Jewish%20thought for Sanhedrin 203:18

ר' אבהו הוה רגיל דהוה קא דריש בשלשה מלכים חלש קביל עליה דלא דריש כיון

R. Johanan said: As two sticks which cause each other to rebound.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When two pieces of wood are struck together, each rebounds from the other. So Jeroboam forced the Israelites to forsake God. ');">³²</span> [These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel … in the wilderness …] and Di Zahab.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. I, 1. ');">³³</span> The School of R. Jannai expounded: Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe! It was because of the silver and gold [zahab] which Thou didst lavish upon them, until they said, Enough! [dai] that they were led to make a god of gold. A parable: The lion does not tear and roar out of a basket of straw, but out of a basket of meat.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., when a lion is fully satisfied he shews his high spirits by killing and roaring; when hungry, he is too dejected to do so. Thus in the case of Israel too, it was not poverty but the self-indulgence of wealth which ensnared them into idolatry. ');">³⁴</span> R. Oshaia said: Until Jeroboam, Israel imbibed [a sinful disposition] from one calf; but from him onwards, from two or three calves.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Until Jeroboam, only the one calf which Israel had made in the wilderness was responsible for their sinning. But he added the calves of Beth-El and Dan, thus furnishing more incentives to sin. ');">³⁵</span> R. Isaac said: No retribution whatsoever comes upon the world which does not contain a slight fraction<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'a twenty-fourth part of the overweight of a litra.' By the overweight of a litra (v. Glos.) is meant the slight addition which is made to tip the scales in the direction of the weights. The general idea is that some small portion of all punishment is due to the sin of the golden calf. ');">³⁶</span> of the first calf [i.e.. the molten calf in the wilderness], as it is written, nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXXII, 34. ');">³⁷</span> R. Hanina said: After twenty-four generations [the doom foretold in] this verse was exacted,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Yad Ramah reads [H] 'this decree'.] ');">³⁸</span> as it is written, He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, cause the visitations of the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek. IX, 1, The use of 'visitations' suggests that this was the fulfilment of the doom threatened in Ex. XXXII, 34. There were twenty-four generations from that of the wilderness, when the Calf was made, to that of Zedekiah, in whose reign the State was overthrown and Judah deported to Babylon. ');">³⁹</span> After this thing Jeroboam turned not from his evil way.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Kings XIII, 33. ');">⁴⁰</span> What is meant by, after this thing? — R. Abba said: After the Holy One, blessed be He, had seized Jeroboam by his garment and urged him, 'Repent, then I, thou, and the son of Jesse [i.e.. David] will walk in the Garden of Eden.' 'And who shall be at the head?' inquired he. 'The son of Jesse shall be at the head.' 'If so,' [he replied] 'I do not desire [it].' R. Abbahu used to make a practice of lecturing on the Three Kings.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mentioned in our Mishnah as having no 'portion in the future world. ');">⁴¹</span> Falling sick, he undertook not to lecture [thereon any more];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He viewed his illness as a punishment for dwelling upon the sins of others. ');">⁴²</span> yet no sooner

Explore jewish%20thought for Sanhedrin 203:18. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.