פירוש על בבא קמא 33:3
Tosafot on Bava Kamma
But didn't they [also] do this before Ahab? R’ Y’hudoh said that the honor accorded Hizkiyah was the massive size of his funeral – thirty six thousand people who bared their shoulders. R' Neḥemya disagrees with this interpretation of the ‘honor’, because we find that even Achov who was a wicked king had a very large funeral. The verse cannot mean that the ‘honor’ of Hizkiyah is a massive funeral, if we find that even the wicked Achov had a very large funeral. But where do we find that Achov had a very large funeral? It is certainly not mentioned in the N’vee’im. Says Tosafot:
That they made a massive eulogy for him, Achov, as the Gemara says in M’giloh (3a): The prophet Zechariah 12, 11, speaks of the eulogy of Hadrimon son of Tavrimon. On the surface the verse is extremely difficult to understand, there is no such known person in Tanach. The Targum there clarifies the matter. The verse means: like the eulogy of Achov ben Omree who was killed by Hadrimon ben Tavrimon. And that occurred during a battle when there were many people, and they all eulogized him. This is the source for the large funeral of Achov that R' Neḥemya referred to.
But the verse in M’lochim seems to contradict the Targum, which says that the people eulogized Achov and seemingly mourned his death. And even though it is written about the death of Achov (M’lochim 1, 22, 36) and the ‘joy’ went through the encampment, and the Gemara says (Sanhedrin 39b) as an explanation of the use of the word רנה, With the destruction of the wicked comes joy (Mishlay 11, 10), with the loss of Achov ben Omree there was joy. It is clear from the Gemara’s understanding of the verse in M’lochim that there was joy, not mourning, at the death of Achov.1R’ Yacov of Emden suggests that there may be no contradiction at all. The very same people, who acted as mourners from fear of reprisal by Achov’s followers, were inwardly joyous about the death of the evil king.
That was for the righteous of the generation, but his servants and those who loved him, were eulogizing him. Both are true. There was a massive eulogy for him by his servants and admirers. There was also profound joy for the righteous who saw in his death a victory over evil.
That they made a massive eulogy for him, Achov, as the Gemara says in M’giloh (3a): The prophet Zechariah 12, 11, speaks of the eulogy of Hadrimon son of Tavrimon. On the surface the verse is extremely difficult to understand, there is no such known person in Tanach. The Targum there clarifies the matter. The verse means: like the eulogy of Achov ben Omree who was killed by Hadrimon ben Tavrimon. And that occurred during a battle when there were many people, and they all eulogized him. This is the source for the large funeral of Achov that R' Neḥemya referred to.
But the verse in M’lochim seems to contradict the Targum, which says that the people eulogized Achov and seemingly mourned his death. And even though it is written about the death of Achov (M’lochim 1, 22, 36) and the ‘joy’ went through the encampment, and the Gemara says (Sanhedrin 39b) as an explanation of the use of the word רנה, With the destruction of the wicked comes joy (Mishlay 11, 10), with the loss of Achov ben Omree there was joy. It is clear from the Gemara’s understanding of the verse in M’lochim that there was joy, not mourning, at the death of Achov.1R’ Yacov of Emden suggests that there may be no contradiction at all. The very same people, who acted as mourners from fear of reprisal by Achov’s followers, were inwardly joyous about the death of the evil king.
That was for the righteous of the generation, but his servants and those who loved him, were eulogizing him. Both are true. There was a massive eulogy for him by his servants and admirers. There was also profound joy for the righteous who saw in his death a victory over evil.
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