Sanhedrin 106b — the Talmud in English

It is written further in the same verse:

“The Children of Israel killed him by the sword among their slain.”

It follows that they inflicted many deaths upon him .

Rav said: They fulfilled upon him

Israel

the four deaths: stoning, burning, killing, and strangulation .

And this is what they did: They hanged him, and ignited a fire beneath the crucifixion. Then they cut off his head, and it fell into the fire .

And through this, the four deaths were fulfilled upon him: strangulation—through the hanging; killing—for they cut off his head; stoning—for he fell to the ground; burning—for he fell into the fire and was burned.

That certain heretic said to Rabbi Hanina: Have you heard how old Balaam was

when he was killed?

He said to him: It is not written

explicitly.

Rather,

this matter can be learned

from what is written: “Men of blood and deceit shall not halve their days,”

meaning that those men do not pass the midpoint of their days , and a person’s lifespan is seventy years; thus Balaam was

thirty-three years old, or thirty-four years old

—thirty-three or thirty-four years old, for he did not reach thirty-five years, which is half his lifespan .

That heretic said

to him:

You have spoken well

—you have said a correct matter

! I myself saw Balaam’s notebook

—I saw Balaam’s notebook—

and it was written in it: “Balaam the lame was thirty-three years old when Pinhas the brigand killed him”

—Balaam was thirty-three years old, the lame one, when Pinhas killed him the army commander.

Mar, the son of Ravina, said to his son: With regard to all of them,

all those kings and commoners whom we learned have no share in the World to Come,

do not engage extensively in exposition

—do not expound much concerning them.

Except for the wicked Balaam, for whatever you find in him—

expound it

—apart from the wicked Balaam; whatever you find to expound about him for disgrace, expound it about him.

It is written, “Doeg

the Edomite,”

and

afterward

it is written

concerning that man the name

“Doeg.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: At first, the Holy One, blessed be He, sat with Doeg, wondering whether this one might turn to evil conduct .

Therefore his name was initially called “Doeg.”

After he had turned

to evil conduct,

he said

the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Woe that this one has gone forth” .

And therefore he was called “Doeg.”

(Mnemonic: mighty, wicked, and righteous; troop and scribe.)

Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Why do you boast of evil, mighty man? The kindness of God is all the day”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Doeg:

Are you not

mighty in Torah? Why do you boast of evil

—why do you boast of telling slander about David?

Is not the kindness of God extended over you all the day

—are you not wise in Torah? For Torah is called kindness, as it is written: “And the Torah of kindness is upon her tongue.”

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “But to the wicked God says: What have you to do with recounting My statutes”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the wicked Doeg: What have you to do with recounting My statutes

—what have you to do with the study of My statutes of Torah?

When you reach the passage concerning murderers and the passage concerning slanderers, what do you expound in them?

For you killed the men of Nob and told slander about David! And it is written further in the verse:

“And you cast My covenant behind you.” Rabbi Ami said:

It says “behind your mouth,” and not “in your heart.” For

Doeg’s Torah

is only from the lips outward,

and it does not dwell in his heart.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The righteous shall see and fear, and they shall laugh at him”?

At first,

when the righteous see that the way of the wicked is successful,

—they will fear. And in the end,

when he dies in the middle of his days and his recompense returns upon his head,

—

they will laugh.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “He swallowed wealth and shall vomit it; God shall drive it out of his belly”?

David said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, let Doeg die!

He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

“He swallowed wealth and shall vomit it”

—that is, wait until he vomits the Torah that he swallowed, so that he forgets it.

David said

before Him:

“God shall drive it out of his belly”

—do not wait until he forgets it by himself; rather, hurry and cause him to forget it.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “God shall also tear you down forever”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to David: Let Doeg enter the World to Come

—let Doeg come to the life of the World to Come.

He said before Him: “God shall also tear you down forever.” “

Tear you down”—

it is an expression of tearing down and destroying. “Forever” means for the eternal life of the World to Come. And this is what David said: Doeg should not come to the life of the World to Come.

What is the meaning of that which is written: “He shall uproot you and tear you away from the tent, and root you out from the land of the living, forever”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let teachings be said in the beit-midrash in his name

—let teachings be said in the beit-midrash in Doeg’s name.

David said

before Him:

“He shall uproot you and tear you away from the tent.” “

He shall uproot you and tear you away” are expressions of breaking and uprooting. And “tent” refers to the beit-midrash.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said:

Let him have Torah scholars as sons

—let Doeg have sons who are Torah scholars.

David said before Him:

“And root you out from the land of the living, forever.”

Remove and uproot his roots from the land of the living, so that he will not have sons who are Torah scholars.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher? Where is the scribe who counts the towers? Where is the scribe of all the letters of the Torah”?

“Where is the weigher”—

who weighs all the kal va-chomers

in the Torah.

For he knows how to expound by means of kal va-chomer.

“Where is the scribe who counts the towers”—

for he was a scribe who counted three hundred decided halakhot concerning

the matter of

a tower that flies in the air.

And this means: Why is the upper tag upon the letter lamed bent downward?

Rabbi said: Four hundred questions

—problems—

Doeg and Ahithophel asked concerning the tower that flies in the air, and not one of them was resolved

—not even one of them was resolved for them .

Rava said:

Is it really

a feat

to

ask questions?

For

in the days

—in the time of—

Rav Yehuda, all their study was in Nezikin

—all their study was in the order of Nezikin, for they did not engage so much in exposition.

But we study a great deal in Uktzin

—whereas we study much in Uktzin.

And when he reached

—when he reached—

Rav Yehuda

in the course of his study the matter of

a woman who pickles vegetables

with their stalks [their roots] in vinegar or brine

in

within

a pot, and some say

—and there are those who say, the matter of

olives that he pickled with their leaves

—with their leaves—

they are

pure 787 , he said

—Rav Yehuda would say—:

Here I see the teachings of Rav and Shmuel!

That is, this is a difficult halakhic matter and requires exertion like the teachings of Rav and Shmuel —because he did not know the reason for the matter.

But we study Uktzin in thirteen academies

—in thirteen academies, all of which engage in tractate Uktzin and know it well!

And

nevertheless, although we studied more than Rav Yehuda, when there was a cessation of rain,

Rav Yehuda removed his shoe

—he would remove one of his shoes—

and

he did not manage to remove his second shoe before

the rain came

—the rain came.

And

if

we cried out

—shouted—

there was no one who paid attention to us

—and there was no one who paid attention to us.

Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the heart

—He desires purity of heart .

As it is written: “But the Lord sees into the heart.”

And therefore, since they were more pious, the Holy One, blessed be He, answered them.

Rav Mesharsheya said: Doeg and Ahithophel did not comprehend the teaching

—they did not know how to explain the halakha properly and according to its reason.

Mar Zutra objected to him: Concerning one about whom it is written, “Where is the

scribe? Where is the weigher? Where is the scribe who counts the towers,” and you say that they did not comprehend the teaching?

Rather,

they knew how to study and explain the halakha, but

the teaching did not come out for them in accordance with the halakha

—they were not privileged to have the halakha established in accordance with them.

As it is written: “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him.”

And they were not God-fearing.

Rabbi Ami said: Doeg did not die—

until he forgot

his

learning. As it is stated: “He shall die without discipline, and through his great folly he shall go astray.”

Rav said: He became leprous

—Doeg eventually became leprous .

As it is stated: “You have destroyed every harlot from among you,”

and

it is written there,

concerning houses of walled cities:

“Absolutely,” and we translate it, “completely,” and we learned

concerning a leper:

The difference between one confined and one declared completely leprous

is only the uncovering of the hair and the rending of the garments.

It follows that the expression “completely” is stated concerning a leper; and although concerning Doeg it is stated “You have destroyed,” its translation is “completely.”

(Mnemonic: three saw, and half, and read.)

Rabbi Yohanan said: Three destructive angels came upon Doeg. One caused him to forget his learning, one burned his soul, and one scattered his dust in synagogues and in batei-midrash .

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Doeg and Ahithophel did not see one another. Doeg was

in the days of Saul, and Ahithophel—

in the days of David .

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Doeg and Ahithophel did not halve their days

—they died before the midpoint of their days, for half a person’s days is thirty-five years.

It was also taught likewise: “Men of blood and deceit shall not halve their days.” “Men of blood” refers to Doeg, who killed the priests of Nob. “And deceit” refers to the counsel of Ahithophel.

And this means that

all the years of Doeg were only thirty-four, and those of Ahithophel were only thirty-three.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: At first David called Ahithophel his master, and ultimately he called him his companion, and ultimately he called him his student .

At first he called him his master: “And you are a man equal to me, my guide and my acquaintance.”

And “my guide” means my rabbi.

“My master” means my teacher.