Sanhedrin 82a — the Talmud in English

If zealous men did not strike him, what is

the punishment of one who has intercourse with a gentile woman?

Rav forgot his learning [

Rav forgot what he had learned from his teacher concerning this matter, and did not know how to answer him].

They recited to Rav Kahana in his dream [

From Heaven they recited to Rav Kahana in a dream] the verse from Malachi [2:11]: "

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord

which he loved, and has married the daughter of a foreign god,

may the Lord cut off from the man who does this, waking and answering, from the tents of Jacob, and one who presents an offering to the Lord of Hosts."

Rav Kahana came [

came] Rav Kahana and

said to him

to Rav:

This is how they recited it to me [

this is how they recited it to me].

Rav remembered his learning [

Through this Rav remembered what he had learned from his teacher]; and this is what he had learned: "

Judah has dealt treacherously":

This is idolatry, and so it says [

Jeremiah 3:20] "Indeed, as a woman deals treacherously with her companion [her husband],

so you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel [

to leave Me and follow other gods],

declares the Lord." "

And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem":

This is male intercourse; and so it says [

Leviticus 18:22]: "

And with a male you shall not lie as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination." "

For Judah has profaned

[himself, for he was]

the holiness of the Lord":

This is a prostitute [

one abandoned to prostitution]; that is: he abandons his sanctity and goes to pursue prostitutes,

and so it says: "

There shall not be a prostitute [

a prostitute who profanes her sanctity]

among the daughters of Israel." "

And has married the daughter of a foreign god":

This is one who has intercourse with a gentile woman.

And

behold,

it is written after it

after all these, including one who has intercourse with a gentile woman: "

May the Lord cut off

from the man who does this, waking and answering [

the nun is with a segol]

from the tents of Jacob, and one who presents an offering to the Lord

of Hosts,"

and thus it is expounded:

If he is a Torah scholar,

the Lord will cut him off, and thereafter

he will no longer have one who is sharp [

clever]

among the Sages, and one who answers among the students.

If he is a priest,

the Lord will cut him off, and thereafter

he will no longer have a son who presents an offering to the Lord

of Hosts.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Avuya said:

Anyone who has intercourse with a gentile woman is as though he marries himself to idolatry, as it is written "

and has married the daughter of a foreign god,"

and does a foreign god have a daughter? Rather, this is one who has intercourse with a gentile woman,

behold, this is as one who marries himself to a foreign god.

And

further

Rabbi Hiyya bar Avuya said:

It is written [Jeremiah 22:18]: "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah,

he shall not be mourned... The burial of a donkey shall he be buried [that is: just as a donkey is not buried when it dies on the road, but is left there, so shall be the matter of Jehoiakim, for they shall lead him into exile, and he shall die on the road, and his burial shall be like that of a donkey], dragged [Jehoiakim after his death] and cast beyond [outside] the gates of Jerusalem [and he shall not be buried at all."

Written on the skull of Jehoiakim "

This and another,"

that is: vengeance is already being done upon it, and another will be done upon it; and he proceeds to explain it.

The grandfather of Rabbi Perida [

he was Rabbi Hiyya bar Avuya],

found a certain skull that was lying at the gates of Jerusalem, and it was written upon it "

This and another"— [

Rabbi Perida's grandfather found a skull at the gates of Jerusalem, upon which was written, "This and another."]

He buried it, and afterward it protruded; he buried it, and afterward it protruded. He said: This is the skull of Jehoiakim, concerning whom it is written [

Rabbi Perida's grandfather buried the skull, and again it protruded and emerged, and again he buried it and again it protruded. He said: This is certainly the skull of Jehoiakim, concerning whom it is said]: "

The burial of a donkey shall he be buried, dragged and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

Rabbi Perida's grandfather said:

He is a king, and it is not proper conduct to disgrace him; he took it, wrapped it in silk garments, and placed it in a chest— [

It was the skull of a king, and it is not proper conduct to disgrace it. He took the skull, wrapped it in garments, and placed it in a chest in his house]—

His wife came, saw it, went out, and told her neighbors; they said to her: This is that of his first wife, whom he cannot forget! She sent it

to the oven, and burned it. [

Rabbi Perida's grandfather's wife came and found the skull lying in the chest, and did not know whose it was. She went out and told the story to her neighbors. The neighbors said to her: This skull is that of your husband's first wife, who is not forgotten from his heart. The woman heated the oven, took the skull, and threw it into the heated oven]

and burned it.

When

Rabbi Perida's grandfather

came and saw what had been done to the skull,

he said: This is what was written upon it [

this is what was written upon the skull] "

This and another,"

for besides not being buried, they also burned it in fire.

When Rav Dimi came

from the Land of Israel,

he said:

The court of the Hasmoneans decreed: One who has intercourse with a gentile woman is liable because of nashgaz"

;

that is: he is punished on her account because of:

N

iddah [for it is repulsiveness and profanation of the sanctity of the Name].

And because of

S

ervant woman, for the gentile woman in relation to the community of Israel is like a servant woman to a mistress.

And because of

G

entile woman, that is: the Torah said [Deuteronomy 7] concerning the seven nations: "You shall not intermarry with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, and his daughter you shall not take for your son. For he will turn your son away from following Me, and they will serve other gods." From the statement of the verse, "for he will turn away," we learned to include all gentile women who turn one away. But when he happens to have intercourse with a gentile woman, there is no Torah prohibition, for the Torah prohibited only the manner of marriage; however, the court of the Hasmoneans decreed that one separate from her because of this prohibition.

And because of

A

dulterous wife [a married woman], if she was married.

But

when Ravin came

from the Land of Israel,

he said:

behold, he is punished on her account

because of nashgaz"

Z

that is:

a menstruant woman, a servant woman, a gentile woman, a prostitute—

but they have no [prohibition] because of marriage,

for an ordinary gentile woman is abandoned, and is not designated for her husband, and does not resemble a married woman.

But the other one,

and the reason for Rav Dimi, who also mentioned a married woman, is because

their wives are certainly not abandoned [

they certainly do not abandon their wives].

Rav Hisda said:

Rav Hisda said:

One who comes to seek counsel—

they do not instruct him

to strike—one who has intercourse with a gentile woman, for this halakha was stated only for one who acts zealously on his own, and does not seek counsel. It is written [Numbers chapter 25]: "Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed to their gods. Israel attached itself to Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel [He sent a plague against them]. The Lord said to Moses, 'Take all the heads of the people [appoint courts for them to judge them in capital cases for the sin of Peor], and hang them [those who worshipped Peor] before the Lord opposite the sun [that is: let them stone them and hang them in full view, for all those who are stoned are hanged], and the anger of the Lord will turn away from Israel.' Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each man, kill his men who attach themselves to Baal Peor.' And behold, a man of the children of Israel [he was Zimri son of Salu, prince of the tribe of Simeon] came and brought the Midianite woman [Cozbi daughter of Zur] to his brothers before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the entire assembly of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw, and arose from among the assembly and took a spear in his hand. He came after the Israelite man into the chamber [into the tent] and pierced them both [because zealous men strike him], the Israelite man and the woman, through her chamber, and the plague was stopped from the children of Israel. Those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand."

It was also stated: Rabbah bar bar Hanna said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: One who comes to seek counsel, they do not instruct him—

And moreover, if Zimri withdrew

from the woman

and Phinehas killed him

after his withdrawal [and not as he killed him at the time of the act, under the law that zealous men strike him], then Phinehas

would be killed on his account.

and Phinehas killed him after he had withdrawn [and not as he killed him during the act, under the law that “zealots strike him”], then Phinehas would be killed for it. And if Zimri turned around and killed Phinehas, he would not

But if

Zimri turned around and killed Phinehas, Zimri would not be

killed

on his account, for

Phinehas

is a pursuer

he is,

and it is permitted to kill him. It is written:

"Moses said to the judges of Israel

Kill each man his men who attach themselves to Baal Peor"; and it is written afterward: "And behold, a man of the children of Israel came..." And this is how the event occurred:

The tribe of Simeon went to

its prince,

Zimri son of Salu,

and

said to him:

said to him:

They are -

the judges of Israel -

judging capital cases, and you sit and remain silent!?

What did

Zimri

do? He stood and gathered twenty-four thousand from Israel,

and went to Cozbi

the daughter of Zur, who was the prince of Midian,

he said to her: "

Make available to me

to commit fornication"!

Cozbi said to him

to Zimri:

I am a king's daughter, and so my father commanded me

"You shall not listen except to the greatest among them"!

He said to her: He too -

he was speaking about himself -

is the prince of a tribe, and moreover, he is greater than he

[that is: I am greater than Moses],

for he

Zimri

came from the second of the womb

that is, Simeon, who was Leah's second son,

whereas he

Moses

came from the third of the womb

that is, Levi, who was Leah's third son.

Zimri seized

Cozbi

by her forelock, and brought her before Moses,

and

said to him: Son of Amram! Is this woman forbidden or permitted?

And if you say: "

She is forbidden

to me,"

Jethro's daughter -

who was a gentile woman -

who permitted her to you!?

The halakha was concealed from him

from Moses

the halakha

that had been said to him at Sinai: "One who has relations with a gentile woman, zealots strike him" -

They all burst into weeping, and this is what is written: "

And they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting."

And it is written: "

And Phinehas son of Eleazar saw,

and he stood from among the assembly and took a spear in his hand":

What did he see?

And the amoraim disputed this matter:

Rav said: He saw an act and remembered the halakha; he said to him

Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron said to Moses:

My father's father's brother

Moses was the brother of Aaron, Phinehas's paternal grandfather! And is it not

thus that you taught me when you descended from Sinai: One who has relations with a gentile woman, zealots strike

him!?

Moses said to him

Moses said to Phinehas:

The reader of the letter—let him be the messenger

that is: since you mentioned the halakha, you go and carry it out!

And Samuel said: He saw,

that is: Phinehas remembered the verse that says

that "

There is no wisdom, no understanding, and no counsel against the Lord,"

and we learn:

Wherever there is profanation of the Name -

so that those who see should not see and learn to permit the gentile woman -

one does not accord honor to a teacher

[to Moses], and therefore he issued a halakhic ruling in the presence of his teacher and did not wait to obtain permission from Moses.

Rabbi Isaac said

[he interpreted it in the name of]

Rabbi Eleazar: He saw that an angel had come and was destroying among the people.

It is written: "

And he rose

[Phinehas]

from among the assembly

[the Sanhedrin, who were the leaders of the people and the judges of Israel who judged the people concerning the sin of Peor]

and took a spear in his hand,"

from here -

from what the verse said, "And he rose and took"

it

it implies: until now the spear had not been in his hand -

that they do not enter the beit-midrash with weapons

the place where the Sanhedrin sat.

He drew out

Phinehas

its blade,

that is: the spear was made of a blade inserted into wood, and in order that they should not realize that he was going to kill, Phinehas drew the blade out of the wood,

and placed it in his onkelo,

he concealed it beneath his garment,

and

Phinehas came to Zimri when he was

leaning and walking on his staff

[on the wood of the spear after its blade had been removed], so that the members of his tribe, the tribe of Simeon, should not recognize that he had come to kill.