Talmud sur Les Proverbes 8:38

Rav Ḥisda said: He who enters the synagogue must enter inside two doors. What is the reason (Prov. 8:34) “Hail to the man who listens to Me, always to be diligent at My doors³⁷The verse is spoken by Wisdom (or the Torah) but is interpreted as God’s word..” My doors and not my door. Doorposts and not doorpost³⁸This refers to the end of the verse which is omitted here: “To guard the doorposts of my entrances always.”. If he did that, what is written there? (Prov. 8:35) “Because he who found Me found life.³⁹In the Babli (8b), the statement of Rav Ḥisda appears without justification, but it follows a statement of R. Joshua ben Levi that he who frequents the synagogue will live long and which is supported by the two verses quoted here. Hence, the Babli is dependent on the Yerushalmi in this case.”

Rav Ḥisda said: He who enters the synagogue must enter inside two doors. What is the reason (Prov. 8:34) “Hail to the man who listens to Me, always to be diligent at My doors³⁷The verse is spoken by Wisdom (or the Torah) but is interpreted as God’s word..” My doors and not my door. Doorposts and not doorpost³⁸This refers to the end of the verse which is omitted here: “To guard the doorposts of my entrances always.”. If he did that, what is written there? (Prov. 8:35) “Because he who found Me found life.³⁹In the Babli (8b), the statement of Rav Ḥisda appears without justification, but it follows a statement of R. Joshua ben Levi that he who frequents the synagogue will live long and which is supported by the two verses quoted here. Hence, the Babli is dependent on the Yerushalmi in this case.”

The statement of Rebbi Ḥanina⁷⁴Here the argument returns to the prior statement of R. Ḥanina, that the twilight at dawn is the time to walk four mil. In the Leyden ms. and the prints, the reference here is to R. Ḥiyya; the correct reading is in the Rome ms. and the commentary of R. Eleazar Askari. is parallel to that of Rebbi Yehudah since it was stated in the name of Rebbi Yehudah: the thickness of the sky is a walk of 50 years⁷⁵In the parallel version of this argument in the Babli, Rebbi Yehudah is quoted only as saying that the thickness of the sky, the distance the sun covers between the start and the end of dawn, is one-tenth of the entire day (from beginning of dawn to end of dusk). In the next section and in the parallel Bereshit rabba 6(9), it is asserted that the entire sky represents a distance of 500 years and that between each sky and the next there is a distance measured by 500 years. It is not clear how the “distance of 500 years” is meant to be computed.. An average person walks 40 mil during a day⁷⁶A mil is 2000 cubits. Therefore, the exact length of a mil depends on the length of a cubit. Based on a length of 55 cm for a cubit, the mil would be 1100 meters. The Roman mile was 1473.2 m. A mil of 1100 m would give a daily trip of 27.34 English miles. Determination of the mil by modern Rabbinic authorities vary from 960m (Rav Naeh) to 1152m (Ḥazon Ish) and 1296m (Ḥatam Sopher). In the Babli Pesaḥim 94a, Rava quotes a tradition that the circumference of the earth is 6000 parasangs or 24’000 mil. It is not clear at which latitude this length is computed. Based on a Greek παρασάγγης of 5.523 km, the computed 33’078 km would fit well with the circumference of the earth at about the latitude of Jerusalem or Southern Babylonia. The corresponding mil would be 1380 m.. Until the sun breaks through in the sky it passes the distance of 50 years; during that time a man can walk four mil. If follows that the thickness of the sky is one tenth [of the path of the sun] in one day. And just as the thickness of the sky is a walk of 50 years so the thickness of the earth and that of the abyss is a walk of 50 years⁷⁷The abyss being below the mantle of Earth.. What is the reason? (Is. 40:22) “He Who thrones over the circle of the earth,” and it is written (Job 22:14): “He passes by the circle of the sky.” And it is written (Prov. 8:27) “When He carved out a circle on the face of the abyss.” “Circle” (חוּג) always has the same meaning.

Concerning them who toil in [propagating] the Torah, who study the Torah for its own sake, who are constantly in search of performing meritorious deeds and who wait for [the opening of the doors of] temples [of prayer and learning] Scripture declares, Happy is the man that hearkeneth to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.⁴³Prov. 8, 34.

Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei says: (Study Torah in your old age.) If you studied Torah in your youth, do not say: I don’t have to study in my old age. Rather, study Torah, for you do not know which [period of study] will be most beneficial. If you studied Torah at a time of wealth, do not turn away from it at time of poverty. If you studied Torah at a time of satiation, do not turn away from it at a time of hunger. If you studied Torah at a time of leisure, do not turn away from it at a time of stress. For it is better for a person to have one thing during a crisis than a hundred in the midst of abundance (as it says, “For you do not know if they will both be equally good”), as it says, (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not hold back your hand in the evening.”
Rabbi Akiva says: If you studied Torah in your youth (study Torah in your old age), do not say: I don’t have to study in my old age; for you do not know which will be the most beneficial, if both will stay with you, or if both will be equally good, as it says, “Sow your seed in the morning.”
Rabbi Meir says: If you studied with one teacher, do not say: That’s enough for me. Rather, go to another sage and study Torah. But do not go to just anyone. Rather, go to someone who has been close to you from the start, as it says (Proverbs 5:15), “Drink water from your own cistern, that which flows from your own well.”
Every person has an obligation to apprentice with three Torah scholars, such as Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva, as it says (Proverbs 8:34), “Happy is the person who hears me come early to my doors every day, and waits outside my opening.” Do not read it as “doors,” but “a door and two doors” [a total of three], for you do not know if two of them will work for you, or if two of them will be equally good, as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning.”
Rabbi Yehoshua says: Marry a woman in your youth, and marry a woman in your old age. Have children in your youth, and have children in your old age. Do not say: I will not marry a woman. Rather, marry a woman and have sons and daughters, and be fruitful and multiply greatly in the world. For you do not know if both of them will work out for you, or if both of them will be equally good, as it says (Ecclesiastes 11:6), “Sow your seed in the morning.”

⁷⁹Cf. Babli Sukkah 28a. Hillel the Elder had eighty pairs of students. The greatest among them was Jonathan ben Uzziel, the least important Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai. Once he fell sick and all came to visit him. Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai waited in the courtyard. He said to them, where is the least important among you who is a head in wisdom and a head for generations? Unnecessary to speak of the greatest among you! They said, he is in the courtyard. He said to them, let him enter. When he entered, he said to them “to let my lovers inherit substance; their treasuries I shall fill.⁸⁰Prov. 8:21. Cf. Mishnah Uqeṣin 3:12.”

Rebbi Yose went up to Kufra⁹⁴Possibly Koufeir near Hasbeya in South Lebanon. and wanted to appoint providers there, but they did not accept. He came and said before them⁹⁵Mishnah Šeqalim 5:1 lists the small permanent staff of the Temple, probably in the last times of its existence. Ben Babai administered the oakum, bought with public money, from which the wicks for the candelabra were made.: “Ben Bavai over the oakum.” If this one had been appointed over the wicks and therefore merited to be counted with the leaders of his generation, you who are being appointed over the lives of people⁹⁶The poor who would starve without assistance., so much more. Rebbi Ḥaggai, when he inducted providers, let them carry the Torah, to indicate that every public office is given by the Torah (Prov. 8:15–16): “Through me, kings rule, through me, princes become princes.” Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba appointed magistrates⁹⁷Greek ἄρχων. He also inducted them to their offices by giving them the Torah scroll to carry..

The following are written with a he which is not pronounced: when I saw;²⁵Josh. 7, 21, written wa’er’eh and read wa’erë’. and I brought;²⁶ibid. XXIV, 8, written wa’abih and read wa’abi. the lion²⁷2 Sam. 23, 20, written ha’aryeh and read ha’ari. in the Book of Samuel;²⁸This excludes the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 11, 22 where ha’ari is both written and read. was he found;²⁹Jer. 48, 27, written nimẓa’ah but the reading is nimẓa’. and … saw;³⁰ibid. III, 7, written wattir’eh and read watter’ë’. this [city];³¹ibid. XXVI, 6, written hazzothah and read hazzoth. evil;³²Micah 3, 2, written ra‘ah and read ra‘. [the] evil;³³Jer. 18, 10, written hara‘ah and read hara‘. gone down;³⁴ibid. XV, 9, written ba’ah and read ba’. and he shall come;³⁵ibid. XLIII, 11, written uba’ah and read uba’. and a line;³⁶1 Kings 7, 23, written weḳaweh and read weḳaw. and a line;³⁷Zech. 1, 16, as in the preceding note. thoroughly;³⁸V incorrectly gives the keyword as wera‘. Ps. 51, 4, written harbeh and read hereb. them that love me;³⁹Prov. 8, 17, written ’ohabehah and read ’ohabai. and … friend;⁴⁰ibid. XXVII, 10, written were‘eh and read were‘a. deal;⁴¹Ruth 1, 8, written ya‘aseh and read ya‘as. open;⁴²Dan. 9, 18, written piḳḥah and read peḳaḥ. a lion;⁴³Lam. 3, 10, written ’aryeh and read ’ari. V incorrectly connects this with the next word joining them together as one. these;⁴⁴Ezra 5, 15, written ’elleh and read ’el. venison.⁴⁵V incorrectly reads ẓur. Gen. 27, 3, written ẓedah and read ẓayid.
The reverse is the case with the following:⁴⁶In the preceding a written he is not pronounced, but the following are spelt without a he which is to be pronounced. and multiplied;⁴⁷Josh. 24, 3, written wa’ereb and read wa’arbeh. on the housetop;⁴⁸1 Sam. 9, 26, written haggag and read haggagah. and they;⁴⁹2 Sam. 21, 9, written wehem and read wehemmah. be he;⁵⁰1 Kings 1, 37, written yehi and read yihyeh. and … shal be;⁵¹2 Kings 9, 37, written wehayath and read wehayethah. and behold;⁵²Isa. 41, 23, written wenerë and read wenireh. behold;⁵³ibid. LIV, 16, written hen and read hinneh. planted;⁵⁴In Jer. 17, 8, referring to yireh (shall … see) which is spelt without the final hei. Gedaliah;⁵⁵ibid. XL, 16, referring to ta‘aseh (do) which is without the final hei. and … she doted;⁵⁶Ezek. 23, 16, written watta‘gob and read watta‘gebah. the measure;⁵⁷ibid. XLV, 3, where ḥamesh (five) is written and ḥamishshah read. and I shall be glorified;⁵⁸Hag. 1, 8, written we’ekkabed and read we’ekkabedah. three;⁵⁹In Prov. 30, 18, we’arba‘ (yea, four) is written and we’arba‘ah read. she considereth;⁶⁰ibid. XXXI, 16, naṭa‘ (planteth) is written and naṭ‘ah read. she perceiveth;⁶¹ibid. 18, ballayil (by night) is written and ballayelah read. arise;⁶²In Lam. 2, 19, the same variant occurs as in the preceding. remember;⁶³ibid. V, 1, habbeṭ (behold) is written and habbiṭah read. turn Thou us;⁶⁴ibid. 21, wenashub (and we shall be turned) is written and wenashubah read. thou hast declared;⁶⁵1 Sam XXIV, 19, we’at is written and we’attah read. thou … hast cursed;⁶⁶Eccles. 7, 22, where the same variant occurs as in the preceding. Thou hast set;⁶⁷Ps. 90, 8, written shatta and read shattah. Thou hast made;⁶⁸Neh. 9, 6, written ’at and read ’attah. is sore affrighted;⁶⁹In Ps. 6, 4 the same variant occurs as in the preceding. the carved work thereof;⁷⁰ibid. LXXIV, 6, written we‘at and read we‘attah. with her harlotries;⁷¹In Ezek. 23, 43, written ‘at and read ‘attah. turn back;⁷²In Ruth 1, 12, lekna (go your way) omits the final hei. disclose;⁷³ibid. IV, 4, where we’eda‘ (that I may know) is written and read we’ede‘ah. Thou [hast] made an hedge;⁷⁴In Job 1, 10, ’at (Thou) is written and ’attah read. and [he] saw.⁷⁵ibid. XLII, 16, written wayyar and read wayyireh.

¹This chapter, known as Pereḳ Ḳinyan Torah, ‘The Chapter on the Acquisition of the Torah’, or as Pereḳ R. Meir, ‘The Chapter of R. Meir’, is an appendix to the tractate Aboth. Cf. Aboth, Sonc. ed., p. 78, n. 2. It is printed in P.B., pp. 208ff.BARAITHA. R. Meir said: Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake merits many things; nay more, the whole world is beholden to him. He is called friend,²Cf. Isa. 41, 8, where it is used of Abraham. beloved,³Cf. Prov. 8, 17, I love them that love me. a lover of the All-present and a lover of his fellow-creatures, one who gladdens⁴Cf. Judg. 9, 13, [wine] which cheereth God and man. The Torah is compared by the Rabbis to wine. the All-present and his fellow-creatures. It clothes him⁵Cf. Isa. 61, 10, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. with meekness and reverence [of God]; it fits him to be righteous, pious, upright and faithful; it keeps him far from sin and brings him near to merit. From him men enjoy counsel, sound knowledge, understanding and strength; as it is stated, Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.⁶Prov. 8, 14. It gives him sovereignty,⁷A regal appearance. dominion,⁸An impressive personality. greatness and [the ability to be] searching in judgment, and to him are revealed the secret [meanings] of the Torah.⁹Cf. Ps. 25, 14; Amos 3, 7. He becomes like a well that never fails and like a stream which gathers strength as it flows on. He is modest, patient and forgiving of insults directed at him It makes him great and exalts him above all things.

¹This chapter, known as Pereḳ Ḳinyan Torah, ‘The Chapter on the Acquisition of the Torah’, or as Pereḳ R. Meir, ‘The Chapter of R. Meir’, is an appendix to the tractate Aboth. Cf. Aboth, Sonc. ed., p. 78, n. 2. It is printed in P.B., pp. 208ff.BARAITHA. R. Meir said: Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake merits many things; nay more, the whole world is beholden to him. He is called friend,²Cf. Isa. 41, 8, where it is used of Abraham. beloved,³Cf. Prov. 8, 17, I love them that love me. a lover of the All-present and a lover of his fellow-creatures, one who gladdens⁴Cf. Judg. 9, 13, [wine] which cheereth God and man. The Torah is compared by the Rabbis to wine. the All-present and his fellow-creatures. It clothes him⁵Cf. Isa. 61, 10, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. with meekness and reverence [of God]; it fits him to be righteous, pious, upright and faithful; it keeps him far from sin and brings him near to merit. From him men enjoy counsel, sound knowledge, understanding and strength; as it is stated, Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.⁶Prov. 8, 14. It gives him sovereignty,⁷A regal appearance. dominion,⁸An impressive personality. greatness and [the ability to be] searching in judgment, and to him are revealed the secret [meanings] of the Torah.⁹Cf. Ps. 25, 14; Amos 3, 7. He becomes like a well that never fails and like a stream which gathers strength as it flows on. He is modest, patient and forgiving of insults directed at him It makes him great and exalts him above all things.

Five acquisitions has the Holy One, blessed be He, made His very own⁵⁴i.e. especially dear to Him. in this world, viz.: Torah, heaven and earth, Abraham, Israel and the Temple. Whence do we know this of the Torah? As it is stated, The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.⁵⁵Prov. 8, 22. Whence do we know this of heaven and earth? As it is stated, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.⁵⁶Isa. 66, 1. Whence do we know this of Abraham? As it is stated, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.⁵⁷Gen. 14, 19. Whence do we know this of Israel? As it is stated, Till Thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over that Thou hast gotten;⁵⁸Ex. 15, 16. and it states, As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight.⁵⁹Ps. 16, 3. And whence do we know this of the Temple? As it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established;⁶⁰Ex. 15, 17. and it states, And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain which His right hand had gotten.⁶¹Ps. 78, 54. All of them the Holy One, blessed be He, created only for His honour, as it is stated, Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him;⁶²Isa. 43, 7. and it states, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.⁶³Ex. 15, 18.

‘He is called friend’ of the Divine Presence,⁸⁶Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, XXVII, 1 (Sonc. ed., p. 321): ‘Thine own friend (Prov. 27, 10) is the Holy One, blessed be He’. as it is written. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say: Peace be within thee.⁸⁷Ps. 122, 8. ‘Beloved’, as it is written, I love them that love me, and those that seek me earnestly shall find me.⁸⁸Prov. 8, 17. ‘One who gladdens the All-present and his fellow-creatures’: This teaches that a man should appear justified before his fellow-creatures as well as before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, Then ye shall be clear before the Lord, and before Israel.⁸⁹Num. 32, 22. ‘Gladden the All-present’: as it is written, Behold, this is the joy of his way.⁹⁰Job 8, 19 interpreted of God. [‘Gladden] his fellow-creatures’: as it is written, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.⁹¹Isa. 49, 3.
‘It clothes him with meekness’: Who taught this? R. Joshua b. Levi who said:⁹²Cf. ‘A.Z. 20b (Sonc. ed., p. 107). Meekness is the greatest of them all. Since the last part reads ‘R. Joshua b. Levi said’, it must be deduced that the first part is not by R. Joshua b. Levi! Something is missing in the Baraitha and read it as follows: ‘[Meekness is] the greatest of them all, and further said R. Joshua b. Levi’. But perhaps the author of the statement is R. Meir? We do not find anywhere that R. Meir said, ‘Reverence is best’.⁹³The word ‘reverence’ seems to be an error for ‘meekness’, otherwise the answer is unintelligible. [Because in the Baraitha ‘reverence’ is linked with ‘meekness’, the answer may be that since R. Meir nowhere makes the statement with respect to the first, it cannot be his statement.]
‘It fits him to be righteous, pious’, etc. What is meant by ‘righteous’ and what by ‘pious’? ‘Righteous’ is one who does right actions; ‘pious’ is one who practises acts of loving-kindness. Since [the Baraitha] cites these [virtues], why does it mention ‘upright [and faithful]’? ‘Upright’ means one who is upright in his ways, ‘faithful’ denotes one who is faithful in spirit.
‘It keeps him far from sin’: even from the sin of others. ‘And brings him near to merit’: even the merit of others. ‘From him men enjoy sound knowledge’: What is meant by tushiyyah? The Torah. And why is it called tushiyyah? Because it weakens the strength of a man⁹⁴Cf. Sanh. 26b (Sonc. ed., p. 155) where the word is derived from the root תשש, ‘to weaken’. [through his constant study of it]. Another explanation: Because it was given in secret on account of Saṭan.⁹⁵Cf. Sanh. loc. cit. Saṭan opposed the Torah being given to Moses because he argued that the Israelites would later violate it by worshipping the Golden Calf. Cf. Shab. 89a, Tosafoth s.v. Torah quoting a Midrash. Another explanation: Because it is composed of chaotic matter which is the foundation of the world.⁹⁶תושיה is taken to be a combination of תו, i.e. תהו, ‘chaos’ and שיה, equated with שתיה, ‘foundation’.

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai received from Hillel and Shammai. Hillel the Elder had eighty students. Thirty of them were worthy of having the Divine Presence rest upon them like Moses our teacher; it was only that their generation was not fit for it. Thirty of them were able to make adjustments to the calendar. And twenty of them were average.
The greatest of them all was Yonatan ben Uziel and the lowest of them was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai. And they said about Yohanan ben Zakkai that he was not ignorant of anything: Scripture; Mishnah; Talmud, including Halakhot, Aggadot, and all kinds of other material; grammatical analysis of the Torah; analysis of the scribal traditions; and all the interpretive traditions of the sages. He did not leave aside anything in the Torah, in order to fulfill the words (Proverbs 8:21), “I give substance to those who love me; I will fill their treasuries.”

Rabbi Nehemiah would say: Where do we learn that one person is considered as important as the entire work of Creation? Because it says (Genesis 5:1), “This is the book of the generations of humanity,” and prior to that it said (Genesis 2:4), “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” Just as previously there was creating and making, so too here there is creating and making. [This] teaches that the Holy Blessed One showed [Adam] all the generations that would come from him, as if they rose up (and played) before him. And some say that he was shown only his righteous descendants, as it says (Isaiah 4:1), “All who were inscribed for life in Jerusalem.”
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karha would say: See, it says (Psalms 139:16), “Your eyes see my unformed substance, they were [all recorded] in your book.” This teaches that the Holy Blessed One showed [Adam] the first person every generation and its preachers, community servants, leaders, prophets, warriors, sinners, and saints, and said to him, “In this generation this one will be a king. In that generation this one will be a scholar.”
Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosei HaGalili would say: Nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, the Torah was written and placed on the bosom of the Holy Blessed One, and it sang a song with the angels who serve God, as it says (Proverbs 8:30), “I was raised with Him, a source of delight to Him every day…rejoicing before Him on the face of His earth.” They gave a parable: To what can this be compared? [It can be compared] to someone who took a piece of wood and wanted to carve lots of figures into it. But there was not enough room on the wood, and so he was sad. But then he began drawing pictures on the ground, and kept walking and drew many, many pictures. So, too, the Holy Blessed One – may His great name be blessed forever and ever – in His wisdom and insight, created the whole world, with the heavens and the earth, above and below. And He fashioned within the human being everything that He created in His world. He created forests in the world, and He created forests on human beings – that is, their hair. He created evil beasts in the world, and He created evil beasts in human beings – that is, (the intestines) of a person. (He created thorns in the world, and He created thorns on human beings – that is, their ears.) He created scent in the world, and He created scent in human beings – that is, in their noses. He created a sun in the world, and He created a sun in human beings – that is, a person’s light. Putrid waters in the world and putrid waters in human beings – that is the water that drips from their noses. Salty waters in the world and salty waters in human beings – that is, the tears in their eyes. Rivers in the world and rivers in human beings – that is, their tears. Walls in the world, and walls in human beings – that is, a person’s lips. Doors in the world, and doors in human beings – that is, a person’s teeth. (Skies in the world, and skies in human beings – that is, a person’s tongue.) Sweet waters in the world, and sweet waters in human beings – that is, a person’s spit. Chiseled stones in the world and chiseled stones in human beings – that is, a person’s jaws. Towers in the world, and towers in human beings – that is, a person’s neck. Sail-yards in the world, and sail-yards on human beings – that is, a person’s arms. Spikes in the world, and spikes on human beings – that is, a person’s fingers. A king in the world, and a king in the human being – that is, his head. (Clusters in the world, and clusters in human beings – that is, in their blood.) Advisers in the world, and advisers in human beings – that is, their kidneys. Millstones in the world, and millstones in human beings – that is, their stomachs. Grinding mills in the world, and grinding mills in human beings – that is, their spleens. Garbage heaps in the world, and garbage heaps in human beings – that is, a person’s bowels. Pits in the world, and pits in human beings – that is, a person’s navel. Running waters in the world, and running waters in human beings – that is, a person’s (urine. Life in the world, and life in human beings – that is, a person’s) blood. Trees in the world, and trees in human beings – that is, a person’s bones. Hills in the world, and hills on human beings – that is, a person’s buttocks. Mortars and pestles in the world, and mortars and pestles in human beings – that is, their knees and knee-sockets. Horses in the world, and horses in human beings – that is, a person’s thighs. (An angel of death in the world, and an angel of death in human beings – that is, a person’s heels.) Mountains and valleys in the world, and mountains and valleys in human beings – when they stand, they are like a mountain, and when they fall, they are like a valley. Now you have seen that everything the Holy Blessed One created in His world, He created also in human beings.