Sanhedrin 97a (צז.) — the Talmud in English

He said to him: Yes.

Indeed, so it is.

As it is written: “On that day I will raise up

the fallen booth of David.”

“The booth of David” is a designation for the fallen kingdom of David. And the Messiah is the one who will raise up the booth of David; therefore he is called “the son of the fallen.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak said to him:

Rabbi Yitzḥak

said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: In the generation in which the son of David will come,

the following signs will be present:

The number of Torah scholars will diminish,

and the rest will become bleary-eyed from grief and sighing ,

And many troubles and harsh decrees will arise,

until, before the first has ceased,

the second will hasten to come.

“Has ceased” is from the expression: “Not a single man was missing from us,” meaning, not a single man was lacking from us. That is, before the first trouble has ended, the second will already hasten to come.

The Sages taught:

In a

sabbatical cycle [

the seven years of the shemitta cycle]

in which the son of David will come,

the following signs will occur:

In the first year, this verse will be fulfilled: “I will cause it to rain upon one city, and upon another city I will not cause it to rain.”

That is, there will be little rain. There will then be famine in one place and abundance in another.

The

second year—

arrows of famine will be dispatched.

That is, there will be some famine, and there will be abundance nowhere.

The

third year—

a great famine; men, women, and children, the pious and men of good deeds, will die; and Torah will be forgotten by those who study it,

because they will have nothing to eat .

In the fourth year—

abundance, but not abundance.

In the fifth year—

great abundance; they will eat, drink

and rejoice, and Torah will return to those who study it.

In the sixth year—

there will emerge

voices

announcing that the son of David is coming .

In the seventh year—

wars

between the nations and Israel.

At the conclusion of the seventh year—

the son of David will come.

Rav Yosef said: There have been several sabbatical cycles in which this occurred,

one year of famine and one year of abundance,

and he did not come

[and the son of David did not come]!

Abaye said:

Indeed, there were years in which there was famine and abundance, but was there

in

the

sixth

year of the sabbatical cycle

a voice announcing that the son of David was coming?

And in the

seventh year,

were there wars

[was that actually the case]?

And furthermore:

Indeed, there were famine and abundance, but did it occur

in the proper order

[according to the order taught in the beraita, with the first year of the sabbatical cycle having one sign, the second another, and so on],

was that actually the case

[was it]?

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda says: In the generation in which the son of David will come—

The assembly hall

[the place where Torah scholars gather to study Torah]

will become a

place

of prostitution.

For the scholars will have perished, and there will be no students of Torah; consequently, the assembly halls will be empty of people. And since the study halls are outside the city, lewd men will come and gather there .

And the Galilee will be destroyed ,

And the Golan

[a place called “Golan”

will be condemned,

it will be desolate,

And the people of the border

of the Land of Israel

will go from city to city—

but no one will show them favor,

And the wisdom of the scribes will become repulsive

[it will be despised, like something rotten] ,

And those who fear sin will be despised,

And the faces

of the people of that

generation

will be

like the face of a dog ,

and truth

will be

absent.

As it is stated: “And truth will be absent.”

What is the meaning of “And truth will be absent”?

The scholars of the school of Rav said: This teaches that truth will become

the

flocks of flocks—

and will go away .

What

is the meaning of what is written later in that verse:

“And whoever turns away from evil is considered mad”?

The scholars of the school of Rabbi Sheila said:

In that generation,

anyone who turns away from evil

will be regarded as mad by the people

[the people will say of him that he is a fool; “considered mad” is an expression denoting foolishness] .

Since the Gemara cited the verse “And truth will be absent,” it cites further teachings concerning speaking the truth.

Rava said: At first I would say

[I initially thought] that

there is no truth in the world

[that there is no person in the world who always speaks only the truth ].

A certain scholar said to me—his name was Rav Tavot, and some say his name was Rav Tavyומי—that even if they were to give him all the expanses of the world ,

he would not alter his word

to tell a lie , and this is what he said to me:

Once I happened to come to a certain place called Kushta

[once I happened to come to a place called Kushta],

and the people there did not

the people of that place

alter their word

[change their words to tell a lie],

and no person there died before his time

[no one from there died prematurely ].

I married one of their women, and she bore me two sons

[I married one of them, and she bore me two sons].

One day his wife was sitting and washing her hair

[one day Rav Tavot’s wife was sitting and washing her hair].

Her neighbor came and knocked on the door

[the neighbor came and knocked on the door].

He thought

Rav Tavot

that it was not proper conduct

[it was not proper conduct] to say where she was, since she was washing her hair.

Therefore

he said to

that neighbor:

She is not here

[my wife is not here].

His two sons died

[his two sons died] .

The people of the place came before him

[the people of the place came before him],

and said to him: What is this?

How did this happen, that your sons died before their time?

He said to them: This is what happened

[this is what happened: I did not speak the truth].

They said to him: Please, leave our place, and do not provoke death against us by remaining among these people

[please leave our place and do not bring death upon us].

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Nehorai says: In the generation in which the son of David will come—

The young will shame the elderly

[that is, they will humiliate them],

And the elderly will stand before the young

to honor them [this is what we say in tractate Sotah: In the footsteps of the Messiah, brazenness will increase],

And a daughter will rise up against her mother

to disgrace and shame her,

And a daughter-in-law

will rise

against her mother-in-law,

And the faces of the generation will be like the face of a dog,

And a son will not be ashamed before his father.

It was taught: Rabbi Neḥemya says: In the generation in which the son of David will come—

Brazenness will increase,

And the honored will be perverted

[they will not honor one another . “The honored” is an expression denoting honor, as in: “And all the women will give honor to their husbands”],

And the vine will give its fruit—

and

even so it will be

expensive,

because there will be no blessing in the fruit itself .

And the entire kingdom will turn to heresy,

And there will be no rebuke .

And this statement of the beraita

supports Rabbi Yitzḥak, for Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The son of David will not come—

until the entire kingdom turns to heresy.

Rava said: What verse indicates this?—

“It has all become white; he is pure.”

Just as when the affliction spreads over the entire skin, the person is pure, so too, when the entire kingdom turns to heresy, redemption will come .

The Sages taught: “For the Lord will judge His people, etc.; for He will see that the strength is gone and none is controlled or left.” The son of David will not come—

until the informers become numerous

[the informers and slanderers ].

And the verse is interpreted as follows: “For the Lord will judge His people,” to bring redemption to them, “for He will see that the strength is gone,” when He sees that the hand of the informers has grown strong and that they succeed in their slander.

Alternatively:

The son of David will not come

until the students diminish

who strengthen the hands of Israel to return them to the proper path [this is the meaning of “the strength is gone”].

Alternatively: Until the smallest coin has disappeared from the purse.

That is the meaning of “the strength is gone”: their hands will be empty .

Alternatively: Until they despair

Israel

of redemption. As it is stated: “And none is controlled or left”—as though

[as though it were possible to say such a thing concerning the One Above]

there is no one to support or help Israel.

Israel will be exceedingly humbled and will despair of redemption.

This is like the case of Rabbi Zeira: When he would find Sages occupied with it

[when he would see Torah scholars occupied with matters concerning the time of redemption],

he would say to them: Please

I beg

you, do not delay it

[please, I beg you not to delay the redemption].

For we learned: Three

things

come without the person’s awareness

[suddenly, without a person preparing for them];

these are they:

a.

The Messiah,

b.

A found object,

c.

And a scorpion

[which bites a person suddenly] .

Rav Ketina said: The world will exist for six thousand years

[this world will exist for six thousand years],

and one will be desolate

[the seventh millennium will be desolate].

As it is stated: “And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.”

That is, the Lord alone will remain on that day. And the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is one thousand years , as it is stated: “For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday, which has passed, etc.”

Abaye said: Two will be desolate

[the world will be desolate for two thousand years ],

as it is stated: “He will revive us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him.”

“He will revive us after two days” means two days of the Holy One, blessed be He, which are two thousand years. During those years the world will be desolate, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will renew His world. He will make wings for the righteous like eagles; this is the meaning of “He will revive us.” And “on the third day,” at the beginning of the third millennium, “He will raise us up, and we will live before Him” in a renewed world.

It was taught in support of Rav Ketina,

who said that the world would be desolate for one millennium:

Just as the seventh year releases one year every seven years,

and during that year the land becomes uncultivated, since it is not worked,

so the world releases

[becomes desolate]

one thousand years out of every seven thousand years, as it is stated: “And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.” And it says: “A psalm, a song for the day of Shabbat”—

a day

that is entirely Shabbat

[the world will be like one day of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is one thousand years; that is, it will be desolate, like the year of shemitta, which is a Shabbat for the land].

And it says: “For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday, which has passed.”

Thus, the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is one thousand years .

It is taught in the school of Elijah: The world exists for six thousand years.

And these six thousand years are divided as follows:

Two thousand

years, during which Torah had not yet been studied, the world was

in a state of tohu.

That is, from the creation of the first man until Abraham was fifty-two years old. When Abraham reached this age, he engaged in Torah study, as it is stated: “the souls that they made in Haran,” and Onkelos translated: “whom they engaged in Torah study in Haran" .

Afterward—

two thousand years of Torah

See Rashi, who brought the calculation of the years. The intention is not that, Heaven forbid, Torah would come to an end after those two thousand years; rather, since with regard to tohu we said that it lasted two thousand years, the same formulation was used with regard to Torah ]],

And afterward, according to the reckoning, there should have come

two thousand years of the days of the Messiah,

during which the Messiah would come, the kingdom of wickedness would come to an end, and the servitude over Israel would be abolished.