Sotah 42a — the Talmud in English

And it is written

afterward, after Jeremiah departed from Jerusalem for the land of Benjamin: ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location on the page") "

And it came to pass, when he was at the Gate of Benjamin, and there was there an officer, whose name was Yiraiah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah.

And he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are falling to the Chaldeans.”

And Jeremiah said, “False! I am not falling to the Chaldeans.”"

And it is written: "

And he did not listen to him

and Yiraiah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officers"!

Thus Jeremiah fell into the hand of Yiraiah son of the son of Hananiah, because he had flattered Hananiah.

And Rabbi Elazar said:

e. Niddah:

Every assembly in which there is flattery is loathsome like a niddah.

As it is stated: "

For the assembly of a flatterer is solitary," and

“solitary” means a niddah,

for in the cities of the sea they call a niddah "

solitary."

And the Gemara explains:

What

is the expression

“solitary”:

Gamula da

this woman is separated

from her husband.

And Rabbi Elazar said:

f. Exile:

Every assembly in which there is flattery will

in

the end

be

exiled.

For behold,

it is written here: "

For the assembly of a flatterer is solitary,"

and it is written there: "

And you will say in your heart, Who has borne these for me, while I am bereaved and solitary, exiled and thrust away."

And since there it juxtaposes exile with “solitary,” even “solitary,” which is written concerning flattery, ultimately contains exile.

Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said:

Four groups do not receive the face of the Shekhina,

and these are they:

The group of mockers, the group of flatterers, the group of liars, and the group of those who speak lashon hara.

And we explain:

The group of mockers

from

as it is written: "

He has withdrawn His hand from mockers,"

meaning that the Holy One, blessed is He, withdraws His hand from being with those who mock.

The group of flatterers —

from

as it is written "

For before Him

before the Holy One, blessed is He

a flatterer shall come."

The group of liars —

from

as it is written: "

He who speaks lies shall not be established before My eyes."

The group of those who speak lashon hara —

from

as it is written: "

For You are not a God who desires wickedness; evil shall not dwell

with You

with You,"

that is:

You are righteous, Hashem

and therefore

evil shall not dwell in Your dwelling-place!

And the “evil” written here is stated concerning those who speak lashon hara, for it is written later in the psalm: “For there is no truth in his mouth; their inward part is calamity; an open grave is their throat; they make their tongue smooth.”

We shall return to you, chapter “These Are Recited”

Introduction:

In the previous chapter (32b) it was explained that there are things recited in every language and there are things recited in the sacred language, and one of the things recited in the sacred language is “the anointed for war when he speaks to the people”.

In the chapter before us, the tanna comes to explain the matter of “the anointed for war”: what he speaks to the people and how.

There are two types of wars that the kings of Israel or their leaders wage against their enemies:

A. “A commanded war”—such as the war against the seven nations (in the conquest of the Land by Joshua), the war against Amalek, and a war against any enemy who comes against them to conquer or destroy their inheritance.

B. “A permitted war”—such as a king who voluntarily wages war against the other nations in order to expand the boundary of Israel and increase his greatness.

In both types of war, they appoint a special priest to speak to the people in the battle formations, to exhort them and strengthen their hearts, as it is said (Deuteronomy 20:1–2): “When you go forth to war against your enemies, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not fear them, for the Lord your God is with you, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when you draw near to the war, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people”; and the High Priest would appoint him, and when he was appointed for this, they would anoint him with the anointing oil, and therefore he was called “the anointed for war”.

Mishna:

The priest who was appointed to be

the anointed for war,

would speak twice to the people (as explained in the Gemara), once at the border (at the boundary of Israel), and once in the war (before the battle),

and

when

he was

speaking to the people, he would speak in the sacred language,

as it is stated:

(Deuteronomy 20) “And it shall be, when you draw near to the war, that the priest shall approach”—

this is the anointed priest for war,

who was appointed and anointed with the anointing oil so that he would speak to the people the matters below,

“And he shall speak to the people”—

in the sacred language

and this is learned by a gzera shava from the expression “and he shall speak” stated here, while in the Ten Commandments it is said (Exodus 19:19), “Moses would speak,” just as there it was spoken in the sacred language, so here too, in the sacred language.

“And he shall say to them: Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near today to the war against your enemies”—

and not against your brothers ,

that is,

not Judah against Simeon, nor Simeon against

Benjamin,

for both of them were of the people of Israel,

And the difference is

that if you fall into their hands, they will have mercy on you, as it is stated

in the war waged by Pekah son of Remaliah when he fought against Ahaz and captured many of the children of Judah, and the prophet Oded said to them: “In the wrath of the Lord against Judah He gave them into your hand, and you killed them with a slaughter reaching heaven. And now you intend to subjugate them as slaves? Hear me and return the captives,”

(II Chronicles 28:16) “And the men who were designated by name rose and took hold of the captives, and from the spoils they clothed all their nakedness and clothed them

and shod them and gave them food and drink and anointed them and led them on donkeys for every stumbling one—

all those who could not walk on their feet, they led on donkeys—

and brought them to Jericho, the city of palms, to their brothers; and they returned to Samaria, etc.”

Thus, the Israelites had mercy on the two hundred thousand captives from Judah and Jerusalem who had fallen into their hands,

but now

you are going to war against your enemies

in battle,

for if you fall into their hands, they will not have mercy on you;

therefore you must fight with strength and with utter self-sacrifice. The priest continues and says: “

a.

Let your hearts not be faint

b.

Do not fear

c.

And do not hasten

d.

And do not be terrified before them”

These four expressions correspond to the stratagems of the enemy, intended to bring confusion and panic into the camp of the one fighting them.

“Let your hearts not be faint”—

because of the neighing of horses

and the sharpening of swords that you hear in the enemy camp. “

Do not fear”—

because of the striking together of shields

of the soldiers, who strike the shields against one another to make a sound,

and the multitude of helmets [

and the abundance of the soldiers’ battalions].

“Do not hasten”—

to flee

from the sound of horns

which they blow in trumpets to frighten them.

“Do not be terrified”—

because of the sound of screams

of the enemy.

“For the Lord your God, Who goes with you”

in the war,

they

the enemies

come

and trust

in the victory of

their army commander, who is

flesh and blood,

And you are coming with the victory of the Omnipresent.

The Philistines came

to war

with the victory of Goliath,

for they trusted in his strength,

What was his end?

In the end he fell by the sword, and they fell with him.

The children of Ammon came

to war

with the victory of Shobach,

who was the army commander of Hadadezer, king of Ammon,

What was his end?

In the end he fell by the sword, and they fell with him.

But you are not so;

you do not trust in flesh and blood,

“For the Lord your God, Who goes with you to fight for you, etc.” This is the camp of the Ark,

for the Ark goes with the camp of Israel that goes out to war, and the Tablets are inside it; thus, the Divine Presence is with you in your camp:

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “And he shall speak to the people”—in the sacred language.

And we raise an objection to it:

What is it saying?

How do we learn from the verse that he spoke in the sacred language?

This is what it is saying:

this is the teaching: we learn by a gzera shava,

as it is stated

here the expression

“and he shall speak,”

and there,

in the Ten Commandments,

it says

(Exodus 19:19) “Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice.”

Just as there,

in the Ten Commandments, the words of God and Moses were

in the sacred language,—

so here too, in the sacred language.

The Sages taught:

“And the priest shall approach and speak to the people.”

One might have thought that any priest who wished

could approach to speak?

The verse says

in the continuation of the passage

“And the officers shall speak.”

Just as the officers are appointed,

appointed for this,

so too the priest

must be

appointed,

appointed for this, to speak to the people,

and say

perhaps

the High Priest

may approach to speak to the people without appointing him for this, since he is already appointed to be the High Priest,

and we answer: he must be

similar to an officer,

just as an officer has someone appointed over him,

for there is a judge appointed over him, and the officer compels the one whom the judge commands him to compel,

so too the priest

who speaks to the people must be a priest

who has someone appointed over him,

and we challenge:

Does the High Priest not also have a king over him?

And we answer:

It is speaking of his service,

that it is necessary to have a priest who has someone appointed over him in his service.

And say the deputy

High Priest may speak to the people without appointing him for this? For he is already appointed to be the deputy and has someone appointed over him.

And we answer:

A deputy

High Priest

is not an appointed one;

he was not appointed to speak to the people, but for another matter.

As it was taught: Rabbi Hanina, deputy of the priests, said: Why is the deputy appointed?

For what matter is he appointed and prepared?

So that if a disqualification occurs to the High Priest, he enters and serves in his place,

but as long as no disqualification occurs to the High Priest, the deputy has no greatness:

We learned in the Mishna: It is written in the verse

“And he shall say to them: Hear, O Israel”:

What is different about “Hear, O Israel”?

Why does he begin with this expression?

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

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel:

Even if you have fulfilled only the recitation of the Shema in the morning and in the evening, you will not be delivered into their hands,

of the enemies

We learned in the Mishna: It is written in the verse

“Let your hearts not be faint, do not fear, etc.”:

The Sages taught: He speaks with them twice,

the priest, once

at the border

at the boundary of Israel,

and

once:

in the war

before the battle.

What does he say at the border

to the people?