Quoting%20commentary for Sanhedrin 78:22

<br><br><big><strong>הדרן עלך אחד דיני ממונות</strong></big><br><br>

and yet did not learn from their good deeds. Ephraim Maksha'ah,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'The disputant', or 'seller of cucumbers.' ');">³⁷</span> the disciple of R. Meir, said on the authority of R. Meir: Obadiah was an Edomite proselyte: and thus people say, From the very forest itself comes the [handle of the] axe [that fells it].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the descendant of Edom was found to be the most suitable person to reprimand them. From this narrative it appears that the Rabbis of the Talmud identified Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's household with the Obadiah of the minor Prophets. [This view is shared also among moderns by Hoffmann and Keil.] ');">³⁸</span> And he [David] smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. VIII, 2. ');">³⁹</span> R. Johanan said on the authority of R. Simeon b. Yohai: Thus the proverb runs, From the very forest itself comes the [handle of the] axe [that fells it].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' David was descended from Ruth the Moabitess. ');">⁴⁰</span> When R. Dimi came [from Palestine] he said [similarly]: The joint putrefies from within. Then he took his eldest son that should have resigned in his stead and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings III, 27. ');">⁴¹</span> Rab and Samuel [differ therein:] One said: [He offered him] to God; the other, To a heathen deity. Now, on the view that it was to God, it is correct: hence it is written, And there came great wrath upon Israel.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. Because of their failure to show loyalty to God in comparison with the devotion shown by the Moabite King. ');">⁴²</span> But if it be maintained that he was offered to a heathen deity, why, And there was great wrath etc.? — Even as R. Joshua b. Levi [taught]: For R. Joshua b. Levi opposed [two verses]: It is written, Neither have ye done according to the ordinances of the nations that were round about you;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek. V, 7. ');">⁴³</span> yet it is [elsewhere] written, But ye have done according to the ordinances of the nations that were round about you?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XI, 12. ');">⁴⁴</span> [That means:] Ye did not act as the right minded,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As, for example, is related of Eglon, king of Moab who, when Ehud said to him: I have a message from God unto thee, (Judges III, 20) arose out of his seat as a sign of respect. ');">⁴⁵</span> but as the corrupt amongst them.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., in allowing human beings as sacrifices, as did the king of Moab. ');">⁴⁶</span> And they departed from him and returned to the earth.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., translation of II Kings III, 27; E.V. 'to their land'. ');">⁴⁷</span> R. Hanina b. Papa said: In that hour the wicked of Israel descended to the lowest depths [of depravity].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Interpreting 'to the earth' in the sense of (moral) degradation. ');">⁴⁸</span> And the damsel was fair, until [she was] exceedingly [so].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., rendering of I Kings I, 4, with reference to Abishag. ');">⁴⁹</span> R. Hanina b. Papa said: Yet she never attained to half of Sarah's beauty, for it is written, 'until&nbsp;… exceedingly', 'exceedingly' itself not being included.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Until' ([H]) is taken in the sense of 'up to' but not including. I.e., she reached only the point of medium beauty. This Haggadic interpretation is quoted here in order to group together the two sayings of the one teacher. ');">⁵⁰</span>

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