קד.) — the Talmud in English

The Gemara now explains these matters:

that the meal

distances those who are close -

are learned from

Ammon and Moab.

They were close to Israel, for they descended from Lot, the son of Abraham’s brother, but they subsequently became distant because they did not bring bread and water to Israel.

and brings close those who are distant -

this is learned

from Jethro. As Rabbi Yoḥanan said: In the merit

of Jethro’s saying to his daughters:

“Call him [

Moses]

and let him eat bread,” his grandsons merited sitting in the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

As it is stated: “And the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites; they are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.”

And “Kenites” means that they were descendants of Jethro,

as it is written there: “And the sons of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the children of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and he went and settled with the people.”

Thus Jethro was called “the Kenite.”

And Jethro’s sons were the sons of Rechab, as it is written in the aforementioned verse: “The Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.”

And it is written in the Book of Jeremiah: “And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: So said the Lord, etc. Because you have obeyed the command of Jehonadab your father, etc., therefore there shall not be cut off from Jehonadab the son of Rechab a man standing before Me all the days.” The plain meaning of the verse “standing before Me” is that he stands in the Temple.

And the Sifrei says that this is impossible, since gentiles did not enter the Sanctuary, for not even all Israelites entered the Sanctuary! Rather, the meaning is that they sat in the Sanhedrin and taught words of Torah.

and averts His eyes from the wicked -

this is learned

from Micah.

Although he was wicked, since his food was available to wayfarers, the Holy One, blessed be He, spared him.

and causes the Divine Presence to rest upon the prophets of the Baal [

who prophesied falsely] - this is learned

from the colleague of the prophet Iddo. As it is written: “And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.”

And this was the incident [brought in I Kings, chapter 13]: Iddo, who was a true prophet, came to Bethel, to the altar upon which Jeroboam had sacrificed for idolatry, and prophesied a harsh prophecy against him. He gave him a sign: the altar would split and the ashes upon it would be poured out. And so it happened. Jeroboam then wished to feed him and give him a gift, but the prophet refused, because God had commanded him not to return to Bethel and not to eat or drink.

A false prophet came and misled Iddo, bringing him back to Bethel, feeding him, and causing him to transgress the commandment of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Nevertheless, although he was a false prophet, because he fed Iddo, the Divine Presence rested upon him. As it is stated: “And the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.”

and your inadvertent error becomes willful sin -

From where is this derived?

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Had it not been that [

if]

Jonathan lent David two loaves

of bread, Nob, the city of the priests, would not have been destroyed, and Doeg

the Edomite would not have been banished, nor would Saul and his three sons have been killed.

For when David fled from Saul, after parting from Jonathan, he had no food. He asked the priests of Nob, and they gave him food. Doeg the Edomite informed Saul that they had given food to his enemy David. Saul became angry with them, thinking that they knew David was fleeing from him and nevertheless fed him, and he ordered Doeg to kill them. Because of this, Doeg was banished from the World to Come. And because of this sin, Saul and his three sons were killed in battle.

And why did they not count Ahaz

among those who have no share in the World to Come?

Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said: Because he was situated between two righteous men, between Jotham and Hezekiah.

His father was Jotham and his son was Hezekiah, and both were righteous.

Rav Yosef said:

The reason they did not count Ahaz was

because he was embarrassed before Isaiah. As it is stated: “And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field.”

What is the meaning of “fuller”?

Some say:

“Fuller” means one who overcomes. That is,

he covered his face -

and passed by [

Ahaz covered his face and passed by because he was embarrassed before Isaiah].

And some say: He placed a fuller’s perforated vessel over his head and passed by [

Ahaz placed on his head a perforated vessel used by fullers, with which they sprinkled water on garments. He did this so that Isaiah would not recognize him, because he was embarrassed before him].

Why did they not count Amon

among those who have no share in the World to Come?

Because of the honor of Josiah.

He was Amon’s son and was righteous.

And we raise an objection: If so, they should likewise not count

Manasseh [

he should not be counted],

because of the honor of Hezekiah

his father, who was righteous!

And we answer:

A son

brings merit to his father [

the son brings merit to his father], but

a father

does not bring merit to his son [

the father does not bring merit to his son] .

As it is written: “And there is none who can deliver from My hand,”

and we expound this verse as follows:

Abraham

does not save Ishmael

his son, and

Isaac does not save Esau

his son.

And we say:

Now that you have arrived at this [

now that you have reached this conclusion], that a son brings merit to his father, it is possible to say that

Ahaz too,

for what reason

was he not counted -

because of the honor of Hezekiah

his son. [And not for the reason stated above, namely, that he was embarrassed before Isaiah].

And why did they not count Jehoiakim?

Because of the statement of Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba’s son. For Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba’s son said: Written on the skull of Jehoiakim was: “This and another.”

That is, one act of vengeance had already been carried out upon this skull, in that it was not buried; and another act of vengeance would be carried out upon it in the future.

And what was the vengeance that was subsequently carried out upon it?

This is what happened:

Rabbi Perida’s elder found a skull that was lying at the gates of Jerusalem [

he found a skull that was lying at the gates of Jerusalem],

and written upon it was: “This and another.”

He buried it

in the ground -

but it was not buried.

It emerged outside.

He buried it

again -

but it was not buried.

The elder

said to himself: Surely

it is Jehoiakim’s skull, for it is written concerning him: “Therefore, so said the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, etc.: He shall not be mourned, etc.”

“The burial of a donkey shall he be buried; dragged and cast away, etc.”

”

Again

he said

to himself: In the end, this is the skull of

a king, and it is not proper to treat it disrespectfully [

and it is not proper to show it disrespect].

He wrapped it in silk and placed it in a chest [

he wrapped the skull in a garment and placed it in a chest].

His wife saw it [

the elder’s wife saw the skull lying in the chest],

and thought [

she thought]:

This

skull,

must be from his first wife

indeed [

it belongs to my husband’s first wife],

for he surely has not forgotten her [

for he does not forget her; surely it is because of this skull, which he sees all the time, that he has not forgotten her].

She heated the oven -

and burned it [

she heated the oven and burned the skull in it].

This is what is written: “This and another.”

For in addition to the fact that it was not buried, another act of vengeance was carried out upon it—it was burned.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Because

Hezekiah praised himself and said:

“And I have done what is good in Your eyes” -

this caused him to ask for a sign from God, and he said:

“What is the sign

that I shall go up to the House of the Lord?” For one transgression leads to another.

Because of “What is the sign,”

when he asked for a sign from God, this caused

gentiles to eat at his table [

namely, those gentiles whom Merodach-baladan sent to him bearing letters and a gift].

And

because gentiles ate at his table -

this caused his sons to go into exile.

This supports Hezekiah’s statement. For Hezekiah said: Whoever invites an idolater into his home and attends to him -

causes his sons to go into exile.

For

this is what Hezekiah did: he invited those gentiles into his home, and his wife served them drinks, as will be related below. And

it was said

to him prophetically:

“And of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, they shall take; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

That is, his descendants would go into exile and be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon [they were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, as stated above].

It is written concerning that incident, when the messengers of Merodach-baladan came to him:

“And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and showed them his treasury, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, etc.”

Rav said: What is the meaning of “his treasury”?

His wife served them drinks [

“his treasury” is related to the expression of deduction. That is, it refers to the woman whom the Holy One, blessed be He, created from the rib that was deducted and removed from man].

And Shmuel said: He showed them his treasure-house.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Iron consumes iron” [

iron that prevails over other iron, which is something valuable]

he showed them.

It is written at the beginning of the Scroll of Lamentations:

“How does she sit alone.”

Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Why were Israel punished with “How”?

Because they transgressed the thirty-six sins punishable by karet that

were stated

in the Torah [

the numerical value of “how” is thirty-six].

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why were

Israel

punished in alphabetical order [

the entire Scroll of Lamentations is arranged according to the order of the alphabet]?

Because they transgressed the Torah, which was given in alphabetical order.

“She sits alone.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I said, “Israel shall dwell securely alone, the fountain of Jacob, in a land of grain and wine; even His heavens shall drop dew,”

meaning that although Israel would dwell alone, they would not fear gentiles or wild animals.

Now,

because they transgressed the Torah,

their dwelling will be alone.

“The city that was great among the nations.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: They would marry off a minor woman to an older man, and an older woman to a minor man

688, so that they would have many children.

Because the semen of a young man is not fully developed, and he does not impregnate as quickly as an older man. Likewise, the womb of a young woman does not conceive as quickly as that of an older woman. Therefore, they would marry an older woman to a young man, so that once his semen became fully developed, she would conceive quickly. And they would also marry a young woman to an older man, so that his semen would be readily received, since an older woman’s womb conceives more quickly. But they would not marry a young woman to a young man, because they would be delayed in having children.

“She was like a widow.” Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

It is written

“like a widow,”

for Israel is compared to a widow, but

not an actual widow,

whose husband has died and will not return.

Rather,

she is

like a woman whose husband has gone to an overseas country, and intends to return to her.

For at present she is like a widow, but in the end her husband will return as before. So too, we are now like a widow, but in the end the Holy One, blessed be He, will come and redeem us.

“She was great among the nations, a princess among the provinces.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Wherever they go -

they become princes to their masters.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving two men who were captured on Mount Carmel, and their captor was walking behind them.