Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 7, scan section 64

"guest," and then '* man," as it is written [II Sam. xii. 4]: " And there came a traveller unto the rich man ; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the guest that was come to him ; but he took the ewe of the poor man, and dressed it for the man that was come to him " (Rabha assumes the whole verse to refer to the evil angel). R. Johanan said : If it were not for the following three pas- sages, the enemies of Israel (meaning Israel) could not withstand : First [Micah, iv. 6] : " And her to whom /have done evil " ; and the second [Jeremiah, xviii. 6] : '' As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel " ; and the third is [Ezek. xxxvi. 26] : "/will remove the heart of stone out of your body, and I will give you a heart of flesh." R. Papa says : Also from the following verse [ibid., ibid. 27] : " And my spirit I will put within you." It is written [Zech. ii. 3] : " And the Lord showed me four carpenters." Who are the four carpenters? Said R. Hanah bar Bizna in the name of R. Simeon the Pious : Messiah b. David, and Messiah b. Joseph, Elijah, and Cohen Zedek. It is written [Micah, v. 4] : " And in this (manner) shall there be peace : If Asshur should come into our land ; and if he should tread in our palaces, then will we raise up against him seven shepherds, and eight anointed men. Who are the seven shepherds ? David in the centre ; Adam, Sheth, Methushelach, at his right ; Abraham, Jacob, and Moses at his left. And who are the eight * In Leaser's version of the Bible he translates Manon "son," for which we do not know the authority ; but the Mashbir translates Manon uevoivaGO, i.e.^ '* vio- lent," and quotes a Midrash where the evil angel is meant. TRACT SUCCAH. 83 anointed men ? Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zedekiah, Messiah, and Elijah.* '' And fotir ladders,'' etc. It was taught in a Boraitha, that the height of every candelabrum was fifty ells. ^' And four lads,'' etc. The schoolmen propounded a ques- tion : Is it meant that each of them held a pitcher that contained 120 lugs, or the 120 lugs was the joint capacity of all the four? Come and hear : And in their hands were pitchers of oil containing each 30 lugs, which altogether amounted to 120. And a Borai- tha states that they were praised more than the son of Martha the daughter of Baithus. It was said of the latter that he used to take two legs from the large ox which was bought for a thou- sand Zuz, in his hands, and went with them slowly, step by step. And his fellow-priests did not let him do so, because it is written [Prov. xiv. 28] : " In the multitude of the people is the king's glory " {i.e., if more men carried, God's glory were greater). What is meant by, *' They were praised more than the son of," etc. ? Shall we assume the 30 lugs were heavy — the legs were heavier ? Yea, but there was only one step, and it was square ; but here was a ladder, and standing upright (and it was more dif- ficult for children to carry the burden). " There was not a court in Jerusalem that was not illuminated." A Boraitha taught : A woman could pick wheat by this light. ''Pious and distinguished men" etc. The rabbis taught: Among were such as said thus : " Well be to our youth which does not disgrace our age." They were pious and distinguished men, and there were among them people who said : '* Well be to our age that has atoned for our youth." And these are the peni- tents. Both used to say : "■ Well be to those who have not sinned at all ; but who has sinned shall repent, and he will be forgiven." We have learned in a Boraitha : It was said of Hillel the Elder (the Prince) : When he rejoiced at the drawing of the water, he used to say thus : If I am here, all are here ; but if I am not here, who is here ? He used also to say : To the places which I am fond of, my feet bring me ; if thou wilt visit my house, I will visit thy house ; but if thou wilt not visit my house, I shall never visit thine. As it is written [Ex. xx. 21] : "In every place where I * It is strange to Rashi why Isaac is not mentioned here among the patriarchs. He says it seems to him that it is stated elsewhere that it is because Isaac went to redeem his children from Gehenna. It is so. This can be found in Midrash II Chronicles and in Jalkut Shimoni Micah, v. The strangeness of this saying, however, remains. 84 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. shall permit my name to be mentioned, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.'"^ R. Johanan said : The feet of the man are securities for him : where he is needed, they bring him thither. Two Ethiopians were in the service of King Solomon, named Elihoreph and Achiyah the son of Shisha, and were his scribes. One day Solomon saw the Angel of Death was sad, and he asked him for the reason, and he said : Because the two men are re- quired from me. And Solomon took the two men and gave them away to devils, who should carry them away to the city of Luz, which the Angel of Death cannot enter. On the morrow he saw the Angel of Death was very cheerful, and when he asked him the reason, he told him : To the place where I was commanded to take the lives of these two men, thou hast sent them, for they died at the gate of Luz. Then said Solomon : The feet of a man are his securities ; where he is needed, to that place they bring him. We have learned in a Boraitha : It was said that Rabban Simeon b. GamaHel, when he rejoiced at the drawing of water, would take eight flambeaux in his hands, and throw them into the air, and catch, and one would not touch another. When he used to prostrate himself, he fixed his thumbs on the ground, and bowed, and kissed the floor, and then raised himself, and no creature can do so. And this is what is called Qidah. Levi tried to make such a Qidah in the presence of Rabhi, and became lame on one leg. Levi also tried in the presence of Rabhi to throw and catch eight knives. Samuel tried to do so in the presence of Sha'bur the king with eight goblets full of wine ; and Abayi in the presence of Rabha with eight eggs, according to others with four eggs. We have learned in a Boraitha : R. Joshua b. R. Hananiah said : When we were engaged in rejoicing at the draw- ing of water, our eyes saw no sleep. How so ? The first hour for the morning daily sacrifice ; afterwards for praying, and from that to the additional sacrifice ; after that the additional prayer ; afterwards we went to the house of learning ; from there we went to eat and drink at home, and afterwards the Min'ha prayer; and from the Min'ha prayer to the daily evening sacrifices, and from that time we rejoiced at the drawing of the water till the morn-