Talmud zu Bereschit 21:76

Rebbi Ḥananiah the colleague of the rabbis asked, does the Holy One, praise to Him, not see what is going to be? He did not hear what Rebbi Simon said in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: The Holy One, praise to Him, only judges a person according to his present state. What is the reason: Do not fear, for God heard the lad’s voice as he is there²²³Gen. 21:17, the main point of the Torah reading of the first day of the New Year. Babli 16b.. Rebbi Levi said, it is written, rakes will not stand before Him²²⁴Ps. 5:6.. Why? You hated all evil-doers²²⁴Ps. 5:6.. Rebbi Issachar from Kefar-Mendi preached: For He knows lying people, he saw wickedness, would He not understand²²⁵Job11:11. A adds (p. 37 l. 16): The Holy One, praise to Him, knows that criminals will be sinning but He does not consider their bad deeds up to the time they are acting on them and then He judges them.? <He will watch over you, bring peace into your virtuous home.²²⁶Job8:6.>²²⁷The bracketed text was added from G; it is the introduction to R. Joshua ben Levi’s statement. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, it is not written, “if you were pure and straight”, but if you are pure and straight^226,Job8:6.²²⁹Prov. 30:31.. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, the strong of loins and the bellwether; the king, there is no standing with him²²⁹Prov. 30:31.. Usually every one tried to win over the other’s strength, but the Holy One, praise to Him, is not so but the King, there is no standing with him, He does not insist on His standing. [For]²³⁰Corrector’s addition, neither in the text nor in Psalms. not eternally He will fight²³¹Ps. 103:9, a pun of two different roots נצח “permanent” or “victorious”. God prefers people to become virtuous so He does not have to judge them. Babli Pesaḥim119a., He will not fight to be victorious.

“If a tree was uprooted but it had a sunken branch;” blessing is in it. Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: There is bĕrîkhâ in it. Rebbi Mana said, some people are called Bĕrîkhâ as you say (Gen. 24:31): “Come, the Eternal’s blessed.”¹¹⁰Both homiletic versions, that sinking branches brings blessing to the farmer, are identical. The Aramaic translation of the phrase from Gen. is עוּל בְּרִיכָא דַה֗ both in Onqelos (Eastern) and Yerushalmi (Pseudo-Jonathan, Western). The modern Ashkenazic version of the name is Brick, Bruck. Cf. E. and H. Guggenheimer, Jewish Family Names and Their Origins, Ktav, 1992.

The following names are to be divided:³⁹Although each represents one name, it is to be written as two words. Beth-el,⁴⁰e.g. Gen. 12, 8. Beth-’awen,⁴¹Hos. 4, 15, X, 15. Beer-sheba,⁴²E.g. Gen. 21, 31. Ẓofenath-pa’neaḥ, [37b] Poṭi-fera,⁴³ibid. XLI, 45. E.V. Zaphenathpaneah and Poti-phera. Ben-’oni,⁴⁴ibid. XXXV, 18. Yedid-yah,⁴⁵2 Sam. 12, 25. E.V. Jedidiah. Halelu-yah.⁴⁶E.g. Ps. 111, 1, ‘praise ye the Lord’. E.V. prints it as one word. V and H add: וחרה אף וחרה אפי, and the anger [of the Lord] was kindled, My wrath shall wax hot (Ex. 22, 23; Num. 11, 10). R. Jose says: These must not be divided.⁴⁷But written as one word. All, however, agree that there must be no breaking up of ‘Ammi’el,⁴⁸A name meaning ‘God is with me’ (e.g. Num. 13, 12). Another reading is עזיאל, ‘God is my strength’ (e.g. Ex. 6, 18). ‘Amminadab,⁴⁹A name meaning ‘my kinsman is noble’ (e.g. ibid. 23). Ẓuri’el,⁵⁰A name meaning ‘my Rock is God’ (Num. 3, 35). Ẓurishaddai.⁵¹A name meaning ‘my Rock is Shaddai’ (cf. Num. 1, 6).

The following names are to be divided:³⁸Although each represents one name it is to be written as two words. Beth-’el,³⁹e.g. Gen. 12, 8. Beth-’awen,⁴⁰Hos. 4, 15; X, 5. Be’er-sheba‘,⁴¹e.g. Gen. 21, 31. Poṭifera‘,⁴²ibid. XXXV, 18. Ẓafenath-pa‘neaḥ,⁴³ibid. XLI, 45. E.V. Poti-phera and Zaphenath-paneah. [and the words] ḥarah ’af,⁴⁴lit. ‘the anger was kindled’ (cf. Num. 11, 10). ḥarah ’appi.⁴⁵lit. ‘My anger was kindled’ (cf. Ex. 22, 23). R. Jose says: These must not be divided. All agree that there must be no breaking up of ‘Ammiel,⁴⁶A name meaning ‘God is with me’ (e.g. Num. 13, 12). ‘Amminadab,⁴⁷Meaning ‘my kinsman is noble’ (e.g. ibid. 23). Ẓuri’el,⁴⁸The name means ‘my rock is God’ (cf. ibid. III, 35). Ẓurishaddai.⁴⁹A name meaning ‘my rock is Shaddai’ (e.g. ibid. I, 6).

³³³Similarly Thr. rabba 3(38), Yalqut Prophets 421; cf. Tanhuma Yitro 5. Rebbi Joḥanan said, 80’000 young priests (broke through) [fled to] Nebuchadnezzar’s armies and went to the Ismaelites. They said to them, give us to drink for we are thirsty. They brought before them salted fish and inflated waterskins. They said to them, eat and then you can drink. When one of them opened the waterskin and put it into his mouth, the wind came out and suffocated him. That is what is written³³⁴Is. 21:13–15., load in Arabia, a large load on Arabia. In a forest in Arabia they will stay, those that should have been in the forest of Lebanon, in Arabia they will stay. But the ways of Dedanians³³⁵A grandson of Abraham by Qetura., that is the way the Dedanians act. When Ismael was thirsty, did they not bring water towards the thirsty? God opened her eyes and she saw a water cistern³³⁶Gen. 21:19.. Not voluntarily they came to you, for they fled from swords. From the unfettered sword, because they did not want to keep their Sabbaticals, as you are saying, and the seventh unfetter and abandon³³⁷Ex. 23:11.. And because ofcocked bows, because they did not want to keep their Sabbaths, as you are saying, in these days I saw in Jehudah people pressing wine-presses on the Sabbath³³⁸Neh. 13:15.. And because of the difficulty of war, they did not want to engage in the Torah’s war, [as you are saying], therefore it was said in the book of the wars of the Eternal³³⁹Num. 21:14..

HALAKHAH: “On Pentecost, seven weeks.” There are Tannaim who state, in the third month¹¹⁷Ex. Chapters 19–20. While Pharisaic and Sadducee traditions differ about the date of Pentecost, both are in agreement that the holiday celebrates the anniversary of the theophany of Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments, the theme of these Chapters. Tosephta 3:5. “And on New Year’s Day, and in the Seventh month¹¹⁸In this version the reading is Num. 29:1–5..” There are Tannaim who state, and the Eternal counted Sarah¹¹⁹Gen. Chapter 21. The reading is appropriate because v. 21:17 states that a person is judged only by his state at the moment of judgment; if he is repentant then his prior misdeeds are disregarded; a proper reading for the Day of Judgment. Tosephta 3:6 For the Babylonian rite, Babli 31a.. “On the Day of Atonement, after the death. On the first day of Tabernacles one reads the section about holidays in Leviticus; on the remaining days about the sacrifices of the holiday.” Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Yasa, to teach you that the world only exists by the sacrifices.

Yosef ben Yohanan, a man of Jerusalem, would say: Let your house be open to all, let the poor be members of your household, and do not talk too much with married women.
Let your house be open to all. How so? This teaches that a person’s house should be open to all sides: the south, the east, the west, and the north. This is like Job, who made four doors to his house. And why did Job make four doors to his house? So that the poor would not have to trouble themselves to go around the whole house. Someone who came in from the north would enter from that direction, and someone who came in from the south would enter from that direction, and so with every direction. That is why Job made four doors to his house.
Let the poor be members of your household. Not that they will be actual members of your household, but they will speak of what they ate and drank in your house, in the way that they speak of what they ate and drank in the house of Job. For when they would meet, one would say to another: Where are you coming from? (And the other would reply:) From the house of Job; and where are you going? (And the first one would say:) To the house of Job.
So when all the great tragedies came upon him, Job said before the Holy Blessed One: Did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty? as it says (Job 31:17), “Did I ever eat my food alone, and not let orphan eat from it?” And did I not clothe the naked? as it says (Job 31:20), “He warmed himself from the shearings of my sheep.” And even so, these tragedies came upon me. The Holy Blessed One said to Job: Job, you still have not gotten to [even half] the level of Abraham. You sit and wait in your house, and guests come in to you. And if it is someone’s custom is to eat wheat bread, you feed him wheat bread. And if someone’s custom is to eat meat, you feed him meat. And if someone’s custom is to drink wine, you pour him wine. But Abraham did not do this. Rather, he sat and looked out at the world, and when he would see potential guests, he would go bring them into his house. And if someone was not accustomed to eating wheat bread, he would feed him wheat bread. And if someone was not accustomed to eating meat, he would feed him meat. And if someone was not accustomed to drinking wine, he would pour him wine. Not only that, but he built large booths out on the roads, where he would leave food and drink, and anyone who came by and entered would eat and drink and bless the heavens, and he would feel content. Anything that one could ask for was available in the house of Abraham, as it says (Genesis 21:33), “And he planted an Eshel tree in Beer Sheba.”¹Note: The Midrash reads the word Eshel as an acronym for akhila (eating), shtiya (drinking), and livui (accompanying)

HALAKHAH: “A qônām that I shall not enjoy from the descendants of Noah; he is permitted Jews and forbidden Gentiles¹⁴⁵Even though Jews also are descendants of Noah, the technical term “descendants of Noah” applies only to those outside the Sinaitic covenant, who are only bound by the natural law given to Adam and Noah.. That I shall not enjoy from the descendants of Abraham; he is forbidden Jews and permitted Gentiles,” etc. Is Ismael not part of Abraham’s seed? “¹⁵⁰Gen. 21:12. The same in the Babli 31a, Sanhedrin 59b.. For in Isaac will be called your seed.” And is not Esaw part of Isaac’s seed? Rebbi Yudan bar Shalom said, “in Isaac,” in part of Isaac. Rebbi Huna said, “ב” are two¹⁵¹Following the Alexandrian practice to denote numbers by letters., the son who will be inheriting two worlds, this world and the world to come. Rebbi Gershom in the name of Rebbi Aḥa, “¹⁵²Num. 24:17. a star did step out from Jacob,” from whom did a star step out and will appear in the future? From Jacob! Rebbi Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Ḥuna: In the future world, evil Esaw will put on his prayer shawl and sit with the Just in Paradise, but the Holy One, Praise to Him, draws him away. Why? “¹⁵³Ob. 1:4. If you climb as high as an eagle or if you would make your nest between stars, from there I would take you down, says the Lord.” But “stars” are only the Just. As you say¹⁵⁴Dan. 12:3., “those who justify the many are like stars, eternally.”