Sanhedrin 163

Chapter 163

א לא פגעו בו קנאין מהו אינשייה רב לגמריה אקריוהו לרב כהנא בחלמיה (מלאכי ב, יא) בגדה יהודה ותועבה נעשתה בישראל ובירושלים כי חלל יהודה קדש ה' אשר אהב ובעל בת אל נכר אתא א"ל הכי אקריון
1 What if zealots did not punish him? Now Rab had completely forgotten [what he had learnt about this];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He did not know what to reply. ');"><sup>1</sup></span> So R. Kahana was made to read in his dream, Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath been intimate with the daughter of a strange god.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mal. II, 11. ');"><sup>2</sup></span>
ב אדכריה רב לגמריה בגדה יהודה זו עבודת כוכבים וכן הוא אומר (ירמיהו ג, כ) [כן] בגדתם בי בית ישראל נאום ה' ותועבה נעשתה בישראל ובירושלים זה משכב זכור וכן הוא אומר (ויקרא יח, כב) ואת זכר לא תשכב משכבי אשה תועבה היא כי חלל יהודה קדש ה' זו זונה וכן הוא אומר (דברים כג, יח) לא (יהיה קדש) ובעל בת אל נכר זה הבא על הכותית
2 He then went and related to Rab,'This was I made to read'. Thereupon he reminded Rab of it all: Judah hath dealt treacherously, — this refers to idolatry, even as it is said, [Surely as a wife departeth treacherously from her husband], so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. III, 20. The simile shews that the reference is to idolatry. ');"><sup>3</sup></span> and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, refers to pederasty, and thus it is written, Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XVIII, 22. ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
ג וכתיב בתריה (מלאכי ב, יב) יכרת ה' לאיש אשר יעשנה ער ועונה (מאלהי) יעקב ומגיש מנחה לה' צבאות אם ת"ח הוא לא יהיה לו ער בחכמים ועונה בתלמידים אם כהן הוא לא יהיה לו בן מגיש מנחה לה' צבאות
3 for Judah hath profaned the holiness [kodesh]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] ');"><sup>5</sup></span> of the Lord, — this refers to harlotry, and thus it is said, There shall be no consecrated harlot [kedeshah]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
ד א"ר חייא בר אבויה כל הבא על הכותית כאילו מתחתן בעבודת כוכבים דכתיב ובעל בת אל נכר וכי בת יש לו לאל נכר אלא זה הבא על הכותית
4 of the daughters of Israel;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXIII, 18. ');"><sup>7</sup></span> and hath been intimate with the daughter of a strange god, — this refers to intimacy with a heathen woman. Now, this verse is followed by, The Lord will cut off the men that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of Hosts.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mal. II, 12. ');"><sup>8</sup></span>
ה וא"ר חייא בר אבויה כתוב על גלגלתו של יהויקים זאת ועוד אחרת זקינו דרבי פרידא אשכח ההוא גולגלתא דהות שדיא בשערי ירושלים והוה כתוב עילויה זאת ועוד אחרת קברה והדר נבוג קברה והדר נבוג אמר האי גולגלתא של יהויקים דכתיב ביה (ירמיהו כב, יט) קבורת חמור יקבר סחוב והשלך מהלאה לשערי ירושלים
5 This means: If he is a scholar, he shall have none awakening [i.e., teaching] among the sages and none responding among the disciples; if a priest, he shall have no son to offer an offering unto the Lord of hosts.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is his punishment and the answer to R. Kahana's question. ');"><sup>9</sup></span> R. Hiyya b. Abuiah said: He who is intimate with a heathen woman is as though he had entered into marriage relationship with an idol, for it is written, and hath been intimate with the daughter of a strange god:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 11. ');"><sup>10</sup></span>
ו אמר מלכא הוא ולאו אורח ארעא לבזויי שקלה כרכה בשיראי ואותביה בסיפטא אתאי דביתהו חזיתה נפקת אמרה להו לשיבבתהא אמרי לה האי דאיתתא קמייתא היא דלא קא מנשי לה שגרתא לתנורא וקלתה כי אתא אמר היינו דכתיב עילויה זאת ועוד אחרת
6 hath then a strange god a daughter — But it refers to one who cohabits with a heathen woman. R. Hiyya b. Abuiah also said: 'This and yet another' is written upon Jehoiakim's skull.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The meaning of this is given in the following story. ');"><sup>11</sup></span>
ז כי אתא רב דימי אמר בית דינו של חשמונאי גזרו הבא על הכותית חייב עליה משום נשג"א
7 R. Perida's grandfather found a skull thrown down at the gates of Jerusalem, upon which 'this and yet another' was written. So he buried it, but it re-emerged; again he buried it, and again it re-emerged. Thereupon he said, This must be Jehoiakim's skull, of whom it is written, He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XXII, 19. ');"><sup>12</sup></span> Yet, he reflected, he was a king, and it is not mannerly to disgrace him. So he took it, wrapped it up in silk, and placed it in a chest. When his wife came home and saw it, she went and told her neighbours about it. 'It must be the skull of his first wife', said they to her, 'whom he cannot forget'. So she fired the oven and burnt it. When he came, he said to her, 'That was meant by its inscription, "This and yet another"'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., it would be exposed to this disgrace, of being cast away in the streets, and yet another, viz., burning. ');"><sup>13</sup></span>
ח כי אתא רבין אמר משום נשג"ז נדה שפחה גויה זונה אבל משום אישות לית להו ואידך נשייהו ודאי לא מיפקרי
8 When R. Dimi came,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From Palestine; v. p. 390, n. 1. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> he said: The <i>Beth din</i> of the Hasmoneans<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' J. Derenbourg, Essai p. 84 places this Beth din during the rule of Simeon the Hasmonean (143-135 B.C.E.), or the first years of his son John. The troublous times of the Maccabees would seem to have led to licentiousness and a lowering of moral standards, and consequent liaisons with heathens. When the country became more settled, the religious authorities naturally attempted to stem this, and hence the decree. (V. 'A.Z. (Sonc. ed.) p. 177, n. 7.) ');"><sup>15</sup></span>
ט א"ר חסדא הבא לימלך אין מורין לו איתמר נמי אמר רבה בר בר חנה א"ר יוחנן הבא לימלך אין מורין לו
9 decreed that one who cohabits with a heathen woman is liable. to punishment on account of Nashga.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is a mnemonic: N = niddah, a menstruous woman; SH = Shifhah, a non-Jewish maidservant; G = goyyah, a heathen woman; and A = esheth, ish, a married woman. He is regarded as having transgressed in respect of all four, and as such will be punished by heaven. ');"><sup>16</sup></span> When Rabin came,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 544, n. 7. ');"><sup>17</sup></span>
י ולא עוד אלא שאם פירש זמרי והרגו פנחס נהרג עליו נהפך זמרי והרגו לפנחס אין נהרג עליו שהרי רודף הוא
10 he said: On account of Nashgaz, i.e., <i>niddah</i>, shifhah, goyyah and zonah;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Zonah = harlot; for the first three v. preceding note. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> but not on account of a married woman, because they themselves [sc. the heathens] do not recognize the marriage bond.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They are very lax, and their women, even married, indulge in promiscuity; v. Weiss, Dor. Vol.II, pp. 19 ff, ');"><sup>19</sup></span>
יא (במדבר כה, ה) ויאמר משה אל שופטי ישראל וגו' הלך שבטו של שמעון אצל זמרי בן סלוא אמרו לו הן דנין דיני נפשות ואתה יושב ושותק מה עשה עמד וקיבץ כ"ד אלף מישראל והלך אצל כזבי אמר לה השמיעי לי אמרה לו בת מלך אני וכן צוה לי אבי לא תשמעי אלא לגדול שבהם אמר לה אף הוא נשיא שבט הוא ולא עוד אלא שהוא גדול ממנו שהוא שני לבטן והוא שלישי לבטן
11 But the other?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' R. Dimi, who includes this. ');"><sup>20</sup></span> — They certainly gave no license to their wives.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., they expect their wives to observe the marriage bond. ');"><sup>21</sup></span>
יב תפשה בבלוריתה והביאה אצל משה אמר לו בן עמרם זו אסורה או מותרת ואם תאמר אסורה בת יתרו מי התירה לך נתעלמה ממנו הלכה געו כולם בבכיה והיינו דכתיב (במדבר כה, ו) והמה בוכים פתח אהל מועד וכתיב (במדבר כה, ז) וירא פנחס בן אלעזר
12 R. Hisda said: If the zealot comes to take counsel [whether to punish the transgressors enumerated in the Mishnah], we do not instruct him to do so. It has been stated likewise: Rabbah b. Bar Hana said in R. Johanan's name: If he comes to take counsel, we do not instruct him to do so. What is more, had Zimri forsaken his mistress and Phinehas slain him, Phinehas would have been executed on his account;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the zealot may slay only when he is engaged in the commission of the offence. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> and had Zimri turned upon Phinehas and slain him, he would not have been executed, since Phinehas was a pursuer [seeking to take his life].
יג מה ראה אמר רב ראה מעשה ונזכר הלכה אמר לו אחי אבי אבא לא כך לימדתני ברדתך מהר סיני הבועל את כותית קנאין פוגעין בו אמר לו קריינא דאיגרתא איהו ליהוי פרוונקא
13 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one of his men that were joined unto Baal Peor.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXV, 5. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> Thereupon the tribe of Simeon went unto Zimri ben Salu and said unto him, 'Behold, capital punishment is being meted out, yet you sit silent [i.e., inactive].' What did he do? He arose and assembled twenty-four thousand Israelites and went unto Cozbi, and said unto her, 'Surrender thyself unto me.' She replied, 'I am a king's daughter, and thus hath my father instructed me, "Thou shalt yield only to their greatest man"'. 'I too,' he replied, 'am the prince of a tribe; moreover, my tribe is greater than his [Moses], for mine is second in birth, whilst his is third.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Simeon was Jacob's second son; Levi, to which Moses belonged, the third. ');"><sup>24</sup></span>
יד ושמואל אמר ראה שאין (משלי כא, ל) חכמה ואין תבונה ואין עצה נגד ה' כל מקום שיש חילול השם אין חולקין כבוד לרב ר' יצחק אמר ר"א ראה שבא מלאך והשחית בעם
14 He then seized her by her coiffure and brought her before Moses. 'Son of Amram,' exclaimed he, 'is this woman forbidden or permitted? And should you say. "She is forbidden", who permitted thee Jethro's daughter'? At that moment Moses forgot the <i>halachah</i> [concerning intimacy with a heathen woman], and all the people burst into tears; hence it is written, and they were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid 6. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> And it is also written, And Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid 7. ');"><sup>26</sup></span>
טו ויקם מתוך העדה ויקח רומח בידו מיכן שאין נכנסין בכלי זיין לבית המדרש שלף שננה והניחה באונקלו והיה
15 Now, what did he see? — Rab said: He saw what was happening and remembered the <i>halachah</i>, and said to him, 'O great-uncle! did you not teach us this on thy descent from Mount Sinai: He who cohabits with a heathen woman is punished by zealots?' He replied. 'He who reads the letter, let him be the agent [to carry out its instructions]'. Samuel said: He saw that 'There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord':<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Prov. XXI, 30. ');"><sup>27</sup></span> whenever the Divine Name is being profaned, honour must not be paid to one's teacher.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., seeing the profanation of the Divine Name, he did not wait for Moses' ruling. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> R. Isaac said in R. Eleazar's name: He saw the angel wreaking destruction amongst the people. And he rose up out of the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXV, 7. ');"><sup>29</sup></span> hence one may not enter the house of learning with weapons.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since he rose up out of the congregation, i.e., the Sanhedrin, implying that he went out. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> He removed its point and placed it in his undergarment, and went along