Sanhedrin 99a (צט.) — the Talmud in English

And this is what that heretic said to Rabbi Abbahu: When will the Messiah come?

He said to him: When darkness covers those people

[when darkness covers you].

He said to him,

that heretic:

Are you cursing me

[are you placing a curse upon me]?

He said to him:

I am not saying this on my own authority; rather,

the verse is written

as follows:

“For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall shine upon you, and His glory shall appear over you.”

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: The days of the Messiah will last forty years, as it is stated: “For forty years I loathed the generation.” “I loathed” is an expression of

“naktēhu” [“He seized them”]. That is, in a generation of forty years, which is a short generation and differs from the preceding generations—and presumably it is the generation of the Messiah, in which there will be great changes—in that generation I will take Israel and reign over them.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: Seventy years

will be the days of the Messiah.

As it is stated: “And it shall come to pass on that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king.”

What is meant by “one special king”

[“one king”—the expression denotes something special and important]?

You must say: This is the Messiah.

Rabbi says:

The days of the Messiah will be

three generations, as it is stated: “May they fear You with the sun, and before the moon, generation upon generation.”

That is, the Jewish people will fear You in the generation of the Messiah, concerning whom it is stated: “Before the sun, his name shall be continued.” And likewise, “before the moon”—before the kingdom of the House of David [that is, the King Messiah, who is descended from David], which is compared to the moon, as it is written: “He shall be established forever like the moon, etc.” They will fear You for “generation upon generation.” “Generation”

means one generation; “generations” means two. Together, these are three generations.

Rabbi Hillel says: Israel has no Messiah, since they already consumed him in the days of Hezekiah

[as explained above]. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, will redeem them Himself and reign over them.

Rav Yosef said: May his Master forgive him

[may the Holy One, blessed be He, forgive him]

Rabbi Hillel

for saying such things!

For

when was Hezekiah

[when did he live]?

In

the time of

the First Temple, whereas Zechariah

was prophesying in

the time of

the Second Temple,

which was long after the generation of Hezekiah.

And he said: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king shall come to you; he is righteous and saved, humble and riding upon a donkey, upon a foal, the son of a she-donkey.”

Thus Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would come even after the generation of Hezekiah!

It is proven that the coming of the Messiah was not nullified on account of the generation of Hezekiah.

It was taught in another beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: The days of the Messiah will last forty years.

And from where do we learn this?

It is written here,

with regard to the forty years that Israel spent in the wilderness:

“And He afflicted you, and let you hunger, and fed you,” and it is written there,

with regard to the days of the Messiah:

“Make us glad according to the days that You afflicted us, the years that we saw evil.”

It follows that the joy with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will gladden us in the future, during the days of the Messiah, will correspond to those years in which we saw evil—that is, the forty years that we spent in the wilderness, concerning which it is stated: “And He afflicted you, and let you hunger.”

Rabbi Dosa says:

The days of the Messiah will last

four hundred years.

And from where do we know this?

It is written here: “And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years,” and it is written there: “Make us glad according to the days that You afflicted us.”

That is, the joy with which the Holy One, blessed be He, will gladden us will correspond to those years in which we were afflicted—namely, the four hundred years concerning which it is stated: “And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them.”

Rabbi says:

The days of the Messiah will last

three hundred sixty-five years, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year, as it is stated: “For the day of vengeance that was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.”

That is, just as the spies, who explored the Land for forty days and ultimately brought forth an evil report about it, were punished by remaining in the wilderness for forty years—a year corresponding to each day, as it is written: “A day for a year, a day for a year, etc.”—so too, this is the meaning of “the day of vengeance”: the vengeance exacted upon the spies was a year corresponding to each day.

So too with regard to the redemption: “the year of My redeemed has come”—a year for a day, a year for a day. For each and every day of the year referred to in this verse as “the year of My redeemed,” one year is assigned. Consequently, the days of the Messiah will last three hundred sixty-five years, corresponding to the number of days in the year.

What is the meaning of “the day of vengeance that was in My heart”?

Rabbi Yohanan said,

Thus said the Holy One, blessed be He:

To My heart—

I revealed

the matter: that in the future I will take vengeance upon My enemies and redeem Israel. But I did not express the matter verbally; therefore,

I did not reveal it to My limbs,

as they were unable to hear the matter.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: “To My heart I revealed,”

but

to the ministering angels

I did not reveal it.

Avimi, son of Rabbi Abbahu, taught: The days of the Messiah

for Israel

will last

seven thousand years, as it is stated: “As the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

And since the joy of a bridegroom over a bride lasts seven days [the seven days of the wedding celebration], and one day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years, the days of the Messiah will last seven thousand years.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel:

The duration of

the days of the Messiah

will be

from the day the world was created—

until now.

.

As it is stated: “

So that your days may be multiplied, etc., upon the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them

as the days of the heavens over the earth.”

But Israel was never upon its land for as long a time as the days during which the heavens have been stretched over the earth—that is, from the day the world was created until now. Rather, it must be that this will be so in the days of the Messiah.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

The days of the Messiah will last

as

the length of time from

the days of Noah—

until now.

As it is stated: “For as the waters of Noah this is to Me, concerning which I swore

that the waters of Noah would no longer pass over the earth, so have I sworn not to be angry with you or rebuke you.” The expression “For as the waters of Noah” means like “as the days of Noah.” That is, according to the reckoning of the years that existed at the time when the Lord swore that the waters of Noah would no longer pass over the earth, “so have I sworn”—according to that same reckoning of time, I swore “not to be angry with you or rebuke you,” that I would not destroy My world after the Messiah comes until that period of time has ended.

“For as the waters of Noah” means “like the days of Noah.” That is, according to the number of years that had elapsed by the time when the Lord swore that the waters of Noah would never again pass over the earth, “so have I sworn”—according to that same period of time, I swore “not to be angry with you and not to rebuke you”: I will not destroy My world after the Messiah comes, until this period of time has ended.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: All the prophets prophesied

all the good that will come to Israel—

only for the days of the Messiah.

But concerning the World to Come—

“No eye has seen it, God, besides You; He will do it for one who waits for Him.”

That is, there is no limit to the goodness that will exist in the World to Come.

And

the statement of Rabbi Yohanan

disagrees with that of Shmuel

[they disagree with Shmuel’s statement].

For Shmuel said: There is no difference between this world and the days of the Messiah—

except for the subjugation to foreign kingdoms alone.

But in all other respects, the days of the Messiah will resemble the other days of this world. Rabbi Yohanan, by contrast, said that in the days of the Messiah all the good prophecies uttered by the prophets will be fulfilled.

And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: All the prophets did not prophesy—

except for penitents. But concerning the completely righteous—

“No eye has seen it, God, besides You,”

there is no limit to the reward they will receive.

And

the statement of Rabbi Yohanan

disagrees with that of Rabbi Abbahu,

who holds that penitents are on a higher level than the righteous.

For Rabbi Abbahu said:

In

the place where penitents stand—

the completely righteous do not stand

[they are unable to stand there]. For the level of penitents is greater, and others are unable to stand in their presence.

And from where does Rabbi Abbahu learn this?

As it is stated: “Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.”

The verse mentions

first

the far one,

and afterward

it mentions the

near one. What is meant by “far”—

One who was initially far

and afterward repented and drew near to the Holy One, blessed be He.

And what is meant by “near”—

One who was

near

to the Holy One, blessed be He

from the outset

[initially],

and

also

now

[at present]—that is, one who is completely righteous.

But the verse mentioned the far one before the near one! It is proven that the level of a penitent is greater.

And Rabbi Yohanan,

who said that the level of the righteous is greater than that of the penitent,

said

that this is the explanation of the verse:

“To the far”

means one who is completely righteous,

who has always been far from transgression.

Whereas

“near”

means a penitent,

who was near to transgression

and now, when he repented,

has distanced himself from it.

And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: All the prophets did not prophesy

all the good things contained in their prophecies—

except for

one who

gives his daughter in marriage to a Torah scholar,

and one who conducts business

[commerce]

for

the sake of

a Torah scholar,

so that he may derive his livelihood from it,

and one who benefits a Torah scholar from his property.

But Torah scholars themselves—

“No eye has seen it, God, besides You,”

there is no limit to the reward they will receive.

What is the meaning of “No eye has seen it,”

what is that reward that no eye has ever seen?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: This is the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation.

.

Reish Lakish said: This is Eden,

which

no

eye has

ever seen.

.

And if you say:

If no human eye has ever seen Eden,

where

did the first

man dwell?

In the garden—

and not in Eden. For no eye has ever seen Eden.

And if you say: The garden is Eden!

The verse states: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden.”

It follows that the garden is not Eden, since it is written that a river went out of Eden and proceeded to water the garden, which was in another place.

We learned in our Mishna:

“And one who says that the Torah is not from Heaven, etc.”

The Sages taught: “Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has violated His commandment, that soul shall surely be cut off

and shall bear its iniquity”—

this is one who says that the Torah is not from Heaven.

.

Alternatively: “Because he has despised the word of the Lord”—

this is an epikoros.

Alternatively: “Because he has despised the word of the Lord”—

this is one who interprets the Torah contrary to halakha.

The Gemara below will explain who is an epikoros and who is one who interprets the Torah in this manner.

“And has violated His commandment”—

this is one who violates the covenant of the flesh.

That is, he did not circumcise himself.

And from the repetition of the expression

“shall surely be cut off”

we derive:

“Shall be cut off”—

in this world; “shall surely be cut off”—

in the World to Come.

From here,

from this verse, “Because he has despised the word of the Lord,”

Rabbi Elazar HaModa‘i said:

One who profanes sacred things

[in matters concerning which the term profanation is used, such as an impure person who ate teruma],

one who treats the Festivals with contempt

[the intermediate days of the Festival],

one who violates the covenant of Abraham our forefather

[as it is written: “And has violated My commandment”],

one who interprets the Torah contrary to halakha,

and one who whitens the face of another in public,

for all these are acts of disgrace,

even though he possesses

—that person—

Torah

and good deeds—

he has no share in the World to Come.

As it is written: “Shall surely be cut off.”

It was taught in another beraita: “Because he has despised the word of the Lord”—

this is one who says

that

the Torah is not from Heaven.

And even

if

he said,

that person:

“The entire Torah is from Heaven, except for this verse”

[that is, except for one verse, whichever it may be],

saying that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not say it, but Moses said it on his own authority

—

this is what is meant by “Because he has despised the word of the Lord.”

And even if he said: “The entire Torah is from Heaven, except for this fine distinction”

that is, one exposition derived from the deficient and additional letters in the Torah, or except

for this kal va-chomer,

or except

for this gzera shava—

this is “for he has despised the word of Hashem.”

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir would say: One who learns Torah but does not teach it

to others —

this is “for he has despised the word of Hashem” .

Rabbi Natan says: Anyone who does not heed the Mishna,

saying that it is not the essential matter .

Rabbi Nehorai says: Anyone who is able to engage in Torah—

but does not engage in it.

Since he is able to engage in Torah but engages at that time in other matters, he thereby disparages the Torah in comparison with those matters, for it is less important in his eyes.

Rabbi Yishmael says: This refers to one who worships idolatry.

What is the implication?

How is it indicated by the verse “for he has despised the word of Hashem” that this refers to one who worships idolatry?

As the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: “For he has despised the word of Hashem” -

this is

the one who worships idolatry, for he

disparages a statement that was spoken

to Moses

at Sinai

from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He Himself [and this is “the word of Hashem”]:

“I am Hashem your God; you shall have no other gods, and so on.”

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha says: Anyone who learns Torah but does not review it—

resembles a person who

toils and

sows

grain,

but

ultimately

does not reap.

Thus nothing has come of all his labor!

Rabbi Yehoshua says: Anyone who learns Torah and forgets it—

resembles a woman who gives birth, but

ultimately

buries

the children she bore. Thus nothing has come of her efforts!