Commentary for Sanhedrin 139:22

דתניא ר"מ אומר אותו אילן שאכל אדם הראשון ממנו גפן היה

'Ubar the Galilean gave the following exposition: The letter <i>waw</i> [and]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. following note. ');">⁴⁰</span> occurs thirteen times in the passage dealing with wine: And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. IX, 20-24. In this passage, the conversive waw occurs thirteen times, in each case followed by the yod of the imperfect. The combination waw yod, ([H]) means 'woe' in Heb. Thirteen woes: so great are the sorrows caused by drunkenness. ');">⁴¹</span> [With respect to the last verse] Rab and Samuel [differ,] one maintaining that he castrated him, whilst the other says that he sexually abused him. He who maintains that he castrated him, [reasons thus;] Since he cursed him by his fourth son,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim, and Phut and Canaan. Gen. X, 7. Noah cursed Canaan, his fourth son. Ibid. IX, 25ff ');">⁴²</span> he must have injured him with respect to a fourth son.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., by emasculating him, he deprived Noah of the possibility of a fourth son. ');">⁴³</span> But he who says that he sexually abused him, draws an analogy between 'and he saw' written twice. Here it is written, And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father; whilst elsewhere it is written, And when Shechem the son of Hamor saw her [he took her and lay with her and defiled her].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XXXIV, 2. ');">⁴⁴</span> Now, on the view that he emasculated him, it is right that he cursed him by his fourth son; but on the view that he abused him, why did he curse his fourth son; he should have cursed him himself? — Both indignities were perpetrated.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He both castrated and abused his father. ');">⁴⁵</span> And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, — R. Hisda said in R. 'Ukba's name, and others state, Mar 'Ukba said in R. Zakkai's name: The Holy One, blessed be He, said unto Noah: 'Noah, shouldst thou not have taken a warning from Adam, whose transgression was caused by wine?' This agrees with the view that the [forbidden] tree from which Adam ate was a vine. For it has been taught: R. Meir said: That [forbidden] tree from which Adam ate was a vine,

Explore commentary for Sanhedrin 139:22. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.