Taanit 5b — the Talmud in English

Two evils"—namely, one transgression,

one—which is

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equivalent to two. ![](pamud.bmp "

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And what is it [and what is that transgression]?—

and what is that transgression]?—

idolatry.

And from where do we have this matter, that this transgression is equivalent to two?

For it is written: "For two evils did My people do: They have forsaken Me, the source of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns" .

And it is written concerning them [and it is written about them], concerning the Jewish people:

and it is written concerning them, the people of Israel]:

"For cross over to the isles of the Kittim and see, and send to Kedar and contemplate very much, etc. Has a nation exchanged gods, though they are no gods? Yet My people has exchanged its glory for that which does not profit" .

And this is "For two evils did My people do": they did worse than these two nations, Kittim and Kedar. For although the deity of these nations [the idolatry that they serve] is inferior and defective, they did not exchange it or replace it with another. But My people exchanged its glory, its God, the living God, for another deity that is of no benefit.

And this is what we said above, that idolatry is equivalent to two, because one who serves idolatry performs two evil acts: he forsakes the source of living waters and goes to hew out broken cisterns .

A tanna [we learned in a beraita]:

the

Kittim

serve fire.

And

the

Kedarites serve water .

And even though they know that

the Kittim

that water extinguishes fire,

and if so, the power of water is greater, nevertheless they

did not exchange

their

god,

which is the fire that they had been accustomed to serve from time immemorial.

And

if

My people,

the Jewish people,

exchanged

its

glory,

that is, its God,

for that which does not profit [for a deity that does not profit].

for a god that is of no benefit].

And Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: What is the meaning of that which is written: "And it came to pass when Samuel grew old

and he appointed his sons as judges over Israel, etc."?

And did Samuel grow old all this much [and was Samuel so old]?

was Samuel really so old]?

But he was fifty-two years old [and he was fifty-two years old]

when he died, and this is not considered that he reached old age. And if he died at an age that is not old age, it emerges that Samuel was not in a state of old age at all during his life!

For the master said: A person who

A person who

dies at

the age of

fifty-two years is not considered a death by karet ,

but rather—

this is the death of Samuel of Ramah,

who also died at this age!

He said to him: This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

Indeed, Samuel did not reach the age of old age during his life, but

old age leaped upon him ,

for his hair turned white before its time, and he appeared as though he were old.

For it is written,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Samuel after the incident of Amalek

"I regret that I made Saul king."

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to remove Saul from the kingship and make another king in his place.

Samuel did not wish for this to occur during his lifetime, that the appointment which he himself had made as the agent of the Holy One, blessed be He, should be annulled, and therefore

he said before Him [before the Holy One, blessed be He]:

before the Holy One, blessed be He]:

Master of the

universe! You have weighed me as equal to Moses and Aaron [you said that I am equal and important like Moses and Aaron],

you said that I am equal in stature and importance to Moses and Aaron],

for it is written: "Moses and Aaron among His priests—

and Samuel among those who call upon His name" .

For the Holy One, blessed be He, equated Moses and Aaron with Samuel.

If so, the conduct toward me should be as it was toward them!

Just as with Moses and Aaron—

they did not annul the work of their hands,

which was Joshua , who was their disciple —

during their lifetimes,

that is, Joshua did not die during the lifetimes of Moses and Aaron,

So too I,

it is fitting that

the work of my hands should not be annulled,

Saul, whom I made king,

during my lifetime!

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: What shall I do [how shall I act]?

how shall I act]?

Let Saul die [if I cause Saul to die] now—

[if I cause Saul to die] now—

Samuel will not permit it [Samuel will not allow Me to do so], as he claimed that it is not proper to treat him in this way.

[Samuel will not let Me do so], as he argued that it is not proper to treat him in this way.

But what shall I do?

Let Samuel die [let Samuel die] now, so that he will not see Saul's death?

[if Samuel dies] now, so that he will not see Saul's death?

It is impossible to do this. For

if he is young—

they will speak ill of him afterward [because Samuel will die while young, they will speak about him, spreading an evil report about him]. And the people will say that because there was a transgression in his hand, he died in his youth.

because Samuel would die while young, people would speak about him and slander him]. They would say that he died young because he had committed a transgression.

But what then?

Let neither Saul die nor

Samuel [so that neither Saul nor Samuel dies]? But

[so that neither Saul nor Samuel dies]? But

David's kingship has already arrived [the time of David's kingship has arrived],

[the time for David's kingship has arrived], and

and one kingship does not encroach upon another—

even by the breadth of a hair [the thickness of a hair, which is very thin]. Once the time of the new kingship has arrived, the previous kingship must immediately end .

[the thickness of a very fine hair]. Once the time for the new kingship arrives, the previous kingship must end immediately.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said,

I shall act in this manner:

I shall cause

old age to

leap upon him [upon Samuel],

and then I can cause him to die now, before Saul . For since he will appear old, the people will not speak ill of him afterward.

This is what is written [this is what we find in Scripture]:

[this is what we find in Scripture]:

"And Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree in Ramah."

And according to the simple meaning, the intention is that Saul sat in a place called Gibeah, beneath the tamarisk tree that was in Ramah .

But the matter is puzzling:

what connection is there between Gibeah,

which was in the land of Benjamin,

and Ramah,

which is in Mount Ephraim? They are two different places!

Rather,

the verse comes to hint and

tell you: Who caused Saul to sit in Gibeah

for an additional

two years

and a half

after the decree that had been decreed upon him, so that he would not yet die?

The prayer of Samuel of Ramah,

who prayed that the work of his hands not be annulled during his lifetime. And this is why Ramah is mentioned here, to hint at Samuel of Ramah, who caused this.

And the Gemara wonders: How could Samuel die because David's kingship had to come,

and is a man displaced on account of another man [and is one person displaced because of another person]?

[is one person really displaced because of another person]?

And we say:

Yes.

Indeed, so it is.

For Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: What is the meaning of that which is written: "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth"? "

I slew them

by their deeds,"

that is, because of their sins—

it was not said.

Rather, "I slew them

by the words of My mouth

."

That is, because of a decree that I decreed, such as the matter of Samuel and David brought above.

It follows [we learn]:

[we learn from this] that

a man is displaced on account of another man [one person is displaced because of another person].

[one person is displaced because of another person].

Rav Naḥman and Rabbi Isaac were sitting at a meal [they were sitting at a meal].

[they were sitting at a meal].

Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: Let the master say a matter [let the master say something]!

[let the Master say something]!

He said to him, thus [so]

[so]

said Rabbi Yoḥanan: One does not converse [speak]

[one does not talk]

during

the

a meal .

For there are two openings in the throat: the opening of the esophagus and the opening of the windpipe. Food passes through the esophagus, while breathing [and likewise the production of the sound of speech] passes through the windpipe.

And at the time of eating, the opening of the windpipe is closed, so that food should not enter it.

And we are concerned

lest

because he converses during the meal, the valve over the windpipe open, and

the windpipe precede the esophagus,

that is, food will precede and enter the windpipe before it reaches the esophagus,

and come

thereby

to danger .

And since this is so, I will not tell you anything now. Rather, I will wait until the end of the meal.

After they had eaten [after they had finished their meal], Rabbi Yitzḥak remembered that he had promised Rav Naḥman to tell him something.

He said to him

Rabbi Yitzḥak:

:

Thus Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Jacob our forefather did not die ,

but he is alive forever.

He said to him Rav Naḥman:

Was it for nothing [for no reason]

that the eulogizers eulogized [the eulogizers eulogized],

and the embalmers embalmed [and the embalmers embalmed] ,

and the buriers buried [and the buriers buried]? For all this is written explicitly in Scripture: They eulogized Jacob, the physicians embalmed him, and his sons buried him in the land of Canaan!

He said to him: I am not saying these words from my heart, but I expound Scripture. As it is stated: “But you, do not fear, My servant Jacob, says the Lord, and do not be afraid, Israel, for behold, I am saving you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity.”

the buriers buried

[the embalmers embalmed] ,

and the buriers buried

[the buriers buried]? For all this is stated explicitly in the biblical account: they eulogized Jacob, the physicians embalmed him, and his sons buried him in the land of Canaan!

He said to him:

I am not saying these things on my own authority. Rather,

From this, that

equates

and juxtaposes the verse,

he [Jacob] with his offspring,

we expound:

Just as the ingathering of

his offspring

from the lands of their captivity is

in life [when they are alive, for only living human beings are found in captivity],

so too he

Jacob is

in life .

And this means that the Holy One, blessed is He, will bring him to the exile, in order to redeem his sons before his eyes.

his offspring

from the lands of their captivity occurs

while they are alive

And what we find in the Torah, that the physicians embalmed Jacob, they thought that he had died. But in truth, he is alive .

The Gemara brings another statement that Rav Yitzḥak said to Rav Naḥman. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Whoever says “Rahab, Rahab” [this is the name of the prostitute who hid Joshua’s spies in Jericho ]— immediately experiences a seminal emission [becomes a בעל קרי, because of desire] , for she was an exceedingly beautiful woman. Rav Naḥman said to him: I can prove that this is not so, for I say [I say] “Rahab, Rahab,” and it does not matter to me [and it causes me nothing]! He said to him: Certainly, for a person who never knew Rahab, like you, mentioning her name causes nothing. For when I said [what I said], that one who mentions her name experiences a seminal emission, when he knows her and recognizes her. That is, one who knows her . When they were taking leave of one another [when Rav Naḥman and Rabbi Yitzḥak took leave and separated from one another, and each went on his way], he said to him Rav Naḥman to Rabbi Yitzḥak Let the master bless me [bless me]! He said to him: I will give you a parable. To what is the matter comparable? To a person who was walking in the wilderness, and was hungry, weary, and thirsty . And he found a tree whose fruits were sweet , and it was possible to eat from them and be satiated. And its shade was pleasant to rest beneath it and be protected from the heat of the sun. And a stream of water passed beneath it, and it was possible to drink from it and quench the thirst.

Jacob,

is alive .

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring him to the exile so that he may redeem his children before his eyes.

As for the fact that the Torah records that the physicians embalmed Jacob, they thought that he had died. But in truth, he is alive .

The Gemara cites another statement that Rav Yitzḥak said to Rav Naḥman.

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who says, “Rahab, Rahab”

[this was the name of the prostitute who hid Joshua’s spies in Jericho ]—

immediately experiences a seminal emission

[he becomes one who experiences a seminal emission, because of desire] , because she was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

Rav Naḥman said to him:

I can prove that this is not so, for

I say

[I say], “Rahab, Rahab,”

and it does not affect me

[it causes me nothing]!

He said to him:

Certainly, when a person who never knew Rahab, as in your case, mentions her name, it causes nothing.

What I said

[what I said was that one who mentions her name experiences a seminal emission]

applies to one who knows and recognizes her.

That is, to one who knows her .

He ate

the traveler

from its fruits

of the tree,

and drank from its waters

of the spring that passed beneath it,

and sat to rest in its shade. And when he wished to go on his way, he said: Tree, tree, with what shall I bless you? If I say to you that your fruits should be sweet, your fruits are sweet already now.

If I say that your shade should be pleasant, your shade is pleasant. If I say that a stream of water should pass beneath you, behold, the stream of water already passes beneath you.

And he found a tree whose fruits were sweet ,

and he could eat from them and become satisfied.

Its shade was pleasant

for resting beneath it and being protected from the heat of the sun.

And a stream of water passed beneath it,

so that he could drink from it and quench his thirst.

The traveler ate

the

fruits

of the tree,

drank its water

from the spring that passed beneath it,

and sat

to rest

in its shade.

When he wished to continue on his way

,

he said: “Tree, tree, with what can I bless you?”

If I say to you that your fruits should be sweet, your fruits are already sweet

now.

If I say

that your shade should be pleasant, your shade is pleasant.

If I say

that a stream of water should pass beneath you,

the stream of water

already

passes beneath you.

“May a stream of water flow beneath you,” the stream of water is already flowing beneath you.