Sukkah 52b (נב:) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A person’s evil inclination grows stronger against him every day, as it is stated [

Genesis 6] “

Only

evil;

his evil increases

throughout the entire day.”

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: A person’s evil inclination grows stronger against him every day and seeks to kill him.

As it is stated [

Psalms 37] “

The wicked

the evil inclination, which is called

wicked,”

constantly

against the righteous.

And it seeks to kill him.”

And were it not for the Holy One, blessed be He, who assists him—

he cannot

a person

overcome it,

the evil inclination, and defeat it by his own strength.

As it is stated [

Psalms 37] “

The Lord will not abandon him

the righteous

to its power

of the evil inclination.

And He will not declare him guilty

the righteous

when he is judged

with his evil inclination.”

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: If this loathsome one encounters you [

the evil inclination]—

draw it to the beit-midrash.

If it is stone

the evil inclination—then it is

dissolved

in the beit-midrash.

If it is iron—then it

is

shattered

there.

The proof is from the verse:

If it is stone—

it is dissolved, as it is written [

Isaiah 55] “

Ho, everyone who is thirsty, go to the water.”

And “water” means nothing other than Torah, because the Torah is compared to water.

And it is written [

Job 14] “

Stones—

water wears away.”

This demonstrates that the Torah, which is compared to water, has the power to wear away stones.

If it is iron—

it is shattered, as it is written [

Jeremiah 23] “

Is not My word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that shatters rock?”

When fire penetrates iron, sparks fly from it, as at the time of an explosion. Therefore the Torah, which is the word of the Lord, is compared to it.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The evil inclination,

at first it

entices a person in this world

to sin. And afterward it comes

and testifies against him in the World-to-Come

concerning his sin.

As it is stated [

Proverbs 29] “One who

indulges him from youth,”

from his youth, his evil inclination, although the evil inclination is nothing but

his slave,

since a person can rule over it if he wishes.

If he indulges it and does not discipline it, then:

And his end,

ultimately, that slave—

will be a ruler!

This will be the witness who testifies against him in the World-to-Come.

And the proof that “ruler” has the meaning of “witness” is:

For in atbaḥ

according to the numerical order of the letters [see Rashi],

Rabbi Ḥiyya calls a witness—

manon.

Rav Huna raised

an apparent contradiction between two verses concerning the evil inclination:

It is written [

Hosea 4] “

For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray” [

the people of Israel], “and they went astray from beneath their God [whom they made].” This indicates that the success of the evil inclination, which is called the spirit of harlotry, was merely a matter of error.

And

on the other hand

it is written in the following chapter that its success was complete. As it is stated [Hosea 5] “For the spirit of harlotry is

v sleduyushchey glave, chto ego uspekh byl polnym. Kak skazano [Hoshea 5]: «Potomu chto dukh bluda

within them.”

It had penetrated them and was already implanted in their hearts.

Rather, this is the way of the evil inclination:

At first it

leads them astray

through mere error,

but ultimately it was completely implanted

on ukorenyaetsya polnostyu

within them.

Rava said: At first Scripture called

the evil inclination

a passerby,

merely passing through, without lodging there.

But ultimately

afterward

it called

it

a guest,

who lodges in a place for a short period,

and ultimately it called it

a man,

the master of the house who resides there permanently.

As it is stated [

II Samuel 12] in the parable that the prophet Natan told King David when he took Bathsheba: “

And a passerby came to the rich man, and he spared taking from his own flock and herd to prepare for the guest.”

And it is written

afterward, “

And he took the poor man’s ewe-lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A person has a small limb.

If he starves it—

it is satisfied,

his body will be sound.

If he satisfies it—

it is hungry.

For in old age his body will be weak and hungry.

As it is stated [

Hosea 13] concerning those who satisfy their inclination: “

When they grazed, they were satisfied,”

they were satisfied and their hearts became haughty.

And their punishment is: “And I became to them like a lion” [I will tear them apart like a lion].

Rav Ḥana bar Aḥa said, and they said in the school of Rav: There are four

things for which, as it were,

the Holy One, blessed be He, regrets

having created them

because He

created them.

And these are they:

The exile

of Israel,

the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil inclination.

The exile—

as it is written [

Isaiah 52] “

And now, what have I here” [

an expression of regret]

declares the Lord, for My people is taken away for nothing.”

The Chaldeans—

as it is written [

Isaiah 23] “

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, this people”—

if only it

had never existed!”

The Ishmaelites—

as it is written [

Job 12] in Job’s complaint about the success of the wicked in this world: “

How infuriating it is when

the tents of robbers dwell secure” [

the Ishmaelites, who are Arab robbers, sit peacefully in tents],

and

the lives of

those who provoke God

are secure

without harm.”

And all this provocation is “

for what He brought about—

by His own hand.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself, who brought the Ishmaelites into the world, brought this upon Himself. And now, as it were, He “regrets” it.

The evil inclination—

as it is written in Micah [chapter 4] concerning what will occur at the end of days: “

On that day, declares the Lord: I will gather the lame, and I will assemble the outcast.

«V tot den, govorit Gospod: ya sobеру khromuyu i sobеру izgnannuyu.

And

all this is because of

that which

I myself

have harmed.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I myself caused Israel’s suffering, because I created the evil inclination, which caused them to sin and brought about their destruction.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not for these three verses,

which testify that sins and merits are in the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, and that He examines hearts [Rashi]—

the feet of the enemies of Israel would collapse [

an expression of euphemism].

One—

as it is written [

Micah 4] “

That which I have harmed,”

as explained.

And one—

as it is written [

Jeremiah 18] “

Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter—

so are you

in My hand, House of Israel.”

And the other—[

Ezekiel 36] “

I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

Rav Pappa said: Also from this verse

the Gemara derives it

as well [

Ezekiel 36]: “

And I will place My spirit within you.”

And since the Gemara has cited several verses concerning what will occur at the end of days, it cites and explains another verse concerning the end of days, from the prophecy of Zechariah [Zechariah 2]: “

And the Lord showed me four craftsmen

artisans.”

And we raised a question concerning it:

Who are they

who are those

four craftsmen?

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said that Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida said:

These are the four artisans who will come in the future to build the Third Temple. And these are they:

David’s Messiah and Joseph’s Messiah,

whose task is to build the Temple.

And Elijah,

who is called a “craftsman” because he built an altar on Mount Carmel, and who will in the future be sent forth and come before the Messiah.

And

Shem, son of Noah, who built the ark with his father Noah, and who is called

Melchizedek.

And we find that he is called a “craftsman” in the Book of Isaiah [chapter 41], as it is written: “And the craftsman strengthened the smith.” And we expound in Genesis Rabbah that Shem, son of Noah, who is called “Melchizedek” in the Torah, strengthened Abraham our father and blessed him.

Rav Sheshet raised an objection: If so,

if these are the four craftsmen, the continuation of that prophecy presents a difficulty:

This is what is written [

Zechariah 2]: “

And he said to me: These are the horns that scattered

dispersed

Judah.”

But according to you, that the four shepherds are David’s Messiah, Joseph’s Messiah, and Elijah the prophet,

these—

they have come to restore it,

they come to restore, and not to scatter!

He said to him

Rav Ḥana:

Lower yourself

go down and continue

to the end of the verse

of “These are the horns,” and you will see from the end of the verse that the horns mentioned at its beginning are not “the four craftsmen”; rather, they are the nations of the world.

As it is written at the end: “

And these came” [

the four craftsmen]

to terrify them,

the nations of the world,

and to cast down the horns of the nations that raised a horn against the land of Judah, to scatter it.”

That is, the four shepherds will come and terrify the nations [the horns] that sought to scatter Judah.

Rav Sheshet said

to himself:

With

arguing with

Ḥana [

bar Bizna]

in aggada—

what do I need it for?

It is not worthwhile for me, since he is more expert than I in aggada, and I will not be able to overcome him. [

Micah 5] “

And this shall be peace: when Assyria comes into our land, and when he treads in our palaces—

then we shall raise up against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.”

Who are the seven shepherds?

David in the center,

The first three righteous men:

Adam, Seth, and Methuselah—

to his right.

Two of the Patriarchs,

Abraham, Jacob, and Moses—

to his left. [

Where is Isaac? See Rashi.]

And who are the eight “

princes of men”?

Jesse, Saul, and Samuel.

The prophets

Amos and Zephaniah.

Zedekiah, the Messiah, and Elijah.

We learned in the Mishna:

Four ladders.

The tanna taught: The height of the candelabrum was fifty cubits.

And four youths of the priesthood, with jugs of oil measuring one hundred and twenty log in their hands.

They raised a dilemma:

whether

one hundred and twenty log

of oil were

for all of them,

for all four together, meaning thirty log for each one.

Or perhaps

one hundred and twenty log

for each and every one?

Come and hear: And in their hands were jugs of oil containing thirty log each, which together amounted to one hundred and twenty log.

The tanna taught: And they,

these youths of the priesthood,

were more outstanding than the son of Marta, daughter of Baitos.

They said about

the priest,

the son of Marta, daughter of Baitos, that he would carry

alone, in his hands,

the two thighs of a large ox

that had been brought as a burnt offering,

which had been purchased for one thousand zuz

and was extremely heavy.

And he would walk

up the ramp calmly,

heel beside toe,

and he would not hurry to unload his burden.

But his fellow priests did not allow him to do so,

to carry those two thighs alone,

because of [

Proverbs 14] “

In the multitude of the people is the king’s glory,”

and many priests should take part in carrying it.

The Gemara explains:

What

was the way in which the youths of the priesthood

were more outstanding

than he?

If you say, because of the weight,

that they carried a heavier burden, this is not so. For

these

two thighs—

they are heavier

than thirty log

by far.

bolshe, chem tridtsat logov.

Rather, there

the priest climbed with his burden on a

ramp, and

the incline of the ramp was moderate,

“square”

and not steep,

as its incline was one cubit of height for every four cubits of length.

But

here,

the youths of the priesthood climbed on

ladders, and they were exceedingly steep.

The ladders stood at an upright angle, making it extremely difficult to climb them while carrying a burden of thirty log.

We learned in the Mishna:

And there was no courtyard in Jerusalem.