Sotah 34a (לד.) — the Talmud in English

This is a continuation of the previous beraita, describing the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan.

And once

the feet of the priests

of the Jordan

, returned the waters backward

That is: The waters of the Jordan to the right [to the north] of the priests ceased flowing from above downward and began to pile up and rise upward. The priests therefore stood there until all the Israelites had passed to their left [on the southern side] of the priests.

As it is stated: “

And when

[the priests]

carrying the Ark came to the Jordan, the waters descending from above stood, rising as one heap

[standing like a heap]

one.”

And how high were the waters

of that heap

: twelve mil

by twelve mil],

corresponding to the Israelite camp

which was twelve mil long by twelve mil wide,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, said to him: According to your statement,

is it possible that

a person is swift

to run

or water is swift

to run—that is, whose speed is greater, that of water or that of a person

? You must say: Water is swifter

to run; that is, the speed of the water’s flow is greater than the speed of a person, and

if so, the waters would come and wash them away

For during the time required for the swift waters to rise twelve mil, there would not be enough time for the last person in the camp to traverse twelve mil at a slow pace. Consequently, the waters would wash away the Israelites.

Rather,

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, said:

This teaches that they piled up and rose,

the waters

in vaulted layers, one above another,

more than

the height of

three hundred mil,

until all the kings of the east and west saw them.

As it is stated: “And when all the kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan to the west

heard

[these are the kings to the east of the Land of Israel],

and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by

the sea

[these are the kings to the west of the Land of Israel],

what the Lord had dried up

the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the Israelites.”

And Rahab the prostitute also said to Joshua’s messengers

who had come to spy out the land before the Israelites crossed the Jordan, when they hid in her house [Joshua 2:9]: “She said to the men: I know that the Lord has given you the land, that your terror has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.

For we heard what the Lord had dried up

the waters of the Sea of Reeds

before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you destroyed”—

And it is written

[in the following verse]: “

And we heard, and our hearts melted, and there was no longer

spirit in any man because of you.”

It is written in the Book of Joshua [chapter 3, beginning with verse 17; this continues the account introduced above in the preceding introduction to 33b]:

“The priests carrying the Ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry land, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan. When the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, saying: Take for yourselves from the people twelve men, one man, one man from each tribe [Joshua had already prepared them before they entered the Jordan, as explained there in verse 12; Rashi there], and command them, saying: Take for yourselves from here, from the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, twelve stones, carry them over with you, and place them in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight. Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared from among the Israelites, one man, one man from each tribe. Joshua said to them: Cross before the Ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you raise one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites. So that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask tomorrow, saying: What are these stones to you? You shall say to them: Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be a memorial for the Israelites forever. The Israelites did so, as Joshua commanded, and they carried twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites. They carried them over with them to the lodging place and placed them there. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, beneath the place where the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. The priests carrying the Ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded”

Joshua to say to the people, in accordance with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed. When all the people had finished crossing, the Ark of the Lord and the priests crossed before the people.”

a. While they

were still

standing

in

the midst of the

Jordan,

Joshua said to them

the Israelites:

Know on what account you are crossing the Jordan: in order that you will dispossess the inhabitants of the land before you,

that is, that you accept upon yourselves the obligation to dispossess the inhabitants of the land before you—

As it is stated: "

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

and you dispossess

and drive out

all the inhabitants of the land from before you."

That is: When you cross the Jordan, make your crossing of the Jordan conditional upon dispossessing the inhabitants of the land—and this is what Joshua did.

If you do so,

that is, if you accept upon yourselves to do so, then

it is well; but if not, the waters will come and sweep you away!

What

is meant by "you"

in the beraita? "

Me and you."

b.

While they were

standing

in

the

Jordan, Joshua said to them

what is stated in the verses in Joshua there: "

Each man shall lift one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel";

and the children of Israel set up those stones beneath the feet of the priests.

And it is written

there: "

So that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask tomorrow, saying: What are these stones to you?

You shall say to them: The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be a memorial to the children of Israel forever"—

A sign for the children—

these stones were

that their ancestors crossed the Jordan.

c.

While they were still in the Jordan, Joshua said to them: "

Take for yourselves from here, from the midst of the Jordan, from beneath the place where the priests' feet stood, and prepare twelve stones"

other

, carry them across with you, and place them in the lodging place where you will spend the night."

With those stones, the children of Israel built the altar on Mount Ebal; afterward, they folded up the stones and set them up at Gilgal.

The following passage [until "the night"], is not found in the beraita in the Tosefta at this point, but rather later in the beraita; and the Gemara likewise cites this passage again later, on 36a.

Could it have been in every lodging place and every lodging place?

The verse states: "

where you will spend the night,"

and "where" is singular.

Rabbi Yosei

son of Halafta

said:

My father

Halafta, Rabbi Eliezer ben Mattiah, and Hananiah ben Hakhinai stood

beside those stones and assessed them,

for

each and every one weighed the equivalent of forty se'a.

And it is a tradition

a tradition transmitted by the Sages:

For the load that a person lifts

himself

onto his shoulders is one-third of his load

alone

is—[the weight of a load that a person places upon himself is one-third of the weight of a load he is capable of carrying when another person places it upon his shoulder]; it follows that each of them could carry a load of one hundred twenty se'a.

From this you can calculate the

weight of the

cluster

—

the cluster that the spies sent by Moses brought from the Land of Israel—how much did it weigh!?

The continuation of the beraita appears below, on 35a: "And when the last of Israel had ascended, etc."; however, here the Gemara explains the beraita, and the discussion develops into the matter of the spies.

And how do you calculate this?

For

it is

stated: "

The [spies] came to the valley of Eshkol and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes,

and they carried it

[the cluster]

on a pole by two; and from the pomegranates [they took one pomegranate], and from the figs [they took one fig]."

But

from the implication of what is stated: "

And they carried it

on a

pole,"

do I not know that "

by two"

they carried it, one on one side of the pole and the other on the other side!? If so,

why does the verse state: "

by two":

by two poles.

And

Rabbi Yitzhak said:

That cluster was a

turtanei

[load],

and a turtanei of a turtanei

[a load beneath a load]! That is: The cluster was carried by two sets of two poles, one beneath the other.

How so? The two upper poles were parallel to each other and were carried by four men. Beneath the two upper poles were two additional poles, which were placed diagonally, so that one end of each of these two poles extended behind two spies [who carried one end of the upper poles], while two spies carried the lower ends of the poles; and the other ends of the lower poles extended before the other two spies, who carried them.

It follows that four spies carried the cluster in a single file, one behind the other, on one side, and four spies in a single file on its other side.

How so—

that is, from where do we know that this was indeed the case—since there were twelve spies?

Eight carried

the

cluster;

the

one carried a pomegranate, and

one

carried a fig,

whereas

Joshua

and Caleb carried nothing.

For the burden of each one, when he is assisted by his fellow, is one hundred and twenty seah; and since eight men were needed to carry it, the weight of the cluster was nine hundred and sixty seah. And the Gemara explains two reasons why Joshua and Caleb did not carry:

That is: Since Joshua and Caleb carried nothing, and two men sufficed for the fig and the pomegranate, it necessarily follows that eight men carried the cluster; and there is no way to find eight men carrying the cluster except in this manner.

And since eight men carried the cluster, you can calculate the weight of the cluster:

The load carried by each person when assisted by another is one hundred twenty se'a; and since eight men were needed to carry it, the weight of the cluster was nine hundred sixty se'a.

The Gemara explains two reasons why Joshua and Caleb carried nothing:

Alternatively, if you wish, say

that this is why Joshua and Caleb carried nothing:

because they were distinguished

[they were important], and the others honored them by not making them carry anything.

And alternatively, if you wish, say:

They did not want to carry anything because

they were not party to the same counsel

as the other spies. The latter intended to bring such an extraordinary cluster in order to say: Just as its fruit is extraordinary, so too its inhabitants are extraordinary—mighty and tall.

Here the Gemara returns to the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Elazar, and Rabbi Shimon, who disagreed concerning the height of the waters of the Jordan: whether they were only twelve mil high, or whether they were more than three hundred mil high.

They disagree about it,

they disagreed in explaining their dispute:

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥa.

One

of the aforementioned amoraim

said,

that this was the subject of the tannaitic dispute:

According to Rabbi Yehuda—

who holds that the waters rose no more than twelve mil—