תלמוד על ישעיהו 3:9

Abba Hilfai said in the name of his father Abba Ḥagra: Do not be rash in making vows that you may not trespass in the matter of oaths,⁸⁴Which are more stringent; cf. Ned. 20a (Sonc. ed., p. 56), Demai II, 3 (Sonc. ed., p. 58). and do not be the guest of a kohen who is an ‘am ha-’areẓ lest he give you consecrated food⁸⁵e.g. terumah. According to this reading the exhortation is to a non-kohen. R.N. (cf. Ned. loc. cit.) reads ‘unclean consecrated food’, which was forbidden even to a kohen, in which case the exhortation is addressed to a kohen. to eat. Do not converse much with women because every conversation with a woman is only about unchastity.⁸⁶This statement is not meant to be derogatory of women, who were held in high esteem, but was conditioned by the prevailing laxity in morals which characterized many of the ancient peoples. Cf. Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, pp. 163ff. [See also Büchler, Types of Jewish-Palestinian Piety, p. 66, n. 2.] The saying is based on Aboth I, 5 (Sonc. ed., p. 4). R. Aḥi of the School⁸⁷V and H read ‘son of’. of R. Josiah said: He who gazes at a woman eventually comes to sin, and he who looks upon a woman’s heel will beget degenerate children,⁸⁸‘And he who looks’, etc., is the reading of GRA. V and H have: ‘And the Sages said: It is decreed against one who looks’, etc. and he who has no shamefacedness⁸⁹i.e. whoever is impudent. is easily led to sin; as it is stated, The show of their countenance doth witness against them [and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not].⁹⁰Isa. 3, 9. But he who is shamefaced⁹¹i.e. is not callous, but feels humiliated when he does wrong. will not easily sin, as it is stated, [And Moses said unto the people, fear not; for God is come to prove you] that His fear may be before your face that ye sin not.⁹²Ex. 20, 17. Face is understood as shamefacedness. Cf. Yeb. 79a (Sonc. ed., p. 535) where a sense of shame is said to be one of the characteristics of the Jew.
R. Measha,⁹³[This is the correct form of the name; cf. Bacher, Ag. d. pal. Amoräer, III, p. 614. Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus, XXIII, 13, Sonc. ed., p. 303, reads ‘Menashyah’.] grandson of R. Joshua b. Levi, said: One who looks at a naked part of the body and does not feed his eyes on it⁹⁴i.e. his gaze is not for the purpose of lustful pleasure. will merit to receive the Divine Presence; as it is stated, And [he that] shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil,⁹⁵Isa. 33, 15. and immediately after it is written, He shall dwell on high,⁹⁶ibid. 16. and it is written, Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.⁹⁷ibid. 17. King is here understood of God.

HALAKHAH: “From where did they measure? Rebbi Eliezer says, from his navel”, from the place the child is formed. “Rebbi Aqiba says, from his nose,” from the place from which one is identified⁶⁹The Babli, 45b, agrees for the reason of R. Eliezer and disagrees for R. Aqiba.. ⁷⁰The rest of the paragraph is from Yebamot 16:3, Notes 39–44. This follows what Rav Jehudah⁷¹In Yebamot: R. Jeremiah. said in the name of Rav: “The recognition of their faces testified about them⁷²Is. 3:9.,” that is the nose. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, if somebody does not want to be recognized, he should put a patch on his nostrils, then he will not be recognized. As in the following: In the times of king Ursicinus, some people from Sepphoris were under arrest warrants. They put patches on their nostrils and were not recognized. Finally they were denunciated and all were caught because of lies.

HALAKHAH: “One testifies only on the appearance of the face,” etc. Rav Jehudah said, the nose with the mandibles⁴⁰Reading of ms. A. Editio princeps: רב.. This follows what Rebbi⁴¹This is the reading of both sources. One might except that the reading should be “Rav”, referring to Rav’s colleague in Babylonia rather than to a Galilean Amora some 100 years later. However, in the Babli, the same argument and verse are quoted by Abbai and/or Rav Cahana II, one generation after Rebbi Jeremiah. Jeremiah said in the name of Rav: “The recognition of their faces testified about them⁴²Is. 3:9.,” that is the nose. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, if somebody does not want to be recognized, he should put a patch⁴³Greek σπλήνιον, Latin splenium, cf. ‘Orlah 3:1, Note 20. on his nostrils, then he will not be recognized. As in the following⁴⁴This is an editorial comment, on what happened some 50 years after R. Ḥiyya bar Abba’s death. The same text appears in Soṭah 9:3.: In the times of king Ursicinus⁴⁵The legate of Caesar Gallus in Palestine, about the year 350. His oppressive regime lead to a revolt centered in Sepphoris., some people from Sepphoris were under arrest warrants. They put patches on their nostrils and were not recognized. Finally they were denunciated and all caught because of lies.

Whoever is not shamefaced will readily sin, as it is stated, The show of their countenance doth witness against them;¹⁶Isa. 3, 9. but he who experiences shame¹⁷i.e. who is not callous, but is self-conscious when he is doing wrong. will not readily sin, as it is stated, [And Moses said unto the people: ‘Fear not; for God is come to prove you] and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.¹⁸Ex. 20, 17; cf. Ned. 20a (Sonc. ed., p. 57).