Mesorat%20hashas for Sanhedrin 213:18

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב ששה חדשים נצטרע דוד ונסתלקה הימנו שכינה ופירשו ממנו סנהדרין נצטרע דכתיב (תהלים נא, ט) תחטאני באזוב ואטהר תכבסני ומשלג אלבין נסתלקה הימנו שכינה דכתיב (תהלים נא, יד) השיבה לי ששון ישעך ורוח נדיבה תסמכני ופרשו ממנו סנהדרין דכתי' (תהלים קיט, עט) ישובו לי יראיך וגו' ששה חדשים מנלן דכתי' (מלכים א ב, יא) והימים אשר מלך דוד על ישראל ארבעים שנה

He replied, 'They are forgiven thee.' 'Cleanse thou me from secret faults,' [he pursued]. 'I grant it thee.' 'Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins!' — 'Tis granted.' 'Let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright: so that scholars may not discuss me.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Holding me up as an example and warning — [H] 'have dominion' is connected with [H]. ');">³³</span> 'Granted.' 'And I shall be innocent from the great transgression: so my sins may not be recorded.' He replied, 'That is impossible. If the [single] yod which I removed from Sarai<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H], when her name was changed to Sarah, [H]. ');">³⁴</span> continuously cried out [in protest] for many years until Joshua came and I added it to his name, as it is written, And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIII, 16; thus turning gauv into gauvh. ');">³⁵</span> how much more so a complete section!' And I shall be innocent from great transgression. He pleaded before Him, 'Sovereign of the Universe! Pardon me that sin completely [as though it had never been committed].' He replied, 'It is already ordained that thy son Solomon should say in his wisdom, Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Prov. VI, 27ff. ');">³⁶</span> He lamented, 'Must I<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'that man. ');">³⁷</span> suffer so much!' He replied, 'Accept thy chastisement,' and he accepted it. Rab Judah said in Rab's name: Six months was David smitten with leprosy, the <i>Shechinah</i> deserted him, and the Sanhedrin held aloof from him. 'He was smitten with leprosy' — as it is written, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. LI, 9. Hyssop was required for the purification of a leper; v. Lev. IV, 4. ');">³⁸</span> 'The <i>Shechinah</i> deserted him' — as it is written, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,' and uphold me with thy free spirit.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 14. ');">³⁹</span> 'And the Sanhedrin kept aloof from him' — as it is written, Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. CXIX, 79. ');">⁴⁰</span> How do we know that it was for six months? — Because it is written, And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years:

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