טו אמר ליה רב נחמן לרבי יצחק מי שמיע לך אימת אתי בר נפלי אמר ליה מאן בר נפלי א"ל משיח משיח בר נפלי קרית ליה א"ל אין דכתיב (עמוס ט, יא) ביום ההוא אקים
15 He sent back: 'The wicked may repent, pray for mercy, and bring Him back.' They answered, 'He hath already fixed a time for them,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That He will not return to them until seventy years of exile have passed. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> as it is written, And will come home at the day appointed [ha-kese]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] Prov. Ibid. ');"><sup>29</sup></span> and 'kese' can only refer to time, as it is written, in the time appointed [ba-kese] on our solemn feast day.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. LXXXI, 1, 3. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> He then sent word, 'It is winter, and I cannot come on account of the approaching snows and rains.' They replied, 'Come by way of the mountains, [which will protect you];'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Rashi. Jast. renders: 'Come, even if it be necessary to march over the cliffs and mountains.' ');"><sup>31</sup></span> as it is written, Send ye a messenger to the ruler of the earth [i.e., Nebuchadnezzar] [that he may come] by way of the rocks [i.e., mountains] to the wilderness, [unto the mount of the daughter of Zion].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XVI, 1. ');"><sup>32</sup></span> He sent back, 'If I come, I have no place for encamping.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'There is no sheltered place outside Jerusalem where I may encamp with my whole army.' ');"><sup>33</sup></span> They replied, 'Their graveyards are better than thy palaces'; as it is written, At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the King of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. VIII, 1f. I.e., the great burial vaults will be cleaned to give shelter to Nebuchadnezzar's army. ');"><sup>34</sup></span> R. Nahman said to R. Isaac: 'Have you heard when Bar Nafle<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Lit., 'son of the fallen.' Bar Nafle is generally assumed to represent the Greek [G], the 'son of the clouds;' cf. Dan. VII, 13, there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man, which R. Nahman gave a Hebrew connotation.] ');"><sup>35</sup></span> will come?' 'Who is Bar Nafle?' he asked. 'Messiah,' he answered, 'Do you call Messiah Bar Nafle?' — 'Even so,' he rejoined, 'as it is written, in that day I will raise up