Sotah 36b — the Talmud in English

not in the manner in which

the tribes

are divided

[arranged]

in the Book of Numbers

[the Book of Numbers],

are divided

[arranged, with half on this and half on that]

on the stones of the ephod—

That is to say: Do not say that the order of their writing on the stones of the ephod was like the order in which they are arranged in the Book of Numbers, namely: Reuben first, and after him Simeon, [Levi,] Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun on one stone; and on the second stone: Joseph [that is, Ephraim and Manasseh, who are mentioned there], Benjamin, Dan, Asher, Gad, and Naphtali.

Rather,

the order of their writing on the stones of the ephod was

in the manner in which

they

are divided

[arranged]

in the Second Book

[the Book of Exodus], where they are arranged as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, who are the sons of Leah, according to the order of their births; Benjamin [the son of Rachel], Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher [the sons of the maidservants], and Joseph [the son of Rachel].

How:

The six

sons of Leah

[Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun] were written

in their order

one after the other on the one stone.

The two

sons of Rachel

[Benjamin and Joseph] were written

one on this side

[Benjamin was written first among the names on the second stone],

and one on this side

[Joseph was written last among the names on that stone].

And

the four

sons

of the

maidservants

[Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher] were written in the order of their births, one after the other,

in the middle

between the two sons of Rachel.

And we challenge this:

But what

[how]

do I establish—

according to Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel—the verse: “On the second stone

according to their birth,” since I say that on neither of the stones was “according to their birth” written, meaning those who were born to Jacob,

!? And we explain: They were written

according to the names by which their father called them, and not according to the names by which Moses called them!

That is:

“Reuben”

and not

“Reubenite,”

“Simeon”

and not

“Simeonite,”

“Dan”

and not

“Danite,”

“Gad”

and not

“Gadite.”

And from this beraita there is

a refutation of Rav Kahana,

who learned from the word “and half of them” that they were divided on the mountains just as they were divided on the stones, for both according to the first tanna and according to Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel they were not divided on the stones in the manner in which they were divided on the mountains!?

And we conclude: Indeed,

a refutation!

And once Rav Kahana’s interpretation of the word “and half of them,” stated by Joshua concerning half of Israel who stood on Mount Ebal, has been rejected, the following difficulty arises both according to the first tanna of the beraita and according to Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel:

But what

“and half of them

opposite Mount Ebal” mean? It implies the aforementioned or known half; yet according to both the one master and the other, they were not divided on the mountains as they were divided on the stones!?

The tanna

in the beraita taught: When Scripture says, “and half of them opposite Mount Ebal,” this means the smaller portion of their half [the smaller half].

For

the half of

the people of Israel that was

opposite Mount Gerizim

was

greater

in number

than the half of

the people of Israel that was opposite

Mount Ebal, because

a portion of the tribe of

Levi —

which was on Mount Gerizim—was

below

between the two mountains and was not standing on Mount Gerizim.

And we wonder:

On the contrary, because Levi was below

then

they were reduced

[their number was diminished]!? That is to say: Is it because a portion of the tribe of Levi was absent from the Israelites who were on Mount Gerizim that you say they were greater? But this is a reason for their number to be smaller, not greater!?

And we answer:

This is what he is saying:

The half that was on Mount Gerizim was greater than the half that was on Mount Ebal,

even though

a portion of the tribe of

Levi

was

below,

and why? Because

the sons of Joseph,

who were numerous, were

with them,

with the half of the Israelites who were on Mount Gerizim.

And as

it is stated

concerning the sons of Joseph [Joshua 17:15]:

“And the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying: Why have you given me one lot and one portion, while I am a numerous people whom the Lord has blessed until now,”

for they were a numerous people.

And since the claim of the sons of Joseph was brought, the Gemara also explains Joshua’s reply to the sons of Joseph, as it is stated:

“And Joshua said to them”

to the sons of Joseph:

“If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest”

[“and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzite and the Rephaim, for the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you].”

Thus

he said to them

Joshua:

Go and hide yourselves in the forests, so that the evil eye should not rule over you.

They said to him

the sons of Joseph to Joshua:

“The descendants of Joseph are not subject to the evil eye,”

[the evil eye does not rule over the descendants of Joseph].

As it is written

in Jacob’s blessing to Joseph:

“A fruitful son is Joseph, a fruitful son by the eye,”

and Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read

“by the eye,”

but rather

“those who rise above the eye,”

for he rises above the eye, which does not rule over him.

Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Hanina said: From here,

from Jacob’s blessing to the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, we learn that the evil eye does not rule over them:

“And let them grow like fish in the midst of the earth.”

Just as fish in the sea are covered by water and the eye does not rule over them, so too, the descendants of Joseph—the eye does not rule over them.

We further challenge the first tanna, who maintains that Judah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Dan, and Naphtali were written on the one stone, and on the second: Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, and said: “There were fifty letters [on both stones together], twenty-five on this stone and twenty-five on this stone.” Is it so that

these

names of the tribes were

fifty letters!?

But

there was one fewer

[there are fifty minus one here]!?

Rabbi Isaac said:

They added one letter to Joseph,

and he was called “Jehoseph,” and this is how he was written on the second stone,

as it is stated

[Psalms 81:6]:

“As a testimony in Jehoseph He appointed it, when He went out over the land of Egypt.”

Rav Nahman bar Isaac challenges this:

But

“according to their birth”

we require,

which implies according to the names by which their father called them.

Rather, all

[most]

of the Torah

“Benjamin”

is written defectively,

but here

on the stones

“Benjamin” in full

was written,

as it is written:

“And his father called him Benjamin,”

in full; and Scripture says concerning the stones “according to their birth,” according to the names by which their father called them.

Rav Hana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Hasida:

Joseph, who sanctified the Name of Heaven in secret,

when he was alone with Potiphar’s wife, and restrained himself and overcame his inclination,

one letter was added to him

[the letter heh]

from the name of the Holy One, blessed is He,

for he was called “Jehoseph.”

But

Judah, who sanctified the Name of Heaven in public

at the sea, as is explained later in the Gemara,

was named entirely after the name of the Holy One, blessed is He,

for the Tetragrammaton is included in his name.

And the Gemara explains where Joseph sanctified [the Name], and where Judah sanctified [the Name]:

a.

Joseph,

who sanctified the Name of Heaven in secret,

what is it?

As it is written:

“

“And it came to pass on that day, and he came

[Joseph]

into the house to do his work,”

and

Rabbi Yohanan said:

What Scripture says, “to do his work,” means intercourse, and

it teaches that both of them

[Joseph and Potiphar’s wife]

intended to commit a transgression.

It is written:

“And he came into the house to do his work,”

and Rav and Shmuel disagreed concerning the interpretation of the verse

: Rav and Shmuel:

One said: He entered to do his actual work.

And one said: He entered to attend to his needs

[to have intercourse],

and entered,

in accordance with Rabbi Yohanan.

It is written:

“And no man of the men of the household

was there in the house.” Is it so that

it is possible

that

in a great house such as the house of that wicked man there was no man!?

The school of Rabbi Ishmael taught:

That day was their festival day, and they all went to their house of idolatry, and she told them

about herself:

“She is ill.”

And because

she said

in her heart:

“I have no day on which Joseph will be required by me

as on this day.”

It is written:

“And she grasped him by his garment, saying,”

Lie with me:

At that moment, the image of his father came and appeared to him in the window—

His father said to him,

his father to Joseph:

“Joseph! Your brothers are destined to be written on the stones of the ephod, and you among them.

Do you

wish that your name be erased from among them, and that you be called

‘a shepherd of prostitutes’!?

As it is written:

“And one who shepherds prostitutes will lose wealth”

[a good name, which is more precious than all wealth].”

Immediately:

the Gemara brings the continuation of the deed by way of exposition concerning Jacob’s blessing [Genesis 49:22]: “A fruitful son is Joseph, a fruitful son by the eye; daughters marched over the wall. They embittered him and shot at him, and hated him, the masters of arrows. Yet his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made agile, from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from there, the shepherd, the stone of Israel.”

“

“Yet his bow abode in strength,”

and

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Meir: That his bow returned

[his seminal emission, which shoots like an arrow]

to its firmness.

“And the arms of his hands were made agile”:

And the arms of his hands were made supple”:

He drove his fingers into the ground

and supported himself on them until he was tormented and troubled by his inclination, and the force of his inclination passed,

and seminal emission came out

from between the fingernails of his hands,

and this is what Scripture says, “and were made agile,” which is like “and were scattered,” for the tsadi and zayin interchange.

“From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob”:

From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob”:

from the hands of Jacob’s might [the image of his likeness appeared to Joseph].

“From there, the shepherd, the stone of Israel”:

From there, the shepherd, the stone of Israel”:

a.

From there he merited and became a shepherd,

as it is stated:

“Shepherd of Israel—

he is the Holy One, blessed is He—

give ear, You who lead

[the Holy One, blessed is He]

like a flock of Joseph,”

do not read “like a flock” with a standard kaf, but rather “like a flock” with an inverted kaf, as though Israel are Joseph’s flock, because he is the shepherd.

b. And from there he merited being on a stone among the stones of Israel.

It was taught in a baraita:

Joseph was fit to have twelve tribes issue from him,

in the manner in which they issued from Jacob his father.

As it is stated:

“

“These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph,”

which implies: the generations that issued from Jacob; corresponding to them, it was fit that they issue from Joseph,

except that his seminal emission came out from between

his ten

fingernails,

and thereafter he did not father children, and he had only two sons.

And nevertheless they emerged

the remaining ten

from Benjamin his brother, and all of them

the sons of Benjamin

were called by his name

of Joseph.

As it is stated: “

And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Ashbel

and Gera, Naaman, Ahi, and Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.”

And the Gemara explains how these names were associated with Joseph: “

Гемара, талмудическое обсуждение Мишны, объясняет, каким образом эти имена были даны в честь Йосефа: «

Bela”:

Because of

the fact that Joseph was swallowed up

Joseph

among the nations.

And “

Becher”:

Because

he was his mother’s firstborn

.

And “

Ashbel”:

Because of Joseph

whom they exiled. “

Gera”:

Because of Joseph

who resided in an inn

in a foreign land.

And “

Naaman”:

Because of Joseph

who

he

was exceedingly pleasant. “

Ahi”

and “

Rosh”:

He is my brother

Joseph,

and

Joseph

is my chief. “

Muppim”:

For Joseph’s mouth was like that of Jacob our father with regard to the halakhot he had received from Shem and Ever, as stated in Midrash Tanhuma.

And “

Huppim”:

Because

he was not present at my wedding, and I was not present at his wedding.

And “

Ard”:

Because of Joseph

who descended among the nations of the world.

Some say: And “

Ard”

is named because

the face

of Joseph

resembled a rose.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said:

When Pharaoh said to Joseph: “

And without you no man shall lift up his hand

or his foot throughout all the land of Egypt,”

Pharaoh’s astrologers said

to Pharaoh: Is it conceivable that

a slave whom his master purchased for twenty silver pieces should be appointed over us!?

He said to them

Pharaoh said to his astrologers:

I see royal bearing [

royal qualities] in him—wisdom, strength, and beauty—

I see in him

that is, I see from his wisdom and appearance that he is not of slave lineage but of royal descent, and that he was sold into slavery improperly.

They said to him: If so,

let him know seventy languages!

Gabriel came and taught

Joseph

seventy languages.

Joseph was unable to master them

Joseph [he was unable to learn them], until

he added to him

Gabriel

one letter from the name of the Almighty

and called him “Yehosef”—and

he learned.

As it is stated: “

A testimony in Yehosef He set it over the land of Egypt

—and through this—‘a language that I did not know I heard.’”

And the next day: Every language in which Pharaoh spoke with him, Joseph answered him

in every language in which Pharaoh spoke with Joseph, Joseph answered him, but when

he himself spoke

Joseph

in the Holy Tongue, he did not know

Pharaoh

what Joseph was saying

but when Joseph spoke in the Holy Tongue, Pharaoh did not understand him].

He said to him

Pharaoh said to Joseph:

Teach me [

teach me] the Holy Tongue.

He taught him, but he did not learn [

Joseph taught Pharaoh the Holy Tongue, but Pharaoh did not learn it].

He said to him

Pharaoh said to Joseph:

Swear to me that you will not reveal it [

Swear to me that you will not reveal that I do not know the Holy Tongue].

He swore to him

Joseph swore to Pharaoh that he would not reveal it.

After some time,

.

Joseph said to Pharaoh, after Jacob’s death, when he requested that he allow him to go to the land of Canaan to bury his father [Genesis 50:4]: “And Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying

: My father made me swear, saying

‘Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father, and I will return.’”

He said to him

Pharaoh said to Joseph, refusing to permit him to leave the land of Egypt:

Go and have yourself released from your oath [

Go and have yourself released from your oath], and remain in Egypt.

He said to him

Joseph said to Pharaoh:

And

if you are asking me to have myself released from the oath I made to my father,

I will likewise have myself released from the oath I made to you [

I will also have myself released from my oath not to reveal that you do not know the Holy Tongue],

even though it is not agreeable to him [

even though you do not wish me to have myself released].

And against his will,

he said to him

Pharaoh said to Joseph: “

Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

b.

Judah,

who sanctified the Name of Heaven publicly,

what is it?

As it is taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir would say:

When Israel stood at the sea

and it had not yet split,

the

the

tribes were vying with one another; one said: I will enter the sea first, and the other said: I will enter the sea first.