Sanhedrin 104a — the Talmud in English

And now the Gemara explains the matter:

that the meal

drives away those who are near—

we learn this from

Ammon and Moab.

For they were near to Israel, since they came from Lot, the son of Abraham’s brother, and now they became distant, because they did not bring bread and water out to Israel.

And brings close those who are distant—

we learn this

from Jethro. For Rabbi Yohanan said: As a reward

for Jethro’s saying to his daughters:

“Call him

[Moses]

and let him eat bread,” his grandsons merited and sat 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; these were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.”

And “Kenites”—they are descended from Jethro, as

it is written there: “And the sons of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, 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 by the name “Kenite.”

And Jethro’s sons—they are the sons of Rechab, as it is written in the earlier 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: Thus says the Lord, and so on. Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and so on: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack 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 Sifre says that this cannot be so, that gentiles entered the Sanctuary, for not even all Israel entered the Sanctuary! Rather, the meaning is that they sat in the Sanhedrin and instructed in words of Torah.

And turns a blind eye to the wicked—

we learn this

from Micah.

For although he was wicked, since his food was available to wayfarers, the Holy One, blessed be He, allowed him to remain.

And causes the Divine Presence to rest upon the prophets of the Baal

[who prophesied falsely]—we learn this

from the companion of the prophet Iddo. For it is written: “And it came to pass, while 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 the Book of Kings I, 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 to him. And he gave him a sign: that the altar would be split and the ashes upon it would be poured out. And indeed this happened. Then Jeroboam wished to feed him and give him a gift, but the prophet refused, because the Lord had commanded him not to return to Bethel and not to eat or drink.

And the false prophet came, misled Iddo, brought him back to Bethel, fed him, and caused him to transgress the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Nevertheless, although he was a false prophet, by virtue of having 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 transgression—

from where?

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

[had]

Jonathan lent David two loaves

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

the Edomite would not have been driven away, and Saul and his three sons would not have been killed .

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

And for what reason did they not count Ahaz

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

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

For his father was Jotham, and his son was Hezekiah, and both of them were righteous.

Rav Yosef said:

The reason they did not count Ahaz is

because he was ashamed 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, at the highway of the fuller’s field.”

What is the meaning of “fuller’s”?

Some say:

“Fuller’s” is like “one who conquers.” And this is

that he conquered his face—

and passed by

[Ahaz covered his face—and passed by, because he was ashamed before Isaiah].

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

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

For what reason did they not count Amon

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

Because of the honor of Josiah.

For he was Amon’s son, and he was righteous.

And we object: If so,

Manasseh also should not be counted

[not counted],

because of the honor of Hezekiah

his father, who was righteous!

And we say:

A son—

makes merit for his father

[the son makes merit for his father], but

a father—

does not make merit for his son

[the father does not make merit for his son] .

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

and this is how we expound this verse:

There is none

that Abraham can deliver Ishmael

his son , and

there is none that Isaac can deliver Esau

his son.

And we say:

Now that you have arrived at this

[now that you have arrived at this], that a son makes merit for his father, it is possible to say that

Ahaz also,

for what reason

was he not counted—

because of the honor of Hezekiah

his son. [And not for the reason stated above, because he was ashamed before Isaiah].

And for what reason did they not count Jehoiakim?

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

That is, one act of vengeance had already been done to this skull, in that it was not buried. And another act of vengeance would be done to it in the future.

And what was the vengeance that was done to it afterward?

For this was the incident:

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 yet another.”

He buried it

in the earth—

but it was not buried.

For it came out to the outside.

He buried it

again—

but it was not buried .

The elder said

in his heart: Surely

it is Jehoiakim’s skull, for it is written concerning him:

“Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, and so on: He shall not be mourned, and so on;

with the burial of a donkey shall he be buried, dragged and cast away, and so on.”

Again,

he said

in his heart: After all, it is the skull of

a king, and it is not proper to disgrace it

[and it is not proper to treat it contemptuously].

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

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

and thought

[she thought]:

This,

this skull,

is of his first wife

indeed

[it is that of my husband’s first wife],

for he does not forget her

[for he does not forget her. Surely, because of this skull, which he sees constantly, he does not forget 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 yet another.”

For besides the fact that it was not buried, another act of vengeance was done to it—and it was burned.

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

Hezekiah praised himself and said:

“And the good in Your eyes I have done”—

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

“What is the sign

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

Because of “What is the sign,”

because he asked for a sign from the Lord—this caused

gentiles to eat at his table

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

And

because gentiles ate at his table—

it caused exile for his sons .

This supports Hezekiah’s statement. For Hezekiah said: Whoever invites an idol-worshipper into his house and serves him—

causes exile for his sons.

For

Hezekiah did so: he invited those gentiles into his house, and his wife gave them drink, as is brought below. And

it was stated

to him in prophecy:

“And from your sons who will issue from you, whom you will 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 would be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon [they were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, as brought above].

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

“And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and showed them his treasure-house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, and so on.”

Rav said: What is the meaning of “his treasure-house”?

His wife gave them drink

["treasure-house" is from the language of deduction. That is, the woman, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, created from the rib that was deducted and diminished from man] .

And Shmuel said: He showed them his treasury.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Weapon eats weapon

[iron that rules over other iron, which is an important thing]

he showed them .

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

“How she sits solitary.”

Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: For what reason were Israel smitten with “How”?

Because they transgressed thirty-six sins punishable by excision that

were stated

in the Torah

["How" has the numerical value of thirty-six].

Rabbi Yohanan said: For what reason were they smitten

Israel

in the alphabetic order

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

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

“She sits solitary.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: 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; moreover, His heavens shall drop down dew,”

that is, although Israel dwelt alone, they would not fear gentiles or harmful animals.

Now,

since they transgressed the Torah,

their dwelling shall be solitary .

“The city that was great among the nations.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: For wherever they went, they would marry off a minor girl to an older man, and an older girl to a younger man

688, so that they would have many children .

Because the seminal fluid 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 girl does not receive as quickly as that of an older girl. Therefore, they would marry off an older girl to a younger man, so that when his seed became fully developed, it would be received quickly. And likewise they would marry off a younger girl to an older man, so that his seminal fluid would be received quickly, since the womb of an older girl receives more quickly. But they would not marry off a younger girl to a younger man, because they would be delayed in having children .

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

It is written

“like a widow,”

for Israel resembles 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, with the intention of returning to her .

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

“Great among the nations, a princess among the provinces.” Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Wherever they go—

they become officials to their masters.

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