Sanhedrin 93a (צג.) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

The righteous are greater than the ministering angels ,

as Scripture mentioned them before the angel.

As it is stated: “He answered and said [

Nebuchadnezzar]:

‘Behold, I see four men unbound, walking within the fire, and no injury is in them; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.’”]] [

I saw four men released from their bonds, walking within the fire, and there is no injury in them; and the appearance of the fourth is like an angel of God].

Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai said: When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah emerged from the fiery furnace, all

the nations of the world

—slapped the enemies of Israel [

This is an appellation for Israel]

in the face. They said to them: You have such a God,

who saves you from the fire,

and yet you bow down to an idol?!

Immediately

Israel

began and said: “To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us shamefacedness, as it is this day” .

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “I said, I will ascend the palm tree; I will grasp its branches”?

“I said, I will ascend the palm tree”—

these are Israel,

who were compared to a palm tree . For initially I thought that there would be many righteous people among them.

But now I have succeeded in raising only one branch, that of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among

the myrtles that were in the ravine, etc.”?

What is the meaning of “I saw in the night”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to turn the entire world into night,

because they had bowed to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol.

“And behold, a man riding”—the man

is none other than the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His Name.” “Upon a red horse”—the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to turn the entire world into blood.

Once

the Holy One, blessed be He, looked

at Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

who gave over their lives and did not bow to the idol—

His anger was assuaged.

As it is stated: “And he stood among the myrtles that were in the ravine.” And “myrtles”

means none other than the righteous

as it is stated: “And he raised

Mordecai

Hadassah,”

and Hadassah is the righteous Esther .

And “the ravine”

means none other than Babylonia, as it is stated: “Who says to the deep: Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers” .

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, restrained Himself from His anger, on account of the myrtles, namely the righteous, who were in the ravine, in Babylonia.

Immediately, when they were full of wrath—

they became reddish [

colored ],

and

afterward

red—

they became white ,

when the Holy One, blessed be He, looked at the righteous and His anger subsided.

Rav Pappa said:

From the fact that Scripture states that a red horse is a sign of calamity,

infer

that

a white horse—

is beneficial for a dream [

one who sees a white horse in his dream has a favorable sign ].

The Gemara now returns to discuss the matter of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

And the Sages:

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

where did they go [

where did they go after emerging from the furnace? For they are not mentioned again in Scripture ]?

Rav said: Because of the evil eye,

as people stared at them in astonishment because they had emerged safely from the furnace—

they died.

And Shmuel said: In

that

spittle

that the nations of the world spat when they said: “You have such a God, and yet you bow to an idol?!”—in that spittle

they sank .

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

In truth, they did not die afterward; rather,

they ascended to Eretz Yisrael, married, and had sons and daughters.

The matter of what happened to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah afterward is

a dispute among tannaim [

It is a dispute among tannaim], as we learned in a beraita:

Rabbi Eliezer says: They died because of the evil eye.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: They sank in the spittle.

And the Sages say: They ascended to Eretz Yisrael, married, and had sons and daughters. As it is stated: “Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you, for they are men of wonder.”

Who are the men for whom a wonder was performed?

You must say: These are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah .

This proves that afterward they returned to Eretz Yisrael and were with Joshua the high priest.

And Daniel,

whom we do not find to have been cast into the fiery furnace with them,

where did he go [

where did he go, where was he] when his companions were cast in?

Rav said: To dig [

to dig]

a great river in Tiberias .

And Shmuel said:

Nebuchadnezzar sent him

to bring

from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia

alfalfa seed [

to bring seed of a plant that serves as animal fodder] .

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

Nebuchadnezzar sent him

to bring pigs [

to bring pigs]

from Alexandria in Egypt,

which were large and superior, in order to raise them in Babylonia and breed them. And we raise an objection:

Is that so?

Was it possible to bring pigs fit for breeding from Egypt?

But it was taught

with regard to what Rabbi Tarfon said, that an animal whose womb has been removed is a tereifa, as it cannot survive: An incident came before the Sages, and they permitted it, because

Theodosius the physician said: No cow or sow leaves Alexandria in Egypt without its womb being cut out, so that it should not give birth

and become prevalent in other places. Yet they live afterward, proving that an animal does not become a tereifa merely because it lacks a womb!

In any event, no sow leaves Egypt before its womb is cut out. How, then, did Daniel bring pigs from there in order to breed them?

We answer: Daniel

brought small ones, without their knowledge [

He took small pigs out of there, and therefore the Egyptians did not realize that his intention was to breed them; they allowed him to take them out without cutting out their wombs ].

The Sages taught: Three were involved in that plan

that Daniel should not be there:

the Holy One, blessed be He; Daniel; and Nebuchadnezzar.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Daniel leave here,

so that they should not say that they were saved in his merit [

so that they would not say that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were saved in his merit].

And Daniel said: Let me leave here, so that the verse “You shall burn their graven images in fire” should not be fulfilled through me.

Because Nebuchadnezzar had made Daniel into a god and bowed to him, Daniel feared that this verse would be fulfilled through him, the verse that commands the burning of the gods of the nations in fire.

And Nebuchadnezzar said: Let Daniel leave here, so that they should not say that he burned his god in the fire.

Since he served Daniel and bowed to him, he feared that Daniel might be burned in the fire, and they would say that he had burned his god.

And from where

do we know

that he bowed to him [

that he bowed to him]?

As it is written: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and bowed to Daniel, etc.”

It is written:

“So said the Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy to you falsely in My Name, etc.” And

it is also

written: “And he shall take from them a curse for all the exile of Judah that is in Babylonia, saying: May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia burned in fire.”

“Whom the king of Babylonia burned

in fire”—

it does not say this, but rather, “whom he roasted.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: This teaches that he made them like roasted ears of grain [

stalks singed in fire ].

It is further written there that the reason they were burned in fire was:

“Because they have committed disgrace in Israel and committed adultery with the wives of their fellows.”

What did they do [

what did Ahab and Zedekiah do]?

They went to the daughter [

they went to his daughter]

of Nebuchadnezzar.

Ahab said to her: So said the Lord: Submit to Zedekiah [

for immorality]!

And Zedekiah said: So said the Lord: Submit to Ahab!

She went [

she went]

and told her father

Nebuchadnezzar what they had said.

He said to her:

It is impossible that they had truly prophesied this from Heaven, for

their God hates sexual immorality!

Rather,

when they come to you—

send them to me [

when they come to you again, send them to me].

When they came to her, she sent them to her father [

when they came to her, she sent them to her father].

He said to them

Nebuchadnezzar:

Who told you [

who told you] the things that you said to my daughter?

They said

to him:

The Holy One, blessed be He,

told us.

He said to them:

But I asked Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

whether it was permitted to do such a thing,

and they told me: It is forbidden!

They said to him: We too are prophets like them [

we too are prophets like them].

For them [

for them]—He

did not say

to them

the Holy One, blessed be He.

For us [

for us]—He

said it to us.

He said to them: I wish to test you [

I want to test you],

just as I tested Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

whom I cast into the fiery furnace and who were saved.

They said to him: They were three, whereas we are two [

they were three righteous men, whereas we are only two].

He said to them: Choose for yourselves whoever you wish to be with you [

choose someone else to be cast with you into the furnace].

They said

to him: Let

Joshua the high priest be cast with us.

Because

they thought: Let Joshua come, for his merits are abundant, and he will protect us [

let Joshua come; because his merits are abundant, he will protect us].

They brought him and cast them [

they brought him and cast them] into the furnace.

They were burned [

they, Ahab and Zedekiah, were burned]. But

Joshua the high priest—

his garments were singed [

his garments were scorched].

As it is stated: “And he showed me Joshua

the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, etc.” And it is

written

later: “And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke you, etc.

Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” This indicates that Joshua was like a brand that had been scorched by fire.

He said to him

Nebuchadnezzar said to Joshua:

I know that you are righteous [

I know that you are righteous].

But why did the fire affect you slightly [

why did the fire affect you slightly, scorching your garments], whereas

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—

it did not affect them

at all

?

He said to him

Joshua said:

They were three,

and their merits were abundant,

whereas I was one [

they were three righteous men when they were cast in, whereas I was only one, since Ahab and Zedekiah, who were with me, were wicked].

He said to him

Nebuchadnezzar said:

But Abraham was alone

when Nimrod cast him into the fiery furnace, and he was not harmed at all!

Joshua said to him:

There, there were no wicked men with him, and permission was not granted to the fire [

there were no wicked men with him, and the fire was not permitted to cause harm]. Here, however,

here,

because

there were wicked men with me—

and permission was granted to the fire [

there were wicked men with me, and permission was granted to the fire] .

This is what people say [

this is the saying of the people]:

Two dry brands and one moist one—

the dry ones burn the moist one [

two dry brands and one moist one: the dry ones burn the moist one].

In truth, the reason Joshua gave Nebuchadnezzar for his garments having been scorched was merely a rejection with which he fended him off; this was not the real reason.

Therefore the Gemara asks:

For what reason was Joshua punished

when his garments were scorched?

Rav Pappa said:

because

his sons married women unfit for the priesthood, and he did not protest.

As it is stated: “And Joshua was wearing filthy garments.”

This is puzzling:

Was it Joshua’s practice to wear filthy garments?

Rather, this teaches that his sons married women unfit for the priesthood, and he did not protest .

Rabbi Tanhum said: Bar Kappara taught in Tzippori: What is the meaning of that which is written

concerning Ruth, who said to her mother-in-law after she had gleaned in the field of Boaz:

“He gave me these six measures.” What is the meaning of “these six measures”?

If you say that it means six

barley

kernels themselves, is it Boaz’s practice to give a gift

only

of six barley kernels?

But we learned in tractate Peah that one does not give a poor person at the threshing floor less than half a kav of barley!