Sanhedrin 108a (קח.) — the Talmud in English

As it is stated: “Therefore the wicked shall not rise

in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

And this is how the verse is expounded:

“Therefore the wicked shall not rise in the judgment” -

This is the generation of the Flood

[as it is stated concerning them: “For the wickedness of man was great”].

“Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous” –

these are the inhabitants of Sodom

[as it is stated concerning them: “Wicked and sinful”].

They said to Rabbi Neḥemya:

Indeed, this verse implies that the inhabitants of Sodom

do not stand in the assembly of the righteous, but they do stand

for judgment

in the assembly of the wicked.

As for the generation of the wilderness –

they have no share in the World-to-Come, and they do not stand for judgment, as it is stated: “In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.” These are the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Eliezer says: Concerning them it is stated: “Gather to Me My pious ones, those who have entered My covenant over sacrifice.”

The assembly of Korah,

which was swallowed by the earth,

is destined not to rise

from there.

As it is stated:

“And the earth covered them, and they perished from among the congregation.” And this is how the verse is expounded:

“And the earth covered them” –

in this world. “And they perished from among the congregation” –

in the World-to-Come. These are the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Eliezer says:

They are destined to rise. For

concerning them it is stated: “The Lord kills and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.”

Gemara:

The Sages taught: The generation of the Flood –

they have no share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground.” “And He blotted out every living thing” -

in this world. “And they were blotted out from the earth” –

in the World-to-Come. These are the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says: They will neither live –

nor be judged. As it is stated: “My spirit shall not contend with man forever”: neither judgment nor spirit

[as explained in the Mishna].

Alternatively: “My spirit shall not contend

with man,”

meaning that their souls will not return to their sheaths

[to their bodies. For the body is to the soul as a sheath is to a sword. That is, they will die].

Rabbi Menaḥem bar Yosef says: Even when the Holy One, blessed be He, restores souls to dead corpses –

their souls cause them distress in Gehenna

[their very souls are burned].

As it is stated: “You conceive chaff

835 , you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that shall consume you.” “

Your breath is a fire that shall consume you” – that is, their souls are burned.

The Sages taught: The generation of the Flood became arrogant –

only because of the goodness that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed upon them.

And what is written concerning them? “Their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not upon them”; and it is written: “Their bull breeds and does not fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry”; and it is written: “They send forth their children like a flock, and their children dance”; and it is written: “They take up the tambourine and harp and rejoice to the sound of the pipe”; and it is written: “They spend their days in goodness, and their years in pleasantness”; and it is written: “In a moment they go down to Sheol.”

All these verses speak of the great abundance they enjoyed in that generation.

And this

the great goodness that they enjoyed

caused

them

to say: “Turn away from us, God; we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what benefit shall we have if we entreat Him?”

Thus

they said: Do we need Him at all

[the Holy One, blessed be He]? –

We need only a drop of rain; we have rivers and springs from which we obtain our needs,

and we do not need Him even for rain.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: With the goodness that I bestowed upon them,

the rainwater that I give them,

with it

they

anger Me –

and with it I shall judge them,

for I shall punish them through water.

As it is stated: “And I, behold, I am bringing the Flood of waters.”

Rabbi Yosei said: The generation of the Flood became arrogant only because of the eyeball

836 , which resembles water.

They saw that their prosperity was complete, and they raised their eyes and committed adultery after what the eye saw.

As it is stated: “And they took wives for themselves from all that they chose.”

Therefore He judged them

the Holy One, blessed be He,

with water, which resembles the eyeball

[because springs issue from a small opening, like an eye].

As it is stated: “All the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of heaven were opened.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The generation of the Flood corrupted through “great,” and was judged through “great.”

They corrupted through “great,” as it is stated: “And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great.”

And they were judged through “great,” as it is stated: “

The springs of

the great deep all burst forth.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Three

springs

remained from them

[from those springs that the Holy One, blessed be He, opened to bring the Flood]. And these are:

The spring of Gadara,

the hot springs of Tiberias,

and the great spring of Biram.

These remaining springs are hot, just as all the springs of the great deep were, as stated below: “With boiling water they corrupted, and with boiling water they were judged.”

“For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This teaches that they caused animals to mate with other species: cattle with beasts, beasts with cattle, all of them with human beings, and human beings with all of them.

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: They all returned

to mating only with their own species,

except for the tushalmi,

which is a species of bird and still maintains that corrupt practice, mating with all species.

“And the Lord said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before Me.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Come and see how great is the power of robbery! For the generation of the Flood transgressed everything, but their sentence was not sealed –

until they stretched out their hands to robbery. As it is stated: “For the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I shall destroy them with the earth.”

This implies that their sentence was sealed on account of this.

And

it is also

written: “Violence has risen up as a rod of wickedness; not from them, nor from their multitude, nor from any of them, nor shall there be wailing for them” .

Rabbi Elazar said: “Violence has risen up as a rod of wickedness” -

This teaches that violence raised

itself

like a staff

[and this is the meaning of “as a rod of wickedness”],

and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, “not from them, nor from their multitude, nor from any of them, nor shall there be wailing for them”

That is, there is no benefit from them, from their multitude, and so forth.

It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: The sentence was sealed even concerning Noah

842 , but he found favor in the eyes of the Lord

. As it is stated: “I regret that I made them, and Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

From the juxtaposition of “I regret that I made them” and “Noah,” we learn that the sentence was sealed even concerning Noah.

“And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth.” When Rav Dimi came, he said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I did well by preparing graves for them in the earth.

It is good to destroy such wicked people.

What is the implication

that the expression “and the Lord regretted” denotes something good and proper?

It is written here: “And the Lord regretted,” and it is written there,

when Joseph spoke to his brothers after revealing himself to them:

“And he comforted them and spoke to their hearts.”

And some say: “

And the Lord regretted that He had made them, etc.” means

I did not do well by preparing graves for them in the earth,

perhaps they might have repented.

And from where do we know that “and the Lord regretted” denotes regret?

It is written here: “And the Lord regretted,” and it is written there: “And the Lord regretted the evil that He had spoken of doing to His people.”

“These are the descendants of Noah: Noah was a righteous man; he was wholehearted in his generations.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish disagreed in their exposition of the word “in his generations”:

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

Only

in his generations,

because his generation was exceedingly wicked, was Noah considered righteous and wholehearted,

but not in other generations.

And Reish Lakish said: In his generations

he was righteous, although that generation was full of wickedness, and

all the more so

had he been

in other generations,

he would have been even more righteous.

Rabbi Ḥanina said: The parable of Rabbi Yoḥanan—what is it like?

It is like a barrel of wine that was placed in a cellar of vinegar. In its place,

among the barrels of vinegar,

its fragrance spreads.

For in comparison with the smell of vinegar, its fragrance is superior. But

when it is not in its place –

its fragrance does not spread.

Rabbi Oshaya said: The parable of Reish Lakish—what is it like?

It is like a flask of palaiton

[perfume]

that was placed in a filthy place. In its place –

its fragrance spreads; all the more so in a perfumer’s shop

would its fragrance spread.

“And He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground.”

This implies that even the animals were blotted out from the face of the earth. And it is difficult:

if man sinned, what sin had the animal committed?

It was taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa: This is analogous to a man who made a wedding canopy for his son and prepared every kind of food.

After some time, his son died.

The father arose

and

dismantled his wedding canopy.

He said: Did I do

everything that I did

for any reason other than my son? Now that you have died,

my son,

what use is the wedding canopy to me?

So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Did I create animals and beasts –

for any reason other than man? Now that man has sinned, what use are animals and beasts to Me?

“All that was on dry land died.”

This implies that specifically those on dry land

died, but not the fish in the sea .

Rabbi Yosei of Caesarea expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written: “He is swift upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth”?

This teaches that the righteous Noah would rebuke them, saying to them: Repent. And if not –

the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the Flood upon you, and will cause your corpses to float upon the water like wineskins

[He will cause your corpses to float on the surface of the water like swollen flasks]. And this is

what is stated: “He is swift upon the face of the waters” .

And not only that, but they are taken as a curse for all the inhabitants of the world. As it is stated: “Their portion is cursed in the earth.”

“We shall not turn aside from the way of vineyards”—this teaches that

at that time, when the one hundred and twenty years that the Holy One, blessed be He, had given them to repent had ended,

they were turning aside to the way of vineyards

[this was what they were occupied with at that time].

The people of the generation said to him

to Noah:

And who is delaying

the Holy One, blessed be He, from doing this? Why does He not bring the Flood now, since the appointed time has arrived?

He said to them: I have one remnant

to bring forth

from you—that is, the righteous Methuselah. He must die first, so that he will not be judged together with you.