Sanhedrin 95b — the Talmud in English

As it is written: “And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba and went toward Haran,”

it implies that he reached Haran.

But

on the other hand,

it is written: “And he encountered the place and lodged there, because the sun had set,”

and that place is Beth-El; it implies that he did not reach Haran, but lodged on the way in Beth-El!

Rather, this is what happened. In truth, Jacob reached Haran.

When he arrived

when he reached

Haran, he said

in his heart:

Is it possible

could such a thing be that I

passed by

the

place where my fathers prayed,

Beth-El,

and I did not pray there?

He wished to return

he wanted to retrace his steps and go to Beth-El.

Once he contemplated in his mind returning

once he merely contemplated in his mind returning,

the earth sprang toward him. Immediately

“And he encountered the place.”

For the expression “and he encountered the place” implies that immediately he encountered and found the place, and drew near to it.

Alternatively: “Encountering” is nothing other than prayer.

As it is stated: “And you, do not pray on behalf of this people, and do not raise on their behalf song and prayer, and do not encounter Me” .

“And he lodged there, because the sun had set.” After he prayed —

he wished to return

after Jacob finished his prayer, he wished to return to his way and go to Haran.

The Holy One, blessed is He, said: “This righteous man has come to My lodging-place; shall he depart without lodging?”

Immediately the sun set.

And this is what is stated: “And he lodged in the place, because the sun had set.” For if the sun had set at its proper time, it should have written, “And the sun set.” Rather, it implies that Jacob had intended to return to Haran, because it was still broad daylight. Once he saw that the sun had suddenly set, not at its time, he resolved to sleep there.

And this is what is written

later, after Jacob wrestled with the angel:

“And the sun shone for him.”

And one must wonder:

Did it shine only for him? Surely it shone for the entire world!

Rather, Rabbi Yitzhak said,

this is the explanation of the verse:

The sun that set on his account,

that had set earlier especially for him, so that he would remain to sleep in Beth-El — also

shone on his account.

Now the Gemara returns to what we said above, that David reversed his prayer, and prayed that he be punished by having his offspring destroyed, in accordance with Avishai’s counsel.

And from where do we know that David’s offspring were destroyed?

As it is written

in the Book of Kings:

“And Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, and she arose and destroyed all the offspring of the kingdom.”

And we challenge this:

But Joash remained to him

and Joash remained alive, as is related there; and if so, all of David’s offspring were not destroyed!?

And we answer:

There also,

when Saul killed all the people of Nob, the city of the priests,

Abiathar remained. As it is written: “And one son escaped to Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name was Abiathar.”

And since David’s punishment was that his offspring would be destroyed, because the people of Nob were killed, measure for measure, therefore, just as one remained in Nob and they were not all destroyed, so one of David’s offspring remained.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Had Abiathar not remained to Ahimelech, son of Ahitub,

in the incident of Nob, the city of the priests,

not a remnant or survivor would have remained of David’s offspring.

For it was only because Abiathar remained that David was not punished by having his offspring completely destroyed.

Now the Gemara returns to discussing Sennacherib’s matter.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: The wicked Sennacherib came upon them with forty-five thousand men, sons of kings sitting in golden carriages, and with them royal concubines

royalty

and prostitutes.

And with eighty thousand

mighty men wearing scale armor, and with sixty thousand sword-bearers running before him, and the rest were horsemen.

And likewise they came upon Abraham when he fought the four kings .

And likewise they are destined to come with Gog and Magog .

In a baraita it was taught: The length of his camp

of Sennacherib was

four hundred parasangs

a parasang.

The width of the necks of his horses

was

forty parasangs. The total

of all the soldiers in

his camp

was

two hundred and sixty ten-thousands of thousands, less one

less one.

Abaye inquired:

Did the baraita mean that of the two hundred and sixty ten-thousands of thousands there was

one ten-thousand missing

one ten-thousand,

or

perhaps the baraita meant that there was

one thousand missing

one thousand,

or

that there was

one hundred missing, or

that there was

one missing

only

one?

And we conclude:

Teiku.

A tanna taught: The

The

first

soldiers of Sennacherib

crossed

the Jordan

by swimming

by swimming; the horses swam in the Jordan and crossed, and through this the waters began to diminish.

As it is stated: “And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and pass on.”

And because the waters diminished through the first group of soldiers, the

middle soldiers crossed

already on foot,

standing upright

upright, for the water reached only to their necks, and they did not need to swim.

As it is stated: “He shall reach up to the neck.”

And the

last ones —

raised dust with their feet.

For through the multitude of soldiers who crossed before them, the Jordan dried completely, and there was no water in it at all.

And they did not find water in the river to drink, until they brought water from another place and drank. As it is stated: “I dug and drank water, and so on.”

“I dug” is an expression of a spring: they had to bring water from another spring.

And we wonder: Were Sennacherib’s armies really so numerous?

But is it not written: “And an angel of the Lord went out and struck in the camp of Assyria one hundred and eighty-five thousand, and they arose early in the morning, and behold, they were all dead corpses”!

And how could we learn in the baraita that there were two hundred and sixty ten-thousands of thousands?

Rabbi Abbahu said: These

those one hundred and eighty-five thousand mentioned in Scripture who died

were the commanders of the forces.

But in truth there were more soldiers, and they all died.

Rav Ashi said: It is also precise, as it is written

in the prophecy of Assyria’s downfall: “Therefore the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, will send

emaciation among his fat ones.”

It implies:

among the fat ones who are in it

among the important ones who are among them.

Ravina said: It is also precise, as it is written: “And the Lord sent an angel and destroyed every mighty warrior and ruler and officer in the camp, and so on, and he came into the house of his god, and those who came out of his innards he cast there by the sword.”

It is proven that those mentioned as having died were commanders of the forces, mighty warriors, and so on.

And we conclude:

Learn from it.

With what did he strike them

in what manner did the angel strike the camp of Assyria?

Rabbi Eliezer says: He struck them with a hand .

As it is stated: “And Israel saw the great hand.”

It does not say “the great hand,” but “the great hand,” implying a known hand. And it was

the hand that is destined to exact retribution from Sennacherib.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: He struck them with a finger. As it is stated: “And the magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God.” It is the finger that is destined to exact retribution from Sennacherib.

Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosei the Galilean, says: The Holy One, blessed is He, said to Gabriel: “Is your sickle sharpened?”

is your sickle prepared and sharpened to kill these?

Rashi explained in Isaiah: “‘Netusha’ is like ‘letusha’ [sharpened]. All letters whose points of articulation are close to one another interchange, nun with lamed, as in the verse “to make him a chamber,” which is like “chamber.”” He said before Him: “Master of the universe,

it is already

sharpened and standing

it

since the six days of Creation. As it is stated: “Because of swords they wandered,” and so on

and the end of the verse is “because of the sharpened sword.”

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: That period was the season for the ripening of fruit. The Holy One, blessed is He, said to Gabriel,

who is the angel appointed over the ripening of fruit:

“When you go out to ripen fruit

in passing

deal with them

with Sennacherib’s army, to kill them.

As it is stated: “As he passes, he will take you, for morning by morning he will pass, by day and by night, and it will be only terror to understand the report, and so on.” “As he passes” means while he is passing there, in passing .

As often as it passes through” means, incidentally, as he passes there .

Rav Pappa said: This is what people say: “Incidentally,

your enemy will hear”

when you go on your way without special intention, incidentally you should appear to your enemy — and frighten him.

And some say: He blew upon them through their nostrils —

and they died. As it is stated: “And also He will blow upon them, and they will dry up.”

Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said: He struck palm against palm for them —

and they died. As it is stated: “And I also will strike palm against palm and I will calm My anger.”

Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥa said: He revealed ears to them

he opened their ears,

and

through this

they heard song from the living creatures —

and they died .

As it is stated: “From Your rebuke nations fled.”

And how many remained of them,

from Sennacherib’s army?

Rav said: Ten

people.

As it is stated: “And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few in number, and a child shall write them.”

It proves that the remnant of Sennacherib’s army was a number that a child could write.

How many can a child write —

ten.

For even a small child who does not know how to write can drip a drop of ink and form the letter yod, which is ten .

And Shmuel said: Nine

remained of them.

As it is stated: “And what is left in it shall be like the gathering of an olive tree, two or three berries at the top of the uppermost branch, four or five on its fruitful branches.”

And this is the comparison: just as when an olive tree is beaten, two or three berries remain in it, so in Sennacherib’s army only a small number would remain, four or five. And four and five together are nine.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Fourteen

remained.

As it is stated: “Two or three, and so on; four or five.”

And the total of the number mentioned in the verse, two and three, and four and five, is fourteen.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Five

remained of them. And they were

Sennacherib and his two sons, Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuzaradan.

And from where do we know that they remained?

Nebuzaradan —

Gemara

this was received by the Sages .

Nebuchadnezzar —

as it is written

when he saw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the fiery furnace:

“And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods”

and there was a fourth with them, resembling an angel.

And had he not seen him, from where would he have known

and if Nebuchadnezzar had never seen the angel, from where would he know that he resembled an angel!? Rather, it is proven that he had been among Sennacherib’s army, and had seen the angel Gabriel when he struck them .

Sennacherib and his two sons —

as it is written: “And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword.”

It is proven that they remained at that time, and only afterward did Sennacherib’s sons strike their father.

Rabbi Abbahu said: Were it not for

the

Scripture

below

written —

it would be impossible to say it

it would not have been possible to say it:

As it is written: “On that day the Lord will shave with the hired razor, beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the legs

and it shall also sweep away the beard.”

And this means that the Holy One, blessed is He, Himself would shave Sennacherib, king of Assyria and as follows .

The Holy One, blessed be He, came and appeared to him like an old man

the Holy One, blessed is He, came and appeared to Sennacherib as an old man.

He said to him

to Sennacherib:

“When you go to

when you go to

the kings of the East and the West, whose sons you brought

whose sons you brought in order to fight against Jerusalem ,

and

now

you have killed them,

they have been killed,

what will you say to them

what will you say to them, how will you escape from them?

He said to him: “That man will also sit in that fear.”

Indeed, I too fear this, for I do not know what to say to them.

He said to him

Sennacherib:

“What shall we do?”