Sanhedrin 38a — the Talmud in English

The Gemara explains: It is taught,

it is received as a tradition

we have received],

that a woman does not conceive while standing

Exact page location")

yet she conceived while standing.

for the prison was narrow, and there was no place to lie down, and they lowered his wife there to him , and he had intercourse with her, and she conceived.

Alternatively: “Shealtiel” means that his oath was asked of God.

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, was asked concerning His oath , that He swore that he would not have a son.

And the son of Shealtiel was also called

Zerubbabel ,

after

that he was sown in Babylon .

And from all these homiletical interpretations it is explained that sons were born to him after he was exiled to Babylon.

And

so those sons sat upon the throne of the monarchy, for

what was the name

of Zerubbabel, his grandson?

Nehemiah son of Hacaliah

was his name.

And he brought Israel up from Babylon.

And it is demonstrated that the exile into which Jeconiah was exiled atoned for all his sins .

Judah and Hezekiah, the sons of Rabbi Hiyya, were sitting at a meal before Rabbi, and they were not saying anything.

Judah and Hezekiah sat at a meal before Rabbi, and were silent and said nothing.]

Rabbi said to them

Rabbi said to his attendants

, “Increase the wine for the young men, so that they will say a matter.”

Pour wine for them abundantly, so that they will say something.]

Once they became intoxicated

they became drunk]

, they began and said: “The son of David will not come until two patriarchal houses in Israel have ceased to exist.”

And these are they: the exilarch in Babylon and the prince in the Land of Israel.

As it is stated in Isaiah [8:14]

in Isaiah [8:14]

“And He shall be for a sanctuary, and for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of falling, to the two houses of Israel.”

Rabbi said to them,

who was the prince in Israel:

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

Rabbi Hiyya said to him: “Rabbi, let it not be displeasing in your eyes. The numerical value of wine is given in seventy letters

that is, by gematria 70]

, and the numerical value of secret is given in seventy letters; when wine enters, a secret emerges.”

Rav Hisda said in the name of Mar Ukva, and some say

there are those who say that this statement]

Rav Hisda said: Mari bar Mar expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written, “And the Lord hastened

like “and He hurried.” Rashi]

the Lord, concerning the evil, and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous”?

And is it

because “the Lord is righteous”

therefore

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

And we expound:

Yes! The Holy One, blessed be He, performed charity with Israel, in that He hastened

and hurried their

exile

of Israel in the days of

Zedekiah, and

exiled them

while

the

exile of Jeconiah still existed.

That is, before all those who had been exiled in the days of Jeconiah, who were wise in Torah, died, and taught it to the people of the exile of Zedekiah. And from where do we know that the people of the exile of Jeconiah were wise in Torah?

For it is written concerning the exile of Jeconiah

Kings II 24:16]:

“The craftsman and the smith, one thousand.”

And the Sages expounded:

“Craftsman”: once they open

with words of Torah,

everyone becomes as though deaf.

“Smith”: once they close with a halakha,

that is, a halakha with which they do not know how to answer one who asks them ,

there are no longer

for it

openers

others.

.

And how many were they? One thousand.

That is, they were numerous.

And in another manner:

Ulla said,

the Holy One, blessed be He, performed kindness with Israel,

in that He hastened

and exiled Israel eight hundred and fifty years after their entry into the Land, and did not wait

two years

additional,

in order to

exile them when they reached the count of

“and you grow old” [“

and you grow old” in gematria is 852].

For it is stated [Deuteronomy 4:25]: “When you beget children and grandchildren and grow 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, provoking 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 count of “and you grow old,” and corrupt your deeds, then you shall surely perish quickly.

Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, performed kindness for Israel and exiled them before they reached the count of “and you grow old,” so that the conclusion of the verse—“you shall surely perish quickly”—would not be fulfilled in them.”

Rav Aha bar Yaakov said: Infer from this that “quickly” of the Master of the world is eight hundred and fifty-two.

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

For many verses were stated indicating the nearness of salvation, such as “My salvation is near to come,” and “Your healing shall quickly sprout,” and nevertheless we have still not been redeemed. And Rav Aha expounded from these verses that “you shall surely perish quickly” means after 852 years, corresponding to the numerical value of “and you grow old”; therefore, the measure of “quickly” stated concerning redemption likewise will not be less than this time.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Therefore

man was created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys one soul of Israel, Scripture considers it for him as though he destroyed an entire world, and whoever sustains one soul of Israel, Scripture considers it for him as though he sustained an entire world”.:

The Sages taught: Man was created singly. And for what reason?

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

and each one created a man for itself.

Alternatively, because of the righteous and because of the wicked.

So that the righteous would not say: “We are the sons of a righteous man,

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

And the wicked would say: “We are the sons of a wicked man,

and we will not repent, for it will not benefit us.”

.

Alternatively, because of the families, so that families would not quarrel with one another,

saying, “Our father is more righteous than your father

.” And now that one was created, they quarrel; had two been created, all the more so.

Alternatively, because of robbers and because of violent takers.

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

And now that one was created singly, they rob and seize by force; had two been created, all the more so.

We further learned:

“And to declare the greatness

of the Holy One, blessed be He... ”

etc.:

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

the Holy One, blessed be He: a person strikes several coins with one seal and all of them resemble one another, but the Holy One, blessed be He, strikes every person with the seal of the first man, and not one of them resembles his fellow.

As it is stated: [Job 38:14]

[Job 38:14]

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

.”

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

So that

a person will not see a beautiful dwelling and a beautiful woman

26, and say, “It is mine,”

and they would not be able to deny him, since there would be no distinction between the people.

.

As it is stated

there 15]

“He withholds their light from the wicked, and the uplifted arm is broken.”

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

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

In voice and in appearance, because of forbidden relations.

So that a woman will not be confused with her husband: during the day because of appearance, and at night because of voice.

And in understanding, because of robbers and violent takers.

For if he knew what was in his fellow’s heart, he would search his hidden things, know where his money was, and rob him .

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

was he not created first?

So that the sectarians would not say: He had a partner with Him in the work of creation .

Therefore, all preceded him.

Alternatively, so that if his mind becomes haughty over him, one can say to him: “A gnat preceded you in the work of creation” .

Alternatively, so that he would enter into a mitzva,

the mitzva of Shabbat,

immediately .

.

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

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

A parable of a flesh-and-blood king who built a palace and completed it, prepared a meal, and

only

afterward 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; she has also set her table; she has sent forth her maidens; she calls upon the wings of the heights 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 has also set her table”: these are seas and rivers and all the needs of the world.

“She has sent forth her maidens to call”: this is Adam and Eve .

.

“Upon the wings of the heights of the city”: Rabba bar bar Hana raised a contradiction

he raised a contradiction between the verses; in verse 3]

it is written, “upon the wings,” and

but in verse 14

it is written, “upon a throne”?

And he answered:

At first,

before the sin, he sat

“upon the wings,”

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

And at the end,

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; to him who lacks heart she says,”

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

who lacks heart , she

said it to him.”

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

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

.

As it is stated, [

']

"Your unformed substance, my eyes saw,"

that is, from everything Your eyes saw, the unformed substance of the human being was made. And this is the entire world, as it is written [Zechariah 4:10], "The eyes of the Lord—they roam throughout all the earth.

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