Sanhedrin 38a (לח.) — the Talmud in English

The Gemara explains:

It is received as a tradition,

[we have received the tradition]

that a woman does not become pregnant while standing!

Yet she became pregnant while standing.

For the prison was narrow, and there was no room to lie down, so they lowered his wife to him there; and he had relations with her, and she became pregnant.

Alternatively: “Shealtiel,” for the One who was asked concerning His oath.

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, was asked to reconsider His oath, which He had sworn that He would have no son.

And the son of Shealtiel was likewise called

Zerubbabel,

because

he was sown in Babylonia

. All these homiletic interpretations thus make clear that he had sons after he was exiled to Babylonia.

And

those sons also sat upon the throne of kingship, for

what was the name

of Zerubbabel’s grandson?

Nehemiah son of Hacaliah

was his name.

And he brought Israel up from Babylonia.

It is thus evident that the exile suffered by Jeconiah atoned for all his sins.

Judah and Hezekiah, the sons of Rabbi Ḥiyya, were sitting at a meal before Rabbi, and they were not saying anything. [Judah and Hezekiah sat at a meal before Rabbi and remained silent, saying nothing.]

[Judah and Hezekiah sat at a meal before Rabbi and remained silent.]

He said to them

Rabbi said to his servants

, “Give the young men plenty of wine, so that they will say something.” [Give them abundant wine, so that they will say something.]

[Give them a great deal of wine, so that they will say something.]

Once they became intoxicated [they became drunk]

[they became intoxicated]

, they began and said: The son of David will not come until the two houses of Israel have come to an end.

And these are they: the exilarch in Babylonia and the Nasi in the Land of Israel.

As it is stated

in Isaiah [8:14]

: “And He shall be a Sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

Rabbi said to them

—he being the Nasi in Israel:

“My sons, you are casting thorns into my eyes!”

Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: Rabbi, let it not trouble you. The word yayin, “wine,” is expressed by seventy letters [that is, its numerical value is 70]

[that is, its numerical value is 70]

, and the word sod, “secret,” is expressed by seventy letters; once wine enters, the secret emerges .

Rav Ḥisda said in the name of Mar Ukva, and some say [some say that this statement]

[some say that this statement was said as follows]

was said by Rav Ḥisda: Mari bar Mar expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written, “And the Lord hastened the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous,”

[“hastened,” meaning “hurried”; Rashi]

?

and is it

because “the Lord is righteous”

that

“the Lord hastened the evil and brought it upon us”?!

We expound:

No! The Holy One, blessed be He, performed an act of charity with Israel, hastening

and bringing their

the exile

of Israel in the days of

Zedekiah, and

exiling them while

the

exile of

Jeconiah was still in existence.

That is, before all those who had been exiled with Jeconiah died—those who were learned in Torah and taught it to the exiles of Zedekiah. And from where do we know that the exiles of Jeconiah were learned in Torah?

For it is written concerning the exile of Jeconiah

[II Kings 24:16]:

“The craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand.”

And the Sages expounded:

“Craftsman”—once they opened

with words of Torah,

everyone became as deaf-mutes ,

“smith”—once they closed a halakhic matter,

that is, a halakha to which they did not know how to respond when questioned,

there was no longer

anyone who could

open

it for others.

.

And how many were there? One thousand.

That is, there were many of them.

Alternatively:

Ulla said:

The Holy One, blessed be He, performed an act of kindness with Israel,

hastening

the exile of Israel eight hundred and fifty years after they entered the Land, and not waiting

two years

more

to

exile them when they reached the number

“venoshantem” [“and you have grown old”] [“venoshantem” has the numerical value of 852].

[“and you have grown old” has the numerical value 852].

For it is stated [Deuteronomy 4:25–26]: “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the Land, and you act corruptly and make a graven image, the likeness of anything, and do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, to provoke Him, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you shall surely perish quickly from the Land…” That is, when you reach the number represented by “venoshantem” and corrupt your deeds, then you will surely perish quickly.

Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, performed an act of kindness for Israel and exiled them before they reached the number represented by “venoshantem,” so that the concluding words of the verse would not be fulfilled against them: “You shall surely perish quickly.”

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said: Learn from this that the “quickly” of the Master of the World is eight hundred and fifty-two.

That is, from this verse, which concerns the punishments of exile, it is also possible to learn the measure of time until redemption.

For many verses indicate that salvation is near, such as “For My salvation is near to come” and “Your healing shall quickly flourish,” yet we have still not been redeemed. Rav Aḥa expounded from these verses that “you shall surely perish quickly” means after 852 years, corresponding to the numerical value of “venoshantem”; therefore, the period called “quickly” with regard to redemption likewise cannot be less than this amount of time.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Therefore

Adam was created alone, to teach you that whoever destroys a single life of Israel, Scripture considers it as though he destroyed an entire world; and whoever sustains a single life of Israel, Scripture considers it as though he sustained an entire world.”:

The Sages taught: Adam was created alone. And for what reason?

So that the heretics would not say: There are many authorities in Heaven,

and each one created an Adam for himself.

Alternatively, it was for the sake of the righteous and for the sake of the wicked.

So that the righteous would not say, “We are the children of a righteous man,”

and therefore we are righteous and need not distance ourselves from transgression, since we will not stumble in it.

And the wicked would not say, “We are the children of a wicked man,”

and therefore we should not repent, since repentance will not benefit us.

.

Alternatively, it was for the sake of the families, so that families would not quarrel with one another,

saying, “Our father is greater than your father. And if now, when one man was created, they quarrel, how much more would they quarrel if two men had been created.”

And if now, when one person was created, they quarrel, all the more so would they quarrel had two people been created.

Alternatively, it was for the sake of robbers and violent men.

So that they would not say, “This land belonged to the descendants of our first father, and not to the descendants of your father.”

And if now, when one man was created, they rob and commit violence, how much more would they do so if two men had been created.

We also learned:

“And to proclaim the greatness

of the Holy One, blessed be He…”

etc.:

The Sages taught: To proclaim the greatness of the King of kings,

the Holy One, blessed be He: A person stamps several coins with one seal, and all of them resemble one another; but the Holy One, blessed be He, stamps every person with the seal of Adam, the first man, and none of them resembles another.

As it is stated:

[Job 38:14]

“It is changed like clay under the seal, and they stand like a garment .”

.”

And for what reason do their faces not resemble one another?

So that

a person should not see a beautiful house or a beautiful woman

26 , and say, “It is mine,”

and they would be unable to contradict him, since there would be no distinguishing feature among people.

.

As it is stated

[there, 15]

: “He withholds light from the wicked, and the upraised arm is broken.”

That is, since He withholds their light from the wicked—that is, since the appearance of their faces differs from one another—therefore the upraised arm is broken, and they cannot rob and say, “It is mine.”

It was taught: Rabbi Meir would say: In three things a person differs from another person—in voice, in appearance, and in understanding.

In voice and in appearance, because of illicit relations.

So that a woman will not be mistaken for her husband: by day because of appearance, and by night because of voice.

And in understanding, because of robbers and violent men.

For if one person knew what was in another’s heart, he would search out his hidden thoughts, discover where his money was, and rob him.

The Sages taught: Adam was created on the eve of Shabbat. And for what reason

was he not created first?

So that the heretics would not say that He had a partner in the work of Creation .

Therefore, all the others preceded him.

Alternatively, so that if he becomes haughty, he will be told: A mosquito preceded you in the work of Creation .

Alternatively, so that he would enter immediately into a mitzva,

the mitzva of Shabbat,

immediately .

.

Alternatively, so that he would enter immediately into a feast.

That is, he would find everything prepared before him and eat whatever he desired.

This may be compared to a flesh-and-blood king who built and furnished a palace, prepared a feast, and

only

then brought in guests.

So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, first created the world and completed it, and only at the end brought man into it.

As it is stated

[Proverbs 9:1–3]

: “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars; she has slaughtered her slaughter, mixed her wine, and also set her table; she has sent forth her maidens, calling upon the highest places of the city.”

The Gemara explains:

“Wisdom has built her house”—this is

the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, who created the entire world with wisdom.

“She has hewn her seven pillars”—these are the seven days of Creation.

“She has slaughtered her slaughter, mixed her wine, and also set her table”—these are the days, the rivers, and all the needs of the world.

“She has sent forth her maidens, calling”—this is Adam and Eve .

.

“Calling upon the highest places of the city”—Rabba bar bar Ḥana raised a contradiction, [he raised a contradiction between the verses]: In verse 3

[he challenged the apparent contradiction between the verses]. In verse 3

it is written, “upon the highest places,” whereas

in verse 14

it is written, “upon a throne”?

He answered:

At first,

before the sin, he sat

“upon the highest places,”

that is, in a lofty place, upon the wings of the Divine Presence.

And ultimately,

after he sinned, he descended and sat

“upon a throne” .

.

The Gemara explains the continuation of the chapter in Proverbs [there, verse 4]:

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here; as for one who lacks heart, she says to him,”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Who enticed this one? A woman,

who lacks heart, she

said to him.

For it is written: “He who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart.”

It was taught: Rabbi Meir would say: The dust of Adam, the first man, was gathered from the entire world .

.

As it is stated,

'

“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance,”

that is, from everything that Your eyes saw, the form of man was made. And this refers to the entire world, as it is written [Zechariah 4:10], “The eyes of the Lord roam throughout the entire earth.

Rav Oshaya said in the name of Rav: Adam the first man,