פירוש על ברכות 6:37

There is no suspicion also- As we learned in a Mishna(Kiddushin 80b): but not with a woman and two men.

With two immoral- And it was taught there only with two who are known to be innocent(not immoral).

In which this danger is not so great.

According to Mishnah Kiddushin iv. 12, a woman may be accompanied by two men.

Rashi "field" and it is so usually rendered ; but cf. T. A. II. p. 470 n. 382.

"Rabbi," without any name following, refers to R. Judah the Prince, the redactor of the Mishnah.

In J. T., R. Nathan is answered: There are four watches, but the first is not counted because people are generally still awake.

M. : R. Simeon b. Lakish. Bacher adopts this as correct ; see A. P. A. I. p. 131 n. 5.

If by rising "at midnight" David forestalled "night-watches" (the plural signifying two), there must be four watches in the night.

See below fol. 9 b, p. 55.

If the day of royal personages commences with the beginning of the third hour (i.e. 8 a.m.), by rising at midnight David forestalled them by eight hours. Therefore a "watch" consists of four hours and there are three in the night.

This is an alternative answer to uphold R. Nathan's view. By "watches" is not necessarily to be understood two complete periods of time.

M.: R. Simeon b. Lakish. Bacher adopts this as correct; see A. P. A. I. p. 131 n. 5.

To be an auditor of a discussion on Torah and not take part in it was a mark of ignorance and one incurred shame thereby. The dead, being unable to participate, although for other reasons, would thus be disgraced. The idea will not seem so fantastic in view of the belief that the corpse was conscious of what transpired in its presence. Cf. the discussion on pp. 120 ff.

R.V. "at dawn"; but the Talmud wishes to give it the meaning of "evening." See the discussion in this and the following paragraphs.

In place of "in the name of R. Aha," M. reads: Another version: R. Eleazar said in the name of R. Osha'ya.

This is taken to be the meaning of Ps. cxix. 62, and therefore David rose before midnight.

The horse was known to be a light sleeper. According to Sukkah 26 b its sleep consisted of only 60 respirations.

Cf. Abot 5:23: "Judah b. Tema said : Be strong as a leopard, light as an eagle, fleet as a hart, and strong as a lion, to do the will of thy Father Who is in heaven" (Singer, p. 203).

M. : Rab Ashe.

This is the reading of M. The edd. read : To-morrow at midnight, the same time as now. See D. S. ad loc.

So M. correctly. Edd. : R. Aha b. Bizna. In J. T. the reference to the harp is in the name of R. Levi ; cf. A. P. A. III. p. 697.

A reminiscence of the Aeolian harp.

Let the rich help the poor.

The poor cannot remain satisfied with charitable doles, any more than a handful will satisfy a hungry lion. Moreover a nation needs external sources of supply. It cannot live on itself, just as the soil taken out of a pit will not completely fill the cavity. Others render the proverb: "A grasshopper cannot satisfy a lion ; nor can a cistern be filled by rain-water [but must also depend upon drawn water]"; cf. T. A. I. p. 419 n. 17.

Send out soldiers to obtain plunder.

The Jewish Senate, one of whose duties was to decide war. See J. E. XI. p. 41.

Objects connected with the High Priest's breastplate, used as a divine oracle by means of which questions were answered. See J. E. xii. p. 384.

This reading of edd. "Benaiah the son of Jehoiada" agrees with II Sam. 20:23. The Hebrew text of Chronicles reads "Jehoiada the son of Benaiah" which is also the reading of M. here.

In their place- In a place where they appear frequently, we are concerned even with two people.

בדברא- in a field

And Rav Alfasi decided in the name of Rav Hai, this only applies with words of Torah. However, other topics are not an issue. Also, it is only within four cubits of the dead.

[Never did midnight pass while I was asleep: Seemingly, He (King David) was expressing that it never happened that I was asleep at chatzot, and sometimes I would be up earlier from the neshef (evening)]