Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 7, scan section 63

* There was a tradition among the ancient Hebrews that two Messiahs would ap- pear before the redemption of Israel : one of the tribe of Joseph and one of the tribe of Jehudah, a descendant of David; and the expression "who was killed" means who will have been killed. The Jewish Christians at that time, who did not believe in the divinity of Christ, but in his Messiahship {i.e., that the traditional Messiah ben Joseph meant the son of a man by the name of Joseph, but not of the tribe of Joseph, as Christ was, and that his fate was to be killed before the appearance of Messiah b. David), explain this passage to have reference to Christ. fSee Tract Yomah, p. 100. 8o THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. should be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in my eyes."* R. Assi said : In the beginning the evil angel appears as in- significant and thin as a cobweb, f and finally he becomes as thick as a wagon-rope, as it is written [Is. v. i8] : '' Wo unto those that draw iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and as with a wagon- rope, sinfulness. The rabbis taught : The Messiah b. David, who (as we hope) will appear in the near future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to him : Ask something of me and I will give it to thee, as it is written [Ps. ii. 7-8] : " I will announce the decree . . . Ask it of me, and I will give," etc. But as the Messiah b. David will have seen that the Messiah b. Joseph who preceded him was killed, he will say before the Lord : Lord of the Universe, I will ask nothing of Thee but life. And the Lord will answer : This was prophesied already for thee by thy father David [Ps. xxi. 5] : *' Life hath he asked of thee, thou gavest it to him." R. Awira, according to others R. Joshuah b. Levi, lectured : There are seven names for the evil angel (tempting man). The Holy One, blessed be He, names him " evil," as it is written [Gen. viii. 21] : " The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth " ; Moses calls him " obduracy," as it is written [Deut. X. 16] : '' Remove the obduracy of your heart " ; David calls him "unclean," as it is written [Ps. li. 12] : '' Create unto me a clean heart " ; and when he says ** a clean heart," it must be an unclean one. Solomon calls him " enemy," as it is written [Prov. xxv. 21] : " If thy enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink ; for though thou gatherest coals of fire upon his head, yet will the Lord repay it unto thee." Do not read Q")^^ (repay it), but Q^^^ (he will make him peace- ful toward thee). Isaiah calls him "stumbling-block," as it is written [Is. Ivii. 14] : " And he will say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, clear out of the way, lift up every stumbling-block out of the way of my people." Ezekiel names him " stone," as it is written [Ezek. xxxvi. 26] : " I will remove the heart of stone out of your body." Joel calls him " host of the north," as it is written [Joel, ii. 20] : " And the host of the north will I remove." (The ex- pression in Hebrew is Tzephoni, which also signifies the " hidden * Leeser in his translation has it in the form of an interrogation, but the Tal- mud takes it in simple form. f According to Rashi ; according to Scheinhack, however, it means the thread of the XP^XV ! ^^^ so it seems also from the Aruch. TRACT SUCCAH. Si one," and they interpret it as the evil spirit which is hidden in the heart of man.) The rabbis taught : And I will drive it into a land barren and desolate : the evil angel hidden in a man's heart I will drive into the desert, i.e., where men do not live, that he might tempt them ; " with its advance towards the eastern sea," i.e., he set his eyes on the First Temple, and destroyed it, and killed the scholars that were there ; *' and its rearward toward the western sea," i.e., he set his eyes on the Second Temple, and destroyed it, and killed the scholars that were there ; "■ and its stench shall ascend, and its ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things," i.e., he leaves out the other nation, and comes to tempt only the Israelites. *' He hath done great things'' Said Abayi : Scholars he tempts more than any one else. As it once happened, Abayi heard a man say to a woman : " Let us rise early, and we will go on the road " ; and Abayi thought : " I will follow them, and prevent them from a sin." He went after them about three miles through reeds, and he heard them saying : " Our conversation has been very agreeable, and now we must take separate roads." Said Abayi : " My enemy (meaning himself) would not have contained himself thus." He leaned against the bolt of the door, and was very sorry that he would have been worse than a common man. And an old man came to him and taught him : " The greater a man is, the more is he tempted by the evil angel." R. Itz'hak said : The evil passions of man try to get the better of him all the day long, as it is written [Gen. vi. 5] : '' Was only evil all day long." R. Simeon b. Lakish said : They try to get the better of him, and to slay him, as it is written [Ps. xxxvii. 32] : *' The wicked looketh out for the righteous, and seeketh to slay him " ; and Avere not the Holy One, blessed be He, to aid him, man could not resist, as it is written further : *' The Lord will not leave him in his hand, and will not condemn him when he is judged." The disciples of R. Ishmael taught : If this hideousness has attacked thee, take it to the house of learning ; if it is a stone it will be ground to powder, and if it is iron it will be split to pieces. " If a stone, it will be ground," as it is written [Is. Iv. i] : ** Ho, every one of ye that thirsteth, come ye to the water" {i.e., the Law); and it is written [Job, xiv. 19] : *' The water weareth out stones." '' And of iron, it will be split into pieces," as it is writ- ten [Jeremiah, xxiii. 29] : *' Is not thus my word like the fire? 6 82 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. saith the Lord, and like a hammer that shivereth the rock ? " Said R. Samuel bar Na'hmani in the name of Jehonathan : The evil angel tempts man in this world, and bears testimony in the world to come, as it is written [Prov. xxix. 21] : " If one rear his slave delicately from his youth, then will he at length become Manon " ; and in the Alpha Bet ha of R. Hiya, which was called Atbach, a witness was called Manon!^ Rabh Huna pointed out a contradiction : It is written [Ro- sea, iv. 12] : " For the spirit of lewdness has caused them to err,'' and [ibid. v. 4] : " The spirit of lewdness is in their bosoms At first it causes to err, and afterwards it remains in the bosom. Rabha said : In the beginning he is called '' traveller," and then