Talmud zu Bereschit 19:44

Rebbi Joshua ben Levi¹¹In the parallel in the Babli (26b), the opinion of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi is ascribed to R. Yose bar Ḥanina and the opinion of “the rabbis” in the following paragraph to R. Joshua ben Levi. The detailed derivation in both cases is declared to be a baraita, meaning that the two Amoraïm quoted do not claim originality, they simply adopt pre-existing ideas. said: They¹²The Men of the Great Assembly who instituted formal prayers and benedictions. learned prayers from the patriarchs. Morning prayer from our father Abraham (Gen. 19:27): “Abraham got up early to the place where he had stood there in the presence of the Eternal.” Standing means praying, as it says (Ps. 106:30) “Phineas stood and prayed¹³Usually translated as “judged”..” Minḥah prayers from our father Isaac. (Gen. 24:63) “Isaac went out to speak on the field¹⁴The essential proof is from the part of the verse that is not quoted: “To speak on the field towards evening.” [The Arabic שׁוח, corresponding to Hebrew שׂוח, means “to run, or fly, with outstretched arms”.].” Speaking means praying, as it says (Ps. 102:1) “A prayer of the deprived one when he faints and pours out his speech before the Eternal.” Evening prayer from our father Jacob. (Gen. 28:11) “He entreated at the Place¹⁵Usually translated “came suddenly upon the place.” For the meaning of “Place”, see H. Guggenheimer, The Scholar’s Haggadah, pp. 268–269..” Entreaty means prayer, as it is said (Jer. 27:18) “Please, let them entreat the Eternal of hosts.” And it says (Jer. 7:16): “Do not lift for them (your voice in) a cry and do not entreat me.”

Who disagrees?⁴⁸With the criterion of three stars for the start of night. Rebbi Ḥanina the Colleague of the Rabbis⁴⁹He usually goes by the name of R. Ḥananiah the Colleague of the Rabbis, a Babylonian who was an important teacher of the leaders of the fourth generation of Amoraim but who never headed a talmudic academy. He insists that it is logical to assert that as long as three stars can still be seen at dawn it is night even though it is relatively light and (Mishnah 5) one may well distinguish between dark blue and white, or between dark blue and dark green. Hence, since the theory of the three stars contradicts the Mishnah it must be invalid. asked: Just as you say in the evening that it is night if three stars are visible even though the sun is in the middle of the sky it is night, so you must say the same thing in the morning. Rebbi Abba⁵⁰R. Abba also was a Babylonian, a student of Rav Huna and Rav Yehudah in Babylonia, who went to Israel and became a rich silk merchant and talmudic authority of the third generation of Amoraim, a contemporary of R. Ḥanina the Colleague of the Rabbis. His argument parallels the previous one but, since it is based on Biblical verses, it seems to be an attack on the Mishnah which gives different treatments to dawn and dusk.
The first verse asserts that Lot came to Zoar at sunrise. The second verse asserts that the Cohen who had cleansed himself from impurity is purified at nightfall as explained earlier. The argument seems to center on the ambiguous statement “the sun will come and he will be pure.” Everywhere, the “coming” of the sun is its going, sundown or nightfall. In the first verse, the coming of Lot to Zoar is real coming, parallel to the going out of the sun. Hence, in the first verse coming and going out are the same. It would follow that, in the second verse also, coming must have the same status as going out since it is one of the principles of Rabbinic interpretation that Biblical expressions have the same meaning at every occurrence (a principle known as gĕzērāh šāwāh.) Hence, the different treatment of dawn and dusk in the Mishnah seems to contradict the principles of Rabbinic Bible interpretation. said: It is written (Gen. 19:23): “The sun went out over the earth and Lot came to Zoar.” And it is written (Lev. 22:7): “The sun will come and he shall be pure.” He brackets going out and coming. Since coming means that it is hidden from the creatures so also its coming out when it will be ascertained by the creatures. Rebbi Abba⁵¹It is not known if this Rebbi Abba, solving the puzzle, is the same as the author of the preceding question or another sage of the same name. The editorial principle of the Babli, to quote an authority the first time as פלוני אמר and the following times as אמר פלוני or ואמר פלוני does not apply to the Yerushalmi. said, it is written (Gen. 43:3): “In the morning it was light.” The Torah called the light morning.⁵²The Biblical text tells of Joseph’s brothers leaving Egypt to return to Canaan. Hence, it means the first dawn which was the first possible time for their leaving, and the Biblical verse connects the technical meaning of “morning” with the first light of dawn. Hence, the asymmetry of treating dawn and dusk is Biblical and Rebbi Ḥanina’s and Rebbi Abba’s arguments are unjustified. Rebbi Ismael⁵³He is a Tanna, an older contemporary of Rebbi Akiba and head of his own school. The sentence is a quote from an anonymous statement in Mekhilta dĕRibbi Ishmaël, Bo, 6): “ ‘They shall eat the meat during that night’; from here I understand during the entire night. The verse says ‘do not leave any leftovers until morning; but anything left over until morning you shall burn in fire.’ Why does the verse repeat ‘until morning’? To give a domain to the earliest part of morning. From here they said (Mishnah 3–4): ‘The consumption of the Passover sacrifice and all other sacrifices, the burning of their parts on the altar can be done until the start of dawn and all sacrifices that must be eaten within one day can be eaten until the start of dawn.’ Why did the Sages decree (that all must be done) until midnight? To remove people from transgression and to make a fence around the Torah.”
This is an additional indication that the earliest possible sign of dawn is the Biblical start of a new day. stated: (Ex. 12:10) “In the morning, in the morning,” to give a domain to the very early morning.

Rebbi Ḥinnena⁶³The prints and the Leyden manuscript have ר׳ חצנ׳, referring to an otherwise unknown scholar. The reading chosen is that of the Rome manuscript. The bearer of that name was a Galilean Amora of the third generation. said: From the appearance of the “morning hind⁶⁴This Biblical allusion (Psalm 22) denotes the zodiacal light; see the next section.” until the first rays of light in the East a man can walk four mil⁶⁵For the determination of the time implied by the distance, see the paragraph after the next.. From the first rays of light in the East until sunrise four mil⁶⁶This statement is found also in the Babylonian Talmud (Pesaḥim 94a), there one speaks of עלוֹת השחר, “the coming up of the morning”. איילת השחר is not a technical term used in the Babli.. From where do we know that from the first rays of light in the East until sunrise there are four mil? Since it is written (Gen. 19:15) “about when the morning came etc.⁶⁷The verse describes the time when the angels pushed Lot to leave Sodom.” And it is written (v. 23) “the sun rose over the land and Lot arrived at Zoär.” From Sodom to Zoär there are four mil. It is farther than that.⁶⁸In absence of a reliable tradition about the locations of Zoar and Sodom, it is difficult to know the real distances. In the documents found with the Bar Kochba letters in the desert of Judea, a locality Zoar is mentioned. Hence, in Mishnaic times the location of Zoar was still known. In the Babli (Pesaḥim 93b), Rebbi Ḥanina testifies that he checked out the distance and found it to be five mil. The Babli finds that the time of an average person walking five mil is too long for dawn but he does not try to harmonize the interpretation of the verses with the current observations of twilight. Rebbi Zeïra said: the angel was flattening⁶⁹The verb מקדר is used in tractate Eruvin in the technical sense of “levelling” by surveyors who for exact measurements use only yardsticks that are exactly horizontal. R. Zeïra wants to say that they walked only absolutely flat roads where the usual speed is higher. the road before them. And from where do we know that from the appearance of “the morning hind” until the first rays of light at the East there are four mil? “About when”, “when”, compares one thing to another⁷⁰One can apply the principle of גזרה שוה, that in general a certain expression has the same meaning in all contexts..

Rebbi Ḥinnena⁶³The prints and the Leyden manuscript have ר׳ חצנ׳, referring to an otherwise unknown scholar. The reading chosen is that of the Rome manuscript. The bearer of that name was a Galilean Amora of the third generation. said: From the appearance of the “morning hind⁶⁴This Biblical allusion (Psalm 22) denotes the zodiacal light; see the next section.” until the first rays of light in the East a man can walk four mil⁶⁵For the determination of the time implied by the distance, see the paragraph after the next.. From the first rays of light in the East until sunrise four mil⁶⁶This statement is found also in the Babylonian Talmud (Pesaḥim 94a), there one speaks of עלוֹת השחר, “the coming up of the morning”. איילת השחר is not a technical term used in the Babli.. From where do we know that from the first rays of light in the East until sunrise there are four mil? Since it is written (Gen. 19:15) “about when the morning came etc.⁶⁷The verse describes the time when the angels pushed Lot to leave Sodom.” And it is written (v. 23) “the sun rose over the land and Lot arrived at Zoär.” From Sodom to Zoär there are four mil. It is farther than that.⁶⁸In absence of a reliable tradition about the locations of Zoar and Sodom, it is difficult to know the real distances. In the documents found with the Bar Kochba letters in the desert of Judea, a locality Zoar is mentioned. Hence, in Mishnaic times the location of Zoar was still known. In the Babli (Pesaḥim 93b), Rebbi Ḥanina testifies that he checked out the distance and found it to be five mil. The Babli finds that the time of an average person walking five mil is too long for dawn but he does not try to harmonize the interpretation of the verses with the current observations of twilight. Rebbi Zeïra said: the angel was flattening⁶⁹The verb מקדר is used in tractate Eruvin in the technical sense of “levelling” by surveyors who for exact measurements use only yardsticks that are exactly horizontal. R. Zeïra wants to say that they walked only absolutely flat roads where the usual speed is higher. the road before them. And from where do we know that from the appearance of “the morning hind” until the first rays of light at the East there are four mil? “About when”, “when”, compares one thing to another⁷⁰One can apply the principle of גזרה שוה, that in general a certain expression has the same meaning in all contexts..

²²A somewhat garbled version of a text in Berakhot 1:1 (Notes 63–70) and Gen. rabba 50(15). Rebbi Ḥanina said: From the appearance of the “morning hind”²³The zodiacal light. until the first rays of light in the East a man can walk four mil²⁴Since a person is presumed to be able to walk 40 mil on a full day at the equinoxes, this comes to 72 min.. From the first rays of light in the East until sunrise a man can walk four mil²⁵Babli Pesaḥim 94a,. From where do we know that from the appearance of “the morning hind” until the first rays of light on the East there are four mil? [ince it is written]²⁶Gen. 19:15.: and when the morning came, the angels urged Lot, saying²⁷It is clear that the argument is not relevant to the question asked here, but to the time elapsing between first dawn and sunrise. To complete the proof, one has tro add a reference to v. 23, found in Berakhot and Gen. rabba, which states that Lot arrived in Zoar at the time of sunrise.. From Sodom to Zoar there are four mil. It is farther than that²⁸In the Babli, Pesaḥim 93b, R. Ḥanina is quoted that he checked out the distance and it was 5 mil.. Rebbi Zeˋira said: the angel was flattening the road before them. And from where that from the first rays of light in the East until sunrise there are four mil? When, and when, one thing compares to another²⁹The additional and permits to compare the one time specified in Scripture to the other, the time between visibility of the zodiacal light and first dawn. .

All names in the Torah mentioned in connection with Lot are secular²⁵There is only one secular name in the Lot passages, and the Tetragrammaton occurs twice. The word ‘all’ is not intended to be taken literally (cf. N.Y. on Sof. IV, 7). except the last.²⁶Viz. And Lot said unto them: ‘Oh, not so my Lord’ (Gen. 19, 18). Lot’s address to the angels is understood as ending at not so, and his petition to God then begins, My Lord, behold, etc. [So the Targum and Shebu. 35b, Sonc. ed., pp. 205f.] [All names] in the story of Micah²⁷Judg. 17f. are secular, even [when they begin with] Yod-he.²⁸The Tetragrammaton. In [the account of] Naboth²⁹1 Kings 21. they are sacred even [when they begin with] Alef-lamed.³⁰Meaning elsewhere ‘God’.

All [divine] names mentioned in connection with Lot are secular³⁸There is only one secular name in the Lot passages. The Tetragrammaton, which is of course sacred, occurs twice. The word ‘all’ is not intended to be taken literally (cf. N.Y.). except the last, viz. And Lot said unto them: Oh, not so my Lord.³⁹Gen. 19, 18. Lot’s address to the angels is taken to end at not so, and then his petition to God begins, My Lord, behold, etc. [So the Targum and Shebu. 35b (Sonc. ed., pp. 205f).] All [divine] names mentioned in the story of Micah⁴⁰Judg. 17f. are secular. R. Jose says: When they begin with Yod-he⁴¹The Tetragrammaton. they are sacred, but when with Alef-lamed⁴²The word for ‘God’. they are secular except in the phrase the house of God was in Shiloh.⁴³ibid. XVIII, 31. All the [divine] names which occur in the story of Naboth are sacred except in the sentence Naboth did curse god⁴⁴Referring to one of the strange gods introduced by Jezebel. E.V. God. and king.⁴⁵1 Kings 21, 13. All the [divine] names which occur in the narrative of Gibeah of Benjamin⁴⁶Judg. 20f. are secular according to R. Eliezer, but R. Joshua says: They are sacred. R. Eliezer said to him, ‘Is it possible that the Omnipresent would promise [victory]⁴⁷According to Judg. 20, 18, 23 God told Israel to wage war against Benjamin, which implied that they would be victorious. and not fulfil?’⁴⁸Israel was defeated on both occasions (ibid. 21, 25). R. Joshua replied, ‘The Omnipresent promises and fulfils’.⁴⁹The Israelites did not appreciate that on the first two occasions God only told them that they may go to war but promised no victory. Only on the third occasion were they assured that Benjamin would be delivered into their hands (ibid. XX, 28). [37a]

All [divine] names mentioned in connection with Lot are secular³⁸There is only one secular name in the Lot passages. The Tetragrammaton, which is of course sacred, occurs twice. The word ‘all’ is not intended to be taken literally (cf. N.Y.). except the last, viz. And Lot said unto them: Oh, not so my Lord.³⁹Gen. 19, 18. Lot’s address to the angels is taken to end at not so, and then his petition to God begins, My Lord, behold, etc. [So the Targum and Shebu. 35b (Sonc. ed., pp. 205f).] All [divine] names mentioned in the story of Micah⁴⁰Judg. 17f. are secular. R. Jose says: When they begin with Yod-he⁴¹The Tetragrammaton. they are sacred, but when with Alef-lamed⁴²The word for ‘God’. they are secular except in the phrase the house of God was in Shiloh.⁴³ibid. XVIII, 31. All the [divine] names which occur in the story of Naboth are sacred except in the sentence Naboth did curse god⁴⁴Referring to one of the strange gods introduced by Jezebel. E.V. God. and king.⁴⁵1 Kings 21, 13. All the [divine] names which occur in the narrative of Gibeah of Benjamin⁴⁶Judg. 20f. are secular according to R. Eliezer, but R. Joshua says: They are sacred. R. Eliezer said to him, ‘Is it possible that the Omnipresent would promise [victory]⁴⁷According to Judg. 20, 18, 23 God told Israel to wage war against Benjamin, which implied that they would be victorious. and not fulfil?’⁴⁸Israel was defeated on both occasions (ibid. 21, 25). R. Joshua replied, ‘The Omnipresent promises and fulfils’.⁴⁹The Israelites did not appreciate that on the first two occasions God only told them that they may go to war but promised no victory. Only on the third occasion were they assured that Benjamin would be delivered into their hands (ibid. XX, 28). [37a]

Rebbi Huna bar Aḥa¹⁵¹He is not otherwise known. in the name of Rebbi Alexandros: Come and see the power of those who keep the Commandments because all “lookings down” in the Torah¹⁵²Gen. 18:16, 19:28 (Sodom), 26:8 (Abimelekh and Rebekka), Ex. 14:24 (Egyptians on the Sea). This refers only to hiph‘il of שקף. are curses but this one is in the language of blessing. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, not only that but it is written¹⁵³Starting words of the next paragraph guaranteeing instant response. (Deut. 26:16) “this day,” the condition of every day.

HALAKHAH: All its spoils you shall collect, etc. Rebbi Simeon said, is there not an argument de minore ad majus about this? Since properties, which have no knowledge of good or bad, but because they caused the just to dwell with the evildoers the Torah said, should be burned, if somebody has the intention of influencing his neighbor and influences him from good ways to bad ones, not so much more? Rebbi Eleazar said, the matter is demonstrated by Lot who dwelt in Sodom only because of his money but left there with his hands on his head. This is what is written³⁸¹Gen. 19:22.: Quickly escape to there; it is enough for you that you escape with your life.

And from where that a better neighborhood tests¹⁴²That more healthy surroundings can cause problems.? Rebbi Levi in the name of Rebbi Ḥama in the name of Ḥanina: “That disaster should not cling to me and I die.¹⁴³Gen. 19:19, Lot speaking to the angels who had told him to move to the mountains to escape the destruction of Sodom. The climate in the Moabite mountains is much healthier that in the plain of the Dead Sea.
A slightly expanded version is in Gen. rabba 50(20) by R. Berekhia in the name of R. Levi. The Babli, 110b, quotes a verse of Sirach to the same effect.” He was in the plain and was directed to the mountains, and you say so? But from here that a better neighborhood tests!

Ten words in the Torah are marked with dots. They are as follows: 1. “The Eternal will judge between me and you” (Genesis 16:5). There is a dot above the letter yod in the term, “and you.” This teaches that Sarah did not say this to Abraham, but to Hagar. Some say that it means she was speaking about those who caused the fighting “between me and you.” 2. “They said to him, Where is Sarah?” (Genesis 18:9). There are dots above the letters aleph, yod, and vav in the term, “to him,” to indicate that they already knew where she was, but they nevertheless inquired about her. 3. (There is a dot on the verse,) “When she lay down and when she arose” (Genesis 19:33). There is a dot above the letter vav in the term, “When she arose” the first time it is used [with regard to Lot’s older daughter]. This teaches that he was not aware of what happened until the (younger daughter) arose. 4. “And Esau ran to greet him, and he hugged him, fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Genesis 33:4). The term for, “and kissed him,” has dots above every letter, to teach that he did not kiss him sincerely. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: It means that this kiss was sincere, but every other one he gave Jacob was not. 5. “His brothers went to shepherd their father’s flocks in Shechem” (Genesis 37:12). There are dots on the word just before “flocks.” This teaches that they did not actually go to shepherd the flocks, but to eat and drink (and indulge their temptations). 6. “All the Levites who were recorded, whom Moses and Aaron recorded” (Numbers 3:39). There are dots above Aaron’s name. Why? To teach that Aaron himself was not counted in this record. 7. “On a long journey” (Numbers 9:10). There is a dot above the letter hei in the word “long.” This teaches that this does not really mean a long journey, but any exiting the boundaries of the outer court of the Temple. 8. “We caused destruction all the way up to Nophach, which reaches into Medeba” (Numbers 21:30). There is a dot above the letter reish in the word “which.” Why? To teach that they destroyed the idolaters but not the countries themselves (whereas the practice of idolaters was to destroy entire countries). 9. “A tenth, a tenth for each” (Numbers 29:15). [This verse delineates the meal offering that accompanies the burnt offering] on the first day of the Sukkot festival. There is a dot above the letter vav in the [first occurrence of the] word “tenth.” Why? To teach that there is only one-tenth [measure] for each. 10. “The hidden things are for the Eternal our God, and the revealed things are for us and our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:30). There are dots above the words “for us and our children,” and above the letter ayin in the word “forever.” Why? For this is what Ezra said: If Elijah comes and says to me: Why did you write it this way? I will say to him: I have already put dots above these words [to indicate I was not certain it was correct]. But if he says to me: You wrote it correctly, then I will remove the dots.
There are eleven instances in the Torah where the Hebrew word for “she,” היא, is written as הוא (which means “he” or “it”) but vocalized to mean “she.” The first is: “The King of Bela, he is [i.e., “she is”] Tzur” (Genesis 14:1). The second: “He himself said to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and SHE also said, ‘He is my brother’” (Genesis 20:5). The third: “As she was being brought out, SHE sent a message to her father-in-law, saying” (Genesis 38:25). The fourth: “If one of your animals of which it is [i.e., “she is”] used for food dies” (Leviticus 11:39). The fifth: “And it [i.e., “and she”] has turned the hair white” (Leviticus 13:10). The sixth: “If the priest sees it…and it [i.e., “and she”] has faded” (Leviticus 13:21). [The seventh: “It (i.e., “she”) shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for you” (Leviticus 16:31). The eighth: “And SHE sees his nakedness” (Leviticus 20:17). The ninth: “SHE has disgraced her father” (Leviticus 21:9). The tenth: “And SHE has kept secret, and defiled herself (and she was not caught)” (Numbers 5:13). The eleventh: “A spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he is jealous of his wife…but SHE has not defiled herself” (Numbers 5:14).