Taanit 22b (כב:) — the Talmud in English

“And he sent to him

Pharaoh Neco

messengers, saying: What have I to do with you, king of Judah?! It is not against you that I have come today, but against the house with which I am at war.

And God said that He had commanded me to hasten.

Cease from opposing the God

who is with me, lest He destroy you.”

That is, Pharaoh sent messengers to Josiah to persuade him to refrain from waging war against him. For in truth there was no war at all between him and Israel; rather, his war was against Assyria, and his gods had sent him to wage war against them.

Now we must clarify what Pharaoh meant by his words, “the God who is with me.” Did he mean the God of Heaven, or, Heaven forbid, an idolatrous deity?

Who

was that

“God”

whom Pharaoh said had sent him to war?

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This refers to idolatry.

That is, Pharaoh claimed that other gods had sent him to wage war against Assyria.

Josiah

said to himself:

Since

Pharaoh

trusts in idolatry—

I can prevail against him

since Pharaoh trusts and relies upon idolatry, I can overcome him and defeat him in war. And below it will be explained in what way King Josiah erred.

It is written later in the verse:

“And the archers shot at King Josiah, and the king said to his servants: Take me away, for I am gravely wounded.”

What is the meaning of “for I am gravely wounded”?

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This teaches that

because of the great number of arrows that the archers shot at King Josiah ,

they made

his

entire body

of Josiah perforated

like a sieve .

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Why was Josiah punished?

Yet, seemingly, his argument was a sound one!

Because he should have sought counsel

to consult

Jeremiah

the prophet whether to allow Pharaoh Neco to pass through his land or not—

but he did not seek counsel .

What did he expound

which verse did Josiah expound, leading him to decide not to allow Pharaoh Neco to pass through his land—

He expounded the verse in the portion of Beḥukotai, concerning the blessings with which the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed Israel if they would follow His statutes:

“And a sword shall not pass through your land.”

That is, armies shall not pass through the Land of Israel.

And this is how he expounded it:

What is the meaning of “a sword”?

What kind of sword did Scripture say would not pass through the Land of Israel?

If you say

that it refers to

a sword that is not peaceful,

that is, Scripture informs us that war will not come upon us in the Land of Israel,

but it is written

at the beginning of that same verse:

“And I shall grant peace in the land,”

meaning that war will not come upon Israel. Why, then, does Scripture repeat at the end of the verse, “And a sword shall not pass through your land”?

Rather,

you are compelled to say that the verse means that

even a peaceful sword

shall not pass through your land!

Indeed, this is the meaning of the verse, as we have demonstrated.

But this applies specifically in a meritorious generation.

And he,

Josiah,

did not know that his generation was not deemed worthy

in the eyes of God, for its members were not righteous .

When his soul was departing

when Josiah died,

Jeremiah saw that his lips were moving

the prophet Jeremiah saw Josiah’s lips murmuring and moving.

Jeremiah

said to himself:

Perhaps, Heaven forbid, he said something improper in the midst of his suffering

perhaps, Heaven forbid, Josiah had said, because of his pain, something inappropriate regarding Heaven.

He bent down and heard him justifying the judgment against himself

Jeremiah bent down to hear Josiah’s words, and heard him acknowledge that the judgment against him was just.

And thus

said

Josiah:

“The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word.”

That is as we said: He sinned in that he should have sought counsel from Jeremiah.

At that moment he began his lament over him

Jeremiah began speaking about Josiah at that moment, when he heard these words:

“The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,

was captured in their corruption” . That is, Josiah was ensnared by the evil deeds of the people of his generation, as explained above.

We learned in our Mishna:

“It once happened that elders descended from Jerusalem to their cities, etc.”

and they decreed a fast because blight had appeared in Ashkelon to the extent of a full oven’s mouth .

They raised a dilemma:

Does the phrase mean that blight appeared

to the extent of an oven full of grain,

that is, blight in an amount equivalent to grain filling an oven,

or perhaps it means that blight appeared

to the extent of

an oven full of bread,

that is, blight in an amount equivalent to an oven filled with bread.

This is a smaller measure, because it was not customary to fill the entire cavity of the oven with bread; rather, they would attach the bread only to the walls of the oven, all around.

Come and hear

from the beraita, which we learned:

“As much as the mouth of an oven.”

If so, it certainly refers to bread, which is attached and stands at the mouth of the oven. Grain cannot stand at the mouth of the oven, but falls into it.

And

although we have resolved that the reference is to an oven full of bread, and not to an oven full of grain,

the dilemma still remains

there is still room to ask and deliberate: Does it mean that the blight was

to

the measure of

the covering of an oven

the oven’s covering—that is, the size of one large loaf, which can stand over the opening of the oven like a covering—

or perhaps it means the measure of a row of loaves that surrounds the mouth of the oven

when loaves are placed beside one another and encircle the mouth of the oven?

The Gemara concludes:

The matter remains unresolved.

We learned in our Mishna:

“And furthermore, they decreed a fast because wolves had eaten, etc.”

two infants in Transjordan .

Ulla said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: There was an incident

that

wolves swallowed two infants

whole , and they remained in their intestines for several days,

and they expelled them

and brought them out whole

through the digestive tract.

And that

incident

came before the Sages,

so that they could determine whether those infants conveyed impurity like any corpse or not.

And they declared

the

flesh

pure, so that it did not convey impurity of a corpse, since it had been digested inside the wolves’ intestines and had ceased to exist as flesh; it was merely excrement.

But they declared the bones impure,

and said that they convey impurity of a corpse, since they are not digested and remain whole, as they were at first .

We learned in our Mishna:

“For these occurrences one sounds the alarm on Shabbat, etc.”

The Sages taught: The same

law applies to

a city surrounded by gentiles

who are preparing to wage war against it,

or when the

when the

river surrounding it is about to overflow its banks,

and

the same

law applies to

a ship being tossed about at sea

and about to sink,

and the same applies to an individual pursued by gentiles or by bandits,

and

likewise to a person pursued

by an evil spirit ,

who has been seized by an evil spirit and consequently walks and runs without awareness, creating concern that he may drown in a river or fall into a pit and die—

All these cases have the same law:

one sounds the alarm

on their account even

on Shabbat .

In all of these cases,

for all the troubles mentioned above,

an individual is permitted to afflict

himself

with a fast , even though the entire community is not fasting.

Rabbi Yose says: An individual may not afflict himself with a fast

Rabbi Yosei says: An individual is not permitted to afflict himself with a fast

, lest

because of the fast he lack the strength to work, earn, and support himself through his labor, and

be forced to rely on

the charity of

others.

And

perhaps

others will not take pity on him,

and he will die of hunger.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: What is Rabbi Yosei’s reason ,

who said that an individual is not permitted to afflict himself with a fast?

As it is written: “And the human being became a living soul” .

And they expound the verse as follows:

“The soul that I placed within you—

keep it alive.”

That is, you must concern yourself with remaining alive, and not rely on others .

We learned in our Mishna: For these occurrences one sounds the alarm on Shabbat, etc.

Shimon the Timnite says: Also for pestilence, etc.

but the Sages did not agree with him.

They raised a dilemma:

Does the fact that

the Sages did not agree with him

refer to sounding the alarm

on Shabbat,

meaning that the Sages disagreed with Shimon the Timnite and maintain that one does not sound the alarm on Shabbat over pestilence?

But on weekdays—

they agreed with him

that one sounds the alarm?

Or perhaps, “they did not agree with him”

the Sages

at all

that one sounds the alarm over pestilence; rather, they maintain that one does not sound the alarm either on Shabbat or on weekdays?

Come and hear, as it was taught in a beraita: One sounds the alarm over pestilence on Shabbat, and there is no need to say

that one sounds the alarm

on weekdays.

Rabbi Ḥanan ben Pituṃ, a student of Rabbi Akiva, citing Rabbi Akiva

in the name of Rabbi Akiva,

says: One does not sound the alarm over pestilence at all .

Thus it follows that those who disagree with the opinion that one sounds the alarm over this matter on Shabbat maintain that one does not sound the alarm at all, even on a weekday.

We learned in our Mishna:

concerning every calamity that may not befall the community, and so on.

The Sages taught: Concerning every calamity that may not befall the community—

one sounds the alarm over it, except for excessive rain [

excessive rainfall], which causes damage.

What is the reason?

What is the reason that one does not sound the alarm over the calamity of excessive rain?

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because one does not pray for an excess of good.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From where

do we learn

that one does not pray for an excess of good?

As it is stated

in the book of Malachi: "

"Bring all

the tithe to the treasury, and so on,

and test Me now with this, and so on: If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without limit." This shows us that even rain that falls without interruption is a blessing.

What

is the meaning of the expression

"without limit"?

Rami bar Rav said: Until your lips wear out from saying, "Enough."

That is, “without limit”—until your lips wear out from saying “Enough,” so that the goodness will cease.

Rami bar Rav Yud said [

Rami, whose father was a sage named “Yud,” said]:

But in the Diaspora [

in Babylonia, which is deep, in the depths]—

one sounds the alarm over it [

over the calamity of excessive rain], because in a deep place, as a result of excessive rain, the houses become submerged in water.

It was also taught likewise [

we likewise learned this in a beraita]:

In a year when the rains are excessive, the members of the priestly watch send word to the members of the non-priestly watch [

below it will be explained who the members of the priestly watch and the members of the non-priestly watch are]:

Turn your eyes to your brothers in the Diaspora [

when you pray during fasts, turn your eyes and think of your brothers in the Diaspora],

so that their houses will not become their graves

because of excessive rain.

They asked Rabbi Eliezer: How much rain must fall before one prays that it should not fall [

what amount of excessive rain warrants praying that no more rain should fall]?

He said to them

Rabbi Eliezer:

So that a person standing on Keren Afel [

a high rocky peak called “Keren Afel”], which is a place far above ground level,

and

because of the excessive rain,

will swish

the person standing there

his feet in water [

in rainwater].

In reality, it is impossible for the rainwater to reach such a height. Rabbi Eliezer intended to say that one never prays over excessive rain.

They were astonished and asked Rabbi Eliezer: How can you say that the measure is that he stand and swish his feet in water,

but wasn’t it taught [

for we learned in a beraita]: So that he stand, and so on, and swish

his hands

in water!

Rabbi Eliezer replied to them:

His feet—

I was speaking of his hands [

when I said “his feet,” I intended that he would be able to swish his hands]. Since he can swish his feet in the water, if he bends and leans down, he will also be able to swish his hand.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: I myself saw Keren Afel [

I saw that rock called “Keren Afel”], when I was standing beneath it,

for that Ishmaelite merchant stood upon it while riding a camel and holding a spear in his hand [

an Ishmaelite merchant stood on that rock, riding a camel and holding a spear in his hand, which is something very tall and prominent], and nevertheless, because of the enormous height of the rock,

he appeared to me as a worm [

that Ishmaelite appeared to me as small as a worm].

The Sages taught: "And I will give your rains in their season."

That means

that

not

will the land be

waterlogged [

made excessively drunk with rain],

nor

will it be

thirsty

for water,

but of moderate condition.

And why is it not good for excessive rain to fall?

Because

as long as the rains are excessive, they muddy [

damage]

the land, and it does not produce fruit.