Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 16, scan section 40

up again, so the ten tribes, who are now in darkness, thi future will lighten upon them. GEMARA : The rabbis taught : The ten tribes have no share in the world to come, as it reads : " And the Lord plucked them out of their land of anger, and in wrath and in great indigna- tion," means in this world, " and he cast them into another land," means in the world to come. So R. Aqiba. R. Simeon b. Jehudah, the head of the village of Aku, said in the name of R. Simeon: If their acts will be as on that day, they will not return, but if they will repent, they will. Rabbi, however, said : They will have a share in the world to come, and they will return, as it reads [Isa. xxvii. 13] : " And then shall come those who are lost in the land of Asshur," etc. Said Rabba b. b. Hana in the name of R. Johanan : R. Aqiba's saying is against his piety, as [Jer. iii. 12] : reads : " Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; I will not cause my anger to fall upon you, for I am full of kindness, saith the Lord, I will not bear grudge for- ever." What is the kindness? As in the following Boraitha: The minors of the wicked of Israel will not have a share in the world to come, as it reads [Malachi, iii. 19] : " For behold, the day is coming which shall burn as an oven; and all the pre- sumptuous, yea, and all who practice wickedness shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of hosts, who will not leave them root or bough." " Root," in this world, and " bough," in the world to come. So Rabban Gamaliel. R. Aqiba, however, said : They will have a share in the world to come, as it reads [Ps. cvi. i] : "The Lord preserveth pcthayim (fool)." And in the countries of the sea (Arabia), a child is called pathia. And also [Dan. iv. 11 and 12]: "Hew down the tree and lop ofif its branches, strip of? its leaves and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee away from under it, and the fowls from among its branches. Nevertheless leave the body of its root in the earth." But what is meant in the former verse, and " he shall not leave them a root or bough "? It means that he shall not leave one commandment or a part of it which they will observe unrewarded, however they will be rewarded for it in this world, but will have no share in the world to come. An- 364 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. other explanation, " root " means the soil, and " bough " the body. However, the minors, children of idolaters, all agree that they will not have a share in the world to come. It was taught: From what age has a minor a share in the world to come ? R. Hyya and R. Simeon b. Rabbi differ. Ac- cording to one, immediately after birth, and according to the other, from the time he commences to speak. The former in- fers it from [Ps. xxii. ;^2] : " Will tell his righteousness to a people just born," and the latter infers it from the previous, "Sera (children) shall serve him; there shall be related of the Lord unto future generations." It was taught : Rabhina said : From the time he is formed ; and R. Na'hman b. Itz'hak said: From the time he was cir- cumcised, as it reads [Ps. Ixxxviii. 16] : "I am inflicted and perishing from my youth up." There is a Boraitha in the name of R. Mair: From the time he can answer " Amen," as it reads [Isa. xxvi. 2] : " Open ye the gates, that there may enter in the righteous nation which guardeth the truth (ammiim). Do not read amtinim, but amen. What is meant by " amen " ? It is an abbreviation of El melech neman (literally, God, King of Truth. It reads [Isa. v. 14] : " Therefore hath the deep enlarged her desire, and opened her mouth without measure (ehok)." Said Resh Lakish : It means him who failed to perform even one (ehok) law of the Torah. Said R. Johanan to him : Your saying is not satisfactory to their creator. Say the reverse, even he who has studied but one law does not belong to the Gehenna. [Zech.xiii.8] : "And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts (of those) therein shall perish, but the third part shall be left therein." Said Resh Lakish: It means a third of Shem's descendants. And R. Johanan said to him : Your saying is not satisfactory for their Lord. And even if you should say : A third of Noah's children will remain and two- thirds will be destroyed, it would also not satisfy Him, but it means one-third of the wicked will remain.* [Jer. iii. 14] : "I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and bring you to Zion." Said Resh Lakish: It means * Rashi tries to explain this at length, basing it on a Midrash of which we are not aware. And as it is very complicated, he also tries to give his own explanation, but it seems to us still more complicated, and therefore we have translated almost lit- erally. TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). 365 literally. And R. Johanan said again to him: Their Lord is not pleased with such an interpretation, but it means one right- eous in a city saves the whole city, and two from a family save the whole family. And the very same said Rabh to R. Kahana when he was sitting before him interpreting the just-cited verses literally. Rabh saw R. Kahana washing his head and improving his complexion, and thereafter came to study in Rabh's college. And he read to him [Job, xxviii. 13] : " And she is not to be found in the land of the living." And to the questions of R. Kahana : Do you caution me? he replied : I only tell you the in- terpretation of this passage. The Torah cannot be found with him who adorns himself before studying. There is a Boraitha: R. Simai said: It reads [Ex. vi. 7]: " I will take you to me as a people," and (ibid. 8) : "I will bring you in unto the land." The Scripture compares their exodus from Egypt to the coming in their land. As in enter- ing the land only two from six hundred thousand who made their exodus from Egypt, viz., Joshua and Kaleb, had entered, but all others from the age of twenty to sixty died in the desert, so also from those who made their exodus from Egypt were only two from every six hundred thousand, notwithstanding that they numbered six hundred thousand. Said Rabha : And so it will be in the time of the Messiah, as it reads [Hosea, ii. 17] : " She shall be inflicted there, as in the days of her youth and as on the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt." There is a Boraitha : R. Elazar b. Jose said : It happened once that I was in Alexandria of Egypt, and I found a certain old Gentile who said to me : Come, and I will show you what my great-grandfathers have done to yours. A part of them they threw in the sea, a part they slew with the sword and a part they have crushed in the buildings. Says the Gemara: