Sanhedrin 94b (צד:) — the Talmud in English

But

Sennacherib, who blasphemed

through an agent,

which involved even greater humiliation—

was punished

also

by the Holy One, blessed be He, through an agent,

and was thereby humiliated even more.

Pharaoh

who blasphemed personally,

as it is written concerning him

that he said:

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

The Holy One, blessed be He, punished him personally, as it is written: “The Lord shook off Egypt in the midst of the sea,” and it is written: “You trod the sea with Your horses, and so on.”

Sennacherib

who blasphemed through an agent,

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

through your messengers you blasphemed the Lord],

was punished by the Holy One, blessed be He, through an agent.

As it is written: “An angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of Assyria, and so on.”

Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa raised a contradiction: It is written

in the continuation of that verse cited 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.”

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

But

in the Book of Kings

it is written

in different language: “And I shall come

to the lodging of its end,”

which signifies a dwelling on high, namely, the lodging of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Thus

said that wicked man

Sennacherib:

“First I shall destroy the dwelling below,

the Temple,

and afterward I shall destroy the dwelling above.”

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

that Sennacherib said:

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

What does this mean,

for where did the Holy One, blessed be He, command Sennacherib to destroy the Land of Israel?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi explains:

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi explains: For he heard

Sennacherib

the prophet

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

Rav Yosef 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 its meaning].

And this is the translation of the verse:

“Because this people has rejected the kingdom of the House of David, which leads them gently, like the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and they have chosen Rezin and the son of Remaliah’s kingdom”

[because this people rejected 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] .

Since the son of Remaliah has been mentioned, the Gemara interrupts the present matter and cites a statement concerning Pekah son of Remaliah:

Rabbi Yohanan 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 malediction]—

this is Pekah son of Remaliah, who ate forty seahs of doves as a dessert at his meal,

yet he 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 ate

only

a litra of vegetables at a meal

[even vegetables he ate only in measured quantity], yet he was satiated by it, because there was a blessing in his food.

The Gemara now returns to the matter with which we began, in answer to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s question: Where did the Holy One, blessed be He, command Sennacherib to destroy the Land of Israel?

And it is written in the continuation of the verse cited above [“Because this people has rejected, and so on”]:

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

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

But for what reason was Sennacherib punished

if he acted in accordance with the prophet’s words?

We explain:

The prophet—

prophesied concerning the Ten Tribes

[that he prophesied that the Ten Tribes would be exiled]

by the king of Assyria.

But

he,

Sennacherib,

directed his attention

[directed his attention]

to all of Jerusalem

to destroy it and exile its inhabitants.

A prophet came and said to him

when he came against Jerusalem:

“For there shall be no weariness to him who is in distress.” Rabbi Elazar bar Berekhya said:

this is the meaning of the verse:

“No one shall be delivered”

the people of Hezekiah, who were

a people weary with Torah

[who labored in Torah to the point of weariness],

into the hand of the one who distresses them

[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 earlier ones,

the Ten Tribes,

who lightened from upon themselves the yoke of Torah

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

But the later ones,

the generation of Hezekiah,

who made the yoke of Torah heavier upon themselves

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

were worthy of having a miracle performed for them like those who crossed the sea and those who crossed the Jordan

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

The Holy One, blessed be He, said:

If he repents

Sennacherib—

good. But if not—

I shall make him a spectacle among the nations

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

It is written:

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

The Gemara now assumes that “after these matters and this faithfulness” refers to Hezekiah, for he and his generation were occupied with Torah. Then Sennacherib came, entered Judah, and said that he would breach it.

The Gemara is astonished:

“Is this the delicacy for this glutton”

[would such a gift be brought to such a master ]? That is, did Sennacherib come against them because of Hezekiah’s faithfulness?!

Rather, this is the meaning of the verse:

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

After which matter?

Ravina said: After the Holy One, blessed be He, hastily rose and swore

[and this is the “faithfulness” stated in the verse, for the seal and fulfillment of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth ] the oath that follows.

And

the Holy One, blessed be He,

said: “If I tell Hezekiah that I am bringing Sennacherib against him and delivering him into your hand,

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

he will now say: I want neither him nor the fear of him.”

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

Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, hastily rose 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 purposed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it stand: to break Assyria in My land, and upon My mountains I shall trample him; then his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden shall be removed from their shoulder.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Sennacherib and his company come and become a trough for Hezekiah and his company

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

It is written:

“And on that day his burden shall be removed from upon your shoulder, and his yoke from upon your neck; and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the oil.” Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaha said: The yoke of Sennacherib was destroyed

[Sennacherib’s yoke, which he wished to impose upon Israel, was ruined and broken]—

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

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

What did

Hezekiah do?

He drove a sword into the entrance of the study hall and said: Anyone who is not occupied with Torah—

shall be pierced by this sword!

They searched from Dan to Beersheba and found no ignoramus.

They searched

from Gevat to Antipरस

[these are places on the borders of the Land of Israel],

and found no boy or girl, man or woman, who was not expert in the laws of ritual impurity and purity.

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

For a person would have enough with so few sheep.

And it says: “And on that day, wherever there had been a thousand vines worth a thousand silver pieces, it shall become briars and thorns.”

And this is the meaning of the verse:

“Although a thousand vines are worth a thousand silver pieces,”

for the vines were very expensive because they had few vines, and one who worked vineyards would earn a great deal, nevertheless—

“it shall become briars and thorns”

the vineyard. For the Israelites left their vineyards fallow and occupied themselves with Torah.

It is written:

“And you shall gather your spoil as the locust gathers,

as channels are filled when it rushes through them.”

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

the Israelites said to the prophet:

“Shall each person plunder”

for himself,

“or shall we divide”

the entire spoil equally among everyone?

He said to them:

Divide the spoil

like the gathering of the locust.

Just as the locust gathers its food [a locust is a type of grasshopper].

What does the locust gather?—

Each individual

takes

for himself; so too your spoil—

each individual

shall take

for himself.

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

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

He said to them: “As channels are filled when it rushes through them”

[it is as though flowing channels sprinkled with water irrigated that property—and thereby purified it].

Just as these channels raise a person from impurity to purity

by immersing in the water within them,

so too, once the property of Israelites falls into the hands of gentiles—

it is immediately purified,

and another Israelite is permitted to take it .

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

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

We challenge this:

These

journeys enumerated in these verses

are numerous

[there are more of them], for there are twelve journeys here!

We explain: What is stated in the verse,

“Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim,”

is not one of the journeys. Rather,

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

many

like the waves of the sea.

Similarly, what is stated,

“Listen, Laish,”

is not one of the journeys. Rather, this is what the prophet said to the Congregation of Israel:

“From him,”

from Sennacherib,

do not fear

[do not be afraid].

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

[who is likened to a lion].

As it is stated

concerning him in the Book of Jeremiah:

“A lion has risen from his thicket, and so on.”

This is the meaning of what is stated here, “Listen, Laish,” for laish means lion.