Sotah 35a — the Talmud in English

It is written: “

And they returned from touring the land

at the end of forty days”

and they went and came

to Moses and Aaron.” But it would have sufficed for it to say: “And they returned and came”; why do I need “and they went”!?

He said

that

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

The word “and they went” is expounded as referring to the going for the purpose of touring, and not to the going in order to return—

and

the verse juxtaposes

what it said—“and they went and came”—

the going

of the spies in order to tour

to the coming

of the spies;

just as the coming

of the spies from the touring was

with evil counsel, so too the going

of the spies to tour was

with evil counsel,

for from the outset they intended to bring out an evil report about the land.

On the one hand, it is written: “

And they recounted to him and said to him: We came

to the land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit”—thus, they spoke in praise of the land;

and

after it

it is written: “

Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong

and the cities are fortified, very great”—thus, they came to speak disparagingly of the land!?

Mnemonic

for the sayings of Rabbi Meir in this tractate: a.

Truth;

b.

Captured;

c.

Accompaniment.

a. Truth:

He said

that

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Meir:

Indeed, they began with praise and ended with disgrace; and because

For

every evil report in which there is no element of truth at its beginning does not endure at its end,

meaning: their words are not accepted by the hearts of the listeners, who say to him, “You are a liar”; therefore the spies began by speaking in praise of the Land of Israel, so that the rest of the things they would say would be accepted by the hearts of the listeners.

It is written: “

And Caleb silenced the people before Moses”:

Rabba said: He silenced them

Caleb silenced the Children of Israel

with words.

For Caleb saw

Joshua

speaking

[for once Caleb saw Joshua speaking to the people], and

they said to him

the Children of Israel said to Joshua that he was childless: “And is it so that

a headless one will speak”

[this one whose head is cut off will speak]!? That is, this one who has no children to receive a portion in the land—will he speak before us!?

And because of this

Caleb said

in his heart:

If I speak, they will say something about me and silence me

[if I open my mouth to speak, they too will find something to say about me and silence me].

Therefore

he said to them

Caleb said to Israel cunningly:

Is this the only thing that the son of Amram did for us!?

And because of this

the Children of Israel thought:

the Children of Israel

about his disgrace

of Moses

he is speaking

Caleb, and

they fell silent

[he is going to speak disparagingly of Moses, and therefore they fell silent].

He said to them

Caleb said to the Children of Israel: And has

Moses taken us out

Moses

from Egypt, split the sea for us, and fed us

the manna,

if he says

Moses says to us:

Make

for yourselves

ladders and ascend to the heavens,

would we not

listen to him!?

Surely, “

We shall surely ascend”

even to the heavens, if he commands us

and we shall inherit it,

for we surely can overcome it!”

It is written: “

And the men who went up with him said: We cannot ascend

to the people, for he is stronger than us”:

Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa said:

The spies spoke a great thing at that time

when they said: “

For he is stronger than us,”

and they did not say “than we,” for this is as though they had said it about a hidden third person,

as it were, even the master of the house

the Master of the world, if He deposited His vessels there,

cannot take out

His

vessels from there, because of the might of the people dwelling in it.

It is written: “The land through which we passed to explore it is

It is written: “The land through which we passed to tour it,

it is a land that consumes its inhabitants,”

and they said this because they saw the inhabitants of the land greatly occupied with burying their dead:

Rava expounded: The Holy One, blessed be He, intended it for good

of the spies,

but they intended it for evil

of the land!

I intended it for good: For wherever they arrived, the important person of that place died

[wherever the spies came, the most important of the inhabitants of the place died],

so that they would be distracted

the inhabitants of the place

and would not inquire after them

[so that they would be occupied with his burial and would not ask unnecessary questions about the spies].

And some say: Job died

[Job died] so that his merit would not protect them,

and everyone was occupied with his eulogy

[and everyone was occupied with eulogizing him]. But

they intended it for evil,

and they said about the land: “

It is a land that consumes its inhabitants.”

It is written: “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak from the giants,

and we were in our eyes like grasshoppers, and so we were

in their eyes”:

Rav Mesharsheya said:

The

spies were liars

[they were liars].

For

granted,

what they said: “

And we were in our eyes like grasshoppers,”

that is, in relation to them we felt ourselves to be like grasshoppers—

that is fine

[that is good]!

But

what they said: “

And so we were in their eyes,”

that is, that the giants looked upon us as grasshoppers—that is false, for

from where did they know

[how could they know what the giants were thinking about them]!?

The Gemara rejects this:

It is not so,

there was no falsehood here!

When they were serving the mourners’ meal

[when the Amorites were sitting at a meal of consolation because of the many dead they had],

they were serving beneath cedars

[they would sit beneath cedars for the consolation meal],

and when they saw them, they climbed and sat in the trees

[and when the spies saw them, and were afraid to stand before them, the spies climbed to the height of the cedars];

they heard

the spies

them saying

the Amorites:

We see people resembling ants in the trees,

[and the spies heard them saying to one another: We saw people resembling ants] in the trees.

It is written:

“And the entire assembly lifted up and gave forth their voice, and the people wept

on that night”:

Rabba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: That day

the eve

of the Ninth of Av was ,

and

the Holy One, blessed be He, said:

They wept

on this night

a gratuitous weeping, and I shall establish it for them

this night

as weeping for generations,

on which the two Temples were destroyed.

It is written: “

And the entire assembly said to stone them with stones,”

and it is written

immediately: “

And the glory of the Lord

appeared in the Tent of Meeting”:

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said

to expound the juxtaposition of the verses: “To stone them with stones, and the glory of the Lord”:

This teaches that they took

the entire assembly

stones and threw them upward.

It is written: “

And the men who brought out an evil report about the land died in the plague

[the bet is vowelized with patah, and it is like “in the plague,” with the definite article] before the Lord”:

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said:

In “the plague,” the known and fitting one for them, measure for measure, and to teach

that they died an unusual death—

And when

Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa said: Rabbi Shila of Kfar Tamarata expounded: This teaches that their tongues became elongated, fell upon their navels, and worms emerged from their tongues and entered their navels, and from their navels they entered

through their bellies

into their tongues

[they returned to their tongues], and this was measure for measure, for they spoke an evil report.

And Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: They died of askara

[a disease that begins in the intestines and ends in the throat],

they died,

for it is a disease that comes upon those who speak an evil report.

a. Here the Gemara returns to the continuation of the beraita that was interrupted on 34a [where the beraita explained that the Children of Israel took twelve stones in order to take them with them to the lodging place, and “from here you calculate the cluster”], and the beraita continues to describe the passage of the Children of Israel through the Jordan.

b. The continuation of the verses in Joshua:

[Joshua 4:10]: “And the priests bearing the Ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until the completion of everything that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to everything that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hurried and crossed over. And it was, when all the people had finished crossing, that the Ark of the Lord and the priests crossed before the people. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben crossed.”

“And the priests bearing the Ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until the completion of everything that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to everything that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hurried and crossed over. And it was, when all the people had finished crossing, that the Ark of the Lord and the priests crossed before the people. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben crossed.”

“And the Lord said to Joshua, saying: Command the priests bearing the Ark of the Testimony, that they ascend from the Jordan. And Joshua commanded the priests, saying: Ascend from the Jordan. And it was, when the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord ascended from the midst of the Jordan, that the soles of the priests’ feet were torn away toward the dry land, and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went as yesterday and the day before, over all its banks.”

And once the last of Israel had ascended from the Jordan, the waters returned to their place,

that is: they continued in their course as yesterday and the day before.

As it is stated: “

And it was, when the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord ascended

from the midst of the Jordan, the soles of the priests’ feet were torn away toward the dry land

adjacent to them, and this was its eastern [outer] bank of the Jordan, and there they moved one step—

and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went as yesterday and the day before, over all its banks.”

It follows that the Ark, its bearers, and the priests were on one side,

the eastern side of the Jordan,

and Israel on one side,

the western side of the Jordan.

The Ark carried its bearers and crossed, as it is stated: “And it was

when

all the people had finished crossing, and the Ark of the Lord crossed

and the priests before the people.”

b. It is stated in the book of Samuel I [4:2]: “The Philistines drew up to meet Israel, and the battle spread, and Israel was defeated before the Philistines; and they struck about four thousand men on the battlefield. The people came to the camp, and the elders of Israel said: Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from the Tabernacle at Shiloh the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, and let it come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies. The people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the Ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the covenant of God.” [Verse 10]: “The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great, and thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. The Ark of God was captured [by the Philistines], and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”

b. It is stated in the Book of Samuel [I Samuel 4:2]: “And the Philistines arrayed themselves to meet Israel, and the battle spread, and Israel was defeated before the Philistines, and they struck in the battle array in the field about four thousand men. And the people came to the camp, and the elders of Israel said: Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from [the Tabernacle of] Shiloh the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and let it come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies. And the people sent to Shiloh and carried from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits upon the cherubim, and there were the two sons of Eli with the Ark of the Covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas.” [Verse 10]: “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, each man to his tent; and the blow was very great, and thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the Ark of God was taken [by the Philistines], and the two sons of Eli died, Hophni and Phinehas.”

Verse 19: “And he struck the men of Beit Shemesh, because they saw in the Ark of the Lord [the Gemara explains it here], and the Lord struck among the people seventy men, fifty thousand men [the Gemara explains it here], and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow.” [Chapter 7:1]: “And the men of Kiryat Yearim came, and they brought up the Ark of the Lord [from Beit Shemesh], and they brought it into the house of Avinadav on the hill, and they consecrated Elazar his son to guard the Ark of the Lord.”

II Samuel 6:2: “And David arose and went, and all the people who were with him, from Baalei Yehudah, to bring up from there the Ark of God, upon which the name of the Lord of Hosts, Who sits upon the cherubim, is called. And they placed the Ark of God upon a new wagon, and they carried it from the house of Avinadav, which was on the hill; and Uzza and his brothers, the sons of Avinadav, drove the new wagon.” [Verse 6]: “And they came as far as the threshing floor of Nakhon [the name of a place], and Uzza stretched out toward the Ark of God and grasped it, because the cattle had stumbled [the cattle caused it to stumble and injured it]. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and God struck him there for the error [the Gemara explains it here], and he died there with the Ark of God. And it angered David [the Gemara explains it here] that the Lord had broken through against Uzza, and he called that place Perez-Uzza, to this day.”

Verse 10: And David was unwilling to remove the Ark of the Lord to himself, to the City of David, and David diverted it to the house of Oved-Edom the Gittite. And the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Oved-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Oved-Edom and all his household. And it was told to King David, saying: The Lord has blessed the house of Oved-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the Ark of God. And David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Oved-Edom to the City of David with joy. And it came to pass, when the bearers of the Ark of the Lord had taken six steps, that he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.”

I Chronicles 15:1: “And he made houses for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the Ark of God, and he spread a tent for it. Then David said: No one is to carry the Ark of God except the Levites, for them the Lord chose to carry the Ark of God and to serve Him forever.”

And David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites.” [Verse 12]: “And he said to them: You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring up the Ark of the Lord, God of Israel, to [the place which] I prepared for it. For at the first time [the first time] it was not you [who carried the Ark, but on a wagon; and therefore] the Lord our God broke through against us [the breaking through of Uzza], because we did not seek Him according to the law [of the Torah, which said: ‘And to the sons of Kehat He did not give—Moshe wagons to carry, like the sons of Gershon and Merari—for the sacred service was upon them; on the shoulder they shall carry’]. And the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, God of Israel. And the sons of the Levites carried the Ark of God, as Moshe had commanded according to the word of God, on their shoulder, with poles upon them.” [Verse 25]: And David and the elders of Israel and the chiefs of thousands who were going to bring up the Ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Oved-Edom went with joy. And it was when God assisted the Levites who carried the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.”

And concerning this matter—

that the Ark carried its bearers—

Uzza was punished, as it is stated:

“And they came as far as the threshing floor of Nakhon, and Uzza stretched out his hand to grasp the Ark”?

The Holy One, blessed is He, said to

Uzza:

Uzza!

The Ark

carried its bearers

when they crossed the Jordan—

itself, all the more so

that it should carry—!?

Поскольку здесь упомянут «Перец-Узза», Гемара подробно разбирает этот случай, и далее переходит к нескольким стихам, относящимся к путешествию Ковчега — с того времени, когда он был захвачен филистимлянами, и до его возвращения в «город Давида»; продолжение барайты находится на странице 35б: «Таким образом, ты приходишь к выводу». «

“And the anger of the Lord”

“was kindled against Uzza, and He struck him there for the error”

with the Ark of God:

They disagree concerning the interpretation of the verse “for the error,”

Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Elazar:

One

of them

said:

“Error” is an expression of inadvertence, and the Lord struck him

for the matter of his error

[with a shin vocalized with kamatz and the lamed with shuruk], for the inadvertence with which he erred in grasping it.

And one

of them

said:

“Error” is an expression of falling from above downward, and the Lord struck him for

what

Uzza

had done—his needs

[he relieved himself]

before

the Ark.

It is written: “

And he died there

[Uzza]

with the Ark of God”:

Rabbi Yohanan said: Uzza entered the World to Come, as it is stated: “

with the Ark of God”;

just as the Ark exists forever

for it was hidden by Yoshiyahu,

so too Uzza entered the World to Come.

It is written: “

And it angered David because the Lord

had broken through with a breaking through against Uzza”:

Rabbi Elazar said:

This is not an expression of “anger,” but rather to say

that his face changed

of David

like a kharara,

[a cake that is baked upon the coals].

And we raise an objection:

But from now on, wherever it is written “

and it angered,”

so too

will you explain that his face changed like a kharara!?

And we answer:

There

that is to say: in the other places where “and it angered” is stated,

it is written “and it angered

and he was distressed

anger,” whereas

here it is not written “

anger.”

with anger.”

Rava expounded: Why was David punished

that Uzza died through him?

Because he called words of Torah “

songs,”

as it is stated

[Psalms 119]: “

Your statutes were songs for me in the house of my sojourning,”

when I was fleeing from my enemies and sojourning [an expression of fear] before them, I would delight in Your statutes, and they were songs for my delight.

The Holy One, blessed is He, said

to David: And is it because of

words of Torah in which it is written

[Proverbs 23]: “

When you raise your eyes to it, it is gone,”

[if you double your eyes, closing one eye in distraction from looking at them, immediately “it is gone”],

that you call them songs!?

Therefore

I shall cause you to stumble over a matter that even schoolchildren know!

For it is written

in the section concerning the carrying of the Tabernacle and its vessels, when Moshe Rabbeinu distributed wagons and cattle to the Levites to carry upon them: “

And to the sons of Kehat He did not give

[Moshe wagons]

because the sacred service

[the Ark, the table, the menorah, and the golden altar] was upon them [incumbent upon them to carry them, and therefore] “on the shoulder they shall carry [and not on wagons].”

And in this verse David stumbled, for:

and

if

he,

David,

brought it

the sacred Ark

on a wagon

[on a wagon], as it is stated: “And they placed the Ark of God upon a new wagon, and they carried it from the house of Avinadav, which was on the hill.”

It is written: “

And He struck the men of Beit Shemesh, because they saw in the Ark”:

And we raise an objection: Is it really

because they saw

in the Ark, for that reason

did He strike!?

They disagree about it,

Rabbi Abahu and Rabbi Elazar: one

of them

said:

Because they did not stop their work when they saw the Ark, but rather

were reaping and

at that time

were bowing.

And one said:

Because

they also said words

the men of Beit Shemesh [they spoke disparagingly of the Ark]; and this is what they said: