Sanhedrin 108a — the Talmud in English

As it is stated: “Therefore the wicked shall not arise ![](pamud.bmp "

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

And thus the verse is expounded:

“Therefore the wicked shall not arise 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 people of Sodom

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

They said to him

to Rabbi Nehemiah: Indeed, it follows from this verse that the people of Sodom

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

for judgment

in the assembly of the wicked.

The generation of the wilderness —

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

Rabbi Eliezer says: Concerning them it says: “Gather to Me My pious ones, those who made My covenant over a sacrifice.”

The assembly of Korah,

which was swallowed up in the earth,

is not destined to rise

from there.

As it is stated:

“And the earth covered them, and they perished from among the congregation.” And thus 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 says: “The Lord kills and makes alive; 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 wiped out all existence that was upon the face of the earth.” “And He wiped out all existence” -

in this world. “And they were wiped out from the earth” —

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

Rabbi Judah ben Batera 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 was explained in the Mishna.

Alternatively: “My spirit shall not contend

with man,”

so that their souls will not return to their sheath

to their bodies. For the body is to the soul like the sheath is to the sword . That is, they will die.

Rabbi Menahem bar Yosef says: Even at the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, returns souls to dead corpses —

their souls are difficult for them in Gehinnom

their very souls are burned .

As it is stated: “You conceive chaff

; you bear stubble; your spirit is a fire that shall consume you.” “Your spirit is a fire that shall consume you” —

that is, their souls are burned.

The Sages taught: The generation of the Flood did not grow haughty —

except on account 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 mounts and does not fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry”; and it is written: “They send forth their young like a flock, and their children dance”; and it is written: “They lift up the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ”; and it is written: “They spend their days in goodness, and their years in pleasantness”; and it is written: “And in a moment they go down to Sheol.”

For all these verses speak of the abundant goodness that they had in that generation.

And it,

that abundant goodness that they had,

caused

this

that they said: “Depart from us, O God, and the knowledge

of Your ways we do not desire. What is the Almighty that we should serve Him, and what benefit will we have if we entreat Him?”

For 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,

with the rainwater that I give them,

with it

they

anger Me —

and with it I judge them,

for I shall punish them by means of water.

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

Rabbi Yosei said: The generation of the Flood grew haughty only on account of the eyeball

836 , which resembles water.

They saw that their goodness was complete, and they raised their eyes and committed adultery after the appearance of the eye.

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

Therefore He judged them

the Holy One, blessed be He,

with water, which resembles the eyeball

for springs emerge from a small place like an eye.

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

Rabbi Yohanan said: The generation of the Flood corrupted through “great,” and through “great” they were judged.

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

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

“burst open

all the fountains of the great deep.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: Three

springs

remained from them

from those springs that the Holy One, blessed be He, burst open to bring the Flood. And these are:

The swallowed spring of Gader,

and the hot springs of Tiberias,

and the Great Spring of Biram.

And these springs that remained are hot, as all the springs of the great deep had been, as it is stated below: “With boiling water they corrupted—with boiling water they were judged.”

“For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.” Rabbi Yohanan said: This teaches that they caused an animal to mate with a wild beast, and a wild beast with an animal, and all of them with man, and man with all of them.

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: And all of them returned

to mating only with their own species,

except for the tushalmi,

which is a species of bird and still maintains that evil practice, mating with everything .

“And the Lord said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before Me.” Rabbi Yohanan 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 against them —

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

It follows that their sentence was sealed on account of this matter.

And

further

it is written: “The robbery rises up as a rod for the wicked; not from them, nor from their multitude, nor from them, nor is there one who sighs over them” .

Rabbi Elazar said: “The robbery rises up as a rod for the wicked” -

This teaches that the robbery raised

itself

like a staff

and this is “as a rod for the wicked” ,

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 them, nor is there one who sighs over them” .

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

It was taught in the academy of Rabbi Ishmael: Even concerning Noah the sentence was sealed

842 , except that 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 decreed even concerning Noah .

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

For it is good to destroy such wicked people .

What is the implication

that the expression “and the Lord regretted” is an expression of something beautiful and good?

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 heart.”

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 would have repented .

And from where do we know that “and the Lord regretted” is an expression of 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 generations of Noah: Noah, a righteous and wholehearted man was he in his generations.”

Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish disagreed concerning the exposition of the word “in his generations”:

Rabbi Yohanan said:

Only

in his generations,

for 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, even though that generation was filled with wickedness, and

all the more so

had he been

in other generations,

he would have been more righteous .

Rabbi Hanina said: Rabbi Yohanan’s parable—what is it comparable to?

To 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 contrast to the smell of vinegar, its fragrance is superior. But

not in its place —

its fragrance does not spread.

Rabbi Oshaia said: Reish Lakish’s parable—what is it comparable to?

To a flask of pelayton

perfume

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

its fragrance spreads, and all the more so in the place of perfume

that its fragrance should spread.

“And He wiped out all existence that was upon the face of the earth.”

It follows that even the animals were wiped out from the face of the earth. And it is difficult:

If man sinned, what had the animal sinned?

It was taught in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Korha: This is comparable to a person who made a wedding canopy for his son and prepared all kinds of food.

After some time, his son died.

The father stood

and

scattered his wedding canopy.

He said: Did I do

everything that I did

except for my son? Now that my son has 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 wild beasts —

except for man? Now that man has sinned, what use are animals and wild beasts to Me?

“From all that was on dry land they died.”

It follows that specifically those that were on dry land

but not the fish of the sea .

Rabbi Yosei of Caesarea expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Light is he upon the face of waters; You curse their portion upon 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 waters like waterskins

floating your corpses upon the surface of the water like inflated wineskins. And this is

as it is stated: “Light is he upon the face of waters” .

And furthermore, they take from them a curse for all the inhabitants of the world. As it is stated: “You curse their portion upon the earth.”

“They shall not turn aside by way of vineyards,” 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 by way of vineyards

that was what they were occupied with at that time .

They said to him

the people of the generation to Noah:

And who is preventing

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

He said to them: One remnant

I have to bring out

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