Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 95

mighty is his kindness over us," was said by Azariah, and " And the truth of the Lord endureth forever, Hallelujah!" all three said in unison. According to another version, this last sentence, "The truth of the Lord endureth forever," was said by the angel Gabriel, because it was said that when Nimrod the wicked threw Abraham our father into the fiery furnace, the angel Gabriel said to the Lord: " Permit me to go and make the furnace cold, that it may do no harm to Abraham," and the Holy One, blessed be He, replied : " Abraham is now the only one who has forsaken idolatry and believes in God, and I am the only One in the world, hence it would be but fair that the only One should res- cue the other exception," and as the Holy One, blessed be He, would not deprive any one creature of the reward due, He said to Gabriel: " Thou shalt have an opportunity to rescue three of his children from the fiery furnace, while I Myself shall rescue him." (Whereupon Gabriel is supposed to have said: "The truth of the Lord endureth forever.") R. Simeon of Shiloni preached : When Nebuchadnezzar the wicked threw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the fiery furnace, the angel Jurqami, master of the waters, came before the Lord and said: " Permit me to go and cool the furnace, so that I might rescue the righteous from death." Said Gabriel to him: " This would not prove the power of the Lord, for it is well known that water can extinguish fire, and thou art the master of waters ; hence it would be but commonplace if through thy means the furnace were cooled. Rather should I, who am the master of fire, be permitted to go, and I shall remove the fire on the inside and make it so much more fierce on the TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). 253 outside, which will be a miracle within a miracle ; for a master of fire will make the fire cool in one place and so much hotter in another." Whereupon the Lord said: " Go thou, Gabriel, and do so," and Gabriel said: " The truth of the Lord endureth forever. ' ' R. Nathan said : The truth of the Lord endureth forever, was said by the fish of the sea, and this is in accordance with the dictum of R. Huna, who said: When the Israelites were brought forth out of Egypt, they were still sceptics, and when taken through the Red Sea, they said: " Surely the Egyptians have passed through the sea at another point, and will overtake and slay us." So the Lord said to the master of the sea: " Throw out all the bodies of the Egyptians in the sea on dry land, so that the Israelites may see them," and the master of the sea replied: " Creator of the Universe! Is there then a slave who was given a gift by his master, and was then deprived of it again ?" So the Lord replied: " I shall return to thee half as many again as thou shalt throw out," and the master of the sea said again: "Creator of the Universe! Is there then a slave who should demand restitution of his master ?" and the Lord answered again: "The stream of Kishon shall be thy pledge." Whereupon all the bodies of the Egyptians were thrown up on the dry land, and Israel saw them, as it is written [Exod. xiv. 30] : " And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the shore of the sea." Whence do we know that the Lord promised half as many again in return for the bodies of the Egyptians ? Because concerning the Egyptians it is said [ibid. xiv. 7]: " And he took six hundred chariots," while concerning Sissera it is said [Judges iv. 3]: " For he had nine hundred chariots of iron." When Sissera came to wage war upon the Israelites, he came with iron spears; but the Lord changed the position of the stars, as it is written [Judges v. 20]: " From heaven they fought: the stars in their courses fought against Sissera." As soon as the stars moved, the spears of Sissera's army became heated, so the men went to cool them in the stream of Kishon, and then the Lord said to the stream of Kishon: " Thou wast pledged. Go now, and redeem thy pledge. " Whereupon the stream threw them all into the sea, as it is written [ibid. 21] : " The stream of Kishon swept them away, that ancient stream, the stream of Kishon." Why is it called the ancient stream ? It is so called, because it was given as a pledge in ancient time. Then, when all those men were swept into the sea, the fishes, which were 254 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. thus provided with so much food, said : " The truth of the Lord endureth forever." Rabha preached: It is written [Psalms cxvi. i] : " It is lovely to me, that the Lord heareth my voice." The congregation of Israel (Kneseth Israel) said to the Holy One, blessed be He: " Lord of the Universe! When do I know that I have found favor in thine eyes, when thou hearest my prayer ? " Further, it is written [ibid. 6]: " I was in misery, and He helped me." The congregation of Israel said to the Lord: " Lord of the Universe! Although I am deficient in the fulfilment of relig- ious duties, I am nevertheless thine; hence it would be seemly that thou shouldest help me." R. Kahanasaid: When R, Ishmael bar R. Jose became ill. Rabbi sent to him the following request: " Tell us two or three things which thou wert wont to say in the name of thy father," and R. Ishmael replied: So said my father: The passage [Psalms cxvii. l], " Praise the Lord, all ye nations," signifies that all the nations should praise Him, on account of the power and the miracles with which He has helped the nations, and so much the more should we Israelites praise him ; for concerning us it is written [ibid. 2] : " For mighty is his kindness over us." My father also said: In the future, Egypt will bring a gift to our Messiah, and he will hesitate whether to accept it or not, when the Lord will say unto him: " Accept it, for they were hospita- ble to my children in their land," and it is written [Psalms Ixviii. 32]: "Nobles will come out of Egypt" (with gifts). Seeing this, Ethiopia will say: " If the gifts of Egypt, which held the Israelites in bondage, were accepted, surely gifts from us, who never did them any injury, will be so much the more accepted." So the Lord will say to the Messiah : " Accept their gifts also," and it is written [ibid.] : " Ethiopia will stretch forth her hands eagerly unto God." When Rome shall see this, they will say: " Surely if the gifts of the Ethiopians, who are nowise near to the Israelites, were accepted, gifts from us, who are their brethren,^ will be accepted." And the Lord said to the angel Gabriel : " Rebuke the wild beasts " [Psalms Ixviii. 31], and R. Hyya bar Abba in the name of R. Johanan explains this to mean: " Rebuke the wild beasts, whose quills are used solely to write decrees to the detriment of the Israelites," and the * The Talmud states that the Romans were descendants of the Edomites,