Sanhedrin 189

(ישעיהו י, ל) עניה ענתות עתיד ירמיה בן חלקיה ומתנבא עלה מענתות דכתיב (ירמיהו א, א) דברי ירמיהו בן חלקיהו מן הכהנים אשר בענתות בארץ בנימין

O poor Anathoth? — Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, from Anathoth, is destined to prophesy thereon, [sc. concerning Jerusalem],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'O poor' [H], is thus derived from [H], to answer, and thence to prophesy. ');">¹</span> as it is written, The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. I, 1. Thus viii, ix, and x must be deducted. The Talmud objects further that in that case there are less than ten, but it first questions the identification of laish with Nebuchadnezzar. ');">²</span>

מי דמי התם ארי הכא ליש אמר רבי יוחנן ששה שמות יש לארי אלו הן (בראשית מט, ט) ארי (שופטים יד, ה) כפיר (בראשית מט, ט) לביא (ישעיהו ל, ו) ליש (תהלים צא, יג) שחל (איוב כח, ח) שחץ אי הכי בצרו להו עברו מעברה תרתי נינהו

But what comparison is it? there<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In Jer. IV, 7. ');">³</span> [Nebuchadnezzar is called] 'ari,' whilst here 'laish' [is written]? — R. Johanan answered: The lion has six names, viz. ari,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XLIX, 9. ');">⁴</span>

מאי (ישעיהו י, לב) עוד היום בנוב לעמוד אמר רב הונא אותו היום נשתייר מעונה של נוב אמרי ליה כלדאי אי אזלת האידנא יכלת לה ואי לא לא יכלת לה אורחא דבעא לסגויי בעשרה יומא סגא בחד יומא

kefir,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Judges XIV, 5. ');">⁵</span> labi,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. ibid. ');">⁶</span>

כי מטו לירושלם שדי ליה ביסתרקי עד דסליק ויתיב מעילוי שורה עד דחזיוה לכולה ירושלם כי חזייה איזוטר בעיניה אמר הלא דא היא קרתא דירושלם דעלה ארגישית כל משיריתי ועלה כבשית כל מדינתא הלא היא זעירא וחלשא מכל כרכי עממיא דכבשית בתקוף ידי עלה וקם ומניד ברישיה מוביל ומייתי בידיה על טור בית מקדשא דבציון ועל עזרתא דבירושלם

laish,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXX, 6. ');">⁷</span> shahal,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. XCI, 13. ');">⁸</span>

אמרי נישדי ביה ידא האידנא אמר להו תמהיתו למחר אייתי לי כל חד וחד מינייכו גולמו הרג מיניה מיד (מלכים ב יט, לה) ויהי בלילה ההוא ויצא מלאך ה' ויך במחנה אשור מאה ושמונים וחמשה אלף וישכימו בבקר והנה כלם פגרים מתים אמר רב פפא היינו דאמרי אינשי בת דינא בטל דינא

and shahaz.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Job XXVIII, 8. ');">⁹</span> But if so, there were less [than ten]? — [i] They are gone over, [ii] the passage, implies two.

(שמואל ב כא, טז) וישבי בנוב אשר בילידי הרפה ומשקל קינו שלש מאות משקל נחשת והוא חגור חדשה ויאמר להכות את דוד מאי וישבי בנוב אמר רב יהודה אמר רב איש שבא על עסקי נוב א"ל הקב"ה לדוד עד מתי יהיה עון זה טמון בידך על ידך נהרגה נוב עיר הכהנים ועל ידך נטרד דואג האדומי ועל ידך נהרגו שאול ושלשת בניו

What is meant by, As yet shall he halt at Nob that day?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. X, 32. ');">¹⁰</span> — R. Huna said: [Only] that day was left for [the punishment of] the crime [committed] in Nob.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When the priests of Nob were massacred (I Sam. XXII, 17-19). God set a term for punishment, of which that day was the last. The verse is thus interpreted: 'That day yet remained (of the fixed term) on which (Sennacherib) might stand (against Jerusalem) on account of Nob.' ');">¹¹</span>

רצונך יכלו זרעך או תמסר ביד אויב אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם מוטב אמסר ביד אויב ולא יכלה זרעי

So his soothsayers said to him, 'If thou proceedest now [to attack], thou wilt conquer it; if not, thou wilt not conquer it.' Therefore the journey that should have taken ten days to make he completed in one day.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' These are the ten marches referred to above. ');">¹²</span> When Jerusalem was reached, mattresses were piled up for him until, by ascending and sitting on the uppermost, he saw the whole of Jerusalem. On beholding it, it appeared small in his eyes. 'Is this the city of Jerusalem,' he exclaimed, 'for which I set all my troops in motion, and conquered the whole country? Why, it is smaller and weaker than all the cities of the nations which I have subdued by my might!'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'the might of my hand.' ');">¹³</span>

יומא חד נפק לשכור בזאי אתא שטן ואדמי ליה כטביא פתק ביה גירא ולא מטייה משכיה עד דאמטייה לארץ פלשתים כדחזייה ישבי בנוב אמר היינו האי דקטליה לגלית אחי כפתיה קמטיה אותביה ושדייה תותי בי בדייא אתעביד ליה ניסא מכא ליה ארעא מתותיה היינו דכתיב (תהלים יח, לז) תרחיב צעדי תחתי ולא מעדו קרסולי

Then he arose and shook his head and waved his hand to and fro contemptuously toward the Temple in Zion, against the [Temple] Court in Jerusalem.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Zion was one of the hills-which is a matter of dispute-upon which Jerusalem was built. By a synecdoche, it is often, though not here, used for Jerusalem itself. ');">¹⁴</span> They [the astrologers] urged, 'Let us attack immediately.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'stretch forth a hand against it.' ');">¹⁵</span>

ההוא יומא אפניא דמעלי שבתא הוה אבישי בן צרויה הוה קא חייף רישיה בד' גרבי דמיא חזינהו כתמי דמא איכא דאמרי אתא יונה איטריף קמיה אמר כנסת ישראל ליונה אימתילא שנאמר (תהלים סח, יד) כנפי יונה נחפה בכסף שמע מינה דוד מלכא דישראל בצערא שרי אתא לביתיה ולא אשכחיה אמר תנן אין רוכבין על סוסו ואין יושבין על כסאו ואין משתמשין בשרביטו בשעת הסכנה מאי אתא שאיל בי מדרשא אמרו ליה בשעת הסכנה שפיר דמי

'Ye are too worn out,' he replied, 'but to-morrow let each of you bring me a stone, and we shall stone it.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Jast., whose reading differs slightly from our text. Rashi: Bring you each a portion of the wall, i.e., any weak stone you may find which can easily be dislodged. [Another rendering: Bring me as much mortar as is necessary to seal a letter (v. Levy, s. v. [H]]. ');">¹⁶</span> Straightway, And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings XIX, 35. ');">¹⁷</span>

רכביה לפרדיה וקם ואזל קפצה ליה ארעא בהדי דקא מסגי חזייה לערפה אמיה דהוות נוולא כי חזיתיה פסקתה לפילכה שדתיה עילויה סברא למקטליה אמרה ליה עלם אייתי לי פלך פתקיה בריש מוחה וקטלה

R. Papa said: Thus men say: If the verdict is postponed overnight, it comes to nought.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., what is not done immediately may never be done. ');">¹⁸</span> And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred <i>shekels</i> of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XXI, 16. ');">¹⁹</span>

כד חזייה ישבי בנוב אמר השתא הוו בי תרין וקטלין לי פתקיה לדוד לעילא ודץ ליה לרומחיה אמר ניפול עלה ונקטל אמר אבישי שם אוקמיה לדוד בין שמיא לארעא

What is meant by 'And Ishbi-be-nob'? — Rab Judah said in Rab's name: A man who came on account of Nob.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As an avenger, Ish = a man. ');">²⁰</span> [For] the Holy One, blessed be He had said to David, 'How long will this crime be hidden in thy hand. [i.e.. unpunished]. Through thee Nob, the city of Priests, was massacred; through thee Doeg the Edomite was banished; and through thee Saul and his three sons were slain:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When David, on his flight from Saul, received succour in Nob, (I Sam. XXI.) he was seen there by Doeg the Edomite. On the latter's reporting this to Saul, he slew all the priests of Nob for treason (Ibid. XXII, 17-19), Doeg being his instrument. For this Doeg was banished from his portion in the future world (the phrase may also mean lost his life — [H]; v. II Sam. I, 2; Pesik. ed. Buber III, 28b) and the defeat and death of Saul and his three sons at Mount Gilboa (I Sam. XXX, 1, 6) was a punishment for the same. Thus all this was indirectly caused by David. ');">²¹</span>

ונימא ליה איהו אין חבוש מוציא עצמו מבית האסורין

wouldst thou rather thy line to end, or be delivered unto the enemy's hand? He replied: 'Sovereign of the Universe! I would rather be delivered into the enemy's hand than that my line should end.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'thy seed to cease'. ');">²²</span> One day, when he [David] ventured forth to Sekhor Bizzae,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The name of a place (Rashi). Other interpretations: 'to fill up breaches'; ['to limit', the word being a composite: 'net and falcon' (Levy)]. ');">²³</span>

א"ל מאי בעית הכא א"ל הכי אמר לי קודשא בריך הוא והכי אהדרי ליה א"ל אפיך צלותיך בר ברך קירא ליזבון ואת לא תצטער

Satan appeared before him in the guise of a deer. He shot arrows at him, but did not reach him, and was thus led on until inveigled into the land of the Philistines. When Ishbi-benob espied him, he exclaimed, 'It is he who slew my brother Goliath.' So he bound him, doubled him up and cast him under an olive press; but a miracle was wrought, and the ground softened under him. Hence it is written, Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. XVIII, 37. ');">²⁴</span> Now that day was Sabbath Eve, and Abishai the son of Zeruiah,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' David's sister's son, and brother of Joab, and one of the captains of David's army. ');">²⁵</span>

א"ל אי הכי סייע בהדן היינו דכתיב (שמואל ב כא, יז) ויעזור לו אבישי בן צרויה אמר רב יהודה אמר רב שעזרו בתפלה אמר אבישי שם ואחתיה

washing his head in four gribahs<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A gribah = one se'ah. ');">²⁶</span> of water, remarked some blood-stains [therein]. Others say a dove came and beat [its wings] before him. Thereupon he reasoned: Israel<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'The Assembly of Israel.' ');">²⁷</span>

הוה קא רדיף בתרייהו כי מטא קובי אמרי קום ביה כי מטא בי תרי אמרי בתרי גוריין קטלוה לאריא אמרי ליה זיל אשתכח לערפה אימיך בקיברא כי אדכרו ליה שמא דאימיה כחש חיליה וקטליה היינו דכתיב (שמואל ב כא, יז) אז נשבעו אנשי דוד לו לאמר לא תצא עוד אתנו למלחמה ולא תכבה את נר ישראל

is likened to a dove, as it is written, ye are as the wings of a dove covered with silver;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. LXVIII, 14; v. Ber. 53b. ');">²⁸</span> this must be an intimation that David is in trouble. So he went to his house, but did not find him. Now, said he, we learnt, One may not ride upon his [sc. a king's] horse, nor sit upon his seat, nor use his sceptre:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 22a. ');">²⁹</span>

ת"ר שלשה קפצה להם הארץ אליעזר עבד אברהם ויעקב אבינו ואבישי בן צרויה אבישי בן צרויה הא דאמרן אליעזר עבד אברהם דכתיב (בראשית כד, מב) ואבוא היום אל העין למימרא דההוא יומא נפק יעקב אבינו

but how is it in a time of danger? So he went and propounded the question in the schoolhouse, and was answered, 'In time of danger, it is permitted.' He then mounted his [sc. David's] mule and rode off,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hoping that the animal's instinct would lead it to its master. ');">³⁰</span> and the earth contracted under him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That he might cover the distance quickly. ');">³¹</span> Whilst riding, he saw Orpah his [sc. Ishbi-benob's] mother spinning. On descrying him, she broke off [the thread of] the spindle and threw it [the spindle] at him, intending to kill him. Then she said, 'Young man, bring me the spindle.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Pretending that it had merely fallen out of her hand. ');">³²</span> but he threw it on the top of her head instead, and killed her. When Ishbi-benob beheld him, he said [to himself], Now that there are two they will slay me. So he threw David up [in the air] and stuck his spear [into the earth], Saying. 'Let him fall upon it, and perish;' but Abishai pronounced the Divine Name, by means of which David was held suspended between heaven and earth. (Why did not David pronounce it himself? — Because 'a prisoner cannot free himself from prison.') [Abishai] then enquired of him, 'What dost thou here?' — 'Thus did God speak unto me,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The alternative mentioned above. ');">³³</span> and thus did I answer Him,' replied he. 'Reverse thy prayer.' said he: 'let thy grandson sell wax rather than that thou shouldst suffer.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Juvenal, Saturnalia, 6, 542. alludes to the Jews selling wax-candles in Rome. V. Ginzberg, Legends. VI, 264, n. 87.] ');">³⁴</span> 'If so,' said he, 'do thou aid me [to reverse it].' Hence it is written, But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XXI, 17. ');">³⁵</span> upon which Rab Judah commented in Rab's name: He succoured him in prayer. Abishai then [again] pronounced the Divine Name and brought him down<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' At some distance from where Ishbi stood (Rashi). ');">³⁶</span> [from midair, where he was still suspended]. Now Ishbi-benob was pursuing them. When they reached Kubi<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A town near the border. [Horowitz, Palestine, p. 158 identifies it with El-Kabbu S.W. of Bethar.] ');">³⁷</span> they said to [each other], 'Let us stand [and fight] against him.' [But they were still afraid, and proceeded further.] When they reached Bethre<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Bethar, where the last stand in the Bar Cochba revolt was made (Neubauer, op. cit. 103). ');">³⁸</span> they said, 'Can two whelps kill a lion?'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Surely not; i.e., 'we are too weak, even combined, to slay him.' The remark was suggested by the place name Bethre, which means 'by two', as previously 'let us arise' — [H] — was suggested by [H]. ');">³⁹</span> So they taunted him, 'Go and find thy mother Orpah in the grave.' On their mentioning his mother's name to him<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., that she was dead. ');">⁴⁰</span> his strength failed, and they slew him. Hence it is written, Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt no more go out with us unto battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');">⁴¹</span> Our Rabbis taught: For three did the earth shrink: Eliezer, Abraham's servant, our father Jacob, and Abishai the son of Zeruiah. Abishai the son of Zeruiah, as has just been narrated. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, as it is written, And I came this day unto the well,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XXIV, 42. ');">⁴²</span> implying that he had set out on that day.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since the journey could not be normally done in a day, the earth must have shrunk for him. ');">⁴³</span> Our father Jacob,