Talmud sur Osée 2:26

⁶⁴Lev. rabba 36(5). How far did the merit of the forefathers extend? Rebbi Tanḥuma said in the name of the Elder Rebbi Ḥiyya, (Bar) [Rebbi]^G Naḥman said it in the name of Rebbi Berekhiah, Rebbi Ḥelbo in the name of Rebbi Abba bar Zavda, up to Joaḥaz. The Eternal was compassionate about them and had mercy for them etc., up to now⁶⁵2K. 13:23.. Up to that moment, the merit of the forefathers existed. Samuel said, up to Hosea’s [time]. But now, I shall uncover her scandalous behavior before the eyes of her lovers, and no man may save her from My hand⁶⁶Hos. 2:12.. Man can only mean Abraham, as you say, but now return theman’s wife, for he is a prophet⁶⁷Gen. 20:7.. Man can only mean Isaac, as you say, who is this man coming in the field towards us⁶⁸Gen. 24:65.? Man can only mean Jacob, as you say, but Jacob was a simple man⁶⁹Gen. 25:27.. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, up to Elijah: It was when the time of the afternoon service came that Elijah the prophet approached and said, O Eternal, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, today it shall be proclaimed that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant⁷⁰1K. 18:36. Since Elijah’s prayer was granted, this gives a terminus post quem. etc. Rebbi Yudan said, up to Hezekias, to increase dominion and peace without end⁷¹Is. 9:6.. ⁷²Sifra Behuqqotai Pereq 7(11), Ex. rabba 44(3). The argument really is not about the patriarchs’ merits but about the validity of the Covenant. Rebbi Aḥa said, the merit of the forefathers extends forever: For the Eternal is a Merciful Power, etc., up to and He shall not forget your forefather’s covenant⁷³Deut. 4:31.. This teaches that the covenant was sealed with the tribes. Rebbi Yudan bar Ḥanan in the name of Rebbi Berekhiah: The Holy One, praise to Him, said to Israel: If you see that the merit of the fathers reels, and the merit of the mothers trembles, go and cling to grace.⁷⁴Is. 54:10.For mountains may reel, and hills tremble; for mountains may reel, this is the fathers’ merit, and hills tremble, this is the mothers’ merit. After that, but My Grace will not leave you and My Covenant of Peace will not reel, says the One Who has mercy on you, the Eternal.

²¹⁵A similar paragraph is in Gen. r. 80(1). Yose from Maon interpreted²¹⁶In the Talmudim, תרגם is only used for interpretation or translation of Scripture. One has to assume that Yose from Maon was reading Hos. 5 as Hafṭara to Gen. 34 in the Palestinian 3½ year cycle of Torah reading (cf. J. Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue I, Cincinnati 1940). One also has to assume that the Aramaic translator of the Hafṭara had the freedom to expound upon the verses read, similar to what is described in the New Testament (Luke 4:17–20). in the synagogue of Tiberias: Listen to this, you priests²¹⁷Hos. 5:1., why do you not study Torah? Did I not give you 24 gifts²¹⁸The 24 emoluments of priesthood; cf. Hallah 4:11 (Note 146) and the sources quoted there.? They told him, they do not give us anything. And hearken, House of Israel, why do you not give the 24 gifts which I commanded you at Sinai? They told him, the king²¹⁹The Patriarch was responsible for collecting the taxes due from the Jewish population in Palestine; there is an intentional ambiguity whether king refers to the Roman Emperor or the Davidic Patriarch. takes everything. Listen, king’s court, for yours are legal proceedings, for you I did say, these are the priests’ legal rights²²⁰Deut. 18:3.; in the future I shall sit in judgment over you, to stop them and to eliminate them from the world. Rebbi Jehudah the Prince heard this and became angry. He²²¹Yose the Maonite. was afraid and fled. Rebbi Joḥanan and Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish went to appease him. They told him, Rabbi, he is a great man. He²²²The Patriarch. asked them, would it be possible that he²²¹Yose the Maonite. could answer any question which I would ask him? They told him, yes. He asked him: What is that which is written²²³Hos. 2:7.: For their mother whored? Was our mother Sarah a whore? He answered, like daughter like mother²²⁴The text is confirmed by a Genizah fragment (M. Sokoloff, The Genizah Fragments of Bereshit Rabba, Jerusalem 1982, p. 167.) The reading in the printed editions of Gen. rabba הָכָא אָמְרֵי “here, they say” has to be rejected as lectio facilior., like mother like daughter, like generation like the prince, like the prince like the generation, like the altar like its priests. Cahana used to say²²⁴The text is confirmed by a Genizah fragment (M. Sokoloff, The Genizah Fragments of Bereshit Rabba, Jerusalem 1982, p. 167.) The reading in the printed editions of Gen. rabba הָכָא אָמְרֵי “here, they say” has to be rejected as lectio facilior., like the garden like its gardener. He told them, not only did he curse me once in my absence, but he cursed me three times in my presence! He asked him, what is that which is written²²⁵The Genizah fragment shows that instead of “like daughter like mother”, the text read כְּבַיִת כְּאוּמָּא “like dynasty like people, like generation like Prince” with the quote from the verse missing, a much more insulting formulation.: Anybody wanting to formulate a simile about you will state as follows: like mother like daughter; was our mother Leah a prostitute since it is written²²⁶Ez. 16:44., Dinah went out? He told him, for it is written²²⁷Gen. 34:1, the starting verse for the sermon. In both Galilean and Babylonian Aramaic is the prostitute called נַפְקַת בָּרָא “the one who goes out.”, Leah went out towards him. One identifies going out with going out.

Seven attributes serve before the Throne of Glory: Wisdom, Righteousness, Justice, Kindness, Mercy, Truth, and Peace, as it says (Hosea 2:21–22), “I will bind you to Me forever. I will bind you to Me with righteousness, with justice, with kindness, and with mercy. I will bind you to Me with faith, and you will know the Eternal.” [Rabbi Meir would say: What do we learn from the phrase, “and you will know the Eternal”?] This teaches that any person who possesses these attributes has knowledge of God.