Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Commentary for Avodah Zarah 39:10

מיתיבי מעשה ברשב"ג שהיה על גבי מעלה בהר הבית וראה עובדת כוכבים אחת נאה ביותר אמר (תהלים קד, כד) מה רבו מעשיך ה' ואף ר"ע ראה אשת טורנוסרופוס הרשע רק שחק ובכה רק שהיתה באה מטיפה סרוחה שחק דעתידה דמגיירא ונסיב לה בכה דהאי שופרא בלי עפרא

They objected: It happened that R. Shimon b. Gamaliel was standing on a step on the Temple Mount and he saw a gentile woman who was particularly beautiful. He exclaimed: “How great are Your works, O Lord” (Psalms 104:24). So too R. Akiva saw the wife of the wicked Turnus Rufus, he spat, then laughed, and then wept. He spat because of her originating only from a putrefying drop. He laughed because he foresaw that she would convert and be married to him; “Wept,” that such beauty should [ultimately] decay in the dust.

Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah

The objection comes from the action of R. Shimon b. Gamaliel who indeed praised God for creating such a beautiful gentile woman. R. Akiva does not really offer such praise for Turnus Rufus’s wife. The story is here because he does recognize her beauty. Turnus Rufus is the evil Roman emperor who decrees that R. Akiva should be tortured to death. I am not sure if the idea that he would marry his wife appears elsewhere.
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