Sanhedrin 94b — the Talmud in English

But

Sennacherib, who blasphemed ![](pamud.bmp "

Exact page location")

through a messenger,

and there is greater degradation in this -

He punished

also

the Almighty through a messenger,

and he was humiliated even more.

Pharaoh,

who blasphemed himself,

as it is written concerning him,

that he said:

“Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice?”

The Almighty punished him himself. As it is written: “And the Lord shook off Egypt in the midst of the sea,” and it is written: “You trod through the sea with Your horses, etc.”

Sennacherib,

who blasphemed through a messenger,

as it is written: “By the hand of your messengers you blasphemed the Lord”

through your messengers you blasphemed the Lord],

the Almighty punished through a messenger.

As it is written: “And an angel of the Lord went out and struck in the camp of Assyria one hundred and eighty-five thousand, etc.”

Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa raises a contradiction: It is written

in the continuation of that verse above, “By the hand of your messengers you blasphemed the Lord,” that Sennacherib said in his heart: “And I shall come

to the height of its end.”

And “height” signifies the Temple, as it is written in the Book of Jeremiah: “The height from the beginning, the place of our Sanctuary.”

But

if in the Book of Kings

it is written

in a different wording: “And I shall come

to its lodging place,”

which signifies the dwelling above, that is, the lodging place of the Almighty.

Thus

that wicked man said [

Sennacherib]:

First I shall destroy the dwelling below,

the Temple,

and afterward I shall destroy the dwelling above.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written,

that Sennacherib said:

“Now, is it apart from the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land and destroy it”?

What is it?

And did the Almighty command Sennacherib to destroy the Land of Israel?

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi explains:

For Sennacherib heard

the

prophet

saying: “Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah.”

Rav Joseph said: Had it not been for

the translation of this verse [

had the translation of this verse not been before us],

we would not have known what it says [

we would not have known what it means].

And this is the translation of the verse:

“Because this people has become disgusted with the kingdom of the House of David, which leads them gently, like the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and they favored Rezin and the son of Remaliah” [

because this people became disgusted with the kingdom of the House of David, which led them gently, like the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and chose the kingdom of Rezin and the son of Remaliah ].

And since the son of Remaliah was mentioned, the Gemara interrupts the matter in the middle and brings something concerning Pekah son of Remaliah:

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous”?

“The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked” [

“curse” is an expression of cursing]—

this is Pekah son of Remaliah, who would eat forty seahs of doves as dessert after a meal,

and nevertheless was not satiated, because there was a curse in his food.

“But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous”—

this is Hezekiah, king of Judah, who would eat

only

a litra of vegetables at a meal [

so little that he would even eat vegetables by measure], and nevertheless was satiated by it, because there was a blessing in his food.

And now the Gemara returns to the matter with which we began, in answer to Rabbi Joshua ben Levi’s question: Where did the Almighty command Sennacherib to destroy the Land of Israel?

And it is written in the continuation of the verse above [“Because this people has rejected, etc.”]:

“Therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the mighty and abundant waters of the river, the king of Assyria.” And it is written: “And he shall pass through Judah, he shall overflow and pass through; he shall reach up to the neck.”

If so, the prophet indeed prophesied that the king of Assyria would come against Israel!

Rather, for what reason was Sennacherib punished,

if he did according to the words of the prophet?

And we explain:

The prophet—

he prophesied concerning the Ten Tribes [

he prophesied that concerning the Ten Tribes],

that the king of Assyria would exile them.

But

he,

Sennacherib,

set his mind [

directed his mind]

toward all of Jerusalem

to destroy it and exile it.

A prophet came and said to him

when he came against Jerusalem:

“For there is no weariness to the one who is oppressed by it.” Rabbi Elazar bar Berechiah said,

this is the intention of the verse:

The people

of Hezekiah, which is

a people weary in Torah [

who toil in Torah to the point of weariness],

is not delivered

into the hand of the one who oppresses it [

Sennacherib]. What is the meaning of “At first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but afterward he grievously afflicted the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the nations”?

Not like the first ones,

the Ten Tribes,

who lightened from themselves the yoke of Torah [

and this is what is stated: “At first he lightly afflicted, etc.”].

But the latter ones,

the generation of Hezekiah,

who made the yoke of Torah heavy upon themselves [

and this is what is stated: “But afterward he grievously afflicted”],

were worthy that a miracle be performed for them like those who crossed the sea and like those who crossed the Jordan [

and this is what is stated: “The way of the sea, beyond the Jordan”].

The Almighty said:

If he retracts

Sennacherib—

good. And if not—

I shall make him a rolling object among the nations [

so that he will be rolled about in disgrace among all the nations] .

It is written:

“After these words and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, entered Judah, encamped against the fortified cities, and said to breach them for himself.”

The Gemara now understands that “after these words and this faithfulness” refers to Hezekiah, for he and his generation were engaged in Torah. And then Sennacherib came, entered Judah, and said to breach it.

The Gemara wonders:

Is this a small offering for such a great lord [

does one bring such a gift to such a lord ]]? That is to say, was Sennacherib coming against them because Hezekiah was so righteous?!

Rather, this is the explanation of the verse:

“After these words and this faithfulness”—what does “after” mean?

After which matter?

Ravina said: After the Almighty hastened and swore [

and this is the “faithfulness” stated in the verse, for the seal and permanence of the Almighty are truth ] the oath below.

And

the Almighty

said: If I say to Hezekiah, “I shall bring Sennacherib against him and deliver him into your hand,” [

if I say to Hezekiah that I shall bring Sennacherib against him and deliver him into his hand],

he will now say: I do not want him, and I do not want his fear [

he will now say to Me: I do not desire to defeat him, nor do I desire the fear of him ]].

Immediately the Almighty hastened and swore: “I shall bring him,” [

that I shall bring him].

As it is stated: “The Lord of Hosts has sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be; and as I have counseled, so shall it stand: to break Assyria in My land, and upon My mountains I shall trample him; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden shall depart from his shoulder.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Almighty said: Let Sennacherib and his faction come and make a feeding trough for Hezekiah and his faction [

this is the expression “I shall trample him.” That is, they would all be dead corpses, and Israel would feed their horses and animals from the bones of the corpses, like a feeding trough ].

It is written:

“And it shall be on that day that his burden shall depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of oil.” Rabbi Isaac Nappaḥa said: The yoke of Sennacherib was destroyed [

the yoke of Sennacherib, which he wished to impose upon Israel, was ruined and broken]—

because of the oil of Hezekiah, which burned in the synagogues and in the houses of study

during the hours of darkness, so that they could study Torah .

What did

Hezekiah

do? He drove a sword into the entrance of the house of study and said: Anyone who is not engaged in Torah—

shall be pierced by this sword!

They searched from Dan to Beersheba and did not find an ignoramus.

They searched

from Gevat to Antipras [

these are places on the border of the Land of Israel],

and they did not find a boy or girl, a man or woman, who was not expert in the laws of ritual impurity and purity.

And concerning that generation it says: “And it shall be on that day that a man shall preserve a young cow and two sheep, etc.”

For so little livestock would suffice for a person.

And it says: “And it shall be on that day that every place where there are a thousand vines worth a thousand silver coins shall be for briers and thorns.”

And this is the explanation of the verse:

Although a thousand vines are worth a thousand silver coins,

for the vines were extremely valuable, since they had few vines, and one who worked in vineyards would earn much, nevertheless—

it shall be for briers and thorns

the vineyard. For Israel left their vineyards desolate and engaged in Torah.

It is written:

“And you shall gather your spoil as the gathering of the locust

as the gathering of pools, it swarms therein.”

The prophet said to Israel: Gather your spoil [

the spoil of Sennacherib’s army, all of whom had fallen as dead corpses].

They said to him,

Israel to the prophet:

To plunder,

each for himself,

or to divide

the entire spoil equally among everyone?

He said to them:

Divide the spoil

like the gathering of the locust.

As the locust gathers its food [the locust is a species of grasshopper].

What the locust gathers—

each and every one

takes

for himself; so too your spoil—

each and every one

shall take

for himself.

They said to him: But the money of the Ten Tribes is mixed into it,

for when Sennacherib exiled the Ten Tribes, he took their money from them; so how are we permitted to take that money for ourselves?

He said to them: “As the gathering of pools, it swarms therein” [

it is as though channels that sprinkle flowing water watered that money—and purified it].

Just as these pools raise a person from ritual impurity to purity,

through his immersing in the water in them,

so too the money of Israel, once it has fallen into the hand of gentiles—

it is immediately purified,

and another Israelite is permitted to take it .

Rav Huna said: That wicked man traveled ten journeys on that day

as it is stated: “He came upon Aiath, passed through Migron, at Michmash he deposited his baggage; they passed over the pass, Geba is a lodging place for us; Ramah trembled, Gibeah of Saul fled,” “Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim; listen, Laish; answer her, Anathoth; Madmenah wandered, the inhabitants of the pools took refuge.”

And we wonder:

These,

the journeys enumerated in these verses,

are very many [

they are more numerous], for there are twelve journeys here!

And we explain: That which is stated in the verse

“Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim,”

is not one of the journeys. Rather,

it is a prophet who says to the assembly of Israel: “Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim,” the daughter of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who performed mitzvot

many

like the waves of the sea.

And likewise that which is stated

“Listen, Laish,”

is not one of the journeys. Rather, so the prophet said to the assembly of Israel:

From this one,

from Sennacherib,

do not fear [

do not be afraid].

Rather, fear Nebuchadnezzar the wicked, who is compared to a lion [

who was compared to a lion].

As it is stated

concerning him in the Book of Jeremiah:

“A lion has come up from his thicket, etc.”

And this is what is stated here, “Listen, Laish,” for “Laish” is a lion.