Sanhedrin 108b — the Talmud in English

They said:

If so, we shall not clear

the

road

of the

vineyards,

but we shall continue and walk on it. That is, we shall not turn back from our path; rather, we shall go and spoil the road, on paths obstructed with thorns and briars, like the paths of vineyards.

Rava expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written: “A torch despised by the thoughts of the complacent, prepared for the slipping of the foot”?

This teaches that Noah the righteous would rebuke them, and he would say to them words that were as harsh as torches.

And

the people of his generation

would disgrace him. They said to him: Old man! This ark

that you are building,

why?

For what purpose is it?

He said to them: The Holy One, blessed be He, is bringing the Flood upon you.

They said

to him:

A flood of what

is the Holy One, blessed be He, bringing upon us?

If it is a flood of fire, we have another thing, and “Alyata” is its name,

which fire does not rule over.

And if

the flood

is one of water that He is bringing from the earth,

it

we have iron plates

[pieces of iron]

with which we cover the earth.

And if He is bringing it from the heavens,

it,

we have a thing called “Ekev,” and some say: It is called “Ikesh,”

and it will protect us from the Flood.

And this is what is stated in the verse, “for the thoughts of the complacent.” “Thoughts” means ideas, like “conceptions.” That is, they were sitting complacently and thinking evil thoughts.

Noah said to them

:

He is bringing

the Flood

from between the heels of your feet.

That is, through your seed [which emerges from between your feet], He can obliterate you.

As it is stated

at the end of the verse cited above:

“Prepared for the slipping of the foot.”

It was taught: The waters of the Flood were hard like semen

[that is, they were boiling and thick like semen],

as it is stated: “Prepared for the slipping of the foot.”

Rav Hisda said: With boiling semen

,

they sinned, and with boiling water they were judged.

And from where do we know that they were judged with boiling water?

It is written here,

concerning the waters of the Flood:

“And the waters subsided,” and it is written there,

concerning King Ahasuerus:

“And the king’s anger subsided.”

Just as concerning Ahasuerus the meaning is that he rested from his boiling anger, so here too, the waters rested from their boiling. By inference, at first they were boiling.

“And it came to pass after seven days, and the waters of the Flood were upon the earth.” What was the nature of those

seven

days?

Rav said: These were

the seven

days of mourning for Methuselah.

To teach you that eulogizing the righteous delays the calamity from coming.

Alternatively:

What is

“after seven

days”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, altered for them

the

order

of the seven days of

Creation. For

during the Flood,

the sun rose in the west

and set in the east.

Alternatively: The Holy One, blessed be He, initially set for them

a

long period

during which they could repent, and this is what was initially stated: “And his days shall be one hundred and twenty years,”

and afterward,

when they did not repent throughout all those one hundred and twenty years, He set for them

a short period,

seven days.

Alternatively: “After seven days”—

He let the people of the generation of the Flood taste

the

semblance of the World to Come,

which will come after seven thousand years [and it is called “seven days,” because the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is one thousand years],

so that they would know what

[which]

goodness they had deprived themselves of.

It is written that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Noah:

“From every pure animal you shall take for yourself seven and seven, a male and its mate.”

And it is difficult:

Does an animal have marital union?

[Does an animal have marital union? One female lies with several males, and this is not considered marital union.]

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan:

The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Noah to take

those with which no transgression had been committed.

Those that had intercourse only with their mate.

From where

[from where]

did

Noah know which were those with which no transgression had been committed?

Rav Hisda said: For he passed them before the ark. Any that the ark received—

it is known that no transgression had been committed with them. And any that the ark did not receive—

it is known that a transgression had been committed with it.

Rabbi Abbahu said: He brought in those that came on their own.

Only those with which no transgression had been committed came to him on their own.

“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood.” What is gopher?

Rav Adda said; the academy of Rabbi Sheila said: This is mavliga

[a species of wood].

And some say:

This is

gulmish

[also a species of wood].

“Make a light for the ark.” Rabbi Yohanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Noah: Set in it

in the ark

precious stones and pearls, so that they will illuminate for you like midday .

“And to a cubit you shall finish it above”—

for in this manner it stands

[for in this manner the structure of the ark can endure. For if it had been as wide above as below, it could not have stood in the water; rather, it would have overturned from side to side].

“With lower, middle, and upper levels you shall make it.”

It was taught: The lower levels

[the bottom level]—

for refuse.

The middle levels

[the middle level]—

for animals.

The upper levels

[the upper level]—

for human beings.

“And he sent out the raven.” Resh Lakish said: The raven gave Noah a decisive answer. It said

to him: Your Master

[the Holy One, blessed be He]

hates me,

[He hates me]—

and

also

you hate me.

“Your Master hates me”—

for I am among the impure birds.

And from the pure ones

the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded him to bring into the ark

seven,

whereas

from the impure ones

He commanded him to bring only

two.

And

also

you hate me—

for you leave one of the species of seven and send one of the species of two.

And

if a minister of heat or a minister of cold strikes me

and I die, will

not

there

be found

a

world lacking one creature?

Or perhaps you need my mate,

and that is why you are sending me?

Noah said to him

:

Wicked one! With that which is permitted to me,

with my wife,

I am forbidden

now, during the Flood.

With

that which

is forbidden to me

always—animal, beast, and bird—

how much more so

is it forbidden to me now?!

And from where do we know that they were forbidden

Noah and his sons were forbidden marital relations while they were in the ark?

For it is written

when they were commanded to enter the ark:

“And you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.”

This implies that the men were separately and the women separately, for they were forbidden marital relations.

And

when they were commanded to leave the ark

it is written: “Go out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”

Here a man and his wife are mentioned. It follows that marital relations were again permitted to them.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: From here they said that they were forbidden marital relations

while they were in the ark.

The Sages taught: Three engaged in marital relations in the ark, and all of them were punished.

And these are they:

the dog, the raven, and Ham.

The dog—

was punished in that it is accustomed to be

tied

by its master.

The raven—

spits

[it spits seed from its mouth toward the female].

Ham—

was punished in his skin.

For Cush emerged from him, whose skin was black.

It is written concerning the sending of the dove:

“And he sent out the dove from him to see whether the waters had subsided.”

But concerning the sending of the raven, it is not written “from him.” This implies that only the dove was found near Noah.

Rabbi Yirmeya said: From here that the dwelling of pure birds is with the righteous.

For pure birds recognize the righteous [as we find in several places in the Talmud] and wish to dwell with them. “

And the dove came to him toward evening,

and behold, an olive leaf plucked was in its mouth.”

And it is necessary to understand: Why did it bring an olive leaf with it? After all, Noah supplied it with all its food requirements!

Rabbi Elazar said:

It intended to hint a message to him. And so

the dove said before the Holy One, blessed be He:

Master of the Universe! Let my food be bitter like an olive and entrusted to Your hand, and let it not be sweet like honey and entrusted to the hand of flesh and blood.

And this is “an olive leaf plucked was in its mouth”: it was asking with its mouth for food that was plucked and bitter like an olive.

What indicates that this word “plucked”—

is an expression for food?

For it is written: “Feed me with my allotted bread.”

“By their families they went out from the ark.” Rabbi Yohanan said:

The word “by their families” is expounded as follows:

By their families, and not they themselves.

This implies that the living creatures in the ark were arranged family by family, each one eating separately, and not all from one manger.

Rav Hana bar Bizna said: Eliezer

the servant of Abraham

said to Shem the great

[the elder] , the son of Noah:

It is written: “By their families they went out from

the ark,”

875, where were you?

[Where were you]? That is, how were you able to prepare their matters in this way, with each species separately, to do for each one what it needed?

They said to him

to Eliezer: Indeed,

we had great distress in the ark. A creature whose practice is to feed it by day—

we fed it by day. One whose practice is to feed it at night—

we fed it at night.

As for this lizard

876, my father did not know what it ate

[that creature whose name was “lizard”; our father Noah did not know what its food was].

One day he was sitting and cutting a pomegranate

[one day our father was sitting and cutting a pomegranate].

A worm fell from it

[a worm fell from inside the pomegranate]—and

it ate

the lizard.

From then onward he would knead bran for it

[from that day our father would knead bran with water],

when it became wormy—

it ate

[when the bran became wormy, the lizard would eat the worms].

He further told Eliezer there:

A lion

[the lion]—

a fever had afflicted it

[it had been seized by heat], and because of this illness it did not prey upon the other animals in the ark.

For Rav said: No less than six

[no fewer than six days],

and no more than twelve

[and no more than twelve days]

does fever nourish

[heat can sustain]. That is, there is no fever that cannot sustain an animal for at least six days, so that it does not die without food and drink. And there is no fever that sustains an animal for more than twelve days.

He also related there:

Orshina

[It is a species of bird. In the language of Scripture, its name is “Hol,” and it never dies],

Aba found it lying in the room paneled for it in the ark

[Aba—Noah—found it lying in the room paneled for it in the ark], and it did not come to request food.

He said to him

Aba:

Do you not need food

[Do you not require food]?

He said to him: I saw that you were occupied, and I said: I will not distress you

[I saw that you were occupied, and I said to myself that I would not distress you].

He said to him

Aba:

May it be Your will

[May it be Your will]

that you not die

As it is stated: “And I said: I shall expire with my nest, and like the hol I shall multiply my days.”

Thus, this bird, whose name is “Hol,” multiplies its days .

Rav Hana bar Lovai said: Rava said to Eliezer

Abraham’s servant,

When the kings of the east and the west came against you

[when the kings of the east and the west came to wage war against you, during the war of the kings, when Abraham and the members of his household pursued them],

how did you act

[how did you act; by what means did you defeat them]?

He said to him: The Holy One, blessed be He, brought Abraham and seated him at His right

[the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Abraham and seated him at His right side],

and we would throw

earth –

and it would become swords

[we would throw earth, and it would turn into swords],

straw –

and it would become arrows

[we would throw straw, and it would turn into arrows].

As it is stated: “A psalm of David. The utterance of the Lord to my master: Sit at My right hand until I set your enemies as a stool for your feet.”

Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, seated Abraham at His right until he defeated his enemies.

And it is written: “Who has roused him from the east, whom righteousness called to follow him? He gives nations before him, and subdues kings; he gives his sword like dust, his bow like driven straw.” " ממזרח" זה אברהם, שבא מארם נהריים, שהוא במזרח "From the east" refers to Abraham, who came from Aram-Naharaim, which is in the east.

«С востока» — это Авраам, который пришёл из Арама Нахараима, находящегося на востоке.

Nahum of Gam Zo was accustomed that whatever befell him

[whatever event happened to him], even an event that appeared bad in people’s eyes,

he would say: “This too is for the good” .

One day, the Jews wanted to send a gift to the emperor

[one day, the Jews wanted to send a gift to the emperor].