Talmud su Michea 7:78

Rebbi Yose bar Abun said: Anybody who identifies the “morning hind” with the planet Venus is in error; that planet sometimes is too early and sometimes too late⁷¹That means, sometimes Venus sets still during the night and sometimes it is still seen after sunrise.. What is it? It is like two double horns of light that arise from the East and give light. Explanation⁷²This is the explanation of Frankel in his “Introduction to the Yerushalmi”, from Greek δήλωμα. Levy in his dictionary refers to Greek δίλημμα, which means only “proposition of two difficult alternatives.” Brüll in his critique of Levy’s dictionary proposes Greek δράμα “action”. Frankel’s choice is difficult since both long vowels should be expressed, דילומא. (In Midrashim, the spelling דילמא is found.) Brüll’s explanation is more difficult to accept since substitutions of the liquids l,r for one another are extremely rare in Greek words coming into Aramaic. Also, no action is reported here.: The great Rebbi Ḥiyya and Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalaphta⁷³Rebbi Ḥiyya the Great is Rebbi Ḥiyya, the student and colleague of Rebbi, the collector of the Tosephtah. Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalaphta is a contemporary who like Rebbi Ḥiyya does not appear in the Mishnah (except for the aggadic very last Mishnah.) were walking in the valley of Arbela before morning and saw “the morning hind” that started radiating. The great Rebbi Ḥiyya said to Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalaphta, the great man: so will be the deliverance of Israel; it starts out very little and grows and longer as it goes on. What is the reason (Micha 7:8): “When I shall dwell in darkness, the Lord is my light.” So also at the start (Esther 2:21): “Mordocai was sitting at the king’s gate.” After that (6:11): “Haman took the garment and the horse.” After that (6:12): “Mordocai returned to the king’s gate.” After that (8:15): “Mordocai left the king’s presence in royal garb.” After that (8:16): “The Jews had light and joy.”

³²This paragraph was added to the ms. by a corrector. While there is no logical necessity for the addition of this text, it is copied from a Yoma text, not from Berakhot. In Berakhot the quotes from Esther make sense, v. 6:11 preceding 6:12. The paragraph also is copied in Qonteros Aḥaron(Q, Chapter 1, Note 44; p. 311) which also quotes 6:12 before v 6:11. The text of Q is identical with that given here except that the Aramaic endings are ה not א; babylonized spelling is to be expected from all correctors.[Explanation³³Greek δήλωμα.: The great Rebbi Ḥiyya and Rebbi Simeon ben Halaphta were walking in the valley of Arbela before morning and saw “the morning hind” that started radiating. The great Rebbi Ḥiyya said to Rebbi Simeon ben Halaphta: Great man, so will be the deliverance of Israel; it starts out very small and grows and radiates as it goes on. What is the reason ³⁴Micha 7:8.When he³⁵In the biblical text: 1.shall dwell in darkness, the Eternal is my light. So also at the start ³⁶Esth. 2:21.Mordocai was sitting at the king’s gate.” After that ³⁷Esth.6:12.Mordocai returned to the king’s gate. After that ³⁸Esth.6:11.Haman took the garment and the horse. After that: ³⁹Esth. 8:15.Mordocai left the king’s presence in royal garb. After that: ⁴⁰Esth. 8:16.The Jews had light and joy.]

[In the verses] And it came to pass when they⁶³Foreign princes or rulers. E.V. God. caused me to wander, God, etc.,⁶⁴Gen. 20, 13. Cf. Rule 6 above. and Which god⁶⁵E.V. who is a God. is like unto Thee⁶⁶Micah 7, 18. the first⁶⁷The pronoun ‘they’ in Gen. 20, 13 and god in Micah 7, 18. are sacred and the second⁶⁸God in Gen. and Thee in Micah. are secular. [The divine name in] Samaria shall bear her guilt, for she hath rebelled against her God⁶⁹Hos. 14, 1. is sacred. R. Nathan says: [In the phrase] in the house of his God⁷⁰ibid. IX, 8. it is sacred. In therefore turn thou to thy God⁷¹ibid. XII, 7. it is sacred. In God standeth in the congregation of God; in the midst of the judges⁷²The Heb. has the divine name. He judgeth⁷³Ps. 82, 1. it is used as sacred⁷⁴In God standeth. and secular.⁷⁵In the sense of ‘judges’. In God delivereth me to⁷⁶Heb. אל (to) which has the same consonants as the word for ‘God’. the ungodly⁷⁷Job 16, 11. the first is sacred and the second⁷⁸’el in the sense of ‘to’. is secular. In For hath any said unto God: I have borne⁷⁹ibid. XXXIV, 31. the first [’el] is secular and the second sacred.
R. Eleazar the son of R. Jose the Galilean said:⁸⁰So M. V and H read ‘and R. Eleazar … said’. [In the verses] And let my cry have no⁸¹Heb. ’al, the same consonants as for the name of God. resting-place;⁸²Job 16, 18. It is in the power⁸³Gen. 31, 29. The Heb. for power (’el) equals the divine name. of my hand; And there shall be nought in the power of thy hand;⁸⁴Deut. 28, 32. When it is in the power of thy hand;⁸⁵Prov. 3, 27. Unto death,⁸⁶ibid. II, 18; unto is ’el in Heb. all [the words whose consonants are the same as those for God] are secular. In God hath given command to speed me⁸⁷2 Chron. 35, 21. it is sacred. In Forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me⁸⁸ibid. it is sacred according to R. Jose b. Judah. In O God, the proud are risen up against me⁸⁹Ps. 86, 14. it is sacred but the reader must pause in reading [after God]:⁹⁰In the absence of the pause, the adjective proud might erroneously be taken as qualifying God. God, the proud are risen up against me.
[The terms] merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in lovingkindness, king, kings, exalted, great, Most High, righteous and upright, pious, perfect, mighty, may be erased.⁹¹Although attributed to God, they do not possess the sanctity of the divine name. He who curses himself or his neighbour by [any of] these⁹²Using any of these attributes instead of the divine name. incurs guilt. [If he curses] heathens or the dead no guilt⁹³So M and N.Y. V and H read ‘guilty of one [offence]’. is incurred. [If he curses] a judge or a prince he incurs twofold guilt;⁹⁴Since a judge or prince must not be cursed as any other person, and as men holding offices of responsibility. according to others he incurs threefold guilt for cursing a prince.⁹⁵The two mentioned in the preceding note, and a third because the Heb. word for ‘judge’ in the text is identical with the divine name. If a person curses his father or mother with the Tetragrammaton⁹⁶lit. ‘the distinguished name’. he is liable to the penalty of stoning,⁹⁷Cf. Lev. 24, 14. Stoning is one of the major penalties imposed by a court. but if only with the attributes he is liable to a warning.⁹⁸i.e. he is guilty of transgressing a negative commandment, the penalty of which is scourging with thirty-nine stripes.

Who waives his right to retribution⁶lit. ‘passes by his measures’, i.e. forgoes his right to exact punishment. is forgiven all his sins, as it is stated, Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression,⁷Micah 7, 18. [which means,] who is forgiven iniquity? He who passed by transgression [against himself].⁸Cf. R.H. 17a (Sonc. ed., p. 67).

Ben Azai preached: “A dead fly will permanently spoil perfumer’s oil.⁶⁵⁸Eccl. 10:1; the translation follows Ibn Ezra.” Does not one dead fly spoil perfumer’s oil? And this person⁶⁵⁹Who has exactly as many merits as he has demerits. The Babylonian sources, Babli 40b, Tosephta 1:14, base a formally similar agument on Eccl. 9:18; but the Babli does not make the difference between the Worlds that are the main thrust of this paragraph. by one sin spoiled all merits he had. Rebbi Aqiba preached: “⁶⁶⁰Is.. 5:14. So the abyss opened wide and its mouth swallowed the one without law.” It does not say “without laws”, but “without law”, him who has not a single merit that should help him on the scale of merit⁶⁶¹The image is always that the deeds of a person are weighed on scales in Heavenly court; the person is found innocent if the scale containing his merits tilts the balance in his favor. A different interpretation is in the Babli, Sanhedrin 111a.. That is, for the Future World. But in this world, even if 999 angels plead for his conviction and one angel pleads for his acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. What is the reason? “If there is for him one angel out of a thousand, to tell a man his straightness. He will act with him in grace and say, let him be redeemed, not go down to destruction; I found weregilt⁶⁶²Job 33:23–24..” Rebbi Joḥanan said, if you find a saying of Rebbi Eliezer, son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean, bend your ear like this funnel and listen, since Rebbi Joḥanan reported that Rebbi Eliezer, the son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean, said: Even if 999 angles plead for his conviction and one angel pleads for his acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. Not only this entire angel, but if 999 aspects of that angel plead for conviction and one aspect for acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. What is the reason? It does not say, “if there is for him one angel of a thousand,” but “one out of a thousand”, one aspect out of a thousand aspects of that angel. What is written afterwards? “He will act with him in grace and say, let him be hurt, not go down to destruction; I found weregilt.” “Let him be hurt,” by suffering⁶⁶³R. Eliah Wilna points out that the Talmud reads פְּדָעֵהוּ as Aramaism, equivalent to Hebrew פְּצָעֵהוּ (cf. Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. 21:25).. “I found weregilt,” he found means to redeem himself. That is, in this world. But in the Future World, if he has a majority of merits, he inherits paradise; a majority of sins, he inherits hell. If he was 50–50. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, “he carries his iniquity.⁶⁶⁴Ex. 34:7, Micah 7:18. R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found guilty. But in Peah1:1, Sanhedrin 10:1, and the Babli, Roš Haššanah17a, R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina is credited with the opinion attributed here to R. Abbahu, who is not mentioned in the other sources. Everybody seems to agree that in the Heavenly Court, no more than one transgression will be forgiven.” Rebbi Abbahu said, it is written: “He carries.” What does the Holy One, praise to Him, do? He grabs one of his demerits, and the merits decide⁶⁶⁵R. Abbahu holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found not guilty.. ⁶⁶⁶Babli Roš Haššanah 17b. Rebbi Eleazar said: “You, Eternal, are acting in grace, for You will complete for everybody according to his deeds.⁶⁶⁷Ps. 62:13.” And if he has none, You will give him from Yours. That is Rebbi Eleazar’s opinion, for Rebbi Eleazar said, “You, Eternal, are acting in grace,” this teaches that He turns to the aspect of grace⁶⁶⁸He also holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found not guilty..

Rebbi Zeïra said, but only if the person does not revert⁶⁷⁸Here begins the discussion of the quote at the end of the Mishnah. What is the reason? It does not say “The triple thread will never snap” but rather “The triple thread will not quickly snap.” If you work on it, it will split. Rebbi Ḥuna said in the name of Rebbi Abbahu: There is no forgetting before the Holy One, praise to Him, but for Israel He becomes forgetful. What is the reason? It is written⁶⁶⁴Ex. 34:7, Micah 7:18. R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found guilty. But in Peah1:1, Sanhedrin 10:1, and the Babli, Roš Haššanah17a, R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina is credited with the opinion attributed here to R. Abbahu, who is not mentioned in the other sources. Everybody seems to agree that in the Heavenly Court, no more than one transgression will be forgiven. “He forgets⁶⁷⁹Replacing נשׂא “to lift, carry” by נשׁה “to forget”. sin.” And so David says⁶⁸⁰Ps. 85:3.: “You forgot Your people’s sin, You covered up all their misdeeds, Selah.”

R. Simeon b. Joḥai said: As for the seven-year cycle in which the son of David will come, in the first year will be fulfilled And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city;¹Amos 4, 7. There will be famine in one place and plenty in another. in the second, the arrows of hunger will be sent forth;²i.e. not actual famine, but the first signs of it, nobody being completely satisfied. in the third there will be a severe famine in the course of which men, women and children will die, pious men and miracle workers become scarce, and the Torah will be forgotten by its students;³Through lack of food. in the fourth, there will be partial plenty;⁴lit. ‘plenty and no plenty’. in the fifth, great plenty when men will eat, drink and rejoice and the Torah will be restored to its disciples;⁵‘And the Torah’, etc., is added by GRA. in the sixth [there will be heard heavenly] sounds;⁶Either heavenly voices announcing the advent of the Messiah or the blasts of the great shofar; cf. Isa. 27, 13. in the seventh, wars [will be waged]; and at the expiration of the septennate the son of David will come.⁷Cf. Sanh. 97a (Sonc. ed., pp. 654f.) for this and the following passages; also Midrash to Song of Songs 2, 13 (Sonc. ed., p. 126).
Rabban Gamaliel said: In the generation when the son of David comes, the house of assembly⁸Where scholars gather. will be a brothel, Galilee will be in ruins, and the inhabitants of Gablan⁹The Jews living along the borders of the Land of Israel. Gablan is to be read for Galil, ‘Galilee’, as in Sanh., loc. cit. (Sonc. ed., p. 655, n. 4). will wander about [begging] from city to city without experiencing pity; the wisdom of scribes will be in disfavour and God-fearing men despised, the leaders of the people¹⁰lit. ‘the face of the generation’. will be dog-faced;¹¹Shameless. truth will be lacking, and he that departs from evil will be regarded as demented.
R. Nehorai said: In the generation when the son of David comes, young men will insult the old, the aged will stand up before youth,¹²To do them honour. a daughter will rise up against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,¹³Cf. Micah 7, 6. and a son will not be abashed in his father’s¹⁴So GRA and H. V has ‘mother’s’. presence.
R. Nehemiah said: In the generation when the son of David comes, impudence will increase, esteem will be perverted,¹⁵No one will esteem another. Or, even the nobility and most honoured will degenerate. the vine will yield its fruit yet wine will be dear,¹⁶Drunkenness will increase so that in spite of the abundant yield there will be a scarcity. and the government will be converted to heresy¹⁷Heb. minuth. By ‘the kingdom’ the Roman Empire is meant, and the statement is a remarkable forecast by R. Nehemiah (100 C.E.) of the conversion of Rome to Christianity under Constantine the Great in 313 C.E. Cf. however, Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, pp. 207ff., Sanh., loc. cit. (Sonc. ed., p. 656, n. 4). with none to reprove.

MISHNAH: When Yose ben Yo‘ezer from Ṣereda and Yose ben Joḥanan from Jerusalem died¹⁷¹The first couple of leaders mentioned in Abot (1:4)., the grape bunches¹⁷²People who united in their personalities knowledge, exemplary behavior, and leadership. disappeared, as it was said¹⁷³Micah 7:1. The reference is to v. 2: “The devout man has perished from the earth, there is no upright person among humankind.”: “There is no bunch to eat, no early ripe fig that my soul desires.”

BARAITHA.³⁴Cf. Beẓah 25b (Sonc. ed., p. 129); DER VI, p. 553. A man should not eat leek or onion from its top but from the leaves; and if he did eat [in that manner] he is a glutton. A man should not eat using all his fingers because he has the appearance of a glutton; nor should one put his hand into his mouth.
GEMARA. Raba said: This³⁵Not to put one’s hand into his mouth. applies only during the meal but not after it. Why? Because he may be delicate.³⁶And he must remove the bits which stuck to his teeth.
BARAITHA. He should only fill his cup with as much as it is his intention [to drink].
GEMARA. What is the reason? Because of the ‘remnants’.³⁷The wine left over in the cup. For the master said: All the ‘remnants’ of cups make one dull except the ‘remnants’ of the Habdalah.³⁸Cf. Pirḳë d’R. Eliezer XX, ed. G. Friedlander, p. 146, n. 7: ‘Because the wise men have said: The observance of the “remnants” left over in connection with a religious act keeps back punishments’. Cf. Ṭur, ‘Oraḥ Ḥayyim in section Shabbath, §299. One who drinks ‘remnants’ for forty [days] will not survive.
BARAITHA. One should not take a potsherd which is full to the brim and drink from it so as not to offend fastidious persons. One should not handle a vessel with greasy fingers; nor should one blow on water and drink it for two [reasons].³⁹Blowing causes foam and drinking it brings on catarrh in the head. Further, if he blows away the foam, it leads to poverty because some of the liquid is lost in the process. Cf. Ḥul. 105b (Sonc. ed., p. 585).
GEMARA. The Rabbis have taught:⁴⁰Pes. 113b (Sonc. ed., p. 584). There are three whose life is not life, viz. the [over-] compassionate, the hot-tempered and the fastidious. R. Joseph said: All these [qualities] are found in me.
[It is written,] All the days of the poor are evil—this refers to a discontented man. But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast⁴¹Prov. 15, 15.—this refers to a contented man.⁴²B.B. 145b (Sonc. ed., p. 628); Sanh. 100b (Sonc. ed., p. 683). Another explanation: All the days of the poor are evil—this refers to the compassionate. But he that is of a merry heart—this refers to the cruel.
Raba expounded:⁴³Cf. Yeb. 79a (Sonc. ed., p. 535); Beẓah 32b (Sonc. ed., p. 165). Whoever is distinguished by the following three characteristics is certain that he is of the seed of our father Abraham: merciful, bashful and benevolent. This is all right with the benevolent, for it is written, Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham;⁴⁴Micah 7, 20. Mercy, i.e. benevolence, is associated with Abraham’s name. also bashful, as Raba interpreted: Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon;⁴⁵Gen. 12, 11. Now but not until now; cf. B.B. 16a (Sonc. ed., p. 80). but why merciful? Abraham had no mercy upon his son!⁴⁶Isaac, whom he was ready to sacrifice at God’s command. Herein is to be found the greatness of Abraham, to make known how great was his love for the Holy One, blessed be He.⁴⁷The episode has no relationship to the Patriarch’s mercy.

MISHNAH: ²⁶⁷The Mishnah in the Babli is quite different in this first paragraph; it is close to the baraita/Tosephta quoted in the Halakhah as alternative version. The mention of Rebbi and R. Phineas ben Yaïr characterizes the entire Mishnah as a late addition. When Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai died, the splendor of wisdom disappeared. When the elder Rabban Gamliel²⁶⁸Hillel’s grandson, whom the Apostle Paul claimed as his teacher. died, the honor of Torah disappeared, purity and self-discipline died. When Ismael ben Phiabi²⁶⁹The last High Priest of good character. died, the splendor of priesthood died. When Rebbi died, meekness and fear of sin died. When Rebbi Meїr died, the inventors of parables disappeared. When Rebbi Aqiba died, the preachers²⁷⁰It may be that “interpreters of biblical verses” is meant. R. Aqiba is the last authority who systematically derived laws directly from an interpretation of verses. disappeared. When Ben Azai died, the perseverers²⁷¹Who study day and night. disappeared. When Ben Zoma died, the students²⁷²It is difficult to know what this means. In the Babli, “the preachers disappeared”. Ben Zoma is known for his gnostic studies. disappeared. When Rebbi Joshua died, good disappeared from the world²⁷³Had he lived, he probably could have averted the uprising of Bar Kochba. When Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah died, wealth disappeared from the Sages. When Rabban Gamliel died²⁷⁴In many independent Mishnah mss. (and the following Tosephta) “Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel”; missing in the Babli. The Yerushalmi reading is preferable since Rabban Gamliel died just before the Bar Kochba revolt but his son died at the beginning of the Severan dynasty which was a good time for the Jewish population of Palestine., locusts came and troubles increased. When Rebbi Ḥanina ben Dosa and Yose the small²⁷⁵קיטונתה is usually derived from Greek κοιτών “bedroom”, Syriac קיטונא “room”. In Babli and independent Mishnah he is called קטונתא “the little one”, because, according to some mss., he was the most insignificant of the pious. It is more than likely that the Yerushalmi קיטונתה is identical with קטונתא except for the addition of a stray י. This is accepted in the translation. Other Babli mss. and early medieval authors also call him “the concentrate of piety”. died, piety disappeared. Why was he called Yose of the small room? For he was the concentrate of pious men. Rebbi Phineas ben Yaїr says, after the Temple was destroyed, fellows and freeborn were ashamed and covered their heads, people of [good] deeds shrivelled, strong-armed people and informers became dominant, nobody explains, nobody desires and nobody asks. On whom can we rely? On our Father in Heaven. The great Rebbi Eliezer²⁷⁶R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanos. says, from the day the Temple was destroyed, the Sages were diminished to be like scribes, the scribes like community servants, the community servants like common people; the common people go and degenerate, nobody desires and nobody asks. On whom can we rely? On our Father in Heaven.
On the heels of the Messiah impertinence will grow, inflation will lead, the vine will give its fruit but the wine will be expensive, the government will turn heretic²⁷⁷This Mishnah expected the Messiah to appear when the Roman state turned Christian., nobody rebukes, the assembly hall will be a brothel, Galilee will be destroyed and Gaulanitis²⁷⁸Which was densely settled by Jews in talmudic times, cf. Ševi‘it 6:1, Notes 31–51. become deserted, frontier dwellers will move from city to city and nobody will have mercy on them, the wisdom of scholars will be defective, those who fear sin will be despised, truth will be absent, young men will insult Elders, Elders will stand before the young, “a son will abuse his father, a daughter rebel against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, the enemies of a person are his family”²⁷⁹Micah 7:6., the generation is dog-faced, a son is not ashamed before his father. What do we have to rely on? Our Father in Heaven.