Commentary for Avodah Zarah 20:8
א"ל אתינא לעלמא דאתי א"ל אין א"ל והכתיב (עובדיה א, יח) לא יהיה שריד לבית עשו בעושה מעשה עשו
Once he asked him, “Will I enter the world to come?” He said back, “Yes.” Antoninus replied, “But is it not written, ‘There will be no remnant to the house of Esau?’ (Obadiah 1:18). “That applies only to those who do the deeds of Esau”
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
Antoninus is worried that he will not be allowed into the world to come. After all, the verse implies that anyone from the house of Esau will not be allowed into the world to come. Antoninus is Roman, and is therefore assumed to be from the house of Esau. But Rabbi relaxes him—only those who actually act like Esau themselves will have no future in the world to come. This seems to me to be an important Jewish message in general. A person’s place in the world to come is determined not by his genealogy, but by his deeds.
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