Sotah 34a — the Talmud in English

This is the continuation of the preceding beraita, describing the passage of the Children of Israel through the Jordan.

And once

the feet of the priests

of the Jordan

, turned the waters backward

, that is: the waters of the Jordan that were to the right [to the north] of the priests ceased their flow from above downward, and were heaped up and rose upward; and so the priests stood there until all the Children of Israel 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; they arose as one heap

[stood like a heap]

one.”

And how high were the waters

of that heap

: twelve mil

by twelve mil

, corresponding to the camp of Israel

which was twelve mil long by twelve mil

, the words of Rabbi Judah.

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon said to him: According to your words

, is

a person swift

to run

or is water swift

to run—that is, whose speed is greater, that of the water or that of the 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 water would come and wash them away

, for during the time required for the swift waters to rise twelve mil, there is not enough time to move the last person of the camp a distance of twelve mil at a slow pace, and the waters would therefore wash away the Children of Israel.

Rather,

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon said:

This teaches that they were heaped up and rose

the waters

arches upon arches,

more than

the height of

three hundred mil,

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

As it is stated: “

And when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan westward heard

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

and all the kings of the Canaanites who were upon

the sea

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

what the Lord had dried

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

And Rahab the harlot also said to Joshua’s messengers

who came to spy out the land before Israel crossed the Jordan, when they hid in her house [Joshua 2:9]: “And she said to the men: I know that the Lord has given the land to you, and 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

the waters of the Sea of Reeds

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

And it is written [

in the following verse]: “

And we heard, and our heart melted, and there did not rise any more

spirit in any man because of you.”

It is written in the Book of Joshua [chapter 3, from verse 17, and it is the continuation of the matter brought in the preceding introduction above, 33b]:

“And the priests carrying the Ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of the Jordan, firmly, and all Israel were crossing on dry land, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. And when all the 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 [and 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 this place, from the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests stand, firmly, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and place them in the lodging-place where you will lodge tonight. And Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared from among the Children of Israel, one man, one man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them: Pass before the Ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and raise up for yourselves each man one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Children of Israel. So that this may be a sign in your midst, when your children ask tomorrow, saying: What are these stones to you? And 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 passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be a memorial for the Children of Israel forever. And the Children of Israel 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 Children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the lodging-place, and placed them there. And twelve stones Joshua erected in the midst of the Jordan, under the place where the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. And the priests carrying the Ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until the completion of all that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua, and the people hurried and crossed

. And 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

to the Children of Israel:

Know what you are crossing the Jordan for: in order that you may dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you,

that is: that you accept upon yourselves to dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you—

as it is said: “

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: For you are crossing the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

and you shall dispossess

and you shall drive out

all the inhabitants of the land from before you.”

That is to say: When you cross the Jordan, at that point 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 to say: if you accept upon yourselves to do so, then

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

What is

“you”

that they said in the beraita?

“Me and you.”

B.

While they were still

standing

in

the

Jordan, Joshua said to them

what is stated in the verses in Joshua there: “

Each man lift up for himself 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 standing place of the feet of the priests.

And it is written

there: “

So that this shall be a sign among you, when your children ask tomorrow, saying, What are these stones for you?

And 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 passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be a remembrance for the children of Israel forever”—

A sign for the children—

these stones were—

that the forefathers 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 the standing place of the feet of the priests; prepare twelve stones

other ones,

and carry them across with you, and place them in the lodging-place in which you will lodge tonight.”

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

The following passage [until “tonight”] is not found in the beraita in the Tosefta at this place, but rather later in the beraita; and the Gemara likewise brings this passage again, later in the beraita on page 36a.

Could it be in every lodging-place and lodging-place?

The Talmud says: “

in which you will lodge tonight,” and “in it” is a singular expression.

and "where" is singular.

Rabbi Yosei said

the son of Halafta:

Father

my father,

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

by those stones and estimated them

that

each and every one was equivalent to forty seah.

And it is transmitted

from the Sages:

A tradition received by the Sages:

with his own

body onto his shoulders is one third of his load

alone

is [that is, the weight of a load that a person carries himself is one third of the weight of a load he is capable of carrying when another person places it on his shoulder]. It follows that each of them could carry a load of one hundred and twenty se’a.

From here you calculate the

weight of the

cluster

[that the spies whom Moses sent brought from the Land of Israel] how much it was!?

The continuation of the beraita is below, on page 35a: “And when the last of Israel had ascended, etc.”; but here the Gemara interprets the beraita, and the matter develops into the subject of the spies.

And how do you calculate it?

For

it

is stated: “

And they came [the spies] as far as the valley of Eshkol and cut from there a branch and one cluster of grapes

and carried it

[the cluster]

on two poles

and from the pomegranates [they took one pomegranate] and from the figs [they took one fig].”

And

from the implication of what is said: “

and they carried it

on a pole,”

do I not know that “

on two”

they carried it, this one on one side of the pole and that one on the other side of the pole!? And if so,

what does the verse teach: “

on two”:

on two poles.

And

Rabbi Yitzhak said:

that cluster was

a burden

[a burden],

and a burden of a burden

[a burden beneath a burden] it was! That is to say: the cluster was carried by two systems of two poles, one beneath the other.

How? The two upper poles were parallel to one another and were carried by four men; and beneath the two upper poles were two additional poles, which were placed diagonally, such that one end of the two poles extended behind two spies [carrying the one end of the upper poles], and two spies carried the ends of the lower poles; and the second ends of the lower poles extended before the other two spies, and those two spies carried them.

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

How is this so, [that is to say: from where is it known that this indeed was so], for there were twelve spies?

Eight carried

the

cluster;

one carried a pomegranate, and

one carried a fig, while

Joshua

and Caleb carried nothing.

the

one carried a fig,

That is to say: Since Joshua and Caleb carried nothing, and for the fig and the pomegranate two men suffice, necessarily eight men carried the cluster; and you do not find eight men carrying the cluster except in this manner.

Joshua

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

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:

If you wish, say

that this is why Joshua and Caleb carried nothing: because they were important

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

And if you wish, say:

they did not want to carry, because

they were not of the same counsel

as the other spies, who intended to bring such an extraordinary cluster in order to say: Just as its fruits are extraordinary, so are its inhabitants extraordinary, mighty, and tall.

Here the Gemara returns to the dispute of Rabbi Judah, 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 higher than three hundred mil.

They disagreed concerning it,

they disagreed in explaining their dispute:

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥa.

One

of the aforementioned amoraim

said,

that the tannaim disagreed in this:

According to the words of Rabbi Judah—

who holds: the waters rose only twelve mil—

of the mentioned

amoraim said,

that the tannaim disagreed as follows:

According to Rabbi Yehuda—

who holds that the waters were only twelve mil high—