Sanhedrin 97b (צז:) — the Talmud in English

And because of our many sins,

the Messiah did not come at the end of the four thousand years, and already

much of that time has passed

[many and many years have passed from those last two thousand years], and still the Messiah has not come.

Elijah said to Rav Yehuda, brother of Rav Sala the pious: The world

cannot endure

less than eighty-five jubilees

[each jubilee is fifty years. Thus, this means four thousand two hundred and fifty years].

And in the final jubilee—

the son of David will come.

Rav Yehuda said to him,

to Elijah:

At its beginning,

at the beginning of the fifty-year period, will the son of David come,

or at its end,

at the end of the jubilee?

Elijah said to him,

Elijah:

I do not know.

Rav Yehuda further asked Elijah: Will the jubilee

end

before the Messiah comes, so that the Messiah will come only afterward,

or

will it

not end,

so that the Messiah will come during the jubilee?

He said to him: I do not know.

Rav Ashi said: This is what Elijah said to him:

to Rav Yehuda:

Until this point,

until that final jubilee—

do not await him

[do not await him, for certainly he will not come before then].

From this point onward—

await him

[await him] until he comes.

Rav Hanan bar Taḥalifa sent to Rav Yosef: I found one man, and in his hand was a scroll written in Assyrian script

[this is our script, and it is called “Assyrian” because it came from the land of Assyria]

and in the sacred tongue .

I said to him:

This scroll,

from where did you obtain it?

He said to me: I enlisted in the Roman army, and I found it among the Roman archives, and it said

as follows:

After four thousand two hundred and ninety

and one years from the creation of the world—

the world will be desolate.

Some of them will be wars of sea monsters

[fish ],

Some of them will be wars of Gog and Magog,

and

the

rest—

the days of the Messiah.

The servitude will end, and the Messiah will come.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, will not renew His world

by creating a new world—

until after seven thousand years.

Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said: It was stated that this would be after five thousand years .

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Natan says: This verse

below

pierces and descends to the depths

[just as the depths have no end or limit, so a person cannot ascertain the end of this verse ]:

“For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hastens toward the end and will not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not be late.”

Not like our Sages

[you should not expect the end that our Sages expounded],

who expounded: “Until a time, times, and half a time.”

That is, an “appointed time” means the period of our ancestors’ exile in Egypt, four hundred years. “Times” means twice that period, eight hundred years, and “half a time” is two hundred years—for a total of one thousand four hundred years.

And not like Rabbi Simlai, who expounded: “You fed them the bread of tears and gave them tears to drink in threefold measure,”

meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Israel to drink in the exile of Egypt and the exile of Babylonia one third of the exile of Edom, which is this final exile. That is, the end of this exile would come after three times four hundred years [like the Egyptian exile], and three times seventy years [corresponding to the Babylonian exile]—that is, after one thousand four hundred and ten years.

And not like Rabbi Akiva, who expounded

this verse, which is stated in the prophecy of Haggai:

“Yet once more, in a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth.”

Haggai was prophesying that Israel would emerge from the Babylonian exile and the Temple would be rebuilt. This is the meaning of “Yet once more, in a little while”: I will give Israel a small measure of honor; “and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will bring the desire of all the nations to Jerusalem.”

Rabbi Akiva expounded this verse with regard to the days of the Messiah, and this is how he expounded it: “Yet once more, in a little while”: I will give Israel a small measure of honor, and afterward the Messiah will come.

That is not so, as Rabbi Akiva expounded it;

rather,

this verse speaks of the period before the Temple. This is its meaning: “Yet once more, in a little while”: I will give Israel a small measure of honor, and again I will not give them honor throughout all the days of the Second Temple.

And so it was, for

the first kingdom

of the Hasmonean kingdom lasted

seventy years ,

and

the second kingdom

of Herod lasted

fifty-two

years,

and the kingdom of bar Koziva

lasted

two and a half years,

and from then onward they no longer had a king, nor did they have honor .

What

is the meaning of that which is written:

“It hastens toward the end and will not lie”?

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: May the bones rot

of those who calculate the ends

[those who calculate when the Messiah will come]. Because

they would say: Once the end has arrived

that we calculated,

and he did not come,

the Messiah—

he will no longer come,

and they thereby cause Israel to despair of awaiting the Messiah.

Rather,

always

await him

the Messiah.

As it is stated: “Though it tarry—

wait for it.”

Lest you say

that

we are awaiting

the Messiah,

but he,

the Holy One, blessed be He,

is not waiting,

the verse states: “Therefore the Lord will wait to be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted to have mercy upon you.”

It is evident that even the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself waits and longs for the Messiah to come.

But since we are waiting, and

even

He,

the Holy One, blessed be He,

is waiting, who is delaying

the Messiah from coming?

The attribute of justice is delaying

and says before the Holy One, blessed be He, that Israel is not yet deserving of this .

And we wonder:

But since the attribute of justice is delaying, why are we waiting?

The attribute of justice is delaying, so he will not come now!?

And we say: The reason we wait is in order

to receive reward

for waiting and hoping for him.

As it is stated: “Happy is everyone who waits for Him.”

Abaye said: The world has no fewer than thirty-six

righteous people who greet the Divine Presence in every generation

[in every generation there are at least thirty-six righteous people who greet the Divine Presence] .

As it is stated: “Happy is everyone who waits for Him.”

And “who waits for Him” means those who await and wait to behold the Divine Presence. And the word

“for Him” has the numerical value—

thirty-six.

That is, in every generation there are thirty-six righteous people who await Him.

And we wonder:

Is that so?

Are there only thirty-six righteous people who greet the Divine Presence?

But Rava said: The row of righteous people before the Holy One, blessed be He

[the row of righteous people before the Holy One, blessed be He]

was eighteen thousand parasangs

[eighteen thousand parasangs],

as it is stated: “Around eighteen thousand”!

And we say:

This is not difficult.

That statement that there are thirty-six refers to those

who gaze through a clear speculum

[with the full force of the Holy One, blessed be He’s radiance].

Whereas

that which we said

that there are more refers to those

who gaze through a speculum that is not clear

[with the faint radiance at the sides, from a distance ].

And we still wonder:

Are there so many

who behold the Divine Presence

all this,

that there are thirty-six?

But Hezekiah said that Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi

Shimon ben Yoḥai: I have seen

the exalted ones -

And they are few.

If

the exalted ones

number one thousand—

I and my son are among them

[we are among those one thousand exalted ones ].

If there are one hundred—

even then

I and my son are among them.

If there are two—

then

I and my son are

those two .

Thus, it is possible that there are only two who are exalted ones! And we explain:

This is not difficult. In this case,

the statement that there are thirty-six refers to those who

enter with permission

[who must request permission] when they come to gaze through a clear speculum.

Whereas

that

statement that there may be only two refers to those who

enter without permission

[who can enter without permission ].

Rav said:

Already

all the ends have passed

[all those times during which the Messiah was supposed to come have passed],

and

from now on

the matter depends only on repentance and good deeds .

The Messiah will come only if all Israel repents.

And Shmuel said:

Even if they do not repent, the Messiah will ultimately come, because

it is enough for a mourner to stand in his mourning

[it is enough that the Holy One, blessed be He, has turned His right hand backward, like a mourner]. He will certainly not remain in mourning forever; rather, there will be an end to the matter .

And we say that this dispute—whether Israel will be redeemed specifically through repentance or not—is

a dispute between tannaim

[a dispute between tannaim]:

Rabbi Eliezer says: If Israel repents —

they will be redeemed, but if not—

they will not be redeemed.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him:

Can it be said that

if they do not repent—

they will not be redeemed

ever?

Rather,

if Israel does not repent of its own accord,

the Holy One, blessed be He, will appoint over them a king whose decrees are harsh, as

He appointed over them

Haman

the wicked in the days of Mordecai and Esther, so that they would repent;

and

then

Israel will repent

against its will,

and He will restore them to the proper path.

It was taught in another baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: If Israel repents—

they will be redeemed, as it is stated: “Return,

faithless children; I will heal your faithlessness.”

This implies that only if you return will I heal you and bring the redemption.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: But it has already been stated: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money”!

And this is the meaning of the verse:

“You were sold for nothing”—

you sold yourselves

to idolatry,

which is worthless and has no value.

“And you shall be redeemed without money”—

not

will you be redeemed specifically

through repentance and good deeds .

Rather, even if Israel does not repent, it will be redeemed.

Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Yehoshua: “Is it not already stated: ‘Return to Me -

and I will return to you.’”

This indicates that the Holy One, blessed be He, will draw near to Israel only through repentance!

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: “Is it not already stated: ‘For I have ruled over you, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’”

The expression “I have ruled over you” indicates that it will be against your will; “one from a city and two from a family” means that I will select the righteous; “and I will bring you to Zion” means that I will bring them to Zion. This indicates that this will occur even without all Israel repenting!

Rabbi Eliezer said to him: “Is it not already stated: ‘Through returning and tranquility you shall be saved,’

indicating that they will be saved only through repentance!