Talmud su I Samuele 26:78

The Rabbis taught:⁴⁹Shab. 33b (Sonc. ed., p. 155). What reason did the righteous Isaiah see for saying, The righteous perisheth? It means to say that the righteous man is made responsible⁵⁰i.e. suffer. for the sins of his generation; as R. Gorion said: When there are righteous in a generation, they are made responsible for the sins of their generation; when there are no righteous in a generation the schoolchildren are made responsible for the generation. The master said: ‘The righteous man is made responsible for the sins of his generation’. He abandoned the [plain] interpretation of the verse and gave it his own interpretation! This is what he meant: People say that [the righteous man] was punished for his own sins, because although he perishes no man layeth it to heart; nevertheless he returned and contradicted⁵¹Adopting the reading of H. them through the Holy Spirit, as it is stated, The righteous is taken away from the evil to come.⁵²Isa. 57, 1. The meaning is that the righteous is removed from the world to be saved from the punishment destined upon his evil generation. [Taken away:] this refers to Aaron, as it is written, As Aaron thy brother was taken away.⁵³Num. 27, 13. E.V. was gathered. The Heb. verb is the same. What evil was there? And the Canaanite, the king of Arad … heard.⁵⁴ibid. XXI, 1, referring to the attack of the Canaanites on Israel. Aaron’s death saved him from witnessing this misfortune. And godly men are taken away:⁵⁵Isa. 57, 1. this refers to Samuel and the elders of his generation who were associated with him. None considering:⁵⁶ibid. this refers to Saul and Abner, as it is stated, And no man saw it,⁵⁷How near Saul and Abner were to death. nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep.⁵⁸1 Sam. 26, 12. After this verse⁵⁹The homily now reverts to the interpretation of Isa. 57, 1, and also cites the next verse to prove the statement that the righteous through their death are saved from the punishment of their sinful contemporaries and rest in peace. it is written, They rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness.⁶⁰Isa. 57, 2.
Raba said: The story is told of a general against whom the people under his authority⁶¹For the correct reading, cf. Krauss, Lehnwörter, p. 425. rebelled. Among them were some of his friends; so what did he do? He took them one by one and hid them. Next day he sat in judgment and said, ‘Bring before me the people of the province’. He sentenced some to imprisonment, some to be killed, some to be lashed and some to be hanged.⁶²The translation follows the better text of H. So, too, is it with the Holy One, blessed be He. When He sees the sins of the generation are grievous upon them, He removes the righteous and after that [commands], But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot⁶³Isa. 57, 3.—that is, those of them who are sorcerers and adulterers—and then He gives a respite to that generation. The Rabbis taught:⁶⁴For other sharp criticisms of Isaiah, cf. Yeb. 49b (Sonc. ed., p. 324). Isaiah was punished for three things: because he called [Israel] a seed of evil-doers,⁶⁵Isa. 1, 4. sons of the sorceress and the seed of the adulterer; as it is stated, But draw near hither ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot. And whence do we know that he was forgiven? As it is stated, And he touched my mouth with it, and he said: Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is expiated.⁶⁶ibid. VI, 7.

³⁰⁰Parallels in Midrash Samuel 13, 27; Num. rabba 9(29); Tanḥuma Buber Ḥuqqat 8, Tanḥuma Ḥuqqat 4; Babli Sanhedrin 49a. It is written³⁰¹2S. 14:25.: “No man in Israel was beautiful like Absalom, to be very much praised.” I could think, in everything. The verse says, “from his foot sole to the top of his forehead³⁰²But his hair was questionable.”. It is written³⁰³1S. 9:2.: “He had a son whose name was Saul, select and good, no one of the Children of Israel was better than he.” I could think, in everything. The verse says, “from his shoulder on he was higher than all the people.” But about Abner, what is written³⁰⁴2S. 3:38.? “You should know that a leader and great man fell today in Israel.” ³⁰⁵To the end of the paragraph, this is from Peah 1:1, Notes 176–179. The question asked is, why did Providence let Abner lose his usual caution when dealing with Joab. The presumed argument between Saul and Abner is explained in detail in the commentary by R. Ḥananel (Kairuan, early 11th Cent.) to Sanhedrin 49a, quoted in Arukh (s. v. בור ז) as Yerushalmi text; but clearly it is a paraphrase. (Printed on the margin of the Wilna Babli). Why was Abner killed? Rebbi Joshua ben Levi, Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish, and the rabbis. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, because he made fun of the lives of his squires as it is said (2Sam. 2:14): “Let the squires get up and play before us.” R. Simeon ben Laqish said, because he prefaced his name before that of David; that is what is written (2Sam. 3:12) “Abner sent messengers to David the underling, saying: Whose is the land?” He wrote: From Abner to David. The rabbis say, because he did not let Shaul make peace with David. That is what is written (1Sam. 24:5): “My father, see, but see the corner of your coat in my hand!” He said to him, what do you want from the prattling of this one, it was torn off by thorns. But when they came to the circle, he said to him (1Sam. 26:14): “Can you answer, Abner?” About the corner, you said it was torn off by a thorn; were spear and pitcher cut off by a thorn? But some say, because he had it in his power to intervene for Nob, the city of priests, and he did not intervene.

He would also say: Do not hang around with cynics, for you may begin to learn from their ways. Do not break bread with an unlearned priest, for you may end up desecrating holy things. Do not break your vows, for you may come to break your oaths.¹Oaths are more grave than vows, as he who swears a false oath in God’s name “will not be held guiltless” (Exodus 20:7). Do not accustom yourself to eating big meals, for you may end up having to eat scraps. Do not cause yourself to doubt, for you may then cause yourself to be overconfident. Do not leave the Land of Israel, for you may end up worshiping idols, just as David said (I Samuel 26:19), “For they have driven me out today, so that I cannot have a share in the Eternal’s inheritance, but am told to go and serve other gods.” Do you actually think King David would worship idols? Rather, David was saying that anyone who leaves the Land of Israel and goes to a foreign country, it is as if he were worshiping idols.
He would also say: Anyone who is buried in any foreign country, it is as if he were buried in Babylon. Anyone who is buried in Babylon, it is as if he were buried in the Land of Israel. Anyone who is buried in the Land of Israel, it is as if he were buried underneath the altar, for all of the Land of Israel is fit for the altar. Anyone who is buried underneath the altar, it is as if he were buried under the Throne of Glory, as it says (Jeremiah 17:12), “A Throne of Glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our Sanctuary.”