1. Septuagint, 1 Esdras, 8.67, 8.80, 8.84 (th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 8.67. And they delivered the kings orders to the royal stewards and to the governors of Coelesyria and Phoenicia; and these officials honored the people and the temple of the Lord. 8.80. Even in our bondage we were not forsaken by our Lord, but he brought us into favor with the kings of the Persians, so that they have given us food 8.84. Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons; |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 12.8-12.11, 15.1-15.7, 15.10, 30.19, 32.16 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 12.8. לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֲנַחְנוּ עֹשִׂים פֹּה הַיּוֹם אִישׁ כָּל־הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו׃ 12.9. כִּי לֹא־בָּאתֶם עַד־עָתָּה אֶל־הַמְּנוּחָה וְאֶל־הַנַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ׃ 12.11. וְהָיָה הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בּוֹ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם שָׁמָּה תָבִיאוּ אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם עוֹלֹתֵיכֶם וְזִבְחֵיכֶם מַעְשְׂרֹתֵיכֶם וּתְרֻמַת יֶדְכֶם וְכֹל מִבְחַר נִדְרֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר תִּדְּרוּ לַיהוָה׃ 15.1. מִקֵּץ שֶׁבַע־שָׁנִים תַּעֲשֶׂה שְׁמִטָּה׃ 15.1. נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן לוֹ וְלֹא־יֵרַע לְבָבְךָ בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ כִּי בִּגְלַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־מַעֲשֶׂךָ וּבְכֹל מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ׃ 15.2. לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ תֹאכֲלֶנּוּ שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר יְהוָה אַתָּה וּבֵיתֶךָ׃ 15.2. וְזֶה דְּבַר הַשְּׁמִטָּה שָׁמוֹט כָּל־בַּעַל מַשֵּׁה יָדוֹ אֲשֶׁר יַשֶּׁה בְּרֵעֵהוּ לֹא־יִגֹּשׂ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וְאֶת־אָחִיו כִּי־קָרָא שְׁמִטָּה לַיהוָה׃ 15.3. אֶת־הַנָּכְרִי תִּגֹּשׂ וַאֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֶת־אָחִיךָ תַּשְׁמֵט יָדֶךָ׃ 15.4. אֶפֶס כִּי לֹא יִהְיֶה־בְּךָ אֶבְיוֹן כִּי־בָרֵךְ יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן־לְךָ נַחֲלָה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ׃ 15.5. רַק אִם־שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם׃ 15.6. כִּי־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בֵּרַכְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ וְהַעֲבַטְתָּ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תַעֲבֹט וּמָשַׁלְתָּ בְּגוֹיִם רַבִּים וּבְךָ לֹא יִמְשֹׁלוּ׃ 15.7. כִּי־יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת־יָדְךָ מֵאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן׃ 30.19. הַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ׃ 32.16. יַקְנִאֻהוּ בְּזָרִים בְּתוֹעֵבֹת יַכְעִיסֻהוּ׃ | 12.8. Ye shall not do after all that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;" 12.9. for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth thee." 12.10. But when ye go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God causeth you to inherit, and He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;" 12.11. then it shall come to pass that the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD." 15.1. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release." 15.2. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not exact it of his neighbour and his brother; because the LORD’S release hath been proclaimed." 15.3. of a foreigner thou mayest exact it; but whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thy hand shall release." 15.4. Howbeit there shall be no needy among you—for the LORD will surely bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it—" 15.5. if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day." 15.6. For the LORD thy God will bless thee, as He promised thee; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee." 15.7. If there be among you a needy man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates, in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;" 15.10. Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing the LORD thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto." 30.19. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;" 32.16. They roused Him to jealousy with strange gods, With abominations did they provoke Him." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 2.24, 16.23, 22.7-22.8, 22.27, 32.7-32.10, 32.14, 33.2-33.3, 34.6 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 2.24. וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת־נַאֲקָתָם וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת־בְּרִיתוֹ אֶת־אַבְרָהָם אֶת־יִצְחָק וְאֶת־יַעֲקֹב׃ 16.23. וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם הוּא אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה שַׁבָּתוֹן שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה מָחָר אֵת אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאפוּ אֵפוּ וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר־תְּבַשְּׁלוּ בַּשֵּׁלוּ וְאֵת כָּל־הָעֹדֵף הַנִּיחוּ לָכֶם לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת עַד־הַבֹּקֶר׃ 22.7. אִם־לֹא יִמָּצֵא הַגַּנָּב וְנִקְרַב בַּעַל־הַבַּיִת אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים אִם־לֹא שָׁלַח יָדוֹ בִּמְלֶאכֶת רֵעֵהוּ׃ 22.8. עַל־כָּל־דְּבַר־פֶּשַׁע עַל־שׁוֹר עַל־חֲמוֹר עַל־שֶׂה עַל־שַׂלְמָה עַל־כָּל־אֲבֵדָה אֲשֶׁר יֹאמַר כִּי־הוּא זֶה עַד הָאֱלֹהִים יָבֹא דְּבַר־שְׁנֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר יַרְשִׁיעֻן אֱלֹהִים יְשַׁלֵּם שְׁנַיִם לְרֵעֵהוּ׃ 22.27. אֱלֹהִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל וְנָשִׂיא בְעַמְּךָ לֹא תָאֹר׃ 32.7. וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֶךְ־רֵד כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלֵיתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ 32.8. סָרוּ מַהֵר מִן־הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִם עָשׂוּ לָהֶם עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ 32.9. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה רָאִיתִי אֶת־הָעָם הַזֶּה וְהִנֵּה עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹרֶף הוּא׃ 32.14. וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה עַל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת לְעַמּוֹ׃ 33.2. וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת־פָּנָי כִּי לֹא־יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי׃ 33.2. וְשָׁלַחְתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ מַלְאָךְ וְגֵרַשְׁתִּי אֶת־הַכְּנַעֲנִי הָאֱמֹרִי וְהַחִתִּי וְהַפְּרִזִּי הַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי׃ 33.3. אֶל־אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ כִּי לֹא אֶעֱלֶה בְּקִרְבְּךָ כִּי עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹרֶף אַתָּה פֶּן־אֲכֶלְךָ בַּדָּרֶךְ׃ 34.6. וַיַּעֲבֹר יְהוָה עַל־פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה יְהוָה אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת | 2.24. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covet with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." 16.23. And he said unto them: ‘This is that which the LORD hath spoken: To-morrow is a solemn rest, a holy sabbath unto the LORD. Bake that which ye will bake, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.’" 22.7. If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall come near unto God, to see whether he have not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods." 22.8. For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, whereof one saith: 'This is it,' the cause of both parties shall come before God; he whom God shall condemn shall pay double unto his neighbour." 22.27. Thou shalt not revile God, nor curse a ruler of thy people." 32.7. And the LORD spoke unto Moses: ‘Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have dealt corruptly;" 32.8. they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said: This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’" 32.9. And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people." 32.10. Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.’" 32.14. And the LORD repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people." 33.2. and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—" 33.3. unto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I consume thee in the way.’" 34.6. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: ‘The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth;" |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 1.4, 1.26, 2.7-2.14, 2.18, 2.22-2.24, 3.7-3.8, 3.14-3.21, 4.9, 4.18, 4.26, 5.1-5.2, 5.9, 5.18-5.25, 5.29, 6.1-6.5, 6.7-6.22, 7.1-7.12, 7.19, 7.21-7.23, 8.1-8.2, 8.15-8.16, 8.18, 8.21, 9.10, 11.5, 12.1, 12.5, 12.10, 15.1, 15.15-15.16, 16.1, 18.21, 19.24-19.25, 22.11-22.12, 25.21, 26.1, 29.31 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 1.4. וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאוֹר כִּי־טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ׃ 1.26. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 2.7. וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה׃ 2.8. וַיִּטַּע יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים גַּן־בְעֵדֶן מִקֶּדֶם וַיָּשֶׂם שָׁם אֶת־הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר׃ 2.9. וַיַּצְמַח יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כָּל־עֵץ נֶחְמָד לְמַרְאֶה וְטוֹב לְמַאֲכָל וְעֵץ הַחַיִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַגָּן וְעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע׃ 2.11. שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פִּישׁוֹן הוּא הַסֹּבֵב אֵת כָּל־אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם הַזָּהָב׃ 2.12. וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח וְאֶבֶן הַשֹּׁהַם׃ 2.13. וְשֵׁם־הַנָּהָר הַשֵּׁנִי גִּיחוֹן הוּא הַסּוֹבֵב אֵת כָּל־אֶרֶץ כּוּשׁ׃ 2.14. וְשֵׁם הַנָּהָר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי חִדֶּקֶל הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ קִדְמַת אַשּׁוּר וְהַנָּהָר הָרְבִיעִי הוּא פְרָת׃ 2.18. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ אֶעֱשֶׂהּ־לּוֹ עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ׃ 2.22. וַיִּבֶן יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הַצֵּלָע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַח מִן־הָאָדָם לְאִשָּׁה וַיְבִאֶהָ אֶל־הָאָדָם׃ 2.23. וַיֹּאמֶר הָאָדָם זֹאת הַפַּעַם עֶצֶם מֵעֲצָמַי וּבָשָׂר מִבְּשָׂרִי לְזֹאת יִקָּרֵא אִשָּׁה כִּי מֵאִישׁ לֻקֳחָה־זֹּאת׃ 2.24. עַל־כֵּן יַעֲזָב־אִישׁ אֶת־אָבִיו וְאֶת־אִמּוֹ וְדָבַק בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ וְהָיוּ לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד׃ 3.7. וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה עֵינֵי שְׁנֵיהֶם וַיֵּדְעוּ כִּי עֵירֻמִּם הֵם וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְאֵנָה וַיַּעֲשׂוּ לָהֶם חֲגֹרֹת׃ 3.8. וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶת־קוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִתְהַלֵּךְ בַּגָּן לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם וַיִּתְחַבֵּא הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים בְּתוֹךְ עֵץ הַגָּן׃ 3.14. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶל־הַנָּחָשׁ כִּי עָשִׂיתָ זֹּאת אָרוּר אַתָּה מִכָּל־הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה עַל־גְּחֹנְךָ תֵלֵךְ וְעָפָר תֹּאכַל כָּל־יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ׃ 3.15. וְאֵיבָה אָשִׁית בֵּינְךָ וּבֵין הָאִשָּׁה וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ וּבֵין זַרְעָהּ הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב׃ 3.16. אֶל־הָאִשָּׁה אָמַר הַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ בְּעֶצֶב תֵּלְדִי בָנִים וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ תְּשׁוּקָתֵךְ וְהוּא יִמְשָׁל־בָּךְ׃ 3.17. וּלְאָדָם אָמַר כִּי־שָׁמַעְתָּ לְקוֹל אִשְׁתֶּךָ וַתֹּאכַל מִן־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ לֵאמֹר לֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ אֲרוּרָה הָאֲדָמָה בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ בְּעִצָּבוֹן תֹּאכֲלֶנָּה כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ׃ 3.18. וְקוֹץ וְדַרְדַּר תַּצְמִיחַ לָךְ וְאָכַלְתָּ אֶת־עֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה׃ 3.19. בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם עַד שׁוּבְךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָה כִּי מִמֶּנָּה לֻקָּחְתָּ כִּי־עָפָר אַתָּה וְאֶל־עָפָר תָּשׁוּב׃ 3.21. וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִשְׁתּוֹ כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם׃ 4.9. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־קַיִן אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי׃ 4.18. וַיִּוָּלֵד לַחֲנוֹךְ אֶת־עִירָד וְעִירָד יָלַד אֶת־מְחוּיָאֵל וּמְחִיּיָאֵל יָלַד אֶת־מְתוּשָׁאֵל וּמְתוּשָׁאֵל יָלַד אֶת־לָמֶךְ׃ 4.26. וּלְשֵׁת גַּם־הוּא יֻלַּד־בֵּן וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ אֱנוֹשׁ אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה׃ 5.1. זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם בְּיוֹם בְּרֹא אֱלֹהִים אָדָם בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֹתוֹ׃ 5.1. וַיְחִי אֱנוֹשׁ אַחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־קֵינָן חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה וּשְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת׃ 5.2. וַיִּהְיוּ כָּל־יְמֵי־יֶרֶד שְׁתַּיִם וְשִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וּתְשַׁע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיָּמֹת׃ 5.2. זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמָם אָדָם בְּיוֹם הִבָּרְאָם׃ 5.9. וַיְחִי אֱנוֹשׁ תִּשְׁעִים שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־קֵינָן׃ 5.18. וַיְחִי־יֶרֶד שְׁתַּיִם וְשִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וּמְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־חֲנוֹךְ׃ 5.19. וַיְחִי־יֶרֶד אַחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־חֲנוֹךְ שְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת׃ 5.21. וַיְחִי חֲנוֹךְ חָמֵשׁ וְשִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־מְתוּשָׁלַח׃ 5.22. וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים אַחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־מְתוּשֶׁלַח שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת׃ 5.23. וַיְהִי כָּל־יְמֵי חֲנוֹךְ חָמֵשׁ וְשִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה׃ 5.24. וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים וְאֵינֶנּוּ כִּי־לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים׃ 5.25. וַיְחִי מְתוּשֶׁלַח שֶׁבַע וּשְׁמֹנִים שָׁנָה וּמְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־לָמֶךְ׃ 5.29. וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ נֹחַ לֵאמֹר זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ מִמַּעֲשֵׂנוּ וּמֵעִצְּבוֹן יָדֵינוּ מִן־הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אֵרְרָהּ יְהוָה׃ 6.1. וַיְהִי כִּי־הֵחֵל הָאָדָם לָרֹב עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וּבָנוֹת יֻלְּדוּ לָהֶם׃ 6.1. וַיּוֹלֶד נֹחַ שְׁלֹשָׁה בָנִים אֶת־שֵׁם אֶת־חָם וְאֶת־יָפֶת׃ 6.2. וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם כִּי טֹבֹת הֵנָּה וַיִּקְחוּ לָהֶם נָשִׁים מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בָּחָרוּ׃ 6.2. מֵהָעוֹף לְמִינֵהוּ וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ מִכֹּל רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה לְמִינֵהוּ שְׁנַיִם מִכֹּל יָבֹאוּ אֵלֶיךָ לְהַחֲיוֹת׃ 6.3. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לֹא־יָדוֹן רוּחִי בָאָדָם לְעֹלָם בְּשַׁגַּם הוּא בָשָׂר וְהָיוּ יָמָיו מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה׃ 6.4. הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם׃ 6.5. וַיַּרְא יְהוָה כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וְכָל־יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ רַק רַע כָּל־הַיּוֹם׃ 6.7. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶמְחֶה אֶת־הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָאתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה מֵאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה עַד־רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד־עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם כִּי נִחַמְתִּי כִּי עֲשִׂיתִם׃ 6.8. וְנֹחַ מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה׃ 6.9. אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ׃ 6.11. וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס׃ 6.12. וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְהִנֵּה נִשְׁחָתָה כִּי־הִשְׁחִית כָּל־בָּשָׂר אֶת־דַּרְכּוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 6.13. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים לְנֹחַ קֵץ כָּל־בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי כִּי־מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם וְהִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת־הָאָרֶץ׃ 6.14. עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר קִנִּים תַּעֲשֶׂה אֶת־הַתֵּבָה וְכָפַרְתָּ אֹתָהּ מִבַּיִת וּמִחוּץ בַּכֹּפֶר׃ 6.15. וְזֶה אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָהּ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אַמָּה אֹרֶךְ הַתֵּבָה חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה רָחְבָּהּ וּשְׁלֹשִׁים אַמָּה קוֹמָתָהּ׃ 6.16. צֹהַר תַּעֲשֶׂה לַתֵּבָה וְאֶל־אַמָּה תְּכַלֶנָּה מִלְמַעְלָה וּפֶתַח הַתֵּבָה בְּצִדָּהּ תָּשִׂים תַּחְתִּיִּם שְׁנִיִּם וּשְׁלִשִׁים תַּעֲשֶׂהָ׃ 6.17. וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי מֵבִיא אֶת־הַמַּבּוּל מַיִם עַל־הָאָרֶץ לְשַׁחֵת כָּל־בָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ רוּחַ חַיִּים מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָרֶץ יִגְוָע׃ 6.18. וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי אִתָּךְ וּבָאתָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ וְאִשְׁתְּךָ וּנְשֵׁי־בָנֶיךָ אִתָּךְ׃ 6.19. וּמִכָּל־הָחַי מִכָּל־בָּשָׂר שְׁנַיִם מִכֹּל תָּבִיא אֶל־הַתֵּבָה לְהַחֲיֹת אִתָּךְ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה יִהְיוּ׃ 6.21. וְאַתָּה קַח־לְךָ מִכָּל־מַאֲכָל אֲשֶׁר יֵאָכֵל וְאָסַפְתָּ אֵלֶיךָ וְהָיָה לְךָ וְלָהֶם לְאָכְלָה׃ 6.22. וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים כֵּן עָשָׂה׃ 7.1. וַיְהִי לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים וּמֵי הַמַּבּוּל הָיוּ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 7.1. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לְנֹחַ בֹּא־אַתָּה וְכָל־בֵּיתְךָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה כִּי־אֹתְךָ רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק לְפָנַי בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה׃ 7.2. מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה תִּקַּח־לְךָ שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא טְהֹרָה הִוא שְׁנַיִם אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ׃ 7.2. חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה אַמָּה מִלְמַעְלָה גָּבְרוּ הַמָּיִם וַיְכֻסּוּ הֶהָרִים׃ 7.3. גַּם מֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה לְחַיּוֹת זֶרַע עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 7.4. כִּי לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה אָנֹכִי מַמְטִיר עַל־הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה וּמָחִיתִי אֶת־כָּל־הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה׃ 7.5. וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּהוּ יְהוָה׃ 7.6. וְנֹחַ בֶּן־שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וְהַמַּבּוּל הָיָה מַיִם עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 7.7. וַיָּבֹא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי־בָנָיו אִתּוֹ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה מִפְּנֵי מֵי הַמַּבּוּל׃ 7.8. מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנָּה טְהֹרָה וּמִן־הָעוֹף וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־רֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאֲדָמָה׃ 7.9. שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ אֶל־נֹחַ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־נֹחַ׃ 7.11. בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי־נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה־עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל־מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ׃ 7.12. וַיְהִי הַגֶּשֶׁם עַל־הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה׃ 7.19. וְהַמַּיִם גָּבְרוּ מְאֹד מְאֹד עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְכֻסּוּ כָּל־הֶהָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃ 7.21. וַיִּגְוַע כָּל־בָּשָׂר הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ בָּעוֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבַחַיָּה וּבְכָל־הַשֶּׁרֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וְכֹל הָאָדָם׃ 7.22. כֹּל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁמַת־רוּחַ חַיִּים בְּאַפָּיו מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בֶּחָרָבָה מֵתוּ׃ 7.23. וַיִּמַח אֶת־כָּל־הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה מֵאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה עַד־רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד־עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיִּמָּחוּ מִן־הָאָרֶץ וַיִשָּׁאֶר אַךְ־נֹחַ וַאֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה׃ 8.1. וַיָּחֶל עוֹד שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָה מִן־הַתֵּבָה׃ 8.1. וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת־נֹחַ וְאֵת כָּל־הַחַיָּה וְאֶת־כָּל־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה וַיַּעֲבֵר אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ הַמָּיִם׃ 8.2. וַיִּבֶן נֹחַ מִזְבֵּחַ לַיהוָה וַיִּקַּח מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה וּמִכֹּל הָעוֹף הַטָּהֹר וַיַּעַל עֹלֹת בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ׃ 8.2. וַיִּסָּכְרוּ מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמָיִם וַיִּכָּלֵא הַגֶּשֶׁם מִן־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃ 8.15. וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־נֹחַ לֵאמֹר׃ 8.16. צֵא מִן־הַתֵּבָה אַתָּה וְאִשְׁתְּךָ וּבָנֶיךָ וּנְשֵׁי־בָנֶיךָ אִתָּךְ׃ 8.18. וַיֵּצֵא־נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי־בָנָיו אִתּוֹ׃ 8.21. וַיָּרַח יְהוָה אֶת־רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־לִבּוֹ לֹא־אֹסִף לְקַלֵּל עוֹד אֶת־הָאֲדָמָה בַּעֲבוּר הָאָדָם כִּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִנְּעֻרָיו וְלֹא־אֹסִף עוֹד לְהַכּוֹת אֶת־כָּל־חַי כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי׃ 11.5. וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה לִרְאֹת אֶת־הָעִיר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם׃ 12.1. וַיְהִי רָעָב בָּאָרֶץ וַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם כִּי־כָבֵד הָרָעָב בָּאָרֶץ׃ 12.1. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃ 12.5. וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת־שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת־לוֹט בֶּן־אָחִיו וְאֶת־כָּל־רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן וַיֵּצְאוּ לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן׃ 15.1. אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם בַּמַּחֲזֶה לֵאמֹר אַל־תִּירָא אַבְרָם אָנֹכִי מָגֵן לָךְ שְׂכָרְךָ הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד׃ 15.1. וַיִּקַּח־לוֹ אֶת־כָּל־אֵלֶּה וַיְבַתֵּר אֹתָם בַּתָּוֶךְ וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ־בִּתְרוֹ לִקְרַאת רֵעֵהוּ וְאֶת־הַצִפֹּר לֹא בָתָר׃ 15.15. וְאַתָּה תָּבוֹא אֶל־אֲבֹתֶיךָ בְּשָׁלוֹם תִּקָּבֵר בְּשֵׂיבָה טוֹבָה׃ 15.16. וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה כִּי לֹא־שָׁלֵם עֲוֺן הָאֱמֹרִי עַד־הֵנָּה׃ 16.1. וְשָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם לֹא יָלְדָה לוֹ וְלָהּ שִׁפְחָה מִצְרִית וּשְׁמָהּ הָגָר׃ 16.1. וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה הַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה אֶת־זַרְעֵךְ וְלֹא יִסָּפֵר מֵרֹב׃ 18.21. אֵרֲדָה־נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי עָשׂוּ כָּלָה וְאִם־לֹא אֵדָעָה׃ 19.24. וַיהוָה הִמְטִיר עַל־סְדֹם וְעַל־עֲמֹרָה גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ מֵאֵת יְהוָה מִן־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃ 19.25. וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת־הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וְאֵת כָּל־הַכִּכָּר וְאֵת כָּל־יֹשְׁבֵי הֶעָרִים וְצֶמַח הָאֲדָמָה׃ 22.11. וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה מִן־הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי׃ 22.12. וַיֹּאמֶר אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל־הַנַּעַר וְאַל־תַּעַשׂ לוֹ מְאוּמָּה כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי־יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ מִמֶּנִּי׃ 25.21. וַיֶּעְתַּר יִצְחָק לַיהוָה לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ כִּי עֲקָרָה הִוא וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ יְהוָה וַתַּהַר רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ׃ 26.1. וַיְהִי רָעָב בָּאָרֶץ מִלְּבַד הָרָעָב הָרִאשׁוֹן אֲשֶׁר הָיָה בִּימֵי אַבְרָהָם וַיֵּלֶךְ יִצְחָק אֶל־אֲבִימֶּלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ־פְּלִשְׁתִּים גְּרָרָה׃ 26.1. וַיֹּאמֶר אֲבִימֶלֶךְ מַה־זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ לָּנוּ כִּמְעַט שָׁכַב אַחַד הָעָם אֶת־אִשְׁתֶּךָ וְהֵבֵאתָ עָלֵינוּ אָשָׁם׃ 29.31. וַיַּרְא יְהוָה כִּי־שְׂנוּאָה לֵאָה וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת־רַחְמָהּ וְרָחֵל עֲקָרָה׃ | 1.4. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness." 1.26. And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’" 2.7. Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." 2.8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed." 2.9. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." 2.10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads." 2.11. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;" 2.12. and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone." 2.13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush." 2.14. And the name of the third river is Tigris; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates." 2.18. And the LORD God said: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.’" 2.22. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man." 2.23. And the man said: ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’" 2.24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." 3.7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles." 3.8. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." 3.14. And the LORD God said unto the serpent: ‘Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." 3.15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; they shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their heel.’" 3.16. Unto the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’" 3.17. And unto Adam He said: ‘Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." 3.18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." 3.19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’" 3.20. And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." 3.21. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them." 4.9. And the LORD said unto Cain: ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ And he said: ‘I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?’" 4.18. And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech." 4.26. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD." 5.1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him;" 5.2. male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." 5.9. And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Ke." 5.18. And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begot Enoch." 5.19. And Jared lived after he begot Enoch eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters." 5.20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years; and he died. ." 5.21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begot Methuselah." 5.22. And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters." 5.23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years." 5.24. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him." 5.25. And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begot Lamech." 5.29. And he called his name Noah, saying: ‘This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the LORD hath cursed.’" 6.1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them," 6.2. that the sons of nobles saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives, whomsoever they chose." 6.3. And the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.’" 6.4. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of nobles came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." 6.5. And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." 6.7. And the LORD said: ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.’" 6.8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." 6.9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God." 6.10. And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." 6.11. And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." 6.12. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. ." 6.13. And God said unto Noah: ‘The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." 6.14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." 6.15. And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits." 6.16. A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it." 6.17. And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that is in the earth shall perish." 6.18. But I will establish My covet with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’wives with thee." 6.19. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female." 6.20. of the fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive." 6.21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.’" 6.22. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." 7.1. And the LORD said unto Noah: ‘Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation." 7.2. of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean two [and two], each with his mate;" 7.3. of the fowl also of the air, seven and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth." 7.4. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I blot out from off the face of the earth.’" 7.5. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." 7.6. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth." 7.7. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, before the waters of the flood." 7.8. of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the ground," 7.9. there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah." 7.10. And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth." 7.11. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." 7.12. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." 7.19. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered." 7.21. And all flesh perished that moved upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every swarming thing that swarmeth upon the earth, and every man;" 7.22. all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died." 7.23. And He blotted out every living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping thing, and fowl of the heaven; and they were blotted out from the earth; and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark." 8.1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;" 8.2. the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained." 8.15. And God spoke unto Noah, saying:" 8.16. ’Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’wives with thee." 8.18. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’wives with him;" 8.21. And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; and the LORD said in His heart: ‘I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done." 9.10. and with every living creature that is with you, the fowl, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth." 11.5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." 12.1. Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee." 12.5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came." 12.10. And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land." 15.1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, thy reward shall be exceeding great.’" 15.15. But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age." 15.16. And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.’" 16.1. Now Sarai Abram’s wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar." 18.21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.’" 19.24. Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;" 19.25. and He overthrow those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." 22.11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said: ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ And he said: ‘Here am I.’" 22.12. And he said: ‘Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.’" 25.21. And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD let Himself be entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived." 26.1. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar." 29.31. And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren." |
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5. Hebrew Bible, Jonah, 3.9-3.10 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 3.9. מִי־יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם הָאֱלֹהִים וְשָׁב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד׃ | 3.9. Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?’" 3.10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not." |
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6. Hebrew Bible, Leviticus, 18.24-18.30, 19.24 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 18.24. אַל־תִּטַּמְּאוּ בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה כִּי בְכָל־אֵלֶּה נִטְמְאוּ הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ מִפְּנֵיכֶם׃ 18.25. וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ וָאֶפְקֹד עֲוֺנָהּ עָלֶיהָ וַתָּקִא הָאָרֶץ אֶת־יֹשְׁבֶיהָ׃ 18.26. וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אַתֶּם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה הָאֶזְרָח וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם׃ 18.27. כִּי אֶת־כָּל־הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ׃ 18.28. וְלֹא־תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת־הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם׃ 18.29. כִּי כָּל־אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְרְתוּ הַנְּפָשׁוֹת הָעֹשֹׂת מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם׃ 19.24. וּבַשָּׁנָה הָרְבִיעִת יִהְיֶה כָּל־פִּרְיוֹ קֹדֶשׁ הִלּוּלִים לַיהוָה׃ | 18.24. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out from before you." 18.25. And the land was defiled, therefore I did visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomited out her inhabitants." 18.26. Ye therefore shall keep My statutes and Mine ordices, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you—" 18.27. for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land is defiled—" 18.28. that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you." 18.29. For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people." 18.30. Therefore shall ye keep My charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God." 19.24. And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto the LORD." |
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7. Hebrew Bible, Numbers, 12.6, 16.22, 27.16 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 12.6. וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְעוּ־נָא דְבָרָי אִם־יִהְיֶה נְבִיאֲכֶם יְהוָה בַּמַּרְאָה אֵלָיו אֶתְוַדָּע בַּחֲלוֹם אֲדַבֶּר־בּוֹ׃ 16.22. וַיִּפְּלוּ עַל־פְּנֵיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵל אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר הָאִישׁ אֶחָד יֶחֱטָא וְעַל כָּל־הָעֵדָה תִּקְצֹף׃ 27.16. יִפְקֹד יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר אִישׁ עַל־הָעֵדָה׃ | 12.6. And He said: ‘Hear now My words: if there be a prophet among you, I the LORD do make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream." 16.22. And they fell upon their faces, and said: ‘O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?’" 27.16. ’Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation," |
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8. Hebrew Bible, Psalms, 2.5, 8.5, 109.22 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 2.5. אָז יְדַבֵּר אֵלֵימוֹ בְאַפּוֹ וּבַחֲרוֹנוֹ יְבַהֲלֵמוֹ׃ 8.5. מָה־אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי־תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ וּבֶן־אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ׃ 109.22. כִּי־עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן אָנֹכִי וְלִבִּי חָלַל בְּקִרְבִּי׃ | 2.5. Then will He speak unto them in His wrath, and affright them in His sore displeasure:" 8.5. What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him?" 109.22. For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me." |
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9. Hebrew Bible, Zephaniah, 3.17 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 3.17. יְהוָה אֱלֹהַיִךְ בְּקִרְבֵּך גִּבּוֹר יוֹשִׁיעַ יָשִׂישׂ עָלַיִךְ בְּשִׂמְחָה יַחֲרִישׁ בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ יָגִיל עָלַיִךְ בְּרִנָּה׃ | 3.17. The LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, A Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will be silent in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.’" |
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10. Hebrew Bible, 1 Kings, 11.3-11.9, 11.31-11.35 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 11.3. וַיְהִי־לוֹ נָשִׁים שָׂרוֹת שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וּפִלַגְשִׁים שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וַיַּטּוּ נָשָׁיו אֶת־לִבּוֹ׃ 11.3. וַיִּתְפֹּשׂ אֲחִיָּה בַּשַּׂלְמָה הַחֲדָשָׁה אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו וַיִּקְרָעֶהָ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר קְרָעִים׃ 11.4. וַיְהִי לְעֵת זִקְנַת שְׁלֹמֹה נָשָׁיו הִטּוּ אֶת־לְבָבוֹ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְלֹא־הָיָה לְבָבוֹ שָׁלֵם עִם־יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו כִּלְבַב דָּוִיד אָבִיו׃ 11.4. וַיְבַקֵּשׁ שְׁלֹמֹה לְהָמִית אֶת־יָרָבְעָם וַיָּקָם יָרָבְעָם וַיִּבְרַח מִצְרַיִם אֶל־שִׁישַׁק מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם וַיְהִי בְמִצְרַיִם עַד־מוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה׃ 11.5. וַיֵּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה אַחֲרֵי עַשְׁתֹּרֶת אֱלֹהֵי צִדֹנִים וְאַחֲרֵי מִלְכֹּם שִׁקֻּץ עַמֹּנִים׃ 11.6. וַיַּעַשׂ שְׁלֹמֹה הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וְלֹא מִלֵּא אַחֲרֵי יְהוָה כְּדָוִד אָבִיו׃ 11.7. אָז יִבְנֶה שְׁלֹמֹה בָּמָה לִכְמוֹשׁ שִׁקֻּץ מוֹאָב בָּהָר אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי יְרוּשָׁלִָם וּלְמֹלֶךְ שִׁקֻּץ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן׃ 11.8. וְכֵן עָשָׂה לְכָל־נָשָׁיו הַנָּכְרִיּוֹת מַקְטִירוֹת וּמְזַבְּחוֹת לֵאלֹהֵיהֶן׃ 11.9. וַיִּתְאַנַּף יְהוָה בִּשְׁלֹמֹה כִּי־נָטָה לְבָבוֹ מֵעִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַנִּרְאָה אֵלָיו פַּעֲמָיִם׃ 11.31. וַיֹּאמֶר לְיָרָבְעָם קַח־לְךָ עֲשָׂרָה קְרָעִים כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנְנִי קֹרֵעַ אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה מִיַּד שְׁלֹמֹה וְנָתַתִּי לְךָ אֵת עֲשָׂרָה הַשְּׁבָטִים׃ 11.32. וְהַשֵּׁבֶט הָאֶחָד יִהְיֶה־לּוֹ לְמַעַן עַבְדִּי דָוִד וּלְמַעַן יְרוּשָׁלִַם הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתִּי בָהּ מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ 11.33. יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עֲזָבוּנִי וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְעַשְׁתֹּרֶת אֱלֹהֵי צִדֹנִין לִכְמוֹשׁ אֱלֹהֵי מוֹאָב וּלְמִלְכֹּם אֱלֹהֵי בְנֵי־עַמּוֹן וְלֹא־הָלְכוּ בִדְרָכַי לַעֲשׂוֹת הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינַי וְחֻקֹּתַי וּמִשְׁפָּטַי כְּדָוִד אָבִיו׃ 11.34. וְלֹא־אֶקַּח אֶת־כָּל־הַמַּמְלָכָה מִיָּדוֹ כִּי נָשִׂיא אֲשִׁתֶנּוּ כֹּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו לְמַעַן דָּוִד עַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתִּי אֹתוֹ אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַר מִצְוֺתַי וְחֻקֹּתָי׃ 11.35. וְלָקַחְתִּי הַמְּלוּכָה מִיַּד בְּנוֹ וּנְתַתִּיהָ לְּךָ אֵת עֲשֶׂרֶת הַשְּׁבָטִים׃ | 11.3. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart." 11.4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not whole with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father." 11.5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites." 11.6. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father." 11.7. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestation of the children of Ammon." 11.8. And so did he for all his foreign wives, who offered and sacrificed unto their gods." 11.9. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice," 11.31. And he said to Jeroboam: ‘Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee—" 11.32. but he shall have one tribe, for My servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel—" 11.33. because that they have forsaken Me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, to do that which is right in Mine eyes, and to keep My statutes and Mine ordices, as did David his father." 11.34. Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David My servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes;" 11.35. but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes." |
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11. Hebrew Bible, 2 Kings, 1 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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12. Hebrew Bible, 2 Samuel, 24.16 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 24.16. וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ הַמַּלְאָךְ יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְשַׁחֲתָהּ וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה אֶל־הָרָעָה וַיֹּאמֶר לַמַּלְאָךְ הַמַּשְׁחִית בָּעָם רַב עַתָּה הֶרֶף יָדֶךָ וּמַלְאַךְ יְהוָה הָיָה עִם־גֹּרֶן האורנה [הָאֲרַוְנָה] הַיְבֻסִי׃ | 24.16. And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Yerushalayim to destroy it, the Lord relented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Aravna the Yevusi." |
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13. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 9.17 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 9.17. כִּי־בָעֲרָה כָאֵשׁ רִשְׁעָה שָׁמִיר וָשַׁיִת תֹּאכֵל וַתִּצַּת בְּסִבְכֵי הַיַּעַר וַיִּתְאַבְּכוּ גֵּאוּת עָשָׁן׃ | 9.17. For wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briers and thorns; yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, And they roll upward in thick clouds of smoke." |
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14. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 26.19 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 26.19. הֶהָמֵת הֱמִתֻהוּ חִזְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וְכָל־יְהוּדָה הֲלֹא יָרֵא אֶת־יְהוָה וַיְחַל אֶת־פְּנֵי יְהוָה וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה אֶל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר עֲלֵיהֶם וַאֲנַחְנוּ עֹשִׂים רָעָה גְדוֹלָה עַל־נַפְשׁוֹתֵינוּ׃ | 26.19. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and entreat the favour of the LORD, and the LORD repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our own souls.’" |
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15. Hebrew Bible, Judges, 3.8 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 3.8. וַיִּחַר־אַף יְהוָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּמְכְּרֵם בְּיַד כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם מֶלֶךְ אֲרַם נַהֲרָיִם וַיַּעַבְדוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־כּוּשַׁן רִשְׁעָתַיִם שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִים׃ | 3.8. Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Yisra᾽el and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-rish῾atayim, king of Aram: and the children of Yisra᾽el served Kushan-rish῾atayim eight years." |
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16. Hebrew Bible, Ecclesiastes, 1.13 (5th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.13. וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־לִבִּי לִדְרוֹשׁ וְלָתוּר בַּחָכְמָה עַל כָּל־אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשָׂה תַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם הוּא עִנְיַן רָע נָתַן אֱלֹהִים לִבְנֵי הָאָדָם לַעֲנוֹת בּוֹ׃ | 1.13. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; it is a sore task that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith." |
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17. Hebrew Bible, Ezra, 9.10-9.14 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 9.11. אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָ בְּיַד עֲבָדֶיךָ הַנְּבִיאִים לֵאמֹר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּאִים לְרִשְׁתָּהּ אֶרֶץ נִדָּה הִיא בְּנִדַּת עַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת בְּתוֹעֲבֹתֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר מִלְאוּהָ מִפֶּה אֶל־פֶּה בְּטֻמְאָתָם׃ 9.12. וְעַתָּה בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם אַל־תִּתְּנוּ לִבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנֹתֵיהֶם אַל־תִּשְׂאוּ לִבְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא־תִדְרְשׁוּ שְׁלֹמָם וְטוֹבָתָם עַד־עוֹלָם לְמַעַן תֶּחֶזְקוּ וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֶת־טוּב הָאָרֶץ וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּם לִבְנֵיכֶם עַד־עוֹלָם׃ 9.13. וְאַחֲרֵי כָּל־הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂינוּ הָרָעִים וּבְאַשְׁמָתֵנוּ הַגְּדֹלָה כִּי אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵינוּ חָשַׂכְתָּ לְמַטָּה מֵעֲוֺנֵנוּ וְנָתַתָּה לָּנוּ פְּלֵיטָה כָּזֹאת׃ 9.14. הֲנָשׁוּב לְהָפֵר מִצְוֺתֶיךָ וּלְהִתְחַתֵּן בְּעַמֵּי הַתֹּעֵבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה הֲלוֹא תֶאֱנַף־בָּנוּ עַד־כַּלֵּה לְאֵין שְׁאֵרִית וּפְלֵיטָה׃ | 9.10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken Thy commandments," 9.11. which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets, saying: The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness." 9.12. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever." 9.13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remt," 9.14. shall we again break Thy commandments, and make marriages with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remt, nor any to escape?" |
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18. Hebrew Bible, Nehemiah, 13.25-13.26, 13.29 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 13.25. וָאָרִיב עִמָּם וָאֲקַלְלֵם וָאַכֶּה מֵהֶם אֲנָשִׁים וָאֶמְרְטֵם וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵם בֵּאלֹהִים אִם־תִּתְּנוּ בְנֹתֵיכֶם לִבְנֵיהֶם וְאִם־תִּשְׂאוּ מִבְּנֹתֵיהֶם לִבְנֵיכֶם וְלָכֶם׃ 13.26. הֲלוֹא עַל־אֵלֶּה חָטָא־שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבַגּוֹיִם הָרַבִּים לֹא־הָיָה מֶלֶךְ כָּמֹהוּ וְאָהוּב לֵאלֹהָיו הָיָה וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ אֱלֹהִים מֶלֶךְ עַל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל גַּם־אוֹתוֹ הֶחֱטִיאוּ הַנָּשִׁים הַנָּכְרִיּוֹת׃ 13.29. זָכְרָה לָהֶם אֱלֹהָי עַל גָּאֳלֵי הַכְּהֻנָּה וּבְרִית הַכְּהֻנָּה וְהַלְוִיִּם׃ | 13.25. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God: ‘Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves." 13.26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even him did the foreign women cause to sin." 13.29. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covet of the priesthood, and of the Levites." |
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19. Anon., 1 Enoch, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9, 9.6, 9.9, 9.10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15.8-16.1, 16, 16.1, 17, 18, 19, 19.1, 19.2, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1. The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be,living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. And he took up his parable and said -Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is,for to come. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them:The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,,And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, [And appear from His camp] And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.,And all shall be smitten with fear And the Watchers shall quake, And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.,And the high mountains shall be shaken, And the high hills shall be made low, And shall melt like wax before the flame,And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder, And all that is upon the earth shall perish, And there shall be a judgement upon all (men).,But with the righteous He will make peace.And will protect the elect, And mercy shall be upon them.And they shall all belong to God, And they shall be prospered, And they shall all be blessed.And He will help them all, And light shall appear unto them, And He will make peace with them'.,And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly:And to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. |
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20. Anon., Jubilees, 4.15, 4.22, 5.2, 5.20-5.32, 7.23, 8.1-8.2, 10.1-10.6, 45.16 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.15. And in the seventh jubilee in the third week Enos took Nôâm his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his name Ke. 4.22. and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. 5.2. that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants. 5.20. and all their judgments are ordained and written and engraved. 5.21. In regard to all He will judge, the great according to his greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according to his way. 5.22. And He is not one who will regard the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts, if He saith that He will execute judgment on each: 5.23. if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands, for He is a righteous judge. 5.24. [And of the children of Israel it hath been written and ordained: If they turn to Him in righteousness, He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. 5.25. It is written and ordained that He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year.] 5.26. And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their thoughts before the flood, no man's person was accepted save that of Noah alone; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom (God) saved from the waters of the flood on his account; 5.27. for his heart was righteous in all his ways, according as it was commanded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him. 5.28. And the Lord said that He would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth. 5.29. And He commanded Noah to make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the flood. 5.30. And Noah made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth year (on the new moon of the first month). 5.31. And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, in the second month, on the new moon of the second month 5.32. till the sixteenth; and he entered, and all that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed it from without on the seventeenth evening. 7.23. And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordices and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew 8.1. In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, in the beginning thereof Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Râsû’ĕjâ, [the daughter of Sûsân,] the daughter of Elam 8.2. and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, and he called his name Kâinâm. 10.1. And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noah; and to make to err and destroy them. 10.2. And the sons of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were, leading astray and blinding and slaying his sons' sons. 10.3. And he prayed before the Lord his God, and said: God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me, And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition; 10.4. For Thy grace hath been great towards me, And great hath been Thy mercy to my soul; 10.5. Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons 10.6. But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and multiply and replenish the earth. 45.16. And Joseph took of the corn of the harvest the fifth part for the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed, and Joseph made it an ordice for the land of Egypt until this day. |
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21. Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus Covenant, 15.15-15.19 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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22. Dead Sea Scrolls, War Scroll, 7.4-7.5 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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23. Dead Sea Scrolls, (Cairo Damascus Covenant) Cd-A, 15.15-15.19 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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24. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, 3.13-4.26 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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25. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 2.23-2.24 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 2.23. for God created man for incorruption,and made him in the image of his own eternity 2.24. but through the devils envy death entered the world,and those who belong to his party experience it. |
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26. Philo of Alexandria, On Husbandry, 121 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 121. and he who shows himself superior to all the rest of these is most admirable, and we must not envy him, when he gets the first prize of all the wrestlers. And those who are thought worthy of the second or of the third place, must not be cast down; for these prizes are proposed for the acquisition of virtue. But to those who are unable to attain to the very highest eminence, even the acquisition of a moderate prize is serviceable. And it is even said that such is more stable, since it avoids the envy which always sticks to those who are excessively eminent. |
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27. Philo of Alexandria, On The Confusion of Tongues, 23, 190 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 190. This, now, is our opinion upon and interpretation of this passage. But they who follow only what is plain and easy, think that what is here intended to be recorded, is the origin of the languages of the Greeks and barbarians, whom, without blaming them (for, perhaps, they also put a correct interpretation on the transaction), I would exhort not to be content with stopping at this point, but to proceed onward to look at the passage in a figurative way, considering that the mere words of the scriptures are, as it were, but shadows of bodies, and that the meanings which are apparent to investigation beneath them, are the real things to be pondered upon. |
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28. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 1.134 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 1.134. By the ladder in this thing, which is called the world, is figuratively understood the air, the foundation of which is the earth, and the head is the heaven; for the large interior space, which being extended in every direction, reaches from the orb of the moon, which is described as the most remote of the order in heaven, but the nearest to us by those who contemplate sublime objects, down to the earth, which is the lowest of such bodies, is the air. |
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29. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.17, 1.38 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 1.17. But if they had taken pains to travel along the straight and true road, they would soon have known that just as the outward sense is the subordinate minister of the mind, so in the same manner all the objects of the outward senses are servants of that which is appreciable only by intellect, being well contented if they can attain to the second place in honour. 1.38. But he does not on that account faint and renounce the task which he has undertaken, but goes on with invincible determination towards the sight which he considers attainable, as if he were a competitor at the games, and were striving for the second prize, though he has missed the first. And guess and conjecture are inferior to true perception, as are all those notions which are classed under the description of reasonable and plausible opinions. |
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30. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 1.1, 1.56-1.59 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 1.1. And the heaven and the earth and all their world was Completed." Having previously related the creation of the mind and of sense, Moses now proceeds to describe the perfection which was brought about by them both. And he says that neither the indivisible mind nor the particular sensations received perfection, but only ideas, one the idea of the mind, the other of sensation. And, speaking symbolically, he calls the mind heaven, since the natures which can only be comprehended by the intellect are in heaven. And sensation he calls earth, because it is sensation which has obtained a corporeal and some what earthy constitution. The ornaments of the mind are all the incorporeal things, which are perceptible only by the intellect. Those of sensation are the corporeal things, and everything in short which is perceptible by the external senses. II. 1.56. And God caused to rise out of the earth every tree which is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life he raised in the middle of the Paradise, and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." He here gives a sketch of the trees of virtue which he plants in the soul. And these are the particular virtues, and the energies in accordance with them, and the good and successful actions, and the things which by the philosophers are called fitting; 1.57. these are the plants of the Paradise. Nevertheless, he describes the characteristics of these same trees, showing that that which is desirable to be beheld is likewise most excellent to be enjoyed. For of the arts some are theoretical and not practical, such as geometry and astronomy. Some, again, are practical and not theoretical, such as the art of the architect, of the smith, and all those which are called mechanical arts. But virtue is both theoretical and practical; for it takes in theory, since the road which leads to it is philosophy in three of its parts--the reasoning, and the moral, and the physical part. It also includes action; for virtue is art conversant about the whole of life; and in life all actions are exhibited. 1.58. Still, although it takes in both theory and practice, nevertheless it is most excellent in each particular. For the theory of virtue is thoroughly excellent, and its practice and observation is a worthy object to contend for. On which account Moses says that the tree was pleasant to the sight, which is a symbol of theoretical excellence; and likewise good for food, which is a token of useful and practical good. XVIII. 1.59. But the tree of life is that most general virtue which some people call goodness; from which the particular virtues are derived, and of which they are composed. And it is on this account that it is placed in the centre of the Paradise; having the most comprehensive place of all, in order that, like a king, it may be guarded by the trees on each side of it. But some say that it is the heart that is meant by the tree of life; since that is the cause of life, and since that has its position in the middle of the body, as being, according to them, the domit part of the body. But these men ought to be made aware that they are expounding a doctrine which has more reference to medical than to natural science. But we, as has been said before, affirm that by the tree of life is meant the most general virtue. |
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31. Philo of Alexandria, Questions On Genesis, 1.92, 1.94, 1.96 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
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32. Philo of Alexandria, That The Worse Attacks The Better, 60, 59 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 59. Since, when he asks the wise man, Where is Virtue? that is to say, when he asks Abraham about Sarah, he asks, not because he is ignorant, but because he thinks that he ought to answer for the sake of eliciting praise from the answer of him who speaks. Accordingly, Moses tells us that Abraham answered, "Behold, she is in the tent;" that is to say, in the soul. What then is there in this answer that contains praise? Behold, says he, I keep virtue in my house as a treasure carefully stored up, and on account of this I am immediately happy. |
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33. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 21-23, 30-32, 35-38, 42-48, 50-69, 77-81, 20 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 20. However, we have said enough on this head; let us now connect what follows with It:ù"the Lord God, therefore," says Moses, "seeing that the wickedness of man was multiplied upon the earth, and that every one of them was carefully studying wickedness in his heart all his days; God considered in his mind that he had made man upon the earth, and he thought upon it; and God said, I will destroy man whom I have made from off the face of the earth."9 |
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34. Anon., 2 Baruch, 23.4, 54.14, 54.19 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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35. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 1.35, 1.37, 1.41, 1.46, 1.49, 1.51, 2.177, 2.179, 2.181 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.35. God also presented the living creatures, when he had made them, according to their kinds, both male and female, to Adam, who gave them those names by which they are still called. But when he saw that Adam had no female companion, no society, for there was no such created, and that he wondered at the other animals which were male and female, he laid him asleep, and took away one of his ribs, and out of it formed the woman; 1.37. 3. Moses says further, that God planted a paradise in the east, flourishing with all sorts of trees; and that among them was the tree of life, and another of knowledge, whereby was to be known what was good and evil; 1.41. But while all the living creatures had one language, at that time the serpent, which then lived together with Adam and his wife, shewed an envious disposition, at his supposal of their living happily, and in obedience to the commands of God; 1.46. When he made no reply, as conscious to himself that he had transgressed the command of God, God said, “I had before determined about you both, how you might lead a happy life, without any affliction, and care, and vexation of soul; and that all things which might contribute to your enjoyment and pleasure should grow up by my providence, of their own accord, without your own labor and painstaking; which state of labor and painstaking would soon bring on old age, and death would not be at any remote distance: 1.49. But God allotted him punishment, because he weakly submitted to the counsel of his wife; and said the ground should not henceforth yield its fruits of its own accord, but that when it should be harassed by their labor, it should bring forth some of its fruits, and refuse to bring forth others. He also made Eve liable to the inconveniency of breeding, and the sharp pains of bringing forth children; and this because she persuaded Adam with the same arguments wherewith the serpent had persuaded her, and had thereby brought him into a calamitous condition. 1.51. And when God had appointed these penalties for them, he removed Adam and Eve out of the garden into another place. 2.177. but, upon the whole, I think it necessary to mention those names, that I may disprove such as believe that we came not originally from Mesopotamia, but are Egyptians. Now Jacob had twelve sons; of these Joseph was come thither before. We will therefore set down the names of Jacob’s children and grandchildren. 2.179. Zabulon had with him three sons—Sarad, Helon, Jalel. So far is the posterity of Lea; with whom went her daughter Dinah. These are thirty-three. 2.181. And this was the legitimate posterity of Jacob. He had besides by Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, Dan and Nephtliali; which last had four sons that followed him—Jesel, Guni, Issari, and Sellim. Dan had an only begotten son, Usi. |
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36. New Testament, 1 Peter, 3.2, 3.19, 5.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.2. seeing your pure behavior in fear. 3.19. in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison 5.13. She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son. |
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37. New Testament, Acts, 23.6-23.8 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 23.6. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged! 23.7. When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 23.8. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these. |
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38. New Testament, Hebrews, 12.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.23. to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect |
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39. New Testament, Romans, 5.12-5.21, 8.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.12. Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 5.13. For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. 5.14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren't like Adam's disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. 5.15. But the free gift isn't like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 5.16. The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. 5.17. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 5.18. So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. 5.19. For as through the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one will many be made righteous. 5.20. The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly; 5.21. that as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 8.9. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. |
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40. New Testament, John, 21.12-21.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 21.12. Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast."None of the disciples dared inquire of him, "Who are you?" knowing that it was the Lord. 21.13. Then Jesus came and took the bread, gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 21.14. This is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples, after he had risen from the dead. |
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41. New Testament, Luke, 24.3, 24.41-24.44 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 24.3. They entered in, and didn't find the Lord Jesus' body. 24.41. While they still didn't believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Do you have anything here to eat? 24.42. They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 24.43. He took it, and ate in front of them. 24.44. He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled. |
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42. Ps.-Philo, Biblical Antiquities, 3.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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43. Anon., Genesis Rabba, 19.11, 22.9, 27.4, 33.3, 56.1, 67.8 (2nd cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 19.11. וַיֹּאמֶר הָאָדָם וגו' (בראשית ג, יב), אַרְבָּעָה הֵן שֶׁהֵקִישׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל קַנְקַנָּן וּמְצָאָן קַנְקַנִּין שֶׁל מֵימֵי רַגְלַיִם, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, אָדָם, וְקַיִן, וּבִלְעָם, וְחִזְקִיָּהוּ. אָדָם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיֹּאמֶר הָאָדָם הָאִשָּׁה. קַיִן (בראשית ד, ט): וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל קַיִן אֵי הֶבֶל וגו' וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי. בִּלְעָם הָרָשָׁע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר כב, ט י): מִי הָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה עִמָּךְ, וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים וגו'. חִזְקִיָּהוּ (מלכים ב כ, יד) (ישעיה לט, ג): מָה אָמְרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה וגו'. אֲבָל יְחֶזְקֵאל מְצָאוֹ בָּקִי מִכֻּלָּם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יחזקאל לז, ג): בֶּן אָדָם הֲתִחְיֶינָה הָעֲצָמוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וָאֹמַר ה' אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ, אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר פָּפָּא לְצִפּוֹר שֶׁהָיְתָה נְתוּנָה בְּיַד צַיָּד, פָּגַע בְּאֶחָד אָמַר לוֹ זוֹ שֶׁבְּיָדִי מָה הִיא חַיָּה אוֹ מֵתָה, אָמַר לוֹ אִי בָּעִית חַיָּה, אִי בָּעִית מֵתָה, כָּךְ בֶּן אָדָם הֲתִחְיֶינָה הָעֲצָמוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וָאֹמַר ה' אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ. 22.9. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר, כְּתִיב (תהלים לז, יד): חֶרֶב פָּתְחוּ רְשָׁעִים וגו', חֶרֶב פָּתְחוּ רְשָׁעִים וְדָרְכוּ קַשְׁתָּם, זֶה קַיִן. (תהלים לז, יד): לְהַפִּיל עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן לִטְבוֹחַ יִשְׁרֵי דָרֶךְ זֶה הֶבֶל. (תהלים לז, טו): חַרְבָּם תָּבוֹא בְלִבָּם וגו', (בראשית ד, יב): נָע וְנָד תִּהְיֶה בָּאָרֶץ. (בראשית ד, ט): וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל קַיִן אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ וגו', מָשָׁל לְאִיפַּרְכוֹס שֶׁהָיָה מְהַלֵּךְ בְּאֶמְצַע פְּלַטְיָא, מָצָא הָרוּג וְאֶחָד עוֹמֵד עַל גַּבָּיו, אָמַר לוֹ מִי הֲרָגוֹ, וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲנָא בָּעֵי לֵיהּ גַּבָּךְ, וְאַתְּ בָּעֵי לֵיהּ גַּבִּי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ לֹא אָמַרְתָּ כְּלוּם, מָשָׁל לְאֶחָד שֶׁנִּכְנַס לְגִנָּה וְלִקֵּט תּוּתִין וְאָכַל, וְהָיָה בַּעַל הַגִּנָּה רָץ אַחֲרָיו אָמַר לוֹ מַה בְּיָדְךָ, אָמַר לוֹ אֵין בְּיָדִי כְּלוּם, אָמַר לוֹ וַהֲרֵי יָדֶיךָ מְלֻכְלָכוֹת. כָּךְ אָמַר לוֹ קַיִן לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא (בראשית ד, ט): הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הָא רָשָׁע (בראשית ד, י): קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים וגו', מָשָׁל לְאֶחָד שֶׁנִכְנַס לְמִרְעֶה וְחָטַף גְּדִי אֶחָד וְהִפְשִׁילוֹ לַאֲחוֹרָיו, וְהָיָה בַּעַל הַמִּרְעֶה רָץ אַחֲרָיו אָמַר לוֹ מַה בְּיָדְךָ, אָמַר לוֹ אֵין בְּיָדִי כְּלוּם, אָמַר לוֹ וַהֲרֵי הוּא מַפְעֶה אַחֲרֶיךָ. כָּךְ אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְקַיִן: קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ וגו'. רַבִּי יוּדָן וְרַבִּי הוּנָא וְרַבָּנָן. רַבִּי יוּדָן אוֹמֵר דַּם אָחִיךָ אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו. רַבִּי הוּנָא אָמַר (מלכים ב ט, כו): אֶת דְּמֵי נָבוֹת, דַּם נָבוֹת וְדַם בָּנָיו אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא אֶת דְּמֵי נָבוֹת וְאֶת דְּמֵי בָנָיו, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו. רַבָּנָן אָמְרִין (דברי הימים ב כד, כה): וַיָּמָת בְּדַם יְהוֹיָדָע, אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא בִּדְמֵי יְהוֹיָדָע, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי קָשֶׁה הַדָּבָר לְאָמְרוֹ וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לַפֶּה לְפָרְשׁוֹ, לִשְׁנֵי אַתְּלִיטִין שֶׁהָיוּ עוֹמְדִין וּמִתְגּוֹשְׁשִׁים לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ, אִלּוּ רָצָה הַמֶּלֶךְ פֵּרְשָׁן, וְלֹא רָצָה הַמֶּלֶךְ לְפָרְשָׁן, נִתְחַזֵּק אֶחָד עַל חֲבֵרוֹ וַהֲרָגוֹ, וְהָיָה מְצַוֵּחַ וְאָמַר מַאן יִבְעֵי דִּינִי קֳדָם מַלְכָּא, כָּךְ קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צוֹעֲקִים אֵלַי מִן הָאֲדָמָה, לַעֲלוֹת לְמַעְלָה לֹא הָיְתָה יְכוֹלָה שֶׁעֲדַיִן לֹא עָלְתָה לְשָׁם נְשָׁמָה, וּלְמַטָּה לֹא הָיְתָה יְכוֹלָה לַעֲמֹד שֶׁעֲדַיִן לֹא נִקְבַּר שָׁם אָדָם, וְהָיָה דָּמוֹ מֻשְׁלָךְ עַל הָעֵצִים וְעַל הָאֲבָנִים. 27.4. וַיִּנָּחֶם ה' כִּי עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ (בראשית ו, ו), רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אָמַר תַּוְהוּת הָיְתָה לְפָנַי שֶׁבָּרָאתִי אוֹתוֹ מִלְּמַטָּה, שֶׁאִלּוּ בָּרָאתִי אוֹתוֹ מִלְּמַעְלָה לֹא הָיָה מוֹרֵד בִּי. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר מִתְנַחֵם אֲנִי שֶׁבָּרָאתִי אוֹתוֹ מִלְּמַטָּה שֶׁאִלּוּ בָּרָאתִי אוֹתוֹ מִלְּמַעְלָה כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהִמְרִיד בִּי אֶת הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים, כָּךְ הָיָה מַמְרִיד בִּי אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנִים. אָמַר רַבִּי אַיְבוּ תְּוָהוּת הָיְתָה לְפָנַי שֶׁבָּרָאתִי בּוֹ יֵצֶר הָרָע, שֶׁאִלּוּלֵי לֹא בָּרָאתִי בּוֹ יֵצֶר הָרָע לֹא הָיָה מוֹרֵד בִּי. אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי מִתְנַחֵם אֲנִי שֶׁעָשִׂיתִי אוֹתוֹ וְנִתַּן בָּאָרֶץ. (בראשית ו, ו): וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ, אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה, מָשָׁל לְשַׂר שֶׁבָּנָה פָּלָטִין עַל יְדֵי אַדְרִיכַל, רָאָה אוֹתָהּ וְלֹא עָרְבָה לוֹ, עַל מִי יֵשׁ לוֹ לְהִתְכָּעֵס לֹא עַל אַדְרִיכַל, כָּךְ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי אָסֵי מָשָׁל לְשַׂר שֶׁעָשָׂה סְחוֹרָה עַל יְדֵי סַרְסוּר וְהִפְסִיד, עַל מִי יֵשׁ לוֹ לְהִתְרָעֵם לֹא עַל הַסַּרְסוּר, כָּךְ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ. אֶפִּיקוֹרֶס אֶחָד שָׁאַל אֶת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה, אָמַר לוֹ אֵין אַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רוֹאֶה אֶת הַנּוֹלָד, אָמַר לוֹ הֵן. וְהָא כְתִיב וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ. אָמַר לוֹ נוֹלַד לְךָ בֶּן זָכָר מִיָּמֶיךָ, אָמַר לוֹ הֵן, אָמַר לוֹ מֶה עָשִׂיתָ, אָמַר לוֹ שָׂמַחְתִּי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּי אֶת הַכֹּל, אָמַר לוֹ וְלֹא הָיִיתָ יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁסּוֹפוֹ לָמוּת, אָמַר לוֹ בִּשְׁעַת חֶדְוָתָא חֶדְוָתָא, בִּשְׁעַת אֶבְלָה אֶבְלָה. אָמַר לוֹ כָּךְ מַעֲשֶׂה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי שִׁבְעָה יָמִים נִתְאַבֵּל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל עוֹלָמוֹ קֹדֶם שֶׁלֹא יָבוֹא מַבּוּל לָעוֹלָם, מַאי טַעְמֵיהּ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל לִבּוֹ, וְאֵין עֲצִיבָה אֶלָא אֲבֵלוּת, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמואל ב יט, ג): נֶעֱצַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל בְּנוֹ. 33.3. טוֹב ה' לַכֹּל וְרַחֲמָיו עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו (תהלים קמה, ט), אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי טוֹב ה' לַכֹּל, עַל הַכֹּל, שֶׁהוּא מַעֲשָׂיו. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל טוֹב ה' לַכֹּל וְרַחֲמָיו עַל הַכֹּל שֶׁהֵן מִדּוֹתָיו הוּא מְרַחֵם. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר טוֹב ה' לַכֹּל, וּמֵרַחֲמָיו הוּא נוֹתֵן לִבְרִיּוֹתָיו. רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא וְרַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר אָבִין בְּשֵׁם רַב אַחָא לְמָחָר שְׁנַת בַּצֹּרֶת בָּאָה וְהַבְּרִיּוֹת מְרַחֲמִין אֵלּוּ עַל אֵלּוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְמַלֵּא עֲלֵיהֶן רַחֲמִים. בְּיוֹמֵי דְּרַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא הָיוּ צְרִיכִין יִשְׂרָאֵל לְתַעֲנִית, אָתוֹן לְגַבֵּיהּ אָמְרִין לֵיהּ רַבִּי גְּזָר תַּעֲנִיתָא, גָּזַר תַּעֲנִיתָא יוֹם קַדְמָאי יוֹם ב' יוֹם ג' וְלָא נְחַת מִטְרָא, עָאל וְדָרַשׁ לְהוֹן אֲמַר לְהוֹן בָּנַי הִתְמַלְּאוּ רַחֲמִים אֵלּוּ עַל אֵלּוּ וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְמַלֵּא עֲלֵיכֶם רַחֲמִים. עַד שֶׁהֵן מְחַלְּקִין צְדָקָה לַעֲנִיֵּיהֶם רָאוּ אָדָם אֶחָד נוֹתֵן מָעוֹת לִגְרוּשָׁתוֹ, אָתוֹן לְגַבֵּיהּ וַאֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ, רַבִּי מָה אֲנַן יָתְבִין הָכָא וַעֲבֵרְתָּא הָכָא. אֲמַר לָהֶן מָה רְאִיתֶם, אָמְרוּ לוֹ רָאִינוּ אָדָם פְּלוֹנִי נוֹתֵן מָעוֹת לִגְרוּשָׁתוֹ, שְׁלַח בַּתְרֵיהוֹן וְאַיְיתִינוֹן לְגוֹ צִבּוּרָא. אָמַר לֵיהּ מָה הִיא לָךְ זוֹ, אָמַר לוֹ גְּרוּשָׁתִי הִיא. אָמַר לוֹ מִפְּנֵי מָה נָתַתָּ לָהּ מָעוֹת, אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי רָאִיתִי אוֹתָהּ בְּצָרָה וְהִתְמַלֵּאתִי עָלֶיהָ רַחֲמִים. בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה הִגְבִּיהַּ רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא פָּנָיו כְּלַפֵּי מַעְלָה וְאָמַר רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים מָה אִם זֶה שֶׁאֵין לָהּ עָלָיו מְזוֹנוֹת רָאָה אוֹתָהּ בְּצָרָה וְנִתְמַלֵּא עָלֶיהָ רַחֲמִים, אַתָּה שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּךָ (תהלים קמה, ח): חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם, וְאָנוּ בְּנֵי יְדִידֶיךָ בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה שֶׁתִּתְמַלֵּא עָלֵינוּ רַחֲמִים, מִיָּד יָרְדוּ גְּשָׁמִים וְנִתְרַוָּה הָעוֹלָם. רַבֵּנוּ הֲוָה יָתֵיב לָעֵי בְּאוֹרַיְתָא קַמֵּי כְּנִשְׁתָּא דְּבַבְלָאי בְּצִפּוֹרִין, עֲבַר חַד עֵגֶל קוֹדָמוֹי, אָזֵל לְמִתְנְכָסָה וְשָׁרֵי גָּעֵי כְּמֵימַר שֵׁיזִבְנִי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ וּמָה אֲנִי יָכוֹל לְמֶעְבַּד לָךְ לְכָךְ נוֹצַרְתָּ, וְחָשַׁשׁ רַבִּי אֶת שִׁנָּיו שְׁלשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר אָבִין כָּל אוֹתָן שְׁלשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה שֶׁהָיָה חוֹשֵׁשׁ רַבִּי אֶת שִׁנָּיו, לֹא הִפִּילָה עֻבָּרָה בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלֹא נִצְטַעֲרוּ הַיּוֹלְדוֹת, בָּתַר יוֹמִין עֲבַר חַד שֶׁרֶץ קַמֵּי בְּרַתֵּיהּ וּבְעָא לְמִקְטְלָא, אֲמַר לָהּ בְּרַתִּי שַׁבְקֵיהּ, דִּכְתִיב: וְרַחֲמָיו עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו. רַבֵּנוּ הֲוָה עִנְוָתָן סַגֵּי, וַהֲוָה אֲמַר כָּל מַה דְּיֹאמַר לִי בַּר נַשׁ אֲנָא עָבֵיד חוּץ מִמַּה שֶּׁעָשׂוּ בְּנֵי בְתֵירָא לִזְקֵנִי, שֶׁיָּרְדוּ מִגְדֻלָּתָן וְהֶעֱלוּ אוֹתוֹ, וְאִין סָלֵיק רַב הוּנָא רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא לְהָכָא, אֲנָא קָאֵים לִי מִן קֳדָמוֹהִי, לָמָּה דְּהוּא מִן יְהוּדָה וַאֲנָא מִן בִּנְיָמִין, וְהוּא מִן דִּכְרַיָא דִּיהוּדָה וַאֲנָא מִן נֻקְבְתָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה וַהֲרֵי הוּא עוֹמֵד בַּחוּץ, נִתְכַּרְכְּמוּ פָּנָיו שֶׁל רַבִּי וְכֵיוָן שֶׁרָאָה שֶׁנִּתְכַּרְכְּמוּ פָּנָיו אָמַר לוֹ אֲרוֹנוֹ הוּא, אֲמַר לֵיהּ פּוֹק חֲזֵי מַאן בָּעֵי לָךְ לְבָרָא, נָפַק וְלָא אַשְׁכַּח בַּר נָשׁ, וְיָדַע דְּהוּא נָזוּף וְאֵין נְזִיפָה פְּחוּתָה מִשְּׁלשִׁים יוֹם. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר רַבִּי אָבִין כָּל אוֹתָן שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם שֶׁהָיָה רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה נָזוּף מֵרַבֵּנוּ, אַלֵּיף לְרַב בַּר אֲחָתֵיהּ כָּל כְּלָלֵי דְאוֹרַיְתָא, וְאִלֵּין אִינוּן כְּלָלַיָיא דְאוֹרַיְתָא הִלְכְתָא דְּבַבְלָאֵי. לְסוֹף תְּלָתִין יוֹמִין אָתָא אֵלִיָּהוּ זָכוּר לַטּוֹב בִּדְמוּתֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה אֵצֶל רַבֵּנוּ וִיְהַב יְדֵיהּ עַל שִׁנֵּיהּ וְאִתְּסֵי, כֵּיוָן דְּאָתָא רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה לְגַבֵּי רַבֵּנוּ אֲמַר לֵיהּ מָה עֲבַדְתְּ בְּשִׁנָּךְ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ מִן עוֹנָתָא דִּיהַבְתְּ יְדָךְ עִלּוֹהִי אִתְנְשֵׁימַת, אֲמַר לֵיהּ לֵית אֲנָא הֲוָה יָדַע מָה הוּא. כֵּיוָן דְּשָׁמַע כֵּן שָׁרֵי נָהֵיג בֵּיהּ יְקָרָא, וְקָרַב תַּלְמִידִים וּמְעַיֵּיל לֵיהּ מִלְּגַאו. אָמַר רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן רַבִּי יוֹסֵי וְלִפְנִים מִמֶּנִּי, אָמַר לֵיהּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם לֹא יֵעָשֶׂה כֵן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. רַבֵּנוּ הֲוָה מְתַנֵּי שִׁבְחֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּה קַמֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, אָמַר לֵיהּ אָדָם גָּדוֹל, אָדָם קָדוֹשׁ. חַד זְמַן חֲמִיתֵיהּ בֵּי בָנֵי וְלָא אִתְכְּנַע מִנֵּיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ הַהוּא תַּלְמִידָךְ דַּהֲוַת מִשְׁתַּבַּח בֵּיהּ חֲמִיתֵּיהּ בֵּי בָנֵי וְלָא אִתְכְּנַע מִנָּאי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ וְלָמָּה לָא אִתְכְּנָעַת מִנֵּיהּ, אָמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי חִיָּא מִסְתַּכֵּל הָיִיתִי בְּאַגָּדַת תְּהִלִּים, כֵּיוָן דְּשָׁמַע כֵּן מְסַר לֵיהּ תְּרֵין תַּלְמִידוֹי וַהֲווֹ עָיְילִין עִמֵּיהּ לַאֲשׁוּנָה, דְּלָא יִשְׁהֵי וְתִזְעַר נַפְשֵׁיהּ. דָּבָר אַחֵר, טוֹב ה' לַכֹּל וגו', וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת נֹחַ וגו', אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמֵנִי אוֹי לָהֶם לָרְשָׁעִים שֶׁהֵם הוֹפְכִים מִדַּת רַחֲמִים לְמִדַּת הַדִין, בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ה', מִדַּת רַחֲמִים, (שמות לד, ו): ה' ה' אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן, וּכְתִיב (בראשית ו, ה): וַיַּרְא ה' כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ, (בראשית ו, ו): וַיִּנָּחֶם ה' כִּי עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם (בראשית ו, ז): וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶמְחֶה וגו', אַשְׁרֵיהֶם הַצַּדִּיקִים שֶׁהֵן הוֹפְכִים מִדַּת הַדִּין לְמִדַּת רַחֲמִים. בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר אֱלֹהִים הוּא מִדַּת הַדִּין (שמות כב, כז): אֱלֹהִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל, (שמות כב, ח): עַד הָאֱלֹהִים יָבֹא דְּבַר שְׁנֵיהֶם, וּכְתִיב (שמות ב, כד): וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת נַאֲקָתָם וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת בְּרִיתוֹ וגו' (בראשית ל, כב): וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת רָחֵל וגו', וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת נֹחַ, מַה זְּכִירָה נִזְכַּר לוֹ שֶׁזָּן וּפִרְנֵס אוֹתָם כָּל שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ בַּתֵּבָה, וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת נֹחַ, וְהַדִּין נוֹתֵן מִזְּכוּת הַטְּהוֹרִים שֶׁהִכְנִיס עִמּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר לְשֵׁם קָרְבָּנוֹ נִקְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ח, כא): וַיָּרַח ה' אֶת רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר חֲנִינָא לְשֵׁם נַחַת הַתֵּבָה נִקְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ח, ד): וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי וגו'. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר (בראשית ח, כב): לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ, מִכְּלַל שֶׁשָּׁבָתוּ. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן לֹא שִׁמְשׁוּ מַזָּלוֹת כָּל שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, אָמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן שִׁמְשׁוּ אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹא הָיָה רִשּׁוּמָן נִכָּר. 56.1. בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וַיִּשָֹּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֵינָיו (בראשית כב, ד), כְּתִיב (הושע ו, ב): יְחַיֵּנוּ מִיֹּמָיִם בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי יְקִמֵנוּ וְנִחְיֶה לְפָנָיו, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל שְׁבָטִים, כְּתִיב (בראשית מב, יח): וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל מְרַגְלִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יהושע ב, טז): וְנַחְבֵּתֶם שָׁמָּה שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל מַתַּן תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יט, טז): וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל יוֹנָה, דִּכְתִיב (יונה ב, א): וַיְהִי יוֹנָה בִּמְעֵי הַדָּגָה שְׁלשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלשָׁה לֵילוֹת, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל עוֹלֵי גוֹלָה, דִּכְתִיב (עזרא ח, לב): וַנֵּשֶׁב שָׁם יָמִים שְׁלשָׁה, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים, דִּכְתִיב: יְחַיֵּנוּ מִיֹּמָיִם בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי יְקִמֵנוּ, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל אֶסְתֵּר, (אסתר ה, א): וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וַתִּלְבַּשׁ אֶסְתֵּר מַלְכוּת, לָבְשָׁה מַלְכוּת בֵּית אָבִיהָ. בְּאֵיזֶה זְכוּת, רַבָּנָן וְרַבִּי לֵוִי, רַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי בִּזְכוּת יוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל מַתַּן תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיֹת הַבֹּקֶר. וְרַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר בִּזְכוּת שֶׁל יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי. וַיַּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק, מָה רָאָה רָאָה עָנָן קָשׁוּר בָּהָר, אָמַר דּוֹמֶה שֶׁאוֹתוֹ מָקוֹם שֶׁאָמַר לִי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְהַקְרִיב אֶת בְּנִי שָׁם. 56.1. וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא ה' יִרְאֶה (בראשית כב, יד), רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר, אָמַר לְפָנָיו רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאָמַרְתָּ לִי (בראשית כב, ב): קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ, הָיָה לִי מַה לְּהָשִׁיב, אֶתְמוֹל אָמַרְתָּ (בראשית כא, כב): כִּי בְיִצְחָק וגו', וְעַכְשָׁו קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ וגו' וְחַס וְשָׁלוֹם לֹא עָשִׂיתִי כֵן אֶלָּא כָּבַשְׁתִּי רַחֲמַי לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ, יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁיִּהְיוּ בָּנָיו שֶׁל יִצְחָק בָּאִים לִידֵי עֲבֵרוֹת וּמַעֲשִׂים רָעִים תְּהֵא נִזְכַּר לָהֶם אוֹתָהּ הָעֲקֵדָה וְתִתְמַלֵּא עֲלֵיהֶם רַחֲמִים. אַבְרָהָם קָרָא אוֹתוֹ יִרְאֶה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא ה' יִרְאֶה. שֵׁם קָרָא אוֹתוֹ שָׁלֵם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית יד, יח): וּמַלְכִּי צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אִם קוֹרֵא אֲנִי אוֹתוֹ יִרְאֶה כְּשֵׁם שֶׁקָּרָא אוֹתוֹ אַבְרָהָם, שֵׁם אָדָם צַדִּיק מִתְרָעֵם, וְאִם קוֹרֵא אֲנִי אוֹתוֹ שָׁלֵם, אַבְרָהָם אָדָם צַדִּיק מִתְרָעֵם, אֶלָּא הֲרֵינִי קוֹרֵא אוֹתוֹ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם כְּמוֹ שֶׁקָּרְאוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם, יִרְאֶה שָׁלֵם, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם. רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ אָמַר עַד שֶׁהוּא שָׁלֵם עָשָׂה לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא סֻכָּה וְהָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל בְּתוֹכָהּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים עו, ג): וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ וּמְעוֹנָתוֹ בְּצִיּוֹן, וּמָה הָיָה אוֹמֵר יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁאֶרְאֶה בְּבִנְיַן בֵּיתִי. דָּבָר אַחֵר, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהֶרְאָה לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ חָרֵב וּבָנוּי חָרֵב וּבָנוּי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא ה' יִרְאֶה, הֲרֵי בָּנוּי, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (דברים טז, טז): שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה יֵרָאֶה. אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר הַיּוֹם בְּהַר ה', הֲרֵי חָרֵב, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (איכה ה, יח): עַל הַר צִיּוֹן שֶׁשָּׁמֵם. ה' יֵרָאֶה, בָּנוּי וּמְשֻׁכְלָל לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא, כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קב, יז): כִּי בָנָה ה' צִיּוֹן נִרְאָה בִּכְבוֹדוֹ. 67.8. וַיִּשְׂטֹם עֵשָׂו (בראשית כז, מא), אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בַּר יוֹסֵי סֶנַטֵּרוֹ, וְנַעֲשָׂה לוֹ שׂוֹנֵא וְנוֹקֵם וְנוֹטֵר עַד כַּדֵּין קָרְיָן סֶנַטְרֵיה דְּרוֹמִי. (בראשית כז, מא): וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו בְּלִבּוֹ, הָרְשָׁעִים בִּרְשׁוּת לִבָּן (תהלים יד, א): אָמַר נָבָל בְּלִבּוֹ, וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו בְּלִבּוֹ, (מלכים א יב, כו): וַיֹּאמֶר יָרָבְעָם בְּלִבּוֹ, (אסתר ו, ו): וַיֹּאמֶר הָמָן בְּלִבּוֹ. אֲבָל הַצַּדִּיקִים לִבָּן בִּרְשׁוּתָן (שמואל א א, יג): וְחַנָּה הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל לִבָּהּ, (שמואל א כז, א): וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל לִבּוֹ, (דניאל א, ח): וַיָּשֶׂם דָּנִיֵּאל עַל לִבּוֹ, דּוֹמִין לְבוֹרְאָן (בראשית ח, כא): וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל לִבּוֹ. (בראשית כז, מא): יִקְרְבוּ יְמֵי אֵבֶל אָבִי, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר בָּא לוֹ עֵשָׂו בִּמְתִינָה, אָמַר מָה אֲנִי מַכְרִיעַ אֶת אַבָּא, אֶלָּא יִקְרְבוּ יְמֵי אֵבֶל אָבִי וְאַהַרְגֵּהוּ. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר בַּת קוֹל אוֹמֶרֶת הַרְבֵּה סְיָחִים מֵתוּ וְנַעֲשׂוּ עוֹרוֹתֵיהֶם עַל גַּבֵּי אִמּוֹתֵיהֶן. רַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי אִם הוֹרְגוֹ אֲנִי, יֵשׁ שֵׁם וָעֵבֶר יוֹשְׁבִין עָלַי בַּדִּין וְאוֹמְרִים לִי לָמָּה הָרַגְתָּ אֶת אָחִיךָ, אֶלָּא הֲרֵינִי הוֹלֵךְ וּמִתְחַתֵּן לְיִשְׁמָעֵאל וְהוּא בָּא וְעוֹרֵר עִמּוֹ עַל הַבְּכוֹרָה וְהוֹרְגוֹ, וַאֲנִי עוֹמֵד עָלָיו כְּגוֹאֵל הַדָּם וְהוֹרְגוֹ, וְיוֹרֵשׁ אֲנִי שְׁתֵּי מִשְׁפָּחוֹת. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (יחזקאל לה, י): יַעַן אֲמָרְךָ אֶת שְׁנֵי הַגּוֹיִם וְאֶת שְׁתֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת לִי תִהְיֶינָה וִירַשְׁנוּהָ וַה' שָׁם הָיָה, מַאן אֲמַר דַּאֲמַר כֵּן, אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וַה' שָׁם הָיָה. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה כָּפַר עֵשָׂו וְאָמַר לֹא אָמַרְתִּי הֲדָא מִלְּתָא, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לֵית אַתְּ יָדַע דַּאֲנָא הוּא בּוֹדְקֵיהוֹן דִּלְבָבַיָא (ירמיה יז, י): אֲנִי ה' חֹקֵר לֵב. | 22.9. ... The voice of your brother’s bloods [are] screaming to me from [the surface of] the ground” [Gn 4:10]—[this means that] she (the voice of Hevel’s blood) could not go up above/l’ma`lah, for as yet no soul/n’shamah had gone up to there; and below/l’matah she could not stand (i.e., stay or sink into the ground), for as yet no adam had been buried there, and [so] “his blood was cast upon the trees and the stones." 33.3. bGod is good to all and His mercies are upon all of His works (Psalms 145:9):Rabbi Levi said, \"'God is good to all,' upon all, that He is their maker.\" Rabbi Shmuel said, \"'God is good to all and His mercies' - upon all that are His traits, He has mercy.” Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, \"'God is good to all' and His merciful ones He give to His creatures.\" Rabbi Tanchuma and Rabbi Abba bar Avin [said] in the name of Rav Acha, “Tomorrow a famine will arrive and the creatures will have mercy, these upon those, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will be filled with mercy on them.” In the days of Rabbi Tanchuma, Israel required a fast (to bring about rain). They came to [Rabbi Tanchuma and] said to him, “Rabbi, decree a fast.” [So] he decreed a fast on the first day, on the second day, on the third day and rain did not fall. He got up and expounded to them. He said to them, \"My children, have mercy, these upon those, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will be filled with mercy on you.\" While they were still distributing charity to the poor, they saw a man giving money to his ex-wife. They came to [Rabbi Tanchuma] and said to him, \"Rabbi, how are we sitting here [while] there is a sin here.\" He said [back] to them, \"What did you see?\" They said to him, \"We saw Mr. x give money to his ex-wife.\" They sent for them and they brought them in front of the community. [Rabbi Tanchuma] said to him, \"What is she to you?\" He said [back] to him, \"She is my ex-wife.\" He said to him, \"Why did you give her money?\" He said to him, \"Rabbi, I saw her in distress and I was filled with mercy on her.\" At that time, Rabbi Tanchuma lifted his head towards above and said, \"Master over the worlds, just like this one that does not have an obligation to sustain [her] saw her in distress and he was filled with mercy for her, all the more so, You, that it is written about You, 'Compassionate and Merciful' and we are the children of Your friends, Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov, will You be filled with mercy on us.\" Immediately, rains fell and the world was irrigated. Our rabbi (Yehuda Hanassi) was sitting, involved in Torah in front of the synagogue of the Babylonian [Jews] in Tzippori [when] a calf passed in front of him [and] was going to be slaughtered and started to yell out as if to say, \"Save me.\" He said to it, \"And what can I do for you? That is what you were created for.\" [As a result, Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi] had toothaches for thirteen years. Rabbi Yoss bar Avin said, \"[During] those entire thirteen years that [he] had toothaches, no pregt woman had a miscarriage in the Land of Israel and no birthing mother had pain. After some time, a crawling animal passed in front of his daughter and she wanted to kill it. He said to her, \"My daughter, let it go, as it is written, \"and His mercies are upon all of his works.\" Our rabbi had great modesty and said, \"I will do anything that people tell me except what the sons of Batira did to my forefather - that they came down from their greatness (office) and brought him up; and [even] if Rabbi Huna, the Exilarch, came here, I would get up in front of him. Why? As he is from [the tribe of] Yehuda and I am from Binyamin, and he is from the males of Yehuda and I am from the females.\" Rabbi Chiya the Great said to him, \"And behold, he is [waiting] outside.\" [Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi]'s face changed colors. And when he saw that his face changed colors, [Rabbi Chiya] said to him, \"It is [Rabbi Huna]'s coffin.\" He said [back] to [Rabbi Chiya], \"Go out and see who needs you outside.\" He went out and did not find a person and he knew that he was excommunicated - and there is no excommunication less than thirty days. Rabbi Yossi bar Avin said, \"[During] the entire thirty days that Rabbi Chiya the Great was excommunicated from our rabbi, he taught Rav, the son of his sister, the principles of the Torah.\" And what are the principles of the Torah? They are the laws of the Babylonians. At the end of thirty days, Eliyahu - may he be remembered for good - came in the likeness of Rabbi Chiya the Great to our rabbi and put his hand on his teeth and he became healed. When Rabbi Chiya the Great came to our rabbi, he said to him, \"What did you do to your teeth?\" He said [back] to him, \"From the time that you put your hand on them, they became better. He said, \"I do not know what this is.\" When he heard this, he began to treat him with respect and he brought close the students and brought up [Rabbi Chiya] to the top. Rabbi Yishmael bar Yose said, \"And [should he] come closer than I?\" He said [back] to him, \"God forbid, such should not be done in Israel.\" Our rabbi was teaching the praises of Rabbi Chiya the Great in front of Rabbi Yishmael bar Yose - he said, \"He is a great man, he is a holy man.\" One time, [Rabbi Yishmael bar Yose] saw [Rabbi Chiya] in the bathhouse and [the latter] did not humble himself before him. He said to [Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi], \"Is this your student that you have been praising? I saw him in the bathhouse and he did not humble himself before me.\" He said to him, \"Why did you not humble yourself before him?\" Rabbi Chiya said [back], I was looking at the homilies (aggadot) of Psalms.\" Once [Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi] heard this, he gave him two students to go with him to the dark places, that he not get confounded and lose himself. Another explanation: \"God is good to all, etc.\" \"And God remembered Noach, etc.\" - Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said, \"Woe to the evildoers who switch the [Divine] trait of mercy to the [Divine] trait of [strict] justice. In every place that it states 'the Lord,' it is the trait of mercy: 'The Lord, the Lord, merciful and compassionate God' (Exodus 34:6). And [yet] it is written (Genesis 6:5-6), 'And the Lord saw that the evil of man on the earth was very great[...] And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and the Lord said, \"I will erase, etc.\"' Happy are the righteous who switch the trait of [Divine] justice to the [divine] trait of mercy. In every place that it states ' iElohim /i,' it is the trait of mercy: 'Judges ( iElohim /i) you shall not curse' (Exodus 22:27); 'to the judges ( ielohim /i) the matter of both of them will come' (Exodus 22:8). And [yet] it is written (Exodus 2:24), 'And God heard their cries and God remembered His covet'; '(Genesis 30:22), 'And God remembered Rachel'; 'And God remembered Noach.' And what memory did He remember for him? That he fed and sustained them all of the twelve months in the ark.\" \"And God remembered Noach\" - and justice requires it, from the merit of the pure ones that he brought with him into the ark. Rabbi Eliezer says, \"[Noach] was named corresponding to his sacrifice, as it states, 'And the Lord smelled the pleasant ( inichoach /i) fragrance.'\" Rabbi Yose bar Chaninah [says], \"He was named corresponding to the resting of the ark, as it states, 'And the ark rested ( itanach /i) on the seventh month, etc.'\" Rabbi Yehoshua says, \"'Will not cease' (Genesis 8:22) implies that they ceased.\"" 56.1. “On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes…” (Genesis 22:4) It is written “He will revive us from the two days, on the third day He will set us up, and we will live before Him.” (Hoshea 6:2) On the third day of the tribes it is written “On the third day, Joseph said to them…” (Genesis 42:18) On the third day of the spies, as it says “…and hide yourselves there three days…” (Joshua 2:16) On the third day of the giving of the Torah, as it says “It came to pass on the third day…” (Exodus 19:16) On the third day of Jonah, as it is written “…and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.” (Jonah 2:1) On the third day of those who came up from exile, as it is written “…and stayed there three days.” (Ezra 8:32) On the third day of the resurrection of the dead, as it is written “He will revive us from the two days, on the third day He will set us up, and we will live before Him.” (Hoshea 6:2) On Esther’s third day “Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther clothed herself regally…” (Esther 5:1) The royalty of her father’s house. In what merit? This is an argument of the Rabbis and Rabbi Levi. The Rabbis say: in the merit of the third day of the giving of the Torah, as it says “It came to pass on the third day when it was morning…” (Exodus 19:16) Rabbi Levi said: in the merit of the third day of our father Avraham, as it says \"On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.” (Genesis 22:4) What did he see? He saw a cloud attached to the mountain. He said: it appears that this is the place where the Holy One told me to offer up my son." |
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44. Palestinian Talmud, Berachot, 9.5 (2nd cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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45. Babylonian Talmud, Berachot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 61a. הכל לטובה:,ואמר רב הונא אמר רב משום ר' מאיר לעולם יהיו דבריו של אדם מועטין לפני הקב"ה שנאמר (קהלת ה, א) אל תבהל על פיך ולבך אל ימהר להוציא דבר לפני האלהים כי האלהים בשמים ואתה על הארץ על כן יהיו דבריך מעטים:,דרש רב נחמן בר רב חסדא מאי דכתיב (בראשית ב, ז) וייצר ה' אלהים את האדם בשני יודי"ן שני יצרים ברא הקב"ה אחד יצר טוב ואחד יצר רע,מתקיף לה רב נחמן בר יצחק אלא מעתה בהמה דלא כתיב בה וייצר לית לה יצרא והא קא חזינן דמזקא ונשכא ובעטא אלא כדר"ש בן פזי דאמר ר' שמעון בן פזי אוי לי מיוצרי ואוי לי מיצרי,אי נמי כדר' ירמיה בן אלעזר דאמר ר' ירמיה בן אלעזר דו פרצופין ברא הקב"ה באדם הראשון שנאמר (תהלים קלט, ה) אחור וקדם צרתני:,(בראשית ב, כב) ויבן ה' אלהים את הצלע,רב ושמואל חד אמר פרצוף וחד אמר זנב,בשלמא למאן דאמר פרצוף היינו דכתיב אחור וקדם צרתני אלא למאן דאמר זנב מאי אחור וקדם צרתני כדרבי אמי דאמר ר' אמי אחור למעשה בראשית וקדם לפורענות,בשלמא אחור למעשה בראשית דלא אברי עד מעלי שבתא אלא וקדם לפורענות פורענות דמאי אילימא פורענות דנחש והתניא רבי אומר בגדולה מתחילין מן הגדול ובקללה מתחילין מן הקטן,בגדולה מתחילין מן הגדול דכתיב (ויקרא י, יב) וידבר משה אל אהרן ואל אלעזר ואל איתמר בניו הנותרים קחו וגו' בקללה מתחילין מן הקטן בתחלה נתקלל נחש ולבסוף נתקללה חוה ולבסוף נתקלל אדם,אלא פורענות דמבול דכתיב (בראשית ז, כג) וימח את כל היקום אשר על פני האדמה מאדם ועד בהמה ברישא אדם והדר בהמה,בשלמא למאן דאמר פרצוף היינו דכתיב וייצר בשני יודי"ן אלא למאן דאמר זנב מאי וייצר,כדר"ש בן פזי דאמר ר' שמעון בן פזי אוי לי מיוצרי אוי לי מיצרי,בשלמא למאן דאמר פרצוף היינו דכתיב (בראשית ה, ב) זכר ונקבה בראם אלא למאן דאמר זנב מאי זכר ונקבה בראם כדר' אבהו דרבי אבהו רמי כתיב זכר ונקבה בראם וכתיב (בראשית ט, ו) כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האדם הא כיצד בתחלה עלה במחשבה לבראת ב' ולבסוף לא נברא אלא אחד,בשלמא למאן דאמר פרצוף היינו דכתיב (בראשית ב, כא) ויסגור בשר תחתנה אלא למאן דאמר זנב מאי ויסגור בשר תחתנה א"ר ירמיה ואיתימא רב זביד ואיתימא רב נחמן בר יצחק לא נצרכה אלא למקום חתך,בשלמא למ"ד זנב היינו דכתיב ויבן אלא למ"ד פרצוף מאי ויבן,לכדר"ש בן מנסיא דדרש ר"ש בן מנסיא מאי דכתיב ויבן ה' את הצלע מלמד שקלעה הקב"ה לחוה והביאה לאדם הראשון שכן בכרכי הים קורין לקליעתא בנייתא,דבר אחר ויבן אמר רב חסדא ואמרי לה במתניתא תנא מלמד שבנאה הקב"ה לחוה כבנין אוצר מה אוצר זה קצר מלמעלה ורחב מלמטה כדי לקבל את הפירות אף אשה קצרה מלמעלה ורחבה מלמטה כדי לקבל את הולד,ויביאה אל האדם א"ר ירמיה בן אלעזר מלמד שנעשה הקב"ה שושבין לאדם הראשון מכאן למדה תורה דרך ארץ שיחזור גדול עם קטן בשושבינות ואל ירע לו,ולמאן דאמר פרצוף הי מינייהו סגי ברישא אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק מסתברא דגברא סגי ברישא דתניא לא יהלך אדם אחורי אשה בדרך ואפי' אשתו נזדמנה לו על הגשר יסלקנה לצדדין וכל העובר אחורי אשה בנהר אין לו חלק לעולם הבא,תנו רבנן המרצה מעות לאשה מידו לידה כדי להסתכל בה אפילו יש בידו תורה ומעשים טובים כמשה רבינו לא ינקה מדינה של גיהנם שנאמר (משלי יא, כא) יד ליד לא ינקה רע לא ינקה מדינה של גיהנם,א"ר נחמן מנוח עם הארץ היה דכתיב (שופטים יג, יא) וילך מנוח אחרי אשתו,מתקיף לה רב נחמן בר יצחק אלא מעתה גבי אלקנה דכתיב וילך אלקנה אחרי אשתו וגבי אלישע דכתיב (מלכים ב ד, ל) ויקם וילך אחריה הכי נמי אחריה ממש אלא אחרי דבריה ואחרי עצתה הכא נמי אחרי דבריה ואחרי עצתה,א"ר אשי ולמאי דקאמר רב נחמן מנוח עם הארץ היה אפי' בי רב נמי לא קרא שנאמר (בראשית כד, סא) ותקם רבקה ונערותיה ותרכבנה על הגמלים ותלכנה אחרי האיש ולא לפני האיש,א"ר יוחנן אחורי ארי ולא אחורי אשה אחורי אשה ולא אחורי עכו"ם אחורי עכו"ם ולא אחורי בהכ"נ בשעה שהצבור מתפללין,ולא אמרן אלא דלא דרי מידי ואי דרי מידי לית לן בה ולא אמרן אלא דליכא פתחא אחרינא ואי איכא פתחא אחרינא לית לן בה ולא אמרן אלא דלא רכיב חמרא אבל רכיב חמרא לית לן בה ולא אמרן אלא דלא מנח תפילין אבל מנח תפילין לית לן בה:,אמר רב יצר הרע דומה לזבוב ויושב בין שני מפתחי הלב שנא' (קהלת י, א) זבובי מות יבאיש יביע שמן רוקח ושמואל אמר כמין חטה הוא דומה שנאמר (בראשית ד, ז) לפתח חטאת רובץ,ת"ר שתי כליות יש בו באדם אחת יועצתו לטובה ואחת יועצתו לרעה ומסתברא דטובה לימינו ורעה לשמאלו דכתיב (קהלת י, ב) לב חכם לימינו ולב כסיל לשמאלו:,תנו רבנן כליות יועצות לב מבין לשון מחתך פה גומר ושט מכניס ומוציא כל מיני מאכל קנה מוציא קול | 61a. bHe does for the best. /b, bAnd Rav Huna saidthat bRav said in the name of Rabbi Meir: One’s words should always be few before the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is stated: “Be not rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God; for God is in heaven, and you upon earth. Therefore, let your words be few”(Ecclesiastes 5:1)., bRav Naḥman bar Rav Ḥisda interpreted homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Then the Lord God formed [ ivayyitzer /i] man”(Genesis 2:7), bwith a double iyod /i?This double iyodalludes to that fact that bthe Holy One, Blessed be He, created two inclinations; one a good inclination and one an evil inclination. /b, bRav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak strongly objects to this: If that is so,does ban animal, with regard to whom ivayyitzeris not writtenwith a double iyod /i, bnot have an inclination? Don’t we see that it causes damage and bites and kicks? Rather,interpret the double iyodhomiletically, bin accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Shimon ben Pazi, as Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said:This alludes to the difficulty of human life; bwoe unto me from my Creator [ iyotzri /i] and woe unto me from my inclination [ iyitzri /i].If one opts to follow either his Creator or his inclination, woe unto him from the other., bAlternatively,this duplication in the language of creation can be explained bin accordance withthe statement of bRabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar, as Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, created two faces [ idu partzufin /i] on Adam the firstman; he was created both male and female in a single body, bas it is stated: “You have formed me [ itzartani /i] behind and before”(Psalms 139:5); itzartaniis derived from the word itzura[face]. God formed two faces on a single creation, back and front.,It is stated: b“And the itzelawhich the Lord, God,had taken from the man, bHe madea woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22)., bRav and Shmueldisagree over the meaning of the word itzela /i: bOne said:It means bface.Eve was originally one face or side of Adam. bAnd one said:It means btail,which he explains to mean that the itzelawas an appendage, i.e., one of the ribs in Adam’s chest.,The Gemara analyzes this dispute: bGranted,according bto the one who saidthat itzelameans bface; that iswhy bit is written: “You have formed me [ itzartani /i] behind and before.” However,according bto the one who saidthat itzelameans btail, what ismeant by the verse: b“You have formed me [ itzartani /i] behind and before”?The Gemara answers: It can be explained bin accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Ami, as Rabbi Ami said: Behindmeans Adam was created at the end of bthe act of creation; and beforemeans that he was first bfor punishment. /b,The Gemara asks: bGranted,Adam was bbehind,or last, bin the act of creation,meaning that bhe was not created untilthe sixth day, bShabbat eve; however, before,or first, bfor punishment,to bwhat punishmentdoes this refer? bIf you saythat he was first bfor punishmentin the wake of the episode with bthe snake, wasn’t it taughtin a ibaraitathat, with regard to punishment, bRabbiYehuda HaNasi bsays: Inconferring bhonor, one begins with the greatest; in cursing, one begins with the least significant. /b,The Gemara explains: bInconferring bhonor, one begins with the greatest, as it is written: “And Moses said unto Aaron, and Elazar and Itamar, his remaining sons: Takethe meal-offering that remains” (Leviticus 10:12). Aaron, who was the greatest among those involved, is mentioned first. And bin cursing, one begins with the least significant,as bfirstthe bsnake was cursed, then Eve was cursed, and ultimately Adamhimself bwas cursed.The punishment did not begin with Adam., bRather,this refers to bthe punishment of the flood, as it is written: “And He blotted out every living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle,creeping things and fowl of the heaven” (Genesis 7:23); the punishment bbegan with man, then the animals,and ultimately all the other creatures.,Returning to interpretation of ivayyitzer /i, the Gemara asks: bGranted, according to the one who saidthat Eve was originally a bfaceor side of Adam; bthat iswhy bit is written ivayyitzer /i,with a double iyod /i, which allude to the two formations. bHowever, according to the one who saidthat she was a btail,or appendage, of Adam, bwhat isconveyed by spelling ivayyitzer /iwith a double iyod /i?,The Gemara responds: This is interpreted homiletically bin accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Shimon ben Pazi, as Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said:This comes to emphasize that which a person says to himself in every circumstance: bWoe unto me from my Creator and woe unto me from my inclination. /b, bGranted, according to the one who saidthat Eve was a bface, that iswhy bit is written: “Male and female, He created them”(Genesis 5:2). bHowever, according to the one who saidthat Eve was a btail, what isthe meaning of the verse: b“Male and female, He created them”?The Gemara answers: It can be explained in accordance with the opinion of bRabbi Abbahu.As bRabbi Abbahu raised a contradictionbetween the verses: On the one hand bit is written: “Male and female, He created them,” andon the other hand bit is written: “For in the image of God He made man”(Genesis 9:6), indicating that man was created alone. bHow, then,does he resolve the contradiction? bAt first, the thought enteredGod’s mind bto create two, and ultimately, only one wasactually bcreated. /b,The Gemara asks: bGranted, according to the one who saidthat Eve was a bface, that iswhy bit is written:“And He took one of his sides band closed up the place with flesh in its place”(Genesis 2:21), as it was necessary to close the side that was open. bHowever, according to the one who saidthat Eve was originally a btail, what ismeant by the verse: b“And closed up the place with flesh in its place”? Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rav Zevidsaid, band some say Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥaksaid: bIt was necessaryto say that bonly with regard to the place of the incision. /b,The Gemara challenges the other opinion: bGranted, according to the onewho said that Eve was a btail, that iswhy bit is written: “Andthe Lord God bbuiltthe itzela /i” (Genesis 2:22); it was a completely new building. bHowever, according to the one who saidthat Eve was a complete bfaceor side, bwhat isthe meaning of: b“And He built”?What needed to be built?,The Gemara responds: This must be interpreted homiletically, bin accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Shimon ben Menasya, as Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya interpreted homiletically: What isthe meaning of bthat which is written: “And the Lord God built the itzela /i”?This verse bteaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, braided Eve’shair, bandthen bbrought her to Adam, as in the coastal towns, they call braidinghair, bbuilding. /b, bAlternatively,the verse: bAnd He built,could be understood as a description of her basic shape, as bRav Ḥisda said, and some say that it is taught in a ibaraita /i:This verse bteaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, built Eve like the structure of a storehouse. Just as a storehouse isbuilt bnarrow on top and wide on the bottom, in order to hold producewithout collapsing; bso too a womanis created bnarrow on top and wide on the bottom, in order to hold the fetus. /b,With regard to the verse: b“And brought her unto the man”(Genesis 2:22), bRabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said:This verse bteaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, was Adam the firstman’s bbest man. From here, the Torah taught that it is a desired mode of behavior for a greater individual to seek out a lesser individual toassist him and bserve as his best man.The greater individual should help the lesser band should not feel badlyabout it, that it might be beneath his dignity.,The Gemara asks: bAnd according to the one who saidthat Eve was a bfaceor side of Adam, bwhich one of them walked in front? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It is reasonableto say bthat the man walked in front, bas it is taughtin a ibaraita /i: bA man should not walk behind a woman on a path,as he will look at her constantly, beven if it is his wife.If a womanhappens upon him along a bridge, he shouldwalk quickly in order to bmove her tohis bsideso that she will not walk in front of him. bAnd anyone who walks behind a woman in a riverin order to see her exposed skin when she lifts her clothing as she passes through the water bhas no portion in the World-to-Come./b, bThe Sages taught: One who counts money for a woman from his hand to her hand in order to look upon her, even if he has accumulated Torah and good deeds like Moses our teacher, he will not be absolved from the punishment of Gehenna, as it is stated: “Hand to hand, the evil man shall not go unpunished”(Proverbs 11:21); one who hands money from his hand to her hand, even if he received the Torah from God’s hand to his own, like Moses, bhe will not be absolved from the punishment of Gehenna,which is called evil., bRav Naḥman said:From the following verse we know that Samson’s father, bManoah, was an ignoramus, as it is written: “And Manoah…went after his wife”(Judges 13:11)., bRav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak strongly objects to this: If that is sothat you understand the verse literally, what do you say about the verse bwith regard to Elkana,the father of the prophet Samuel, bas it is written: “And Elkana walked after his wife,”and what of the verse bwith regard tothe prophet bElisha, as it is written: “And he arose and followed her”(II Kings 4:30)? bDoesthis verse bmeanthat he bliterally walked after her? Rather,certainly this verse means that bhe followed her words and advice. bHere, too,then the verse concerning Manoah may be similarly interpreted; he bfollowedhis wife’s bwords band followed her advice,and did not literally walk behind her., bRav Ashi said: And according to what Rav Naḥman said,that bManoah was an ignoramus; he did not evenlearn to breadthe basic Torah stories that even children learn bin school, as it is stated: “Rebecca arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man”(Genesis 24:61); they followed him and did bnotwalk bbefore the man. /b,On this topic, bRabbi Yoḥa said:It is preferable to walk bbehind a lion and not behind a woman,and preferable to walk bbehind a woman and not behind idolatry,for then it will appear as if he is accompanying the idolatry. It is preferable to walk bbehind idolatry and not behind a synagogue when the congregation is praying,as he appears to separate himself from the community in that he does not wish to join them in prayer.,This last ihalakhahas numerous caveats: bAnd we only saidthis bin a case where he is not carrying something, and if he is carrying something, this does not apply,as everyone will understand why he did not enter the synagogue. bAnd we only saidthis bin a case where there is no other entranceto the synagogue, band if there is another entrance, this does not apply. And we only saidthis bin a case where he is not riding a donkey, and if he is riding a donkey, this does not apply. And we only saidthis bin a case where he is not donning phylacteries, but if he is donning phylacteries, this does not apply. /b, bRav said: The evil inclination is like a fly and it sits between the two entrances of the heart, as it is stated: “Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumer fetid and putrid”(Ecclesiastes 10:1). bAnd Shmuel said:The evil inclination bis like a type of wheat, as it is stated: “Transgression [ iḥatat /i] couches at the door”(Genesis 4:7); iḥatatis interpreted homiletically as related to iḥitta /i, wheat., bThe Sages taughtin a ibaraita /i: bA person has two kidneys; one advises him todo bgood and one advises him todo bevil. And it stands to reasonthat the one advising him to do bgood is to his right andthe one that advises him to do bevil is to his left, as it is written: “A wise man’s understanding is at his right hand, but a fool’s understanding is at his left”(Ecclesiastes 10:2).,Tangential to the subject of kidneys, the Gemara cites that which bthe Sages taughtin a ibaraitawith regard to the roles of various organs: bThe kidneys advise, the heart understands, the tongue shapesthe sounds that emerges from the mouth, the bmouth completesthe shaping of the voice, the besophagus takes in and lets out all kinds of food,the btrachea produces the voice, /b |
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46. Babylonian Talmud, Qiddushin, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 40a. נושאי קיסר שמרוני כל הלילה אמרו ליה שמא דבר ערוה בא לידך וניצלת הימנו דתנינא כל הבא דבר ערוה לידו וניצל הימנו עושין לו נס (תהלים קג, כ) גבורי כח עושי דברו לשמוע בקול דברו כגון רבי צדוק וחביריו,ר' צדוק תבעתיה ההיא מטרוניתא אמר לה חלש לי ליבאי ולא מצינא איכא מידי למיכל אמרה ליה איכא דבר טמא אמר לה מאי נפקא מינה דעביד הא אכול הא שגרת תנורא קא מנחא ליה סליק ויתיב בגויה אמרה ליה מאי האי אמר לה דעביד הא נפיל בהא אמרה ליה אי ידעי כולי האי לא צערתיך,רב כהנא הוה קמזבין דיקולי תבעתיה ההיא מטרוניתא אמר לה איזיל איקשיט נפשאי סליק וקנפיל מאיגרא לארעא אתא אליהו קבליה אמר ליה אטרחתן ארבע מאה פרסי א"ל מי גרם לי לאו עניותא יהב ליה שיפא דדינרי,רמי ליה רבא לרב נחמן תנן אלו דברים שאדם עושה אותן ואוכל פירותיהן בעולם הזה והקרן קיימת לו לעולם הבא אלו הן כיבוד אב ואם וגמילות חסדים והבאת שלום שבין אדם לחבירו ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם,בכיבוד אב ואם כתיב (דברים ה, טו) למען יאריכון ימיך ולמען ייטב לך בגמילות חסדים כתיב (משלי כא, כא) רודף צדקה וחסד ימצא חיים צדקה וכבוד,ובהבאת שלום כתיב (תהלים לד, טו) בקש שלום ורדפהו וא"ר אבהו אתיא רדיפה רדיפה כתיב הכא בקש שלום ורדפהו וכתיב התם רודף צדקה וחסד בתלמוד תורה כתיב (דברים ל, כ) כי הוא חייך ואורך ימיך,בשילוח הקן נמי כתיב (דברים כב, ז) למען ייטב לך והארכת ימים ליתני נמי הא תנא ושייר תני תנא אלו דברים ואת אמרת תנא ושייר,אמר רבא רב אידי אסברא לי (ישעיהו ג, י) אמרו צדיק כי טוב כי פרי מעלליהם יאכלו וכי יש צדיק טוב ויש צדיק שאינו טוב אלא טוב לשמים ולבריות זהו צדיק טוב טוב לשמים ורע לבריות זהו צדיק שאינו טוב,כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר (ישעיהו ג, יא) אוי לרשע רע כי גמול ידיו יעשה לו וכי יש רשע רע ויש שאינו רע אלא רע לשמים ורע לבריות הוא רשע רע רע לשמים ואינו רע לבריות זהו רשע שאינו רע,הזכות יש לה קרן ויש לה פירות שנאמר אמרו צדיק כי טוב וגו' עבירה יש לה קרן ואין לה פירות שנאמר אוי לרשע רע וגו',ואלא מה אני מקיים (משלי א, לא) ויאכלו מפרי דרכם וממועצותיהם ישבעו עבירה שעושה פירות יש לה פירות ושאין עושה פירות אין לה פירות,מחשבה טובה מצרפה למעשה שנאמר (מלאכי ג, טז) אז נדברו יראי ה' איש אל רעהו ויקשב ה' וישמע ויכתב ספר זכרון לפניו ליראי ה' ולחושבי שמו מאי ולחושבי שמו אמר רב אסי אפילו חשב אדם לעשות מצוה ונאנס ולא עשאה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו עשאה,מחשבה רעה אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מצרפה למעשה שנאמר (תהלים סו, יח) און אם ראיתי בלבי לא ישמע ה' ואלא מה אני מקים (ירמיהו ו, יט) הנני מביא אל העם הזה רעה פרי מחשבותם מחשבה שעושה פרי הקב"ה מצרפה למעשה מחשבה שאין בה פרי אין הקב"ה מצרפה למעשה,ואלא הא דכתיב (יחזקאל יד, ה) למען תפוש את [בית] ישראל בלבם אמר רב אחא בר יעקב ההוא בעבודת כוכבים הוא דכתיב דאמר מר חמורה עבודת כוכבים שכל הכופר בה כמודה בכל התורה כולה,עולא אמר כדרב הונא דאמר רב הונא כיון שעבר אדם עבירה ושנה בה הותרה לו הותרה לו סלקא דעתך אלא נעשית לו כהיתר,אמר רבי אבהו משום רבי חנינא נוח לו לאדם שיעבור עבירה בסתר ואל יחלל שם שמים בפרהסיא שנאמר (יחזקאל כ, לט) ואתם בית ישראל כה אמר ה' איש גילוליו לכו עבדו [ואחר] אם אינכם שומעים אלי ואת שם קדשי לא תחללו,אמר רבי אלעאי הזקן אם רואה אדם שיצרו מתגבר עליו ילך למקום שאין מכירין אותו וילבש שחורים ויתכסה שחורים ויעשה כמו שלבו חפץ ואל יחלל שם שמים בפרהסיא,איני והתניא כל שלא חס על כבוד קונו ראוי לו שלא בא לעולם מה היא רבה אומר זה המסתכל בקשת רב יוסף אומר זה העובר עבירה בסתר,לא קשיא הא דמצי כייף ליצריה והא דלא מצי כייף ליצריה,תנן התם אין מקיפין בחילול השם אחד שוגג ואחד מזיד מאי אין מקיפין אמר מר זוטרא שאין עושים כחנווני מר בריה דרבנא אמר לומר שאם היתה שקולה מכרעת,ת"ר לעולם | 40a. bsoldiers [ inosei keisar /i]who bguarded me all night. They said to him: Perhaps a matter of forbidden intercourse presented itself to you and you were saved from it,which is why a miracle occurred for you. bAs we learned:With regard to banyoneto bwhom a matter of forbidden intercourse presented itself to him and he was saved from it, a miracle is performed for him.As it says: b“Mighty in strength who fulfill His word, hearkening to the voice of His word”(Psalms 103:20). This is referring to one bsuch as Rabbi Tzadok and his colleagues. /b,To what is this referring? bRabbi Tzadok was enticed by a certain noblewomanto engage in sexual intercourse with her. bHe said to her: My heart is weak and I am incapableat present; is bthere something to eatthat can strengthen me? bShe said to him: There is something non-kosher. He said to her: What difference is there?One bwho performs suchan act beats suchfood as well. bShe lit the ovenand bplacedthe non-kosher food bin itto roast. bHe climbed and sat inthe oven. bShe said to him: Whatis the meaning of bthis? He said to her:One who bperforms thisact bfalls into this,i.e., the fires of Gehenna. bShe said to him: If I had knownthat the matter was bsoserious for you, bI would not havecaused byousuch banguish. /b,The Gemara further relates: bRav Kahana would sellbaskets woven from bpalm leavesto women. bHe was enticed by a certain noblewomanto engage in intercourse with her. bHe said to her:Let me bgo and adorn myselfbeforehand. bHe ascendedto the roof band fell from the roof toward the ground. Elijahthe prophet bcameand bcaught him.Elijah the prophet bsaid toRav Kahana: bYou have troubled meto travel bfour hundred parasangs [ iparsei /i]to save you. Rav Kahana bsaid to him: What caused meto be in this situation of temptation? Was it bnot poverty,as I am forced to engage in a trade that leads me to come into contact with women? Elijah bgave him a basket [ ishifa /i]full bof dinars,to spare him from having to work as a salesman.,§ bRava raises a contradiction to Rav Naḥmanand asks: bWe learnedin a mishna ( iPe’a1:1): bTheseare the bmatters that a person engages in and enjoys their profits in this world, and the principalreward bremains for him for the World-to-Come,and bthey are: Honoring one’s father and mother, acts of loving kindness, and bringing peace between one person and another; and Torah study is equal to all of them. /b,Rava cites the source for each of these assertions. bWith regard to honoring one’s father and mother, it is written: “That your days may be long, and that it may go well with you”(Deuteronomy 5:16), which indicates that one is rewarded in this world. bWith regard to acts of loving kindness it is written: “He who pursues righteousness and kindness shall find life, prosperity, and honor”(Proverbs 21:21), all of which apply in this world., bAnd with regard to bringing peace it is written: “Seek peace and pursue it”(Psalms 34:15). bAnd Rabbi Abbahu says:This bis derivedthrough a verbal analogy between the term bpursuingwritten with regard to pursuing peace and the term bpursuingwritten in another verse. bIt is written here: “Seek peace and pursue it,” and it is written there,with regard to acts of kindness: b“Pursues righteousness and kindness.”This teaches that one who pursues peace will also merit life, prosperity, and honor. bWith regard to Torah study it is written: “For that is your life and the length of your days”(Deuteronomy 30:20).,Rava asked: bWith regard tothe bdispatchof the mother bird from bthe nest it is also written: “That it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days”(Deuteronomy 22:7), so blet him also teach thismitzva. Rav Naḥman answered: He btaughtsome cases band omittedothers, i.e., the itannadid not list everything. Rava said to him: bThe itannataught: Theseare the bmatters,which indicates that only these mitzvot are included, bandyet byou saythat bhe taughtsome band omittedothers?,Rather, bRava said: Rav Idi explainedthe matter bto me.The verse states: b“Say you of the righteous who is good, that they shall eat the fruit of their actions”(Isaiah 3:10). bAndthis verse is difficult, as bis there a righteous person who is good and is there a righteous person who is not good? Rather,this verse should be understood as follows: One who is bgoodboth btoward Heaven and toward people is a good righteous person;one who is bgood toward Heaven but bad toward people is a righteous person who is not good. /b,Rava continues: bOn a similar note,it is written: b“Woe to the evil wicked one, for the work of his hands shall be done to him”(Isaiah 3:11). bAnd is there a wicked manwho is bevil and is thereone bwho is not evil? Rather,one who is bevil toward Heaven and evil toward people is an evil wicked person;and one who is bevil toward Heaven and not evil toward people is a wicked person who is not evil.With regard to the issue at hand, only one who performs mitzvot that benefit others receives the profits of his mitzvot in this world. This does not apply to dispatching the mother bird, which is an act that does not benefit other people.,§ With regard to the mishna in iPe’a /i, the Gemara states: An act of bmerit has a principalreward band it has profits,i.e., one receives additional reward beyond that which is granted for the mitzva itself, parallel to a principal sum and profits, bas it is stated: “Say you of the righteous who is good,that they shall eat the fruit of their actions” (Isaiah 3:10). bA sin has a principalpenalty bbut it has no profits,i.e., no punishment beyond that, bas it is stated: “Woe to the evil wicked one,for the work of his hands shall be done to him” (Isaiah 3:11), but no more than the work of his hands., bBut how do I realizethe meaning of the following verse that deals with sinners: b“Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices”(Proverbs 1:31)? This verse indicates that the penalty for sin goes beyond its principal, and the wicked receive additional punishments. The Gemara answers that this applies to ba sin that produces profits,i.e., a case where there are practical consequences to one’s sin. For example, if others learn to act in a similar manner, one’s actions bhave profitswith regard to punishment as well. Conversely, a sin bthat does not produce profits does not have profitsas a punishment either.,The Gemara further teaches: The Holy One, Blessed be He, blinks a good thought to an action, as it is stated: “Then they that feared the Lord spoke one with the other, and the Lord listened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that fear the Lord, and that think upon His name”(Malachi 3:16). The Gemara explains: bWhatis the meaning of the phrase b“and that think upon His name”? Rav Asi said: Evenif ba person intended to perform a mitzva but due tocircumstances bbeyondhis bcontrol he did not perform it, the verse ascribes himcredit bas if he performedthe mitzva, as he is among those that think upon His name.,But bthe Holy One, Blessed be He, does not link an evil thought to an action, as it is stated: “If I had regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear”(Psalms 66:18). bBut how do I realizethe meaning of the verse: b“Behold I will bring upon these people evil, even the fruit of their thoughts”(Jeremiah 6:19)? In the case of an evil bthought that produces fruit,i.e., that leads to an action, bthe Holy One, Blessed be He, links it tothe bactionand one is punished for the thought as well. If it is ba thought that does not produce fruit, the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not link it tothe baction. /b,The Gemara asks: bButwith regard to bthat which is written: “So I may take the house of Israel in their own heart”(Ezekiel 14:5), which indicates that one can be punished for thoughts alone, to what is this verse referring? bRav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: That is written with regard to idol worship, as the Master says: Idol worship isvery bsevere, as anyone who denies it is like one who admitsthe truth of bthe entire Torah.Conversely, one who embraces idolatry is considered to have rejected the entire Torah. Due to the severity of idol worship, one is punished even for contemplating this transgression., bUlla said:This should be explained bin accordance witha statement bof Rav Huna, as Rav Huna says: When a person transgresses and repeatshis transgression, bit is permitted to him.The Gemara questions this statement: bCan it enter your mind thatthe transgression bis permitted to himbecause he has sinned twice? bRather, it becomes as ifit were bpermitted to him,as he becomes accustomed to this behavior and no longer senses that it is a sin., bRabbi Abbahu says in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: It is preferable for a person to transgress in secret and not to desecrate the name of Heaven in public [ ibefarhesya /i], as it is stated: “As for you, house of Israel, so says the LordGod: bGo you, serve everyone his idols, even because you will not hearken to Me, but My sacred name you shall not profane”(Ezekiel 20:39)., bRabbi Ilai the Elder says: If a person sees that hisevil binclination is overcoming him, he should go to a place where he is not known, and wear blackclothes, band he should cover himself insimple bblackgarments, band he should do as his heart desires, but he should not desecrate the name of Heaven in public. /b,The Gemara asks: bIs that so? But isn’t it taughtin a ibaraita /i: With regard to banyone who does not care about his Creator’s honor, it is fitting for him not to have come into the world. What is this?Who is considered to be one who does not care about his Creator’s honor? bRabba says: This is one who gazes at a rainbow,which is described as: “The likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:28). bRav Yosef says: This is one who transgresses in secret,which shows that he fears other people but does not care about the honor of his Creator.,The Gemara answers: This is bnot difficult,as bthissource, which says that one who transgresses in secret does not care about his Creator’s honor, is referring bto one who can overcome hisevil binclinationbut nevertheless chooses to transgress in secret. bAnd thatsource, which states that it is preferable for him to transgress in secret, is referring bto one who cannot overcome hisevil binclination. /b, bWe learnedin a mishna bthere(see iAvot4:5): bCredit is not given with regard to the desecration ofGod’s bname, whetherone sinned bunintentionally or intentionally.The Gemara asks: bWhatis the meaning of the phrase: bCredit is not given [ imakkifin /i]? Mar Zutra says:This means bthatGod bdoes not act like a storekeeperand provide credit. Rather, one is punished without delay. bMar, son of Rabbana, says:This means bto say that ifone’s merit and sins bwere equal,the sin of the desecration of God’s name btiltsthe balance of the scales toward the side of his sins. In other words, if his sins include the transgression of desecrating God’s name, God does not wait for this individual to perform a mitzva to balance out the sin., bThe Sages taught: Always /b |
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47. Babylonian Talmud, Yoma, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 69b. אין ישיבה בעזרה אלא למלכי בית דוד בלבד שנאמר (דברי הימים א יז, טז) ויבא המלך דוד וישב לפני ה' כדאמר רב חסדא בעזרת נשים הכא נמי בעזרת נשים,והיכא איתמר דרב חסדא אהא מיתיבי דתניא היכן קורין בו בעזרה ראב"י אומר בהר הבית שנאמר (נחמיה ח, ג) ויקרא בו לפני הרחוב אשר לפני שער המים ואמר רב חסדא בעזרת נשים,(נחמיה ח, ו) ויברך עזרא את ה' האלהים הגדול מאי גדול אמר רב יוסף אמר רב שגדלו בשם המפורש רב גידל אמר (דברי הימים א טז, לו) ברוך ה' אלהי ישראל מן העולם ועד העולם,אמר ליה אביי לרב דימי ודילמא שגידלו בשם המפורש א"ל אין אומרים שם המפורש בגבולים,ולא והכתיב (נחמיה ח, ד) ויעמוד עזרא הסופר על מגדל עץ אשר עשו לדבר ואמר רב גידל שגדלו בשם המפורש הוראת שעה היתה,(נחמיה ט, ד) ויצעקו אל ה' אלהים בקול גדול מאי אמור אמר רב ואיתימא ר' יוחנן בייא בייא היינו האי דאחרביה למקדשא וקליה להיכליה וקטלינהו לכולהו צדיקי ואגלינהו לישראל מארעהון ועדיין מרקד בינן כלום יהבתיה לן אלא לקבולי ביה אגרא לא איהו בעינן ולא אגריה בעינן,נפל להו פיתקא מרקיעא דהוה כתב בה אמת,אמר רב חנינא שמע מינה חותמו של הקב"ה אמת,אותיבו בתעניתא תלתא יומין ותלתא לילואתא מסרוהו ניהליהו נפק אתא כי גוריא דנורא מבית קדשי הקדשים אמר להו נביא לישראל היינו יצרא דעבודת כוכבים שנאמר (זכריה ה, ח) ויאמר זאת הרשעה,בהדי דתפסוה ליה אשתמיט ביניתא ממזייא ורמא קלא ואזל קליה ארבע מאה פרסי אמרו היכי נעביד דילמא חס ושלום מרחמי עליה מן שמיא אמר להו נביא שדיוהו בדודא דאברא וחפיוהו לפומיה באברא דאברא משאב שאיב קלא שנאמר (זכריה ה, ח) ויאמר זאת הרשעה וישלך אותה אל תוך האיפה וישלך את אבן העופרת אל פיה,אמרו הואיל ועת רצון הוא נבעי רחמי איצרא דעבירה בעו רחמי ואמסר בידייהו,אמר להו חזו דאי קטליתו ליה לההוא כליא עלמא חבשוהו תלתא יומי ובעו ביעתא בת יומא בכל ארץ ישראל ולא אשתכח אמרי היכי נעביד נקטליה כליא עלמא ניבעי רחמי אפלגא פלגא ברקיעא לא יהבי כחלינהו לעיניה ושבקוהו ואהני דלא מיגרי ביה לאיניש בקריבתה,במערבא מתנו הכי רב גידל אמר גדול שגדלו בשם המפורש ורב מתנא אמר (נחמיה ט, לב) האל הגדול הגבור והנורא,והא דרב מתנא מטייא לדרבי יהושע בן לוי דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי למה נקרא שמן אנשי כנסת הגדולה שהחזירו עטרה ליושנה אתא משה אמר (דברים י, יז) האל הגדול הגבור והנורא אתא ירמיה ואמר נכרים מקרקרין בהיכלו איה נוראותיו לא אמר נורא אתא דניאל אמר נכרים משתעבדים בבניו איה גבורותיו לא אמר גבור,אתו אינהו ואמרו אדרבה זו היא גבורת גבורתו שכובש את יצרו שנותן ארך אפים לרשעים ואלו הן נוראותיו שאלמלא מוראו של הקב"ה היאך אומה אחת יכולה להתקיים בין האומות,ורבנן היכי עבדי הכי ועקרי תקנתא דתקין משה אמר רבי אלעזר מתוך שיודעין בהקב"ה שאמתי הוא לפיכך לא כיזבו בו,וקורא אחרי מות ואך בעשור ורמינהי מדלגין בנביא ואין מדלגין בתורה,לא קשיא כאן בכדי שיפסיק התורגמן כאן בכדי שלא יפסיק התורגמן,והא עלה קתני מדלגין בנביא ואין מדלגין בתורה ועד כמה מדלג בכדי שלא יפסיק התורגמן הא בתורה כלל כלל לא,אמר אביי לא קשיא כאן בענין אחד כאן בשני ענינין,והתניא מדלגין בתורה בענין אחד ובנביא בשני ענינין כאן וכאן בכדי שלא יפסיק התורגמן ואין מדלגין מנביא לנביא ובנביא של שנים עשר מדלגין | 69b. bSitting in theTemple bcourtyard ispermitted bonly for kings of the House of David, as it is stated: “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord”(I Chronicles 17:16)? How, then, could the High Priest have been sitting? The Gemara explains: bAs Rav Ḥisda saidin a similar context: This took place not in the Israelite courtyard, where the prohibition against sitting applies, but bin the women’s courtyard. Here, too,the reading was bin the women’s courtyard,where it is permitted to sit.,§ The Gemara clarifies: bAnd where wasthis statement bof Rav Ḥisdaoriginally bstated?It was stated bin relation to the following:The Sages braised an objectionbased on that bwhich was taughtin a ibaraita /i: bWhere did they readthe Torah scroll in fulfillment of the mitzva of assembly, in which the Torah is publicly read on the iSukkotfollowing the Sabbatical Year? It was read bin theTemple bcourtyard. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:It is read bon the Temple Mount, as it is statedconcerning the public reading performed by Ezra: b“And he read from it before the wide road that was before the Gate of the Water”(Nehemiah 8:3). bAnd Rav Ḥisda said:The courtyard referred to by the first itannais bthe women’s courtyard. /b,Apropos the verse in Nehemiah, the Gemara interprets an adjacent verse homiletically. It is stated: b“And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God”(Nehemiah 8:6). The Gemara asks: bWhat isthe meaning of b“great”here? bRav Yosef saidthat bRav said:It means bthat he ascribed greatness to Him byenunciating God’s bexplicit name. Rav Giddel said:He established that one should say at the conclusion of every blessing: b“Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity”(I Chronicles 16:36)., bAbaye said to Rav Dimi:Why does Rav Giddel interpret it this way? bPerhapsthe meaning of “great” is bthat he ascribed greatness to Him byenunciating God’s bexplicit name?Rav Dimi bsaid to him: The explicit name may not be enunciated in the provinces,i.e., outside the Temple courtyard.,The Gemara asks: bAndis this really bnotpermitted? bIsn’t it written: “And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose...and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God” (Nehemiah 8:4-6); band Rav Giddel said:“Great” in this verse means bthat he ascribed greatness to Him byenunciating God’s bexplicit name.Since this event took place outside the Temple (see Nehemiah 8:3), it suggests that God’s explicit name may indeed be enunciated outside the Temple. The Gemara answers: That cannot be proven from here because the permission to use God’s explicit name in that context bwas a provisional edictissued in exigent circumstances, since the people had uniquely come together in a prayerful commitment to God.,The Gemara recounts the event described in the verses: The verse states: bAnd they cried with a loud voice to the Lordtheir bGod(Nehemiah 9:4). bWhat was said? Rav said, and some sayit was bRabbi Yoḥawho said: bWoe, woe. It is this,i.e., the evil inclination for idol worship, bthat destroyed the Temple, and burned its Sanctuary, and murdered all the righteous ones, and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. And it still dances among us,i.e., it still affects us. bDidn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose ofour breceiving rewardfor overcoming it? bWe do not want it, and we do not want its reward.We are prepared to forgo the potential rewards for overcoming the evil inclination as long as it departs from us.,In response to their prayer ba note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth,indicating that God accepted their request.,The Gemara makes a parenthetical observation. bRav Ḥanina said: Learn from thisthat bthe seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth. /b,In response to the indication of divine acceptance, bthey observed a fast for three days and three nights, and He deliveredthe evil inclination bto them. A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies.Zechariah bthe prophet said to the Jewish people: This is theevil binclination for idol worship, as it is statedin the verse that refers to this event: b“And he said: This is the evil one”(Zechariah 5:8). The use of the word “this” indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form., bWhen they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriekof pain bthat was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: Whatshould bwe doto kill it? bPerhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven,since it cries out so much. bThe prophet said to them: Throw it into a containermade bof lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening”(Zechariah 5:8). They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship.,When they saw that the evil inclination for idol worship was delivered into their hands as they requested, the Sages bsaid: Since it is an auspicious time, let us pray also concerning theevil binclination for sinin the area of sexual relationships. bThey prayed, and it wasalso bdelivered into their hands. /b,Zechariah the prophet bsaid to them: Seeand understand bthat if you killthis evil inclination bthe world will be destroyedbecause as a result there will also no longer be any desire to procreate. They followed his warning, and instead of killing the evil inclination bthey imprisoned it for three days.At that time, people bsearched for a fresh egg throughout all of Eretz Yisrael and could not findone. Since the inclination to reproduce was quashed, the chickens stopped laying eggs. bThey said: Whatshould bwe do?If bwe kill it, the world will be destroyed.If bwe pray for half,i.e., that only half its power be annulled, nothing will be achieved because bHeaven does not grant halfgifts, only whole gifts. What did they do? bThey gougedout bits eyes,effectively limiting its power, band set it free. Andthis bwas effectiveto the extent bthat a person is nolonger baroused tocommit incest with bhisclose brelatives. /b,The Gemara returns to its discussion of the verse in Nehemiah cited above: bIn the West,i.e., Eretz Yisrael, bthey taughtthe debate concerning the verse “the Lord, the great God” bas follows: Rav Giddel said: “Great”means bthat he ascribed greatness to Him byenunciating God’s bexplicit name. And Rav Mattana said:They reinserted the following appellations of God into their prayers: b“The great, the mighty, and the awesome God”(Nehemiah 9:32).,The Gemara comments: bThisinterpretation that bRav Mattanasaid bleans to,i.e., is consot with, the exposition bof Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Why arethe Sages of those generations bcalled the members of the Great Assembly?It is bbecause they returned the crownof the Holy One, Blessed be He, bto its formerglory. How so? bMoses cameand bsaidin his prayer: b“The great, the mighty, and the awesomeGod”(Deuteronomy 10:17). bJeremiahthe prophet bcame and said: Gentiles,i.e., the minions of Nebuchadnezzar, bare carousing in His sanctuary; where is His awesomeness?Therefore, bhe did not say awesomein his prayer: “The great God, the mighty Lord of Hosts, is His name” (Jeremiah 32:18). bDaniel cameand bsaid: Gentiles are enslaving His children; where is His might?Therefore bhe did not say mightyin his prayer: “The great and awesome God” (Daniel 9:4).,The members of the Great Assembly bcame and said: On the contrary, this is the might of His might,i.e., this is the fullest expression of it, bthat He conquers His inclinationin bthat He exercises patience toward the wicked.God’s anger is flared by the gentile nations’ enslavement of His people, yet He expresses tremendous might by suppressing His anger and holding back from punishing them immediately. Therefore, it is still appropriate to refer to God as mighty. bAnd theseacts also express bHis awesomeness: Were it not for the awesomeness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, how could one people,i.e., the Jewish people, who are alone and hated by the gentile nations, bsurvive among the nations? /b,The Gemara asks: bAnd the Rabbis,i.e., Jeremiah and Daniel, bhow could they do this and uproot an ordice instituted by Moses,the greatest teacher, who instituted the mention of these attributes in prayer? bRabbi Elazar said:They did so bbecause they knew of the Holy One Blessed be He, that He is truthfuland hates a lie. bConsequently, they did not speak falsely about Him.Since they did not perceive His attributes of might and awesomeness, they did not refer to them; therefore, they cannot be criticized for doing so.,§ It was taught in the mishna: bAnd he readsfrom the scroll the Torah portion beginning with the verse: b“After the death”(Leviticus 16:1), bandthe portion beginning with the verse: b“But on the tenth”(Leviticus 23:26). Although both of these portions appear in the book of Leviticus, they are not adjacent to one another. Perforce, the High Priest skipped the sections in between the two portions. The Gemara braises a contradiction:It is taught in a mishna in tractate iMegilla /i: bOnemay bskipsections when reading the ihaftara bin the Prophets, but onemay bnot skipsections when reading bin the Torah. /b,The Gemara answers: bThis is not difficult: There,in the mishna in tractate iMegillathat teaches that one may not skip, the intention is that one should not skip if the sections are so far apart from one another that the delay caused by doing so will be bof such length that the translatorwho recites the Aramaic translation bwill concludehis translation before the next section is reached. In that case, the community would have to remain in silence while waiting for the next section to be reached, which is considered disrespectful of the community’s honor. bHere,in the case of the mishna, where it is permitted to skip, the delay caused is bof suchshort blength that the translator willstill bnot concludehis translation before the new section is reached.,The Gemara challenges this resolution: bBut it was taught concerning thisstatement in the continuation of that mishna: bOnemay bskipsections when reading bin the Prophets, and onemay bnot skipsections when reading bin the Torah. And how muchmay bone skip?One may skip bwhen thesection skipped is bofsuch short blength thatwhen the furling of the scroll is completed bthe translator willstill bnot have concludedhis translation. The ibaraitaimplies that the qualification for the length of the section that may be skipped applies only to reading the Prophets, bbutwhen reading bthe Torah,one may bnotskip bat all.The Gemara’s resolution is therefore refuted.,The Gemara offers a different resolution. bAbaye said: This is not difficult. Here,in the case of the mishna here, where it is permitted to skip, it is referring to when both sections bpertain to a single topic,and therefore the listeners will be unaware that sections were skipped. bThere,in the mishna in tractate iMegilla /i, which teaches that one may not skip, it is referring to when the two sections bpertain to twodifferent btopics. /b, bAs it was taughtin a ibaraita /i: bOnemay bskipsections when reading bin the Torahwhen both sections read bpertain to one topic, and in the Prophetsone may skip from one section to another even if they bpertain to twodifferent btopics.Both bhere and there,one may skip only bwhenthe section skipped is bof suchshort blength thatwhen furling is completed bthe translator willstill bnot have concludedhis translation. But bonemay bnot skip from onebook of the bProphets to anotherbook of the bProphetseven if both pertain to the same topic, and even if the gap between them is short. However, bamong thebooks of the bTwelve Prophets one may skip,as the twelve are considered one book for these purposes. |
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48. Augustine, The City of God, 9.8-9.9, 9.15, 10.22, 13.3, 13.14, 14.1, 14.15, 14.26, 15.2, 15.23, 21.15 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 9.8. The definition which Apuleius gives of demons, and in which he of course includes all demons, is that they are in nature animals, in soul subject to passion, in mind reasonable, in body aerial, in duration eternal. Now in these five qualities he has named absolutely nothing which is proper to good men and not also to bad. For when Apuleius had spoken of the celestials first, and had then extended his description so as to include an account of those who dwell far below on the earth, that, after describing the two extremes of rational being, he might proceed to speak of the intermediate demons, he says, Men, therefore, who are endowed with the faculty of reason and speech, whose soul is immortal and their members mortal, who have weak and anxious spirits, dull and corruptible bodies, dissimilar characters, similar ignorance, who are obstinate in their audacity, and persistent in their hope, whose labor is vain, and whose fortune is ever on the wane, their race immortal, themselves perishing, each generation replenished with creatures whose life is swift and their wisdom slow, their death sudden and their life a wail - these are the men who dwell on the earth. In recounting so many qualities which belong to the large proportion of men, did he forget that which is the property of the few when he speaks of their wisdom being slow? If this had been omitted, this his description of the human race, so carefully elaborated, would have been defective. And when he commended the excellence of the gods, he affirmed that they excelled in that very blessedness to which he thinks men must attain by wisdom. And therefore, if he had wished us to believe that some of the demons are good, he should have inserted in his description something by which we might see that they have, in common with the gods, some share of blessedness, or, in common with men, some wisdom. But, as it is, he has mentioned no good quality by which the good may be distinguished from the bad. For although he refrained from giving a full account of their wickedness, through fear of offending, not themselves but their worshippers, for whom he was writing, yet he sufficiently indicated to discerning readers what opinion he had of them; for only in the one article of the eternity of their bodies does he assimilate them to the gods, all of whom, he asserts, are good and blessed, and absolutely free from what he himself calls the stormy passions of the demons; and as to the soul, he quite plainly affirms that they resemble men and not the gods, and that this resemblance lies not in the possession of wisdom, which even men can attain to, but in the perturbation of passions which sway the foolish and wicked, but is so ruled by the good and wise that they prefer not to admit rather than to conquer it. For if he had wished it to be understood that the demons resembled the gods in the eternity not of their bodies but of their souls, he would certainly have admitted men to share in this privilege, because, as a Platonist, he of course must hold that the human soul is eternal. Accordingly, when describing this race of living beings, he said that their souls were immortal, their members mortal. And, consequently, if men have not eternity in common with the gods because they have mortal bodies, demons have eternity in common with the gods because their bodies are immortal. 9.9. How, then, can men hope for a favorable introduction to the friendship of the gods by such mediators as these, who are, like men, defective in that which is the better part of every living creature, viz., the soul, and who resemble the gods only in the body, which is the inferior part? For a living creature or animal consists of soul and body, and of these two parts the soul is undoubtedly the better; even though vicious and weak, it is obviously better than even the soundest and strongest body, for the greater excellence of its nature is not reduced to the level of the body even by the pollution of vice, as gold, even when tarnished, is more precious than the purest silver or lead. And yet these mediators, by whose interposition things human and divine are to be harmonized, have an eternal body in common with the gods, and a vicious soul in common with men, - as if the religion by which these demons are to unite gods and men were a bodily, and not a spiritual matter. What wickedness, then, or punishment has suspended these false and deceitful mediators, as it were head downwards, so that their inferior part, their body, is linked to the gods above, and their superior part, the soul, bound to men beneath; united to the celestial gods by the part that serves, and miserable, together with the inhabitants of earth, by the part that rules? For the body is the servant, as Sallust says: We use the soul to rule, the body to obey; adding, the one we have in common with the gods, the other with the brutes. For he was here speaking of men; and they have, like the brutes, a mortal body. These demons, whom our philosophic friends have provided for us as mediators with the gods, may indeed say of the soul and body, the one we have in common with the gods, the other with men; but, as I said, they are as it were suspended and bound head downwards, having the slave, the body, in common with the gods, the master, the soul, in common with miserable men, - their inferior part exalted, their superior part depressed. And therefore, if any one supposes that, because they are not subject, like terrestrial animals, to the separation of soul and body by death, they therefore resemble the gods in their eternity, their body must not be considered a chariot of an eternal triumph, but rather the chain of an eternal punishment. 9.15. But if, as is much more probable and credible, it must needs be that all men, so long as they are mortal, are also miserable, we must seek an intermediate who is not only man, but also God, that, by the interposition of His blessed mortality, He may bring men out of their mortal misery to a blessed immortality. In this intermediate two things are requisite, that He become mortal, and that He do not continue mortal. He did become mortal, not rendering the divinity of the Word infirm, but assuming the infirmity of flesh. Neither did He continue mortal in the flesh, but raised it from the dead; for it is the very fruit of His mediation that those, for the sake of whose redemption He became the Mediator, should not abide eternally in bodily death. Wherefore it became the Mediator between us and God to have both a transient mortality and a permanent blessedness, that by that which is transient He might be assimilated to mortals, and might translate them from mortality to that which is permanent. Good angels, therefore, cannot mediate between miserable mortals and blessed immortals, for they themselves also are both blessed and immortal; but evil angels can mediate, because they are immortal like the one party, miserable like the other. To these is opposed the good Mediator, who, in opposition to their immortality and misery, has chosen to be mortal for a time, and has been able to continue blessed in eternity. It is thus He has destroyed, by the humility of His death and the benignity of His blessedness, those proud immortals and hurtful wretches, and has prevented them from seducing to misery by their boast of immortality those men whose hearts He has cleansed by faith, and whom He has thus freed from their impure dominion. Man, then, mortal and miserable, and far removed from the immortal and the blessed, what medium shall he choose by which he may be united to immortality and blessedness? The immortality of the demons, which might have some charm for man, is miserable; the mortality of Christ, which might offend man, exists no longer. In the one there is the fear of an eternal misery; in the other, death, which could not be eternal, can no longer be feared, and blessedness, which is eternal, must be loved. For the immortal and miserable mediator interposes himself to prevent us from passing to a blessed immortality, because that which hinders such a passage, namely, misery, continues in him; but the mortal and blessed Mediator interposed Himself, in order that, having passed through mortality, He might of mortals make immortals (showing His power to do this in His own resurrection), and from being miserable to raise them to the blessed company from the number of whom He had Himself never departed. There is, then, a wicked mediator, who separates friends, and a good Mediator, who reconciles enemies. And those who separate are numerous, because the multitude of the blessed are blessed only by their participation in the one God; of which participation the evil angels being deprived, they are wretched, and interpose to hinder rather than to help to this blessedness, and by their very number prevent us from reaching that one beatific good, to obtain which we need not many but one Mediator, the uncreated Word of God, by whom all things were made, and in partaking of whom we are blessed. I do not say that He is Mediator because He is the Word, for as the Word He is supremely blessed and supremely immortal, and therefore far from miserable mortals; but He is Mediator as He is man, for by His humanity He shows us that, in order to obtain that blessed and beatific good, we need not seek other mediators to lead us through the successive steps of this attainment, but that the blessed and beatific God, having Himself become a partaker of our humanity, has afforded us ready access to the participation of His divinity. For in delivering us from our mortality and misery, He does not lead us to the immortal and blessed angels, so that we should become immortal and blessed by participating in their nature, but He leads us straight to that Trinity, by participating in which the angels themselves are blessed. Therefore, when He chose to be in the form of a servant, and lower than the angels, that He might be our Mediator, He remained higher than the angels, in the form of God - Himself at once the way of life on earth and life itself in heaven. 13.3. But a question not to be shirked arises: Whether in very truth death, which separates soul and body, is good to the good? For if it be, how has it come to pass that such a thing should be the punishment of sin? For the first men would not have suffered death had they not sinned. How, then, can that be good to the good, which could not have happened except to the evil? Then, again, if it could only happen to the evil, to the good it ought not to be good, but non-existent. For why should there be any punishment where there is nothing to punish? Wherefore we must say that the first men were indeed so created, that if they had not sinned, they would not have experienced any kind of death; but that, having become sinners, they were so punished with death, that whatsoever sprang from their stock should also be punished with the same death. For nothing else could be born of them than that which they themselves had been. Their nature was deteriorated in proportion to the greatness of the condemnation of their sin, so that what existed as punishment in those who first sinned, became a natural consequence in their children. For man is not produced by man, as he was from the dust. For dust was the material out of which man was made: man is the parent by whom man is begotten. Wherefore earth and flesh are not the same thing, though flesh be made of earth. But as man the parent is, such is man the offspring. In the first man, therefore, there existed the whole human nature, which was to be transmitted by the woman to posterity, when that conjugal union received the divine sentence of its own condemnation; and what man was made, not when created, but when he sinned and was punished, this he propagated, so far as the origin of sin and death are concerned. For neither by sin nor its punishment was he himself reduced to that infantine and helpless infirmity of body and mind which we see in children. For God ordained that infants should begin the world as the young of beasts begin it, since their parents had fallen to the level of the beasts in the fashion of their life and of their death; as it is written, Man when he was in honor understood not; he became like the beasts that have no understanding. Nay more, infants, we see, are even feebler in the use and movement of their limbs, and more infirm to choose and refuse, than the most tender offspring of other animals; as if the force that dwells in human nature were destined to surpass all other living things so much the more eminently, as its energy has been longer restrained, and the time of its exercise delayed, just as an arrow flies the higher the further back it has been drawn. To this infantine imbecility the first man did not fall by his lawless presumption and just sentence; but human nature was in his person vitiated and altered to such an extent, that he suffered in his members the warring of disobedient lust, and became subject to the necessity of dying. And what he himself had become by sin and punishment, such he generated those whom he begot; that is to say, subject to sin and death. And if infants are delivered from this bondage of sin by the Redeemer's grace, they can suffer only this death which separates soul and body; but being redeemed from the obligation of sin, they do not pass to that second endless and penal death. 13.14. For God, the author of natures, not of vices, created man upright; but man, being of his own will corrupted, and justly condemned, begot corrupted and condemned children. For we all were in that one man, since we all were that one man, who fell into sin by the woman who was made from him before the sin. For not yet was the particular form created and distributed to us, in which we as individuals were to live, but already the seminal nature was there from which we were to be propagated; and this being vitiated by sin, and bound by the chain of death, and justly condemned, man could not be born of man in any other state. And thus, from the bad use of free will, there originated the whole train of evil, which, with its concatenation of miseries, convoys the human race from its depraved origin, as from a corrupt root, on to the destruction of the second death, which has no end, those only being excepted who are freed by the grace of God. 14.1. We have already stated in the preceding books that God, desiring not only that the human race might be able by their similarity of nature to associate with one another, but also that they might be bound together in harmony and peace by the ties of relationship, was pleased to derive all men from one individual, and created man with such a nature that the members of the race should not have died, had not the two first (of whom the one was created out of nothing, and the other out of him) merited this by their disobedience; for by them so great a sin was committed, that by it the human nature was altered for the worse, and was transmitted also to their posterity, liable to sin and subject to death. And the kingdom of death so reigned over men, that the deserved penalty of sin would have hurled all headlong even into the second death, of which there is no end, had not the undeserved grace of God saved some therefrom. And thus it has come to pass, that though there are very many and great nations all over the earth, whose rites and customs, speech, arms, and dress, are distinguished by marked differences, yet there are no more than two kinds of human society, which we may justly call two cities, according to the language of our Scriptures. The one consists of those who wish to live after the flesh, the other of those who wish to live after the spirit; and when they severally achieve what they wish, they live in peace, each after their kind. 14.15. Therefore, because the sin was a despising of the authority of God - who had created man; who had made him in His own image; who had set him above the other animals; who had placed him in Paradise; who had enriched him with abundance of every kind and of safety; who had laid upon him neither many, nor great, nor difficult commandments, but, in order to make a wholesome obedience easy to him, had given him a single very brief and very light precept by which He reminded that creature whose service was to be free that He was Lord, - it was just that condemnation followed, and condemnation such that man, who by keeping the commandments should have been spiritual even in his flesh, became fleshly even in his spirit; and as in his pride he had sought to be his own satisfaction, God in His justice abandoned him to himself, not to live in the absolute independence he affected, but instead of the liberty he desired, to live dissatisfied with himself in a hard and miserable bondage to him to whom by sinning he had yielded himself, doomed in spite of himself to die in body as he had willingly become dead in spirit, condemned even to eternal death (had not the grace of God delivered him) because he had forsaken eternal life. Whoever thinks such punishment either excessive or unjust shows his inability to measure the great iniquity of sinning where sin might so easily have been avoided. For as Abraham's obedience is with justice pronounced to be great, because the thing commanded, to kill his son, was very difficult, so in Paradise the disobedience was the greater, because the difficulty of that which was commanded was imperceptible. And as the obedience of the second Man was the more laudable because He became obedient even unto death, Philippians 2:8 so the disobedience of the first man was the more detestable because he became disobedient even unto death. For where the penalty annexed to disobedience is great, and the thing commanded by the Creator is easy, who can sufficiently estimate how great a wickedness it is, in a matter so easy, not to obey the authority of so great a power, even when that power deters with so terrible a penalty? In short, to say all in a word, what but disobedience was the punishment of disobedience in that sin? For what else is man's misery but his own disobedience to himself, so that in consequence of his not being willing to do what he could do, he now wills to do what he cannot? For though he could not do all things in Paradise before he sinned, yet he wished to do only what he could do, and therefore he could do all things he wished. But now, as we recognize in his offspring, and as divine Scripture testifies, Man is like to vanity. For who can count how many things he wishes which he cannot do, so long as he is disobedient to himself, that is, so long as his mind and his flesh do not obey his will? For in spite of himself his mind is both frequently disturbed, and his flesh suffers, and grows old, and dies; and in spite of ourselves we suffer whatever else we suffer, and which we would not suffer if our nature absolutely and in all its parts obeyed our will. But is it not the infirmities of the flesh which hamper it in its service? Yet what does it matter how its service is hampered, so long as the fact remains, that by the just retribution of the sovereign God whom we refused to be subject to and serve, our flesh, which was subjected to us, now torments us by insubordination, although our disobedience brought trouble on ourselves, not upon God? For He is not in need of our service as we of our body's; and therefore what we did was no punishment to Him, but what we receive is so to us. And the pains which are called bodily are pains of the soul in and from the body. For what pain or desire can the flesh feel by itself and without the soul? But when the flesh is said to desire or to suffer, it is meant, as we have explained, that the man does so, or some part of the soul which is affected by the sensation of the flesh, whether a harsh sensation causing pain, or gentle, causing pleasure. But pain in the flesh is only a discomfort of the soul arising from the flesh, and a kind of shrinking from its suffering, as the pain of the soul which is called sadness is a shrinking from those things which have happened to us in spite of ourselves. But sadness is frequently preceded by fear, which is itself in the soul, not in the flesh; while bodily pain is not preceded by any kind of fear of the flesh, which can be felt in the flesh before the pain. But pleasure is preceded by a certain appetite which is felt in the flesh like a craving, as hunger and thirst and that generative appetite which is most commonly identified with the name lust, though this is the generic word for all desires. For anger itself was defined by the ancients as nothing else than the lust of revenge; although sometimes a man is angry even at iimate objects which cannot feel his vengeance, as when one breaks a pen, or crushes a quill that writes badly. Yet even this, though less reasonable, is in its way a lust of revenge, and is, so to speak, a mysterious kind of shadow of [the great law of] retribution, that they who do evil should suffer evil. There is therefore a lust for revenge, which is called anger; there is a lust of money, which goes by the name of avarice; there is a lust of conquering, no matter by what means, which is called opinionativeness; there is a lust of applause, which is named boasting. There are many and various lusts, of which some have names of their own, while others have not. For who could readily give a name to the lust of ruling, which yet has a powerful influence in the soul of tyrants, as civil wars bear witness? 14.26. In Paradise, then, man lived as he desired so long as he desired what God had commanded. He lived in the enjoyment of God, and was good by God's goodness; he lived without any want, and had it in his power so to live eternally. He had food that he might not hunger, drink that he might not thirst, the tree of life that old age might not waste him. There was in his body no corruption, nor seed of corruption, which could produce in him any unpleasant sensation. He feared no inward disease, no outward accident. Soundest health blessed his body, absolute tranquillity his soul. As in Paradise there was no excessive heat or cold, so its inhabitants were exempt from the vicissitudes of fear and desire. No sadness of any kind was there, nor any foolish joy; true gladness ceaselessly flowed from the presence of God, who was loved out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. 1 Timothy 1:5 The honest love of husband and wife made a sure harmony between them. Body and spirit worked harmoniously together, and the commandment was kept without labor. No languor made their leisure wearisome; no sleepiness interrupted their desire to labor. In tanta facilitate rerum et felicitate hominum, absit ut suspicemur, non potuisse prolem seri sine libidinis morbo: sed eo voluntatis nutu moverentur illa membra qua c tera, et sine ardoris illecebroso stimulo cum tranquillitate animi et corporis nulla corruptione integritatis infunderetur gremio maritus uxoris. Neque enim quia experientia probari non potest, ideo credendum non est; quando illas corporis partes non ageret turbidus calor, sed spontanea potestas, sicut opus esset, adhiberet; ita tunc potuisse utero conjugis salva integritate feminei genitalis virile semen immitti, sicut nunc potest eadem integritate salva ex utero virginis fluxus menstrui cruoris emitti. Eadem quippe via posset illud injici, qua hoc potest ejici. Ut enim ad pariendum non doloris gemitus, sed maturitatis impulsus feminea viscera relaxaret: sic ad fœtandum et concipiendum non libidinis appetitus, sed voluntarius usus naturam utramque conjungeret. We speak of things which are now shameful, and although we try, as well as we are able, to conceive them as they were before they became shameful, yet necessity compels us rather to limit our discussion to the bounds set by modesty than to extend it as our moderate faculty of discourse might suggest. For since that which I have been speaking of was not experienced even by those who might have experienced it - I mean our first parents (for sin and its merited banishment from Paradise anticipated this passionless generation on their part) - when sexual intercourse is spoken of now, it suggests to men's thoughts not such a placid obedience to the will as is conceivable in our first parents, but such violent acting of lust as they themselves have experienced. And therefore modesty shuts my mouth, although my mind conceives the matter clearly. But Almighty God, the supreme and supremely good Creator of all natures, who aids and rewards good wills, while He abandons and condemns the bad, and rules both, was not destitute of a plan by which He might people His city with the fixed number of citizens which His wisdom had foreordained even out of the condemned human race, discriminating them not now by merits, since the whole mass was condemned as if in a vitiated root, but by grace, and showing, not only in the case of the redeemed, but also in those who were not delivered, how much grace He has bestowed upon them. For every one acknowledges that he has been rescued from evil, not by deserved, but by gratuitous goodness, when he is singled out from the company of those with whom he might justly have borne a common punishment, and is allowed to go scathless. Why, then, should God not have created those whom He foresaw would sin, since He was able to show in and by them both what their guilt merited, and what His grace bestowed, and since, under His creating and disposing hand, even the perverse disorder of the wicked could not pervert the right order of things? 15.23. In the third book of this work (c. 5) we made a passing reference to this question, but did not decide whether angels, inasmuch as they are spirits, could have bodily intercourse with women. For it is written, Who makes His angels spirits, that is, He makes those who are by nature spirits His angels by appointing them to the duty of bearing His messages. For the Greek word ἄγγελος, which in Latin appears as angelus, means a messenger. But whether the Psalmist speaks of their bodies when he adds, and His ministers a flaming fire, or means that God's ministers ought to blaze with love as with a spiritual fire, is doubtful. However, the same trustworthy Scripture testifies that angels have appeared to men in such bodies as could not only be seen, but also touched. There is, too, a very general rumor, which many have verified by their own experience, or which trustworthy persons who have heard the experience of others corroborate, that sylvans and fauns, who are commonly called incubi, had often made wicked assaults upon women, and satisfied their lust upon them; and that certain devils, called Duses by the Gauls, are constantly attempting and effecting this impurity is so generally affirmed, that it were impudent to deny it. From these assertions, indeed, I dare not determine whether there be some spirits embodied in an aerial substance (for this element, even when agitated by a fan, is sensibly felt by the body), and who are capable of lust and of mingling sensibly with women; but certainly I could by no means believe that God's holy angels could at that time have so fallen, nor can I think that it is of them the Apostle Peter said, For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. 2 Peter 2:4 I think he rather speaks of these who first apostatized from God, along with their chief the devil, who enviously deceived the first man under the form of a serpent. But the same holy Scripture affords the most ample testimony that even godly men have been called angels; for of John it is written: Behold, I send my messenger (angel) before Your face, who shall prepare Your way. Mark 1:2 And the prophet Malachi, by a peculiar grace specially communicated to him, was called an angel. Malachi 2:7 But some are moved by the fact that we have read that the fruit of the connection between those who are called angels of God and the women they loved were not men like our own breed, but giants; just as if there were not born even in our own time (as I have mentioned above) men of much greater size than the ordinary stature. Was there not at Rome a few years ago, when the destruction of the city now accomplished by the Goths was drawing near, a woman, with her father and mother, who by her gigantic size over-topped all others? Surprising crowds from all quarters came to see her, and that which struck them most was the circumstance that neither of her parents were quite up to the tallest ordinary stature. Giants therefore might well be born, even before the sons of God, who are also called angels of God, formed a connection with the daughters of men, or of those living according to men, that is to say, before the sons of Seth formed a connection with the daughters of Cain. For thus speaks even the canonical Scripture itself in the book in which we read of this; its words are: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair [good]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the giants, men of renown. These words of the divine book sufficiently indicate that already there were giants in the earth in those days, in which the sons of God took wives of the children of men, when they loved them because they were good, that is, fair. For it is the custom of this Scripture to call those who are beautiful in appearance good. But after this connection had been formed, then too were giants born. For the words are: There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men. Therefore there were giants both before, in those days, and also after that. And the words, they bare children to them, show plainly enough that before the sons of God fell in this fashion they begot children to God, not to themselves - that is to say, not moved by the lust of sexual intercourse, but discharging the duty of propagation, intending to produce not a family to gratify their own pride, but citizens to people the city of God; and to these they as God's angels would bear the message, that they should place their hope in God, like him who was born of Seth, the son of resurrection, and who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God, in which hope they and their offspring would be co-heirs of eternal blessings, and brethren in the family of which God is the Father. But that those angels were not angels in the sense of not being men, as some suppose, Scripture itself decides, which unambiguously declares that they were men. For when it had first been stated that the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose, it was immediately added, And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with these men, for that they also are flesh. For by the Spirit of God they had been made angels of God, and sons of God; but declining towards lower things, they are called men, a name of nature, not of grace; and they are called flesh, as deserters of the Spirit, and by their desertion deserted [by Him]. The Septuagint indeed calls them both angels of God and sons of God, though all the copies do not show this, some having only the name sons of God. And Aquila, whom the Jews prefer to the other interpreters, has translated neither angels of God nor sons of God, but sons of gods. But both are correct. For they were both sons of God, and thus brothers of their own fathers, who were children of the same God; and they were sons of gods, because begotten by gods, together with whom they themselves also were gods, according to that expression of the psalm: I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. For the Septuagint translators are justly believed to have received the Spirit of prophecy; so that, if they made any alterations under His authority, and did not adhere to a strict translation, we could not doubt that this was divinely dictated. However, the Hebrew word may be said to be ambiguous, and to be susceptible of either translation, sons of God, or sons of gods. Let us omit, then, the fables of those scriptures which are called apocryphal, because their obscure origin was unknown to the fathers from whom the authority of the true Scriptures has been transmitted to us by a most certain and well-ascertained succession. For though there is some truth in these apocryphal writings, yet they contain so many false statements, that they have no canonical authority. We cannot deny that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, left some divine writings, for this is asserted by the Apostle Jude in his canonical epistle. But it is not without reason that these writings have no place in that canon of Scripture which was preserved in the temple of the Hebrew people by the diligence of successive priests; for their antiquity brought them under suspicion, and it was impossible to ascertain whether these were his genuine writings, and they were not brought forward as genuine by the persons who were found to have carefully preserved the canonical books by a successive transmission. So that the writings which are produced under his name, and which contain these fables about the giants, saying that their fathers were not men, are properly judged by prudent men to be not genuine; just as many writings are produced by heretics under the names both of other prophets, and more recently, under the names of the apostles, all of which, after careful examination, have been set apart from canonical authority under the title of Apocrypha. There is therefore no doubt that, according to the Hebrew and Christian canonical Scriptures, there were many giants before the deluge, and that these were citizens of the earthly society of men, and that the sons of God, who were according to the flesh the sons of Seth, sunk into this community when they forsook righteousness. Nor need we wonder that giants should be born even from these. For all of their children were not giants; but there were more then than in the remaining periods since the deluge. And it pleased the Creator to produce them, that it might thus be demonstrated that neither beauty, nor yet size and strength, are of much moment to the wise man, whose blessedness lies in spiritual and immortal blessings, in far better and more enduring gifts, in the good things that are the peculiar property of the good, and are not shared by good and bad alike. It is this which another prophet confirms when he says, These were the giants, famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war. Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave He the way of knowledge unto them; but they were destroyed because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness. |
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49. Anon., 3 Enoch, 10.5
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50. Anon., 4 Ezra, 4.21, 7.11-7.12
| 4.21. For as the land is assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who dwell upon earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens. 7.11. For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. 7.12. And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. |
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51. Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah, None
| 5a. לומר לך שאם חטא יחיד אומרים לו כלך אצל יחיד ואם חטאו צבור אומרים לו כלך אצל צבור,וצריכא דאי אשמועינן יחיד משום דלא מפרסם חטאיה אבל צבור דמפרסם חטאיהו אימא לא ואי אשמועינן צבור משום דנפישי רחמייהו אבל יחיד דלא אלימא זכותיה אימא לא צריכא,והיינו דרבי שמואל בר נחמני א"ר יונתן מאי דכתיב (שמואל ב כג, א) נאם דוד בן ישי ונאם הגבר הוקם על נאם דוד בן ישי שהקים עולה של תשובה,וא"ר שמואל בר נחמני אמר ר' יונתן כל העושה מצוה אחת בעולם הזה מקדמתו והולכת לפניו לעולם הבא שנאמר (ישעיהו נח, ח) והלך לפניך צדקך וכבוד ה' יאספך וכל העובר עבירה אחת מלפפתו ומוליכתו ליום הדין שנאמר (איוב ו, יח) ילפתו ארחות דרכם וגו',ר"א אומר קשורה בו ככלב שנאמר (בראשית לט, י) ולא שמע אליה לשכב אצלה להיות עמה לשכב אצלה בעוה"ז להיות עמה בעוה"ב,אמר ר"ל בואו ונחזיק טובה לאבותינו שאלמלא הן לא חטאו אנו לא באנו לעולם שנאמר (תהלים פב, ו) אני אמרתי אלהים אתם ובני עליון כלכם חבלתם מעשיכם אכן כאדם תמותון וגו',למימרא דאי לא חטאו לא הוו מולדו והכתיב (בראשית ט, ז) ואתם פרו ורבו עד סיני בסיני נמי כתיב (דברים ה, כז) לך אמור להם שובו לכם לאהליכם לשמחת עונה,והכתיב (דברים ה, כו) למען ייטב להם ולבניהם וגו' לאותן העומדים על הר סיני,והאמר ר"ל מאי דכתיב (בראשית ה, א) זה ספר תולדות אדם וגו' וכי ספר היה לו לאדם הראשון מלמד שהראה לו הקב"ה לאדם הראשון דור דור ודורשיו דור דור וחכמיו דור דור ופרנסיו כיון שהגיע לדורו של ר"ע שמח בתורתו ונתעצב במיתתו אמר (תהלים קלט, יז) ולי מה יקרו רעיך אל [וגו'],וא"ר יוסי אין בן דוד בא עד שיכלו נשמות שבגוף שנאמר (ישעיהו נז, טז) [כי לא לעולם אריב ולא לנצח אקצוף] כי רוח מלפני יעטוף ונשמות אני עשיתי,לא תימא אנו לא באנו לעולם אלא כמי שלא באנו לעולם למימרא דאי לא חטאו לא הוו מייתי והכתיב פרשת יבמות ופרשת נחלות,על תנאי ומי כתיבי קראי על תנאי אין דהכי אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש מאי דכתיב (בראשית א, לא) ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום הששי מלמד שהתנה הקב"ה עם מעשה בראשית ואמר אם מקבלין ישראל את התורה מוטב ואם לאו אחזיר אתכם לתוהו ובוהו,מיתיבי (דברים ה, כו) מי יתן והיה לבבם זה להם לבטל מהם מלאך המות א"א שכבר נגזרה גזרה,הא לא קיבלו ישראל את התורה אלא כדי שלא תהא אומה ולשון שולטת בהן שנאמר (דברים ה, כו) למען ייטב להם ולבניהם עד עולם,הוא דאמר כי האי תנא דתניא רבי יוסי אומר לא קיבלו ישראל את התורה אלא כדי שלא יהא מלאך המות שולט בהן שנאמר (תהלים פב, ו) אני אמרתי אלהים אתם ובני עליון כלכם חבלתם מעשיכם אכן כאדם תמותון,ורבי יוסי נמי הכתיב למען ייטב להם ולבניהם עד עולם טובה הוא דהויא הא מיתה איכא (רבי יוסי) אמר לך כיון דליכא מיתה אין לך טובה גדולה מזו,ות"ק נמי הכתיב אכן כאדם תמותון מאי מיתה עניות דאמר מר ארבעה חשובים כמתים אלו הן עני סומא ומצורע ומי שאין לו בנים,עני דכתיב (שמות ד, יט) כי מתו כל האנשים ומאן נינהו דתן ואבירם ומי מתו מיהוי הוו אלא שירדו מנכסיהם,סומא דכתיב (איכה ג, ו) במחשכים הושיבני כמתי עולם מצורע דכתיב (במדבר יב, יב) אל נא תהי כמת ומי שאין לו בנים דכתיב (בראשית ל, א) הבה לי בנים ואם אין מתה אנכי,תנו רבנן (ויקרא כו, ג) אם בחקתי תלכו אין אם אלא לשון תחנונים וכן הוא אומר (תהלים פא, יד) לו עמי שומע לי [וגו'] כמעט אויביהם אכניע ואומר (ישעיהו מח, יח) לו הקשבת למצותי ויהי כנהר שלומך וגו' ויהי כחול זרעך וצאצאי מעיך וגו',תנו רבנן (דברים ה, כז) מי יתן והיה לבבם זה להם אמר להן משה לישראל כפויי טובה בני כפויי טובה בשעה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל מי יתן והיה לבבם זה להם היה להם לומר תן אתה,כפויי טובה דכתיב (במדבר כא, ה) ונפשנו קצה | 5a. This serves bto say to you that if an individualhas bsinned, one says to him: Go tothat famous bindividualwho sinned, King David, and learn from him that one can repent. bAnd if the community sinned, one says tothem: bGo tothe bcommunitythat sinned, i.e., the Jewish people at the time of the Golden Calf.,The Gemara notes: bAndit is bnecessaryto learn about repentance both in the case of an individual and in the case of a community. The reason is bthat if we had learnedthis idea only with regard to ban individual,one might have thought that he has the option to repent only bbecause his sin is not publicized. Butin the case of ba community, whose sin is publicized,one might bsaythat the community bcannotrepent. bAndlikewise, bif we had learnedthis idea only with regard to ba community,one might have said that their repentance is accepted bbecause their prayers are more numerousthan those of an individual, and they are heard before God. bButin the case of ban individual, whose merit is notas bstrong,one might bsaythat he is bnotable to repent. Therefore, it is bnecessaryto teach both cases., bAnd this issimilar to that bwhich Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmanisays that bRabbi Yonatan says: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “The saying of David, son of Yishai, and the saying of the man raised on high [ ial /i]”(II Samuel 23:1)? This is the meaning of the verse: bThe saying of David, son of Yishai, who raisedand lightened bthe yoke [ iullah /i] of repentance,as he taught the power of repentance through his own example., bAnd Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmanifurther bsaysthat bRabbi Yonatan says:With regard to banyone who performs one mitzva in this world,the mitzva will bprecede him and walk before him in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your reward”(Isaiah 58:8). bAndwith regard to banyone who commits one transgression,that transgression will bshroud him and lead him on the Day of Judgment, as it is stated: “The paths of their way do wind,they go up into the waste, and are lost” (Job 6:18)., bRabbi Elazar says:The transgression bis tied to him like a dogand does not leave him, bas it is statedwith regard to Joseph and Potiphar’s wife: b“And he did not listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her”(Genesis 39:10). This teaches that Joseph refused b“to lie by her” in this world,which would have meant that he would have had b“to be with her” in the World-to-Come. /b,§ The Gemara further discusses the sin of the Golden Calf. bReish Lakish says: Come and let us be grateful to our ancestorswho sinned with the Golden Calf, bas had they not sinned wewould bnot have come into the world.Reish Lakish explains: bAs it is statedabout the Jewish people after the revelation at Sinai: b“I said: You are godlike beings, and all of you sons of the Most High”(Psalms 82:6), which indicates that they had become like angels and would not have propagated offspring. Then, God states: After byou ruined your deeds: “Yet you shall die like a man,and fall like one of the princes” (Psalms 82:7).,The Gemara asks: Is this bto say that if they had not sinnedwith the Golden Calf bthey would not have siredchildren? bBut isn’t it writtenthat Noah and his children were instructed: b“And you, be fruitful, and multiply”(Genesis 9:7)? The Gemara answers: This instruction was issued only buntilthe revelation at bSinai,but the Jewish people would have become like angels there, had they not sinned. The Gemara asks: Isn’t it balso writtenabout the Jewish people who were at the revelation bat Sinai: “Go say to them: Return to your tents”(Deuteronomy 5:27), which means that they were instructed to resume marital relations? The Gemara answers: That verse is referring bto the enjoyment of conjugal rights,not to procreation.,The Gemara further asks: bBut isn’t it written: “That it might be good for them, and with their childrenforever” (Deuteronomy 5:26), which indicates that they would continue to bear children? The Gemara answers: This verse is referring bto thosechildren bwho stoodwith them bat Mount Sinai,not to future generations.,The Gemara raises a further difficulty: bBut doesn’t Reish Lakish say: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “This is the book of the generations of Adam,in the day that God created man” (Genesis 5:1)? bDid Adam the firstman bhave a book?Rather, the verse bteaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, showed Adam, the firstman, bevery generation and its expositors, every generation and its Sages,and bevery generation and its leaders. WhenAdam barrived at the generation of Rabbi Akiva, he rejoiced in his Torah and was saddened by his death,as Rabbi Akiva was tortured and murdered. Adam bsaid: “How weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God!How great is the sum of them” (Psalms 139:17). It is evident from here that the Jews were destined to bear future generations from the beginning of time., bAndsimilarly, bRabbi Yosei says:The Messiah, bson of David, will not come until all the souls of the body have been finished,i.e., until all souls that are destined to inhabit physical bodies will do so. bAs it is stated: “For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit that enwraps itself is from Me, and the souls that I have made”(Isaiah 57:16). According to Rabbi Yosei, in order for the Messiah to come in the end of days, it is necessary for the future generations to be born.,The Gemara answers: bDo not saythat if our ancestors had not sinned bwe would not have come into the world,as we still would have been born; brather,it would have been bas though we had not come into the world.We would have been of no importance, due to the previous generations that would have still been alive. The Gemara asks: Is this bto say that ifthe Jewish people bhad not sinnedwith the Golden Calf then bthey would not have died? But isn’t the chapterthat addresses bwidows whose husbands die childless(Deuteronomy 25:5–10) bwrittenin the Torah, band the chapterthat addresses bthe inheritancea deceased father bequeaths to his sons (Numbers 27:8–11) is also written?,The Gemara answers: These passages were written bconditionally,i.e., if the Jewish people were to sin and not become like angels, those ihalakhotwould take effect. The Gemara asks: bAnd are verses written conditionallyin this manner? The Gemara answers: bYes, as thisis what bRabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”(Genesis 1:31)? This bteaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, established a condition with the acts of Creation, and He said: If the Jewish people accept the Torahat the revelation at Sinai, all is bwelland the world will continue to exist. bBut ifthey do bnotaccept it, bI will return you tothe primordial state of bchaos and disorder. /b,The Gemara braises an objectionfrom a ibaraitato the new formulation of Reish Lakish’s statement, according to which the Jewish people would have become immortal had they not sinned with the Golden Calf. The verse states about the Jewish people after the revelation at Sinai: b“Who would give that they had such a heart as this always,to fear Me, and keep all My commandments, that it might be good for them, and with their children forever” (Deuteronomy 5:26). The ibaraitastates that although they had reached such an elevated state, it bwas not possible to nullifythe power of bthe Angel of Death over them, as the decreeof death bwas already issuedfrom the time of creation.,Rather, the ibaraitaexplains that bthe Jewish people accepted the Torah only in order that no nation or tongue would rule over them, as it is statedin the same verse: b“That it might be good for them, and with their children forever.”This indicates that had the Jewish people not sinned they would not have achieved immortality, which contradicts Reish Lakish’s statement.,The Gemara answers: Reish Lakish bsaidhis statement bin accordance withthe opinion of bthat itanna /i. As it is taughtin a ibaraitathat bRabbi Yosei says: The Jewish people accepted the Torah only in order that the Angel of Death would not rule over them, as it is stated: “I said: You are godlike beings, and all of you sons of the Most High”(Psalms 82:6), i.e., they had become immortal like angels. Then, God states: After byou ruined your deeds, “yet you shall die like a man,and fall like one of the princes” (Psalms 82:7).,The Gemara asks: bAnd also,according to bRabbi Yosei, isn’t it written: “That it might be good for them, and with their children forever,”from which it may be inferred that although bitwill be bgoodfor them if they remain in this elevated state, btherewill still be bdeath?The Gemara answers: bRabbi Yoseicould have bsaid to you: Since there is no death, there is no greater good than this,i.e., the promise of the verse is immortality.,The Gemara inquires: bAndaccording to bthe first itannaas well, isn’t it written: “Yet you shall die like a man,”which indicates that their mortality was decreed only due to the sin of the Golden Calf? The Gemara answers: bWhatis meant by bdeath?It means bpoverty. As the Master said: Four are considered asthough they were bdead: These are a pauper, a blind person, a leper, and one who has no children. /b, bA pauperis considered as though dead, bas it is writtenthat God said to Moses: “Go, return to Egypt; bfor all the menthat sought your life bare dead”(Exodus 4:19). bAnd who were thesemen? They were bDathan and Abiram. But did theyreally bdie? They werestill alive, as they participated in the rebellion of Korah, which took place years later. bRather,the verse does not mean that they had died, but bthat they had lost their propertyand become impoverished. This demonstrates that a pauper is considered as though he were dead., bA blind personis considered as though he were dead, bas it is written: “He has made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead”(Lamentations 3:6). bA leperis considered as though he were dead, bas it is writtenthat Aaron said to Moses when Miriam was struck with leprosy: b“Let her not, I pray, be as one dead”(Numbers 12:12). bAnd one who has no childrenis considered as though he were dead, bas it is writtenthat Rachel said to Jacob: b“Give me children, or else I am dead”(Genesis 30:1)., bThe Sages taughtwith regard to the verse: b“If you walk in My statutes”(Leviticus 26:3): In this context, b“if”is ba termthat means bnothing other than supplication,i.e., God is hoping that the Jewish people will observe the Torah. bAnd similarly, it is stated: “Oh that My people would hearken to Me,that Israel would walk in My ways, bI would soon subdue their enemies”(Psalms 81:14–15). bAnd it states: “Oh that you would hearken to My commandments! Then your peace would be as a river,and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. bYour seed also would be as the sand, and the offspring of your bodylike its grains” (Isaiah 48:18–19).,§ The Gemara returns to a verse cited above. bThe Sages taughtwith regard to the verse: b“Who would give that they had such a heart as thisalways, to fear Me, and keep all My commandments, that it might be good for them, and with their children forever” (Deuteronomy 5:26). At a later stage, bMoses said to the Jewish people: Ingrates, children of ingrates! When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: “Who would give that they had such a heart as this always,” they should have said: You should giveus a heart to fear You.,The Gemara explains that Moses calls the Jewish people bingrates, as it is writtenthat the Jewish people spoke disparagingly of the manna: b“And our soul loathes /b |
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