Sanhedrin 90a — the Talmud in English

The

dispute of the Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon concerning a prophet who incited, whether his punishment is stoning or strangulation, applies only when he incited to worship idolatry.

And two ways were stated concerning this:

1.

When uprooting

the entire

substance of idolatry,

meaning that he says that he was commanded through the holy spirit, from the mouth of the Almighty, to prophesy to uproot the entire prohibition of idolatry from the Torah.

2.

And

in

maintaining part and nullifying part of idolatry,

when he prophesies to uproot even only part of the prohibition of idolatry.

And specifically concerning idolatry do the Rabbis hold that his punishment is stoning, because the passage concerning a prophet who incited speaks only of idolatry, as it is said: “Let us follow other gods, which you have not known, and let us worship them.”

And this verse speaks when he uproots the entire substance of idolatry.

But if he uproots only part, we learn

that the Merciful One said at the end of that passage [there]: “To lead you astray from the way that the Lord your God commanded you.”

at the end of that passage: “To lead you away from the path that the Lord your God commanded you.”

And we expound: “

from the way” —

even part

of

the way,

for even if he prophesied to nullify only part of the prohibition of idolatry, he is liable to stoning.

But when uprooting the substance of other mitzvot,

if he prophesies to uproot even one complete mitzva from among the other mitzvot,

everyone agrees that he receives strangulation.

Because the other mitzvot belong to another passage, concerning a prophet who prophesies what he did not hear. And there the expression “incitement” was not stated, so that we could learn a gzera shava from an inciter, whose punishment is stoning; rather, it is stated: “And that prophet shall die,” and an unspecified death is strangulation.

And maintaining part and nullifying part of the other mitzvot,

if he prophesied to uproot only part of a mitzva among the other mitzvot,

everyone agrees that he is exempt,

even from strangulation.

Because in this passage, concerning one who prophesies what he did not hear, it is stated: “But the prophet who presumptuously speaks a word in My name, that which I have not commanded him to speak.”

And we expound: “a word” means a complete word, but not half a word; concerning half of a mitzva, he is not punished at all with death.

Rav Hamnuna raised an objection:

It was taught in a beraita: It is stated in the passage concerning a prophet who incited: “To lead you astray from the way that the Lord your God commanded you to walk in.”

And we expound from the redundant words “to walk in it”: “

To walk” —

this is a positive mitzva,

for “to walk” implies doing through positive action. “

a positive commandment, because “to follow” implies actively carrying something out.

In it” —

this is a negative mitzva [which is learned through a gzera shava from what is stated concerning a sin-offering: “in which he sinned,” which speaks of a negative mitzva].

this refers to

And if it enters your mind

that the entire passage concerning a prophet who incited speaks only

of idolatry,

then how can

a positive mitzva, with regard to idolatry, be found?

Rather, it certainly also speaks of the other mitzvot?

And the Gemara answers:

Rav Ḥisda explained it:

It is possible that in idolatry there is the positive mitzva [there]: “

And you shall demolish

their altars,” which the false prophet prophesied to uproot.

Rav Hamnuna said: The dispute

between the Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon is

when uprooting

the entire

substance

of the mitzva,

both with regard to idolatry and with regard to the other mitzvot,

because the passage concerning a prophet who incited also speaks of the other mitzvot, as is proven by the fact that we expound “to walk” as referring to a positive mitzva. And Rav Hamnuna did not find Rav Ḥisda’s answer plausible, namely, that it refers to the mitzva of “And you shall demolish.”

And

likewise they dispute concerning

maintaining part and nullifying part of idolatry,

when he prophesied to uproot only part of the prohibitions of idolatry, because

the Merciful One said: “

From the way” —

even part of the way.

But this verse still speaks only of idolatry, because “to walk” [from which the other mitzvot are learned] was stated only afterward; and it does not speak of uprooting part of the mitzva, but rather in accordance with the meaning of the verse, “to walk in it,” namely, that he uproots the entire mitzva.

But maintaining part and nullifying part of the other mitzvot, everyone agrees that he is exempt

entirely.

The Sages taught: One who prophesies to uproot a matter from the Torah is liable.

And if he prophesied

to maintain part and nullify part

of the other mitzvot,

Rabbi Shimon exempts him.

And with regard to idolatry, even

to nullify only part, for example, when he

says: Today worship it,

the idolatry,

and tomorrow nullify it,

you shall nullify the idolatry,

everyone agrees that he is liable.

And the amoraim disagreed as to how to interpret this beraita:

Abaye adopts the position of Rav Ḥisda

with regard to explaining the dispute between the Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon,

and

therefore

explains it

—the beraita—

in accordance with Rav Ḥisda.

Rava adopts the position of Rav Hamnuna, and

therefore

explains it in accordance with Rav Hamnuna.

Abaye adopts the position of Rav Ḥisda and explains it in accordance with Rav Ḥisda:

“One who prophesies to uproot a matter from the Torah”

means that he uproots the entire substance among the other mitzvot, and therefore

everyone agrees that he receives strangulation,

even according to the Rabbis, for the passage concerning a prophet who incited, whose punishment is stoning, speaks only of idolatry, whereas the other mitzvot belong to the passage concerning one who prophesies what he did not hear, whose punishment is strangulation.

“To maintain part and nullify part”

among the other mitzvot,

Rabbi Shimon exempts him

entirely,

and the same is true of the Rabbis,

for only a complete “word,” and not half a word, is included.

And with regard to idolatry, even if he said, “Today worship it and tomorrow nullify it,” he is liable

to death.

With which death?

Each according to his position, and each according to his position:

According to the Rabbis, he is liable to stoning because of a prophet who incited. And according to Rabbi Shimon, he is liable to strangulation, in accordance with the law of a prophet who incited according to his position.

Rava adopts the position of Rav Hamnuna and explains it in accordance with Rav Hamnuna:

“One who prophesies to uproot a matter from the Torah”

means that he uproots the entire substance,

whether with regard to idolatry

or

whether with regard to the other mitzvot, he is liable

to death.

Each according to his position, and each according to his position:

According to the Rabbis, he is liable to stoning because of a prophet who incited; and according to Rabbi Shimon, he is liable to strangulation, in accordance with the law of a prophet who incited according to his position.

“To maintain part and nullify part among the other mitzvot, Rabbi Shimon exempts him”

entirely,

and the same is true of the Rabbis,

for “to walk in it” implies that he uproots the entire mitzva.

And with regard to idolatry, even if he says

to him,

“Today worship it and tomorrow nullify it,” he is liable

to death.

Each according to his position, and each according to his position:

According to the Rabbis, he is liable to stoning, and according to Rabbi Shimon, he is liable to strangulation.

Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: With regard to every

matter in the Torah,

if a prophet says to you

who is established as a true prophet:

Transgress the words of the Torah

because it is necessary for the moment, such as Elijah the prophet on Mount Carmel, who said to transgress the prohibition against slaughtering outside [the Temple],

listen to him!

Except for idolatry, for even if

he

causes the sun to stand for you in the middle of the firmament

and says to you: Worship idolatry,

do not listen to him!

It was taught: Rabbi Yosei the Galilean says: The Torah reached the ultimate understanding of idolatry,

that it has the power to alter nature.

Therefore the Torah granted it authority,

meaning

even

if you see that the prophet who says to worship idolatry exercises authority and does as he wishes, for example, that he

causes the sun to stand for you in the middle of the firmament,

as it is stated [there]: “And he will give you a sign or a wonder,”

do not listen to him!

It was taught: Rabbi Akiva said: Heaven forbid that the Holy One, blessed be He, causes the sun to stand for those who transgress His will,

for it is impossible that a false prophet should be able to cause the sun to stand in the middle of the firmament.

Rather,

what is stated, “And he will give you a sign or a wonder,” means

such as Hananiah son of Azzur, who from the beginning

was

a true prophet, but in the end

became

a false prophet.

And here too, it speaks of a case in which the prophet gave the sign concerning another prophecy while he was still a true prophet, and afterward, when he became a false prophet, he says to worship idolatry on the basis of that sign by which he had been established as a true prophet.

We learned in the Mishna:

And the conspiring witnesses concerning the daughter of a koen.

And the Gemara asks:

From where are these matters

that the conspiring witnesses concerning the daughter of a koen are judged by the death of the adulterer and not by her death?

Rav Aḥa, son of Rav Ika, said: As it was taught: Rabbi Yosei says: What is the meaning of the verse [Deuteronomy 19:19] “

[Deuteronomy 19:19]:

And you shall do to him as he intended to do to his brother”?

For it would have sufficed for it to write only “as he intended,” so why was “to his brother” written?

Rather,

since all

the

conspiring witnesses in the Torah,

their conspirators and their adulterers are like them,

meaning: since in every case the adulterers are judged by the same death as the woman with whom they had intercourse, then certainly the conspiring witnesses too are punished by the same death that they intended for them.

But

the daughter of a koen

who committed adultery, for the law is that only

she is burned, while her adulterer is not burned,

from now, concerning the

conspiring witnesses, I do not know

by which death to make them liable.

If they are equated with him,

so that they are made liable for the death that they intended for him, namely strangulation.

If they are equated with her,

and they are made liable for burning, as they intended for her?

When it says “

to do to his brother,”

we learn:

“To his brother” —

but not to his sister!

For wherever the witnesses come to make a man and a woman liable through their testimony, and the law of the man differs from that of the woman, they are made liable for the death of the man and not for the death of the woman.

We have completed the chapter “These are the ones who are strangled.”

Introduction

Rambam wrote And all these matters [the matters of the war of Gog and Magog and the days of the Messiah], and the like, no person knows how they will be—until they will be, for they are matters concealed from the prophets; even the Sages have no tradition concerning these matters, אלא according to the determination of the verses, and therefore they have disagreement concerning these matters. In any event, the arrangement of the occurrence of these matters and their details are not the principal matter in religion, and a person should never occupy himself with matters of the aggadot, nor prolong [his study of] the midrashim stated concerning these matters and the like, nor make them primary, for they do not bring either to fear or to love. And likewise, he should not calculate the end, for the Sages said [below in our chapter]: ‘May the spirit of those who calculate the ends expire’; rather, he should wait and believe in the general matter as we have explained.”

Nevertheless, since the chapter before us deals [among other things] with many of the matters that will occur at the end of days, it is therefore appropriate to precede it by bringing in brief the principal events of the end of days mentioned in our chapter, or belonging to what is mentioned in our chapter.

And these are:

A. The war of Gog and Magog [and the coming of Elijah the prophet].

B. The coming of the Messiah. C. The resurrection of the dead, the destruction of the world, and the World to Come.

A.

The war of Gog and Magog.

Rambam wrote

Before the war of Gog and Magog, a prophet will arise to straighten Israel and prepare their hearts, as it is stated: ‘Behold, I am sending you Elijah, etc.’ And he comes, etc., only to establish peace in the world, as it is stated: ‘And he shall restore the heart of fathers to sons.’

And there are among the Sages those who say that before the coming of the Messiah, Elijah will come.”

It is written in the Book of Ezekiel [chapter 38]: “And it shall be on that day, on the day of the coming of Gog upon the soil of Israel, says the Lord God, my wrath shall rise in My anger; and in My jealousy, in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: if there shall not be a great earthquake upon the soil of Israel; and the fish of the sea and the bird of the heavens and the beast of the field shall quake, etc.; and the mountains shall be overthrown and the steps shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.”

The principal matter of this war is that a king whose name is “Gog” [and the name of his kingdom is “Magog”] will come and gather all the kingdoms to go up to war against Jerusalem.

That army will ultimately succeed in conquering Jerusalem, as it is stated in Zechariah [14:2]: “And I shall gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war, and the city shall be captured and the houses shall be plundered, etc.”

Afterward, the Lord will fight them from the heavens, as it is stated in the Book of Ezekiel [38:22]: “And I shall contend with him with pestilence and with blood, and flooding rain and hailstones, fire and sulfur I shall rain upon him and upon his wings and upon the many peoples who are with him.”

And the nations themselves will also kill one another, as it is stated [Ezekiel 38:21]: “The sword of each man shall be against his brother.”

Rambam wrote that this war will be at the beginning of the days of the Messiah. But in Midrash Rabbah it is stated that the war will be before the coming of the Messiah.

B.

The coming of the Messiah

At first, Messiah son of Joseph will come, and he will be killed during the war of Gog and Magog .

After him, Messiah son of David will come .

The Messiah will restore the kingdom of the House of David to its former state. He will build the Temple, gather the dispersed of Israel, and all the laws will return in his days as they were before the destruction of the Temple. That is to say, they will offer sacrifices, observe sabbatical years and Jubilee years, and the like.

There are signs proving concerning a person that he is the Messiah, as Rambam wrote [chapter 11 of the Laws of Kings]: “He meditates on Torah and engages in mitzvot like David his father, etc., and wages the wars of the Lord, etc. But if he did and succeeded and built the Temple in its place and gathered the dispersed of Israel, behold, this one is certainly the Messiah.”

Likewise, it is brought in our chapter that the Messiah will be “one who smells and judges”—that he will be able to judge and determine the law on the basis of smell.

C.

The days of the Messiah.

Samuel said

There is no difference between this world and the days of the Messiah, except for the subjugation to kingdoms. That is, there will be no change in the days of the Messiah from the conduct of the world according to the way of nature.

But the world will return to its state before the sin of Adam the first man. Therefore, although we said that there will be nothing new under the sun in the days of the Messiah, nevertheless we find in the words of the Sages wondrous things that will be in those days. For example: “

And the earth shall give its produce”—not in the manner in which it does now, but in the manner in which it did in the days of Adam the first man: on the day on which it was sown, on that very day it produced fruit.

All the barren trees in the Land of Israel will in the future bear fruit.

The Land of Israel will in the future produce baked bread and striped garments. And other things like these.

And in the prophecy of Isaiah it is stated: “And a wolf shall dwell with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid” .

There are those who say that in those days Moses and Aaron will arise for resurrection, to instruct the people in the way in which they should go, and then they will give tithes to Aaron. And there are those who say that together with them the righteous who awaited the redemption will also arise.

The benefit in those days is that Israel will be free to engage in Torah and its wisdom, so that they may merit the life of the World to Come .

In the chapter before us several opinions are brought concerning how long the days of the Messiah will last. There are those who say forty years, and there are those who say seventy years, and still other opinions.

C.

The resurrection of the dead,

the destruction of the world in the seventh millennium,

and the World to Come.

We have already brought above that there are those who say there will be one resurrection at the beginning of the days of the Messiah, in which Moses, Aaron, and the righteous of Israel will arise.

Afterward, there will be a general resurrection, for all Israel who merit it . And the purpose of that resurrection is to give recompense to the body together with the soul, as they were before their death, for the good they did in this world . And the Ran wrote that the time of the resurrection of the dead is after the days of the Messiah have ended. That is, according to the view [brought above] that the days of the Messiah will last forty years, the resurrection of the dead will be after forty years from the time of the coming of the Messiah. And similarly in other cases. The early authorities disagreed concerning the matter of the resurrection of the dead: whether that state which will exist at the resurrection of the dead, in which the soul is within the body, will continue forever , and this is in fact the World to Come.

Or whether afterward the soul will separate from the body to the world of souls and receive its reward there. And this is the World to Come. Concerning that time the Sages said: “The righteous sit, with their crowns upon their heads, and enjoy the radiance of the Divine Presence” .

In the Gemara later in the chapter it is brought: “Rav Katina said: Six thousand years the world exists, and one [thousand] it is desolate. As it is stated: ‘And the Lord alone shall be exalted on that day.’” And simply, the intention is the period between the days of the Messiah and the World to Come, as will be explained there.

Concerning the explanation of that destruction, there are several approaches:

There are those who say that the world will be destroyed until it will be in the state preceding creation, tohu va-vohu. And there are those who say that the intention is not at all the destruction of the world, but that the evil inclination will be destroyed and nullified. And there are those who say that the intention is not a millennium additional to the six thousand years of this world. Rather, one of those millennia—that is, the sixth millennium—will contain many calamities and troubles. And we find another approach that indeed the world will be destroyed, but this will not be in the seventh millennium; rather, in the fiftieth millennium, which is a Jubilee. Until then, in every seventh millennium the world will be destroyed by one-seventh of the destruction, until in the fiftieth year the world will return to tohu va-vohu, as it was before creation.

Mishna:

All

the people of

Israel

have

a share

in the World to Come

. As it is stated: “And your people, all of them righteous, shall inherit the land forever,

the branch of My planting

the work of My hands, to be glorified.” That is, all of Your people—even the sinners, after they have received their punishment and have been put to death by the four modes of execution—they are righteous, and will inherit the World to Come .

And these

are

those who have no share in the World to Come

A.

One who says

that

there is no resurrection of the dead from the Torah [that is, one who says that there is no allusion to the resurrection of the dead from the Torah, although he admits that there will indeed be a resurrection of the dead] .

B.

And

one who says that

there is no Torah from Heaven.

C.

And an epikoros [in the Gemara it will be explained who an epikoros is] .

Rabbi Akiva says: Even one who reads the external books [in the Gemara it will be explained what the external books are] has no share in the World to Come.

And

likewise

one who whispers over a wound and says: “All the illness that I placed upon Egypt I shall not place upon you, for I am the Lord your healer,”

has no share in the World to Come .

Abba Shaul says: Even one who pronounces

the

Name by its letters.

For it is forbidden to pronounce the Name as it is written; rather, one must say it in the language of lordship .

Three kings

who ruled over Israel,

and

likewise

four commoners

who were in Israel—

they have no share in the World to Come.

And these are those

three kings:

Jeroboam,

Ahab,

and Manasseh.

Rabbi Judah

disagrees with the first tanna and

says: Manasseh—

has a share in the World to Come. As it is stated: “And he prayed to Him, and He received his entreaty and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom,

and Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.”

They said to him: “To his kingdom”

indeed

He brought him back,

the Holy One, blessed is He, for this is the meaning of the verse: “And He brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom.” But—

He did not bring him back to the life of the World to Come.

And these are

four

the

commoners

who have no share in the World to Come:

Balaam,

and Doeg,

and Ahithophel,

and Gehazi.

And in the Gemara it will be explained from where we know that those kings and commoners have no share in the World to Come.

Gemara: And we raise an objection concerning it:

The Gemara asks:

And why so much?

That is, what is so severe about one who says that there is no resurrection of the dead from the Torah, that his punishment is that he will not live in the future?

And we say:

A tanna

[thus we learned in a beraita]:

He denied the resurrection of the dead; therefore he will have no share in the resurrection of the dead,

and he will not come to the life of the World to Come.

For all the attributes of the Holy One, blessed is He,

are measure for measure

.

For Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: From where is it derived that all the measures of the Holy One, blessed be He, are measure for measure

?

As it is stated

when the king of Aram besieged Samaria, and there was a great famine in the land

: “And Elisha said: Hear the word of the Lord, etc.: At this time tomorrow, a se’a of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two se’a of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.”

That is, instead of the land having been in extreme famine until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty silver coins, there would be such great abundance that a se’a of fine flour would be sold for a shekel.

And it is written: “And the officer upon whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said

[that is, the officer upon whose hand the king leaned]

‘Behold, if the Lord would make windows in the heavens, could this thing be?’”

That is, the officer said mockingly to the prophet: Even if the Lord were to make windows in the heavens and send wheat and barley through them onto the earth, could such a thing possibly happen?

And the prophet answered him

: “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes

but you shall not eat from it.”

That is, you will see that this cheapness will indeed come about, but you will not eat from it, because you will die immediately.