Commentary for Avodah Zarah 87:19
(מלכים א א, ה) ויעש לו רכב ופרשים וחמשים איש רצים לפניו מאי רבותייהו תנא כולם נטולי טחול וחקוקי כפות הרגלים היו:
[It is written], “Then Adoniyah the son of Haggith exalted himself saying, ‘I will be king’” (I Kings 1:5). Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: He exalted himself [thinking that the crown] would fit him, but it did not fit him.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
This section digresses a bit about Adoniyah. As part of his project of self-aggrandizement, he hires an entourage, sort of like modern celebs. I suppose if he lived today, he’d hire some Instagram followers or maybe some paparazzi to follow him around. In any case, what’s the big deal about 50 people to run in front of him? That does not sound like an impressive number. The Talmud answers that these are special runners—they had their spleens removes, and flesh from their feet removed. This seems to have been an ancient way of improving one’s speed. Doping in sports does not seem to be anything new.
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