Commentary for Bava Metzia 167:18
הוה קא אזיל וקרע מאניה וקא בכי ואמר היכא את בר לקישא היכא את בר לקישא והוה קא צוח עד דשף דעתיה [מיניה] בעו רבנן רחמי עליה ונח נפשיה
— 'Your beauty,' he replied, 'should be for women.' 'If you will repent,' said he, 'I will give you my sister [in marriage], who is more beautiful than I.' He undertook [to repent]; then he wished to return and collect his weapons, but could not.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' His mere decision to turn to the study of the Torah had so weakened him that he lacked the strength to don his heavy equipment. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> Subsequently, [R. Johanan] taught him Bible and Mishnah, and made him into a great man. Now, one day there was a dispute in the schoolhouse [with respect to the following. Viz.,] a sword, knife, dagger, spear, hand-saw and a scythe — at what stage [of their manufacture] can they become unclean? When their manufacture is finished.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Before that they are not complete articles or utensils, and only such can become unclean. ');"><sup>15</sup></span> And when is their manufacture finished? — R. Johanan ruled: When they are tempered in a furnace. Resh Lakish maintained: When they have been furbished in water. Said he to him: 'A robber understands his trade.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This was quoted only proverbially, though in later times it was taken literally, and Resh Lakish was held to have been a robber. Actually, he had been a circus attendant, to which his necessitous circumstances had reduced him, and these weapons were used in the course of that calling. (Graetz, Geschichte, IV, 238, n. 6). Weiss, Dor, III, p. 83, n. 2, understands the phrase literally, but translates [H] as 'thief-catcher.' If that be correct, Resh Lakish at one time helped the Roman government, just as R. Eleazar b. R. Simeon and R. Ishmael b. R. Jose had done ');"><sup>16</sup></span> Said he to him, 'And wherewith have you benefited me: there [as a robber] I was called Master, and here I am called Master.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. [H] is equally applicable to a captain of a gang and a Rabbi (Rashi). ');"><sup>17</sup></span> 'By bringing you under the wings of the <i>Shechinah</i>,' he retorted. R. Johanan therefore felt himself deeply hurt,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By the remark of Resh Lakish that he had not benefited him. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> [as a result of which] Resh Lakish fell ill. His sister [sc. R. Johanan's, the wife of Resh Lakish] came and wept before him: 'Forgive him<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'do'. ');"><sup>19</sup></span> for the sake of my son,' she pleaded. He replied: <i>'Leave thy fatherless children. I will preserve them alive</i>.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XLIX, 11. ');"><sup>20</sup></span> 'For the sake of my widowhood then!' '<i>And let thy widows trust in me</i>,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');"><sup>21</sup></span> he assured her. Resh Lakish died, and R. Johanan was plunged into deep grief. Said the Rabbis, 'Who shall go to ease his mind? Let R. Eleazar b. Pedath go, whose disquisitions are very subtle.' So he went and sat before him; and on every dictum uttered by R. Johanan he observed: 'There is a Baraitha which Supports you.' 'Are you as the son of Lakisha?'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The full name of Resh Lakish was R. Simeon b. Lakish. Weiss, Dor, II, 71 deduces from the use of Lakisha here that Lakish was not a patronym but the name of a town, [H] meaning 'a citizen of,' i.e., R. Simeon, a townsman of Lakish. But Bacher, Ag. der Pal. Am. I, 340, 1 defends Lakish as a patronym. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> he complained: 'when I stated a law, the son of Lakisha used to raise twenty-four objections, to which I gave twenty-four answers, which consequently led to a fuller comprehension of the law; whilst you say, "A Baraitha has been taught which supports you:" do I not know myself that my dicta are right?' Thus he went on rending his garments and weeping, 'Where are you, O son of Lakisha, where are you, O son of Lakisha;' and he cried thus until his mind was turned. Thereupon the Rabbis prayed for him, and he died.