1. Hebrew Bible, Esther, 2-3, 8-9, 1 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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2. Hebrew Bible, Numbers, 26.10 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 26.10. and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign." |
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3. Euripides, Bacchae, 227-232, 278-283, 471-475, 511-514, 616-631, 794-797, 850-854, 912-913, 226 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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4. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 6, 3 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
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5. Polybius, Histories, 5.34.10 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 5.34.10. But this new king, neglecting to control all these matters owing to his shameful amours and senseless and constant drunkenness, found, as was to be expected, in a very short time both his life and his throne threatened by more than one conspiracy |
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6. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 5.11, 6.8, 9.5-9.18 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 5.11. When news of what had happened reached the king, he took it to mean that Judea was in revolt. So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city by storm.' 6.8. At the suggestion of Ptolemy a decree was issued to the neighboring Greek cities, that they should adopt the same policy toward the Jews and make them partake of the sacrifices,' 9.5. But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him an incurable and unseen blow. As soon as he ceased speaking he was seized with a pain in his bowels for which there was no relief and with sharp internal tortures --' 9.6. and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions.' 9.7. Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence, but was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews, and giving orders to hasten the journey. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body.' 9.8. Thus he who had just been thinking that he could command the waves of the sea, in his superhuman arrogance, and imagining that he could weigh the high mountains in a balance, was brought down to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest to all.' 9.9. And so the ungodly man's body swarmed with worms, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of his stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay.' 9.10. Because of his intolerable stench no one was able to carry the man who a little while before had thought that he could touch the stars of heaven. 9.11. Then it was that, broken in spirit, he began to lose much of his arrogance and to come to his senses under the scourge of God, for he was tortured with pain every moment.' 9.12. And when he could not endure his own stench, he uttered these words: 'It is right to be subject to God, and no mortal should think that he is equal to God.' 9.13. Then the abominable fellow made a vow to the Lord, who would no longer have mercy on him, stating' 9.14. that the holy city, which he was hastening to level to the ground and to make a cemetery, he was now declaring to be free;' 9.15. and the Jews, whom he had not considered worth burying but had planned to throw out with their children to the beasts, for the birds to pick, he would make, all of them, equal to citizens of Athens;' 9.16. and the holy sanctuary, which he had formerly plundered, he would adorn with the finest offerings; and the holy vessels he would give back, all of them, many times over; and the expenses incurred for the sacrifices he would provide from his own revenues;' 9.17. and in addition to all this he also would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place to proclaim the power of God. 9.18. But when his sufferings did not in any way abate, for the judgment of God had justly come upon him, he gave up all hope for himself and wrote to the Jews the following letter, in the form of a supplication. This was its content:' |
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7. Septuagint, 3 Maccabees, 1.2-1.3, 1.8-1.10, 1.12, 1.16, 2.14, 2.21, 2.24-2.30, 3.1, 3.11-3.24, 3.26-3.29, 4.5, 4.16, 5.1-5.3, 5.5-5.6, 5.8, 5.11, 5.15-5.22, 5.27-5.30, 5.36, 5.42-5.43, 5.47, 6.20, 6.22, 6.27, 6.33, 7.1-7.15 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.2. But a certain Theodotus, determined to carry out the plot he had devised, took with him the best of the Ptolemaic arms that had been previously issued to him, and crossed over by night to the tent of Ptolemy, intending single-handed to kill him and thereby end the war. 1.2. Mothers and nurses abandoned even newborn children here and there, some in houses and some in the streets, and without a backward look they crowded together at the most high temple. 1.3. But Dositheus, known as the son of Drimylus, a Jew by birth who later changed his religion and apostatized from the ancestral traditions, had led the king away and arranged that a certain insignificant man should sleep in the tent; and so it turned out that this man incurred the vengeance meant for the king. 1.8. Since the Jews had sent some of their council and elders to greet him, to bring him gifts of welcome, and to congratulate him on what had happened, he was all the more eager to visit them as soon as possible. 1.9. After he had arrived in Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice to the supreme God and made thank-offerings and did what was fitting for the holy place. Then, upon entering the place and being impressed by its excellence and its beauty 1.12. Even after the law had been read to him, he did not cease to maintain that he ought to enter, saying, "Even if those men are deprived of this honor, I ought not to be. 1.16. Then the priests in all their vestments prostrated themselves and entreated the supreme God to aid in the present situation and to avert the violence of this evil design, and they filled the temple with cries and tears; 2.14. In our downfall this audacious and profane man undertakes to violate the holy place on earth dedicated to your glorious name. 2.21. Thereupon God, who oversees all things, the first Father of all, holy among the holy ones, having heard the lawful supplication, scourged him who had exalted himself in insolence and audacity. 2.24. After a while he recovered, and though he had been punished, he by no means repented, but went away uttering bitter threats. 2.25. When he arrived in Egypt, he increased in his deeds of malice, abetted by the previously mentioned drinking companions and comrades, who were strangers to everything just. 2.26. He was not content with his uncounted licentious deeds, but he also continued with such audacity that he framed evil reports in the various localities; and many of his friends, intently observing the king's purpose, themselves also followed his will. 2.27. He proposed to inflict public disgrace upon the Jewish community, and he set up a stone on the tower in the courtyard with this inscription: 2.28. None of those who do not sacrifice shall enter their sanctuaries, and all Jews shall be subjected to a registration involving poll tax and to the status of slaves. Those who object to this are to be taken by force and put to death; 2.29. those who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies by fire with the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former limited status. 3.1. When the impious king comprehended this situation, he became so infuriated that not only was he enraged against those Jews who lived in Alexandria, but was still more bitterly hostile toward those in the countryside; and he ordered that all should promptly be gathered into one place, and put to death by the most cruel means. 3.1. And already some of their neighbors and friends and business associates had taken some of them aside privately and were pledging to protect them and to exert more earnest efforts for their assistance. 3.11. Then the king, boastful of his present good fortune, and not considering the might of the supreme God, but assuming that he would persevere constantly in his same purpose, wrote this letter against them: 3.12. King Ptolemy Philopator to his generals and soldiers in Egypt and all its districts, greetings and good health. 3.13. I myself and our government are faring well. 3.14. When our expedition took place in Asia, as you yourselves know, it was brought to conclusion, according to plan, by the gods' deliberate alliance with us in battle 3.15. and we considered that we should not rule the nations inhabiting Coele-Syria and Phoenicia by the power of the spear but should cherish them with clemency and great benevolence, gladly treating them well. 3.16. And when we had granted very great revenues to the temples in the cities, we came on to Jerusalem also, and went up to honor the temple of those wicked people, who never cease from their folly. 3.17. They accepted our presence by word, but insincerely by deed, because when we proposed to enter their inner temple and honor it with magnificent and most beautiful offerings 3.18. they were carried away by their traditional conceit, and excluded us from entering; but they were spared the exercise of our power because of the benevolence which we have toward all. 3.19. By maintaining their manifest ill-will toward us, they become the only people among all nations who hold their heads high in defiance of kings and their own benefactors, and are unwilling to regard any action as sincere. 3.21. Among other things, we made known to all our amnesty toward their compatriots here, both because of their alliance with us and the myriad affairs liberally entrusted to them from the beginning; and we ventured to make a change, by deciding both to deem them worthy of Alexandrian citizenship and to make them participants in our regular religious rites. 3.22. But in their innate malice they took this in a contrary spirit, and disdained what is good. Since they incline constantly to evil 3.23. they not only spurn the priceless citizenship, but also both by speech and by silence they abominate those few among them who are sincerely disposed toward us; in every situation, in accordance with their infamous way of life, they secretly suspect that we may soon alter our policy. 3.24. Therefore, fully convinced by these indications that they are ill-disposed toward us in every way, we have taken precautions lest, if a sudden disorder should later arise against us, we should have these impious people behind our backs as traitors and barbarous enemies. 3.26. For when these all have been punished, we are sure that for the remaining time the government will be established for ourselves in good order and in the best state. 3.27. But whoever shelters any of the Jews, old people or children or even infants, will be tortured to death with the most hateful torments, together with his family. 3.28. Any one willing to give information will receive the property of the one who incurs the punishment, and also two thousand drachmas from the royal treasury, and will be awarded his freedom. 3.29. Every place detected sheltering a Jew is to be made unapproachable and burned with fire, and shall become useless for all time to any mortal creature. 4.5. For a multitude of gray-headed old men, sluggish and bent with age, was being led away, forced to march at a swift pace by the violence with which they were driven in such a shameful manner. 4.16. The king was greatly and continually filled with joy, organizing feasts in honor of all his idols, with a mind alienated from truth and with a profane mouth, praising speechless things that are not able even to communicate or to come to one's help, and uttering improper words against the supreme God. 5.1. Then the king, completely inflexible, was filled with overpowering anger and wrath; so he summoned Hermon, keeper of the elephants 5.1. Hermon, however, when he had drugged the pitiless elephants until they had been filled with a great abundance of wine and satiated with frankincense, presented himself at the courtyard early in the morning to report to the king about these preparations. 5.2. and ordered him on the following day to drug all the elephants -- five hundred in number -- with large handfuls of frankincense and plenty of unmixed wine, and to drive them in, maddened by the lavish abundance of liquor, so that the Jews might meet their doom. 5.2. the king, possessed by a savagery worse than that of Phalaris, said that the Jews were benefited by today's sleep, "but," he added, "tomorrow without delay prepare the elephants in the same way for the destruction of the lawless Jews! 5.3. When he had given these orders he returned to his feasting, together with those of his friends and of the army who were especially hostile toward the Jews. 5.3. But at these words he was filled with an overpowering wrath, because by the providence of God his whole mind had been deranged in regard to these matters; and with a threatening look he said 5.5. The servants in charge of the Jews went out in the evening and bound the hands of the wretched people and arranged for their continued custody through the night, convinced that the whole nation would experience its final destruction. 5.5. Not only this, but when they considered the help which they had received before from heaven they prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground, removing the babies from their breasts 5.6. For to the Gentiles it appeared that the Jews were left without any aid 5.8. that he avert with vengeance the evil plot against them and in a glorious manifestation rescue them from the fate now prepared for them. 5.11. But the Lord sent upon the king a portion of sleep, that beneficence which from the beginning, night and day, is bestowed by him who grants it to whomever he wishes. 5.15. And when he had with difficulty roused him, he pointed out that the hour of the banquet was already slipping by, and he gave him an account of the situation. 5.16. The king, after considering this, returned to his drinking, and ordered those present for the banquet to recline opposite him. 5.17. When this was done he urged them to give themselves over to revelry and to make the present portion of the banquet joyful by celebrating all the more. 5.18. After the party had been going on for some time, the king summoned Hermon and with sharp threats demanded to know why the Jews had been allowed to remain alive through the present day. 5.19. But when he, with the corroboration of his friends, pointed out that while it was still night he had carried out completely the order given him 5.21. When the king had spoken, all those present readily and joyfully with one accord gave their approval, and each departed to his own home. 5.22. But they did not so much employ the duration of the night in sleep as in devising all sorts of insults for those they thought to be doomed. 5.27. But he, upon receiving the report and being struck by the unusual invitation to come out -- since he had been completely overcome by incomprehension -- inquired what the matter was for which this had been so zealously completed for him. 5.28. This was the act of God who rules over all things, for he had implanted in the king's mind a forgetfulness of the things he had previously devised. 5.29. Then Hermon and all the king's friends pointed out that the beasts and the armed forces were ready, "O king, according to your eager purpose. 5.36. The king, however, reconvened the party in the same manner and urged the guests to return to their celebrating. 5.42. Upon this the king, a Phalaris in everything and filled with madness, took no account of the changes of mind which had come about within him for the protection of the Jews, and he firmly swore an irrevocable oath that he would send them to death without delay, mangled by the knees and feet of the beasts 5.43. and would also march against Judea and rapidly level it to the ground with fire and spear, and by burning to the ground the temple inaccessible to him would quickly render it forever empty of those who offered sacrifices there. 5.47. So he, when he had filled his impious mind with a deep rage, rushed out in full force along with the beasts, wishing to witness, with invulnerable heart and with his own eyes, the grievous and pitiful destruction of the aforementioned people. 6.22. Then the king's anger was turned to pity and tears because of the things that he had devised beforehand. 6.27. Loose and untie their unjust bonds! Send them back to their homes in peace, begging pardon for your former actions! 6.33. Likewise also the king, after convening a great banquet to celebrate these events, gave thanks to heaven unceasingly and lavishly for the unexpected rescue which he had experienced. 7.1. King Ptolemy Philopator to the generals in Egypt and all in authority in his government, greetings and good health. 7.1. Upon receiving this letter the Jews did not immediately hurry to make their departure, but they requested of the king that at their own hands those of the Jewish nation who had willfully transgressed against the holy God and the law of God should receive the punishment they deserved. 7.2. We ourselves and our children are faring well, the great God guiding our affairs according to our desire. 7.2. Then, after inscribing them as holy on a pillar and dedicating a place of prayer at the site of the festival, they departed unharmed, free, and overjoyed, since at the king's command they had been brought safely by land and sea and river each to his own place. 7.3. Certain of our friends, frequently urging us with malicious intent, persuaded us to gather together the Jews of the kingdom in a body and to punish them with barbarous penalties as traitors; 7.4. for they declared that our government would never be firmly established until this was accomplished, because of the ill-will which these people had toward all nations. 7.5. They also led them out with harsh treatment as slaves, or rather as traitors, and, girding themselves with a cruelty more savage than that of Scythian custom, they tried without any inquiry or examination to put them to death. 7.6. But we very severely threatened them for these acts, and in accordance with the clemency which we have toward all men we barely spared their lives. Since we have come to realize that the God of heaven surely defends the Jews, always taking their part as a father does for his children 7.7. and since we have taken into account the friendly and firm goodwill which they had toward us and our ancestors, we justly have acquitted them of every charge of whatever kind. 7.8. We also have ordered each and every one to return to his own home, with no one in any place doing them harm at all or reproaching them for the irrational things that have happened. 7.9. For you should know that if we devise any evil against them or cause them any grief at all, we always shall have not man but the Ruler over every power, the Most High God, in everything and inescapably as an antagonist to avenge such acts. Farewell. 7.11. For they declared that those who for the belly's sake had transgressed the divine commandments would never be favorably disposed toward the king's government. 7.12. The king then, admitting and approving the truth of what they said, granted them a general license so that freely and without royal authority or supervision they might destroy those everywhere in his kingdom who had transgressed the law of God. 7.13. When they had applauded him in fitting manner, their priests and the whole multitude shouted the Hallelujah and joyfully departed. 7.14. And so on their way they punished and put to a public and shameful death any whom they met of their fellow-countrymen who had become defiled. 7.15. In that day they put to death more than three hundred men; and they kept the day as a joyful festival, since they had destroyed the profaners. |
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8. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 3.65.7 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 3.65.7. But some of the poets, one of whom is Antimachus, state that Lycurgus was king, not of Thrace, but of Arabia, and that the attack upon Dionysus and the Bacchantes was made at the Nysa which is in Arabia. However this may be, Dionysus, they say, punished the impious but treated all other men honourably, and then made his return journey from India to Thebes upon an elephant. |
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9. Anon., 2 Baruch, 6.10 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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10. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 12.387, 13.62-13.71 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.387. Now as to Onias, the son of the high priest, who, as we before informed you, was left a child when his father died, when he saw that the king had slain his uncle Menelaus, and given the high priesthood to Alcimus, who was not of the high priest stock, but was induced by Lysias to translate that dignity from his family to another house, he fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt; 13.62. 1. But then the son of Onias the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings 13.63. out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt like to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites and priests out of their own stock. 13.64. The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before, and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction, and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Cleopatra: 13.65. “Having done many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance of God, and that in Celesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation 13.66. where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about divine worship. Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals; 13.67. I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with another, and he subservient to thy advantages; 13.68. for the prophet Isaiah foretold that, ‘there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God;’” and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place. 13.69. 2. And this was what Onias wrote to king Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, and that of his sister and wife Cleopatra, by that epistle which they wrote in answer to it; for they laid the blame and the transgression of the law upon the head of Onias. And this was their reply: 13.71. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein.” |
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11. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 7.423-7.426 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 7.423. Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of his hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; 7.424. and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple somewhere in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; 7.425. for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater goodwill; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him. 7.426. 3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. That Nomos was called the Nomos of Heliopoli |
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12. New Testament, Apocalypse, 12.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.16. The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. |
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13. Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation To The Greeks, 4.54.2 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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14. Babylonian Talmud, Megillah, 14b (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 14b. מורד במלכות הוא ולא צריך למידייניה אמרה לו עדיין שאול קיים ולא יצא טבעך בעולם אמר לה (שמואל א כה, לג) ברוך טעמך וברוכה את אשר כליתני [היום הזה] מבא בדמים,דמים תרתי משמע אלא מלמד שגילתה את שוקה והלך לאורה ג' פרסאות אמר לה השמיעי לי אמרה לו (שמואל א כה, לא) לא תהיה זאת לך לפוקה זאת מכלל דאיכא אחריתי ומאי ניהו מעשה דבת שבע ומסקנא הכי הואי,(שמואל א כה, כט) והיתה נפש אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים כי הוות מיפטרא מיניה אמרה ליה (שמואל א כה, לא) והטיב ה' לאדוני וזכרת את אמתך,אמר רב נחמן היינו דאמרי אינשי איתתא בהדי שותא פילכא איכא דאמרי שפיל ואזיל בר אווזא ועינוהי מיטייפי,חולדה דכתיב (מלכים ב כב, יד) וילך חלקיהו הכהן ואחיקם ועכבור וגו' ובמקום דקאי ירמיה היכי מתנביא איהי אמרי בי רב משמיה דרב חולדה קרובת ירמיה היתה ולא הוה מקפיד עליה,ויאשיה גופיה היכי שביק ירמיה ומשדר לגבה אמרי דבי רבי שילא מפני שהנשים רחמניות הן,ר' יוחנן אמר ירמיה לא הוה התם שהלך להחזיר עשרת השבטים ומנלן דאהדור דכתיב (יחזקאל ז, יג) כי המוכר אל הממכר לא ישוב אפשר יובל בטל ונביא מתנבא עליו שיבטל אלא מלמד שירמיה החזירן,ויאשיהו בן אמון מלך עליהן דכתיב (מלכים ב כג, יז) ויאמר מה הציון הלז אשר אני רואה ויאמרו אליו אנשי העיר הקבר איש האלהים אשר בא מיהודה ויקרא את הדברים האלה אשר עשית על המזבח בבית אל וכי מה טיבו של יאשיהו על המזבח בבית אל אלא מלמד שיאשיהו מלך עליהן רב נחמן אמר מהכא (הושע ו, יא) גם יהודה שת קציר לך בשובי שבות עמי,אסתר דכתיב (אסתר ה, א) ויהי ביום השלישי ותלבש אסתר מלכות בגדי מלכות מיבעי ליה אלא שלבשתה רוח הקדש כתיב הכא ותלבש וכתיב התם (דברי הימים א יב, יט) ורוח לבשה את עמשי וגו',אמר רב נחמן לא יאה יהירותא לנשי תרתי נשי יהירן הויין וסניין שמייהו חדא שמה זיבורתא וחדא שמה כרכושתא זיבורתא כתיב בה (שופטים ד, ו) ותשלח ותקרא לברק ואילו איהי לא אזלה לגביה כרכושתא כתיב בה (מלכים ב כב, טו) אמרו לאיש ולא אמרה אמרו למלך,אמר רב נחמן חולדה מבני בניו של יהושע היתה כתיב הכא (מלכים ב כב, יד) בן חרחס וכתיב התם (שופטים ב,ט) בתמנת חרס,איתיביה רב עינא סבא לרב נחמן שמונה נביאים והם כהנים יצאו מרחב הזונה ואלו הן נריה ברוך ושריה מחסיה ירמיה חלקיה חנמאל ושלום רבי יהודה אומר אף חולדה הנביאה מבני בניה של רחב הזונה היתה כתיב הכא בן תקוה (מלכים ב כב, יד) וכתיב התם (יהושע ב, יח) את תקות חוט השני,אמר ליה עינא סבא ואמרי לה פתיא אוכמא מיני ומינך תסתיים שמעתא דאיגיירא ונסבה יהושע ומי הוו ליה זרעא ליהושע והכתיב (דברי הימים א ז, כז) נון בנו יהושע בנו בני לא הוו ליה בנתן הוו ליה | 14b. Nabal, your husband, bis a rebel against the throne,as David had already been anointed as king by the prophet Samuel, and Nabal refused his orders. bAndtherefore bthere is no need to try him,as a rebel is not accorded the ordinary prescriptions governing judicial proceedings. Abigail bsaid to him:You lack the authority to act in this manner, as bSaul is still alive.He is the king in actual practice, and byour seal [ itivakha /i] has notyet bspread across the world,i.e., your kingship is not yet known to all. Therefore, you are not authorized to try someone for rebelling against the monarchy. David accepted her words and bsaid to her:“And bblessed be your discretion and blessed be you who have kept me this day from coming to bloodguiltiness [ idamim /i]”(I Samuel 25:33).,The Gemara asks: The plural term idamim /i,literally, bloods, bindicates two.Why did David not use the singular term idam /i? bRather, this teaches thatAbigail brevealed her thigh,and he lusted after her, band he went three parasangs by the fireof his desire for her, and bsaid to her: Listen to me,i.e., listen to me and allow me to be intimate with you. Abigail then bsaid to him: “Let this not be a stumbling block for you”(I Samuel 25:31). bBy inference,from the word b“this,”it can be understood that bthere is someone elsewho will in fact be a stumbling block for him, band what isthis referring to? bThe incident involving Bathsheba. And in the end this is what was,as indeed he stumbled with Bathsheba. This demonstrates that Abigail was a prophetess, as she knew that this would occur. This also explains why David blessed Abigail for keeping him from being responsible for two incidents involving blood that day: Abigail’s menstrual blood and the shedding of Nabal’s blood.,Apropos Abigail, the Gemara explains additional details in the story. Abigail said to David: b“Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bond of lifewith the Lord your God” (I Samuel 25:29), and bwhen she parted from him she said to him: “And when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, and you shall remember your handmaid”(I Samuel 25:31)., bRav Naḥman saidthat bthisexplains the folk saying bthat people say: While a woman is engaged in conversationshe also holds bthe spindle,i.e., while a woman is engaged in one activity she is already taking steps with regard to another. Abigail came to David in order to save her husband Nabal, but at the same time she indicates that if her husband dies, David should remember her and marry her. And indeed, after Nabal’s death David took Abigail for his wife. bSome saythat Rav Naḥman referred to a different saying: bThe goose stoopsits head bas it goesalong, bbut its eyes look on from afarto find what it is looking for. So too, Abigail acted in similar fashion., bHuldahwas a prophetess, bas it is written: “So Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam and Achborand Shaphan and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess” (II Kings 22:14) as emissaries of King Josiah. The Gemara asks: bBut if Jeremiah was found there, how could she prophesy?Out of respect for Jeremiah, who was her superior, it would have been fitting that she not prophesy in his presence. The Sages of bthe school of Rav say in the name of Rav: Huldah was aclose brelative of Jeremiah, and he did not object to herprophesying in his presence.,The Gemara asks: bBut how could Josiah himself ignore Jeremiah and sendemissaries btoHuldah? The Sages of bthe school of Rabbi Sheila say: Because women aremore bcompassionate,and he hoped that what she would tell them would not be overly harsh., bRabbi Yoḥa saida different answer: bJeremiah was not thereat the time, because bhe went to bring back the ten tribesfrom their exile. bAnd from where do we derive that he brought them back? As it is written: “For the seller shall not return to that which he has sold”(Ezekiel 7:13), i.e., Ezekiel prophesied that in the future the Jubilee Year would no longer be in effect. Now bis it possible that the Jubilee hadalready been bannulled?The ihalakhotof the Jubilee Year apply only when all of the tribes of Israel are settled in their respective places, which could not have happened since the exile of the ten tribes more than a century earlier, bbut the prophet is prophesying that it will ceaseonly in the future. bRather, this teaches that Jeremiah brought backthe ten tribes from their exile., bAnd Josiah the son of Amon ruled over theten tribes, bas it is written: “Then he said: What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel”(II Kings 23:17). bNow what connection did Josiah,king of Judea, bhave with the altar at Bethel,a city in the kingdom of Israel? bRather, this teaches that Josiah ruled over theten tribes of Israel. bRav Naḥman said:Proof that the tribes returned may be adduced bfromthe verse bhere: “Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I would return the captivity of My people”(Hosea 6:11), which indicates that they returned to their places., bEstherwas also a prophetess, bas it is written: “And it came to pass on the third day that Esther clothed herself in royalty”(Esther 5:1). bIt should have said:Esther clothed herself in broyal garments. Rather,this alludes to the fact bthat she clothed herself with a divinespirit of binspiration. It is written here: “And she clothed herself,” and it is written elsewhere: “And the spirit clothed Amasai”(I Chronicles 12:19). Just as there the reference is to being enclothed by a spirit, so too Esther was enclothed by a spirit of divine inspiration.,An additional point is mentioned with regard to the prophetesses. bRav Naḥman said: Haughtiness is not befitting a woman.And a proof to this is that bthere were two haughty women, whose names wereidentical to the names of bloathsomecreatures. bOne,Deborah, bwas called a hornet,as her Hebrew name, Devorah, means hornet; band one,Huldah, bwas called a marten,as her name is the Hebrew term for that creature. From where is it known that they were haughty? bWith regard toDeborah, bthe hornet, it is written: “And she sent and called Barak”(Judges 4:6), bbut she herself did not go to him.And bwith regard toHuldah, bthe marten, it is written: “Say to the manthat sent you to me” (II Kings 22:15), bbut she did not say: Say to the king. /b,Furthermore, bRav Naḥman said: Huldah was a descendant of Joshua.An allusion to this bis written here:“Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, bthe son of Harhas [ iḥarḥas /i]”(II Kings 22:14), band it says elsewherewith regard to Joshua: “And they buried him in the border of his inheritance bin Timnath-heres [ iḥeres /i]”(Judges 2:9), therefore intimating that there is a certain connection between them., bRav Eina the Elder raised an objectionfrom a ibaraita bto Rav Naḥman’steaching. The ibaraitaindicates that Huldah was in fact a descendant of Rahab, and seemingly not of Joshua: bEight prophets, who werealso bpriests, descended from Rahab the prostitute, and they are: Neriah;his son bBaruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah; Jeremiah;his father, bHilkiah;Jeremiah’s cousin bHanamel; andHanamel’s father, bShallum. Rabbi Yehuda said: So too, Huldah the prophetess was a descendant of Rahab the prostitute,as bit is written herewith regard to Huldah: b“The son of Tikvah,” and it is written elsewherein reference to Rahab’s escape from the destruction of Jericho: b“This cord of [ itikvat /i] scarlet thread”(Joshua 2:18).,Rav Naḥman responded to Eina the Elder and bsaid to him: Eina the Elder, and some saythat he said to him: bBlackened pot,i.e., my colleague in Torah, who has toiled and blackened his face in Torah study, bfrom me and from you the matter may be concluded,i.e., the explanation lies in a combination of our two statements. bForRahab bconverted and married Joshua,and therefore Huldah descended from both Joshua and Rahab. The Gemara raises a difficulty: bBut did Joshua have any descendants? But isn’t it writtenin the genealogical list of the tribe of Ephraim: b“Nun his son, Joshua his son”(I Chronicles 7:27)? The listing does not continue any further, implying that Joshua had no sons. The Gemara answers: Indeed, bhe did not have sons,but bhe did have daughters. /b |
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15. Anon., 4 Baruch, 3.8, 3.14
| 3.8. And Jeremiah said: Behold, Lord, now we know that you are delivering the city into the hands of its enemies, and they will take the people away to Babylon. What do you want me to do with the holy vessels of the temple service? 3.14. And the Lord said to Jeremiah: Send him to the vineyard of Agrippa, and I will hide him in the shadow of the mountain until I cause the people to return to the city. |
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