Talmud su Salmi 16:78

HALAKHAH: It is written (Ps. 24:1): “The Eternal’s are the earth and what is in it, the dry land and its inhabitants.” He who profits from the world commits larceny⁴Since he uses God’s property, not his own. until good deeds will permit him⁵The obligation to say Grace after a meal is spelled out in Deut. 8:10. The obligation to recite blessings before one eats is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah. Since Grace is only treated in the next Chapter, one has to find here Biblical allusions to this duty and (in the next section) to the duty of reciting a benediction before fulfilling specified commandments.
The verse appears in the Babli (35a) in the name of Samuel. R. Levi compares the verse (Ps. 115:16) “Heaven is the Eternal’s heaven but the earth He gave to mankind”, explaining that before a benediction everything is the Eternal’s property but after a benediction it becomes human property. While Rebbi Levi is a Galilean teacher, the Yerushalmi rejects his combination since in the third paragraph earthly enjoyment is only “as if one ate from one’s own”. The text of the Yerushalmi is from Tosephta Berakhot 4:1 which is identical with the Talmudic text except that there it says “until all good deeds will permit him”, meaning that only if the preparation of food is completely within the commandments of the Torah then the last step of the preparation, the recitation of the benediction, will allow the food to be given to man as his own.. Rebbi Abbahu said, it is written (Deut. 22:9) “Lest the fullness of the seed that you sow and the yield of the vineyard should be forbidden.” The entire world and its contents are like a vineyard. What is its redemption? The benediction⁶This argument is very difficult to understand and the commentators either chose to ignore it or give very incongruous explanations. The best explanation is that of R. Eliahu Fulda who in his Yerushalmi edition suppresses the word פֶּן “lest”. One would have to assume that Rebbi Abbahu’s text did not have the word but that later scribes added it from memory. By it the negative implication of the verse (which speaks about growing different kinds of plants in a vineyard) are changed to a positive one which now should be translated: “That you shall sanctify the fullness of the seed that you sow and the yield of the vineyard.” Since the sanctity is not that of sacrifices, the sanctity may be removed by redemption (Lev. 27:11). However, there can be no monetary redemption of anything not explicitly authorized in the Torah. Hence, the redemption is non-monetary and is the traditional praise given to God in benedictions. [The simple sense of the verse is that produce grown in a vineyard becomes forbidden for private use as if it were dedicated for sacrifice.]. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Abun in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: (Ps. 16:2) “Say to the Eternal, You are my Master⁷The translation follows the Biblical text, not the text written here., my good is only with You.” If you ate and recited the benedictions then it is as if you ate from your own. Another explanation⁸The verse is extremely hard to understand; the next two interpretations have nothing to do with the topic on hand; they are only added to indicate translations that might be considered if בל is not a negation but a verb form derived from בלל, which may mean either “to give food” (Jud. 19:24) or, more frequently, “mixed with fluid, moistened.”: “My good is בל with you”, I am feeding My goodness to your body. Another explanation: “My good is בל with you”, all good things may be mixed together and come to you. Rebbi Aḥa said, what is “only with you?” I shall not bring any good things to the world without you. As it is said (Gen. 41:44) “Without you nobody may lift his hand.⁹Taking בל as shorthand for בִּלְעֲדֵי “without”.” Rebbi Ḥiyya stated: (Lev. 19:24) “Holy for praises”, this shows that it needs benediction before and after. From here did Rebbi Aqiba say that nobody should taste anything before he gives praise¹⁰This is also quoted in the Babli (35a); the source of both Talmudim is Sifra on the verse. The verse speaks of the fruits of a vineyard in its fourth year when the grapes can be used for the first time after having been forbidden for the first three years. This is only a hint for any other food..

HALAKHAH: It is written (Ps. 24:1): “The Eternal’s are the earth and what is in it, the dry land and its inhabitants.” He who profits from the world commits larceny⁴Since he uses God’s property, not his own. until good deeds will permit him⁵The obligation to say Grace after a meal is spelled out in Deut. 8:10. The obligation to recite blessings before one eats is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah. Since Grace is only treated in the next Chapter, one has to find here Biblical allusions to this duty and (in the next section) to the duty of reciting a benediction before fulfilling specified commandments.
The verse appears in the Babli (35a) in the name of Samuel. R. Levi compares the verse (Ps. 115:16) “Heaven is the Eternal’s heaven but the earth He gave to mankind”, explaining that before a benediction everything is the Eternal’s property but after a benediction it becomes human property. While Rebbi Levi is a Galilean teacher, the Yerushalmi rejects his combination since in the third paragraph earthly enjoyment is only “as if one ate from one’s own”. The text of the Yerushalmi is from Tosephta Berakhot 4:1 which is identical with the Talmudic text except that there it says “until all good deeds will permit him”, meaning that only if the preparation of food is completely within the commandments of the Torah then the last step of the preparation, the recitation of the benediction, will allow the food to be given to man as his own.. Rebbi Abbahu said, it is written (Deut. 22:9) “Lest the fullness of the seed that you sow and the yield of the vineyard should be forbidden.” The entire world and its contents are like a vineyard. What is its redemption? The benediction⁶This argument is very difficult to understand and the commentators either chose to ignore it or give very incongruous explanations. The best explanation is that of R. Eliahu Fulda who in his Yerushalmi edition suppresses the word פֶּן “lest”. One would have to assume that Rebbi Abbahu’s text did not have the word but that later scribes added it from memory. By it the negative implication of the verse (which speaks about growing different kinds of plants in a vineyard) are changed to a positive one which now should be translated: “That you shall sanctify the fullness of the seed that you sow and the yield of the vineyard.” Since the sanctity is not that of sacrifices, the sanctity may be removed by redemption (Lev. 27:11). However, there can be no monetary redemption of anything not explicitly authorized in the Torah. Hence, the redemption is non-monetary and is the traditional praise given to God in benedictions. [The simple sense of the verse is that produce grown in a vineyard becomes forbidden for private use as if it were dedicated for sacrifice.]. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Abun in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: (Ps. 16:2) “Say to the Eternal, You are my Master⁷The translation follows the Biblical text, not the text written here., my good is only with You.” If you ate and recited the benedictions then it is as if you ate from your own. Another explanation⁸The verse is extremely hard to understand; the next two interpretations have nothing to do with the topic on hand; they are only added to indicate translations that might be considered if בל is not a negation but a verb form derived from בלל, which may mean either “to give food” (Jud. 19:24) or, more frequently, “mixed with fluid, moistened.”: “My good is בל with you”, I am feeding My goodness to your body. Another explanation: “My good is בל with you”, all good things may be mixed together and come to you. Rebbi Aḥa said, what is “only with you?” I shall not bring any good things to the world without you. As it is said (Gen. 41:44) “Without you nobody may lift his hand.⁹Taking בל as shorthand for בִּלְעֲדֵי “without”.” Rebbi Ḥiyya stated: (Lev. 19:24) “Holy for praises”, this shows that it needs benediction before and after. From here did Rebbi Aqiba say that nobody should taste anything before he gives praise¹⁰This is also quoted in the Babli (35a); the source of both Talmudim is Sifra on the verse. The verse speaks of the fruits of a vineyard in its fourth year when the grapes can be used for the first time after having been forbidden for the first three years. This is only a hint for any other food..

³²Babli 14b; Tosephta 2:1. It happened that Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai was on the road, riding on a donkey, and Rebbi Eleazar ben Arakh was walking behind him. He said to him, my teacher, instruct me in a Chapter about the Work of the Chariot. He told him, did the Sagen not state, “nor the Chariot²The details of the Divine Throne as described in the first Chapter of Ezechiel. unless he was wise and understood by himself.” He said to him, my teacher, permit me to say it before you. He told him, say. When Rebbi Eleazar ben Arakh started about the Work of the Chariot, Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai descended from the donkey. He said, it is not appropriate that I should hear about the glory of my Creator riding on a donkey. They went and sat under a tree, when fire descended from Heaven and surrounded them, and the angels of Service were dancing before them like wedding guests happy with the bridegroom. An angel addressed from inside the fire and said, the Work of the Chariot is as you said, Eleazar ben Arakh. Then all trees (around them) [opened their mouths] and sang; then all trees of the forest will sing³³Ps. 96:12.. When Rebbi Eleazar ben Arakh finished with the Work of the Chariot, Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai rose, kissed him on his head, and said: Praised be the Eternal, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who gave a wise son to our father Abraham who knows to speak of the Glory of our Father in Heaven. They are good speakers who do not act well, those who act well but are no good speakers. Eleazar ben Arakh speaks well and acts well. Hail to you, our father Abraham, that Eleazar ben Arakh came from your loins. When Rebbi Yosef Hakohen and Rebbi Simeon ben Nethanael³⁴Cf. Mishnah Avot 2:8. heard, they also started with the Work of the Chariot. They said, it was one day after the summer solstice; the earth trembled and the Arc appeared in the cloud. An unembodied voice came and said to them, the place is free and the triclinium prepared for you. You and your students are invited to the third group. This parallels him who said, seven enjoyments are before Your presence³⁵Ps. 16:11., there are seven groups of just people in the Future World³⁶Who are worthy to see God’s glory, Lev. rabba 30(2)..

²³For an explanation of this paragraph, see the author’s The Scholar’s Haggadah, pp. 186–187. From where the Four Cups? Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Benaiah: Corresponding to the four deliveries²⁴Ex. 6:7–8.: Therefore, say to the Children of Israel, I am the Eternal, and I shall take you out, etc. And I shall take you as My people, etc. I shall take you, I shall save you, I shall free you, I shall take you. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, corresponding to the four cups of Pharao: The cup of Pharao was in my hand; I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharao ’s cup, and gave the cup in Pharao ’s hand. You will give the cup in the hand of Pharao²⁵Gen. 40:11,13. The relation to Passover is explained in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan ad loc.. Rebbi Levi said, corresponding to the four kingdoms. But our teachers say, corresponding to the four cups of doom that the Holy One, praise to Him, will make the Gentiles drink at the end of days. Truly, so said the Eternal, the God of Israel, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath²⁶Jer. 23:15.. The golden cup of Babylon is in the hand of the Eternal²⁷Jer. 51:7.. Truly a cup is in the hand of the Eternal, intoxicating wine, fully to be mixed; He shall sprinkle from it but its dregs shall be drunk, squeezed to the last, by all the wicked of the earth²⁸Ps. 75:9.. He shall let coals rain on the wicked; fire, sulphur, and burning wind is the portion of their cup²⁹Ps. 11:6.. What does the portion of their cup mean? R. Abun said: a double cup³⁰Greek διπλόν ποτήριον, τό. like the double cup taken after a thermal bath. And in accordance with this correspondingly the Holy One, praised be He, will let Israel drink four cups of consolation at the End of Days: The Eternal is the portion of my part and my cup³¹Ps. 16:5.. You anointed my head with oil; my cup is overflowing³²Ps.23:5.. I shall lift up the cup of salvations³³Ps.116:13. counts for two.

The following seven patriarchs have gone to their eternal rest with great honour and worms and maggots had no dominion over them, viz.: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Miriam and their father Amram.⁴²In B.B. 17a (Sonc. ed., p. 86), ‘and Benjamin the son of Jacob’. Some say: Also David, as it is stated, Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also dwelleth in safety.⁴³Ps. 16, 9, the last words being understood as ‘unaffected by worms’.

HALAKHAH: What does he say when he enters¹²⁶The text in the Babli (28b) is similar in content but different in formulation. The manuscripts of the Babli and the quotes in Medieval authors differ widely in language.? May it be Your pleasure, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that I should not be offended by my colleagues and my colleagues should not be offended by me; that we should not declare impure that which is pure, nor declare pure what is impure; that we should not forbid that which is permitted, nor permit what is forbidden and I would be ashamed in this world and the world to come. What does he say when he leaves? I thank You, o Eternal, my God and God of my fathers, that You ordained my lot with those who sit in the house of study and in synagogues and You did not ordain my lot in theaters and circuses¹²⁷This does not imply that Rebbi Neḥonia accepted the doctrine of predestination as conjectured by L. Finkelstein (מבוא לפרקי אבות ואבות דרבי נתן, ניו יורק תשי״א, נספח ב).. For I toil and they toil, I am diligent and they are diligent. I toil to inherit the Garden of Eden, but they toil for the pit of destruction as it is said (Ps. 16:10): “Certainly, You will not abandon my soul to the pit, You will not let Your pious ones see destruction.”

What was the fence that Job made around his words? It says (Job 1:5), “A pure and righteous man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” This teaches us that Job distanced himself from anything that would bring him to sin, from any ugliness, and from anything even resembling ugliness. If that is so, then why do we have to also learn that he was “a pure and righteous man”? But instead, this is here to teach us that Job emerged [from the womb] already circumcised. Adam also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 1:24), “And God created the person in His image.” Seth also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 5:2), “He had a child in his likeness and image.” Noah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 6:9), “A just and pure man in his generation.” Shem also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 14:18), “Malkitzedek, king of Shalem.”²Malkitzedek is understood in rabbinic tradition to be Shem. The Hebrew word shalem means “complete.” Jacob also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 25:27), “Jacob was a pure man, who sat in tents.” Joseph also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 37:2), “This is the progeny of Jacob: Joseph.” But shouldn’t it say [instead]: This is the progeny of Jacob: Reuben? What do we learn from [the fact that it says] Joseph? [We learn] that just as Jacob emerged already circumcised, (so, too,) Joseph emerged already circumcised. Moses also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Exodus 2:2), “She saw that he was good.” And what did his mother see in him that was lovelier and more praiseworthy than any other person? That he emerged circumcised. Bil’am the wicked also came out circumcised, as it says (Numbers 24:4), “The word of him who hears God’s speech.” (Samuel also emerged circumcised, as it says [I Samuel 2:26], “Young Samuel continued to grow and was good.”) David also emerged circumcised – as it says (Psalms 16:1), “A mikhtam³A ketem (which has the same Hebrew letters as mikhtam) can mean a type of spot or marking. of David. (Protect me, for I seek refuge in You).” Jeremiah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Jeremiah 1:5), “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you.” Zerubbabel also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Haggai 2:23), “On that day (I will take,) [declares the Eternal of Hosts, I will take] Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the Eternal.” And it says (Job 31:1), “I have made a covenant with my eyes, so how can I gaze at a maiden [i.e., an unmarried woman]?” This teaches that Job was strict with himself and would not even look at a maiden. And if with a maiden – whom he could marry if he wished (to his son, to his daughter, or to [another] family member) – he was strict with himself and would not look at her, then all the more so [would he never look at] a married woman! And why was he so strict with himself not to look even at a maiden? Because Job said to himself: Perhaps I will look today, and tomorrow another man will come along and marry her, and then I will have looked at a married woman.

First they were giving them¹³⁷The tefillin, when somebody was entering a toilet. In the parallel in the Babli (Berakhot 23a), it is not mentioned that first one had to hand the tefillin, which represent a considerable monetary worth, to other people. to others; these were taking them and fleeing. They decreed that one should put them in holes in the wall. When that incident¹³⁸The incident is decribed in detail in the Babli (loc. cit.): A prostitute found a pair of tefillin in a hole near a public toilet, took them, and bragged publicly that she had received them for her services from a certain holy man who then committed suicide as a consequence of the public scandal. happened, they decreed that a person should enter and keep them in his hand. Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa¹³⁹A colleague of Rebbi Zeïra. The argument here, relating to a toilet, is parallel to the preceding one, relating to a urinal. in the name of Rebbi Zeïra said: but only if there is time left during the day to put them on again. But if there is no time left in the day to put them on, it is forbidden. For if he cannot perform a mitzwah with them, why should he degrade them? Maisha (Moses), grandson of R. Joshua ben Levi, said: He who wants to do it right, makes for them a pouch the size of a hand-breadth and puts them on his heart¹⁴⁰A pouch with straps so that in case of need one can put the tefillin in the pouch and carry them hanging under his outer garment, the strap going around his neck. Since one needs the pouch anyhow for storing the tefillin during nighttime, the counsel of Rebbi Maishe is only to put the straps on so that the pouch can be used also during daytime. The Babli (24a) forbids expressly to have the tefillin hanging on its own straps (not those of a pouch).. What is the reason? (Ps. 16:8): “I put the Eternal always before me.” There¹⁴¹In Babylonia. The parallel in the Babli (Šabbat 49a) reads: “Rebbi Yannai said: Tefillin need a clean body, like Elisha of the bird’s wings.” R. Z. Frankel points out that at the start of fol. 4c, the Yerushalmi quotes that “Rebbi Yannai said: Tefillin need a clean body”; hence, the reference to Elisha of the bird-wings is really a Babylonian addition. The story is told only in the Babli, loc. cit., that Elisha was wearing tefillin when, in the aftermath of the war of Bar Kokhba, wearing tefillin was a capital crime. But he took them off when he saw a policeman and kept them in his hands. When the policeman asked him what he held in his hands, he said: “a couple of bird’s wings.” When he was ordered to open his hands, two birds flew away and his life was saved. (This story shows again that tefillin cases were not supposed to be larger than about 3/8th of an inch square.)
The implication of this Babylonian ruling is that nobody can be expected to keep his body perfectly clean for very long; hence, tefillin should be removed after prayers. they say: He who is not like Elisha of the bird’s wings should not put on tefillin.

BARAITHA. Subordinate your will to the will of Heaven; for so we find that Jacob did not kiss Joseph.
GEMARA. Why did he not kiss him? He thought that, since he was away from home, women may have led him astray because of his beauty; as it is written, And he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck.¹²¹Gen. 46, 29, which does not mention Jacob kissing his son. [Joseph] wanted to kiss him but he would not let him do so, as it is written, And he wept on his neck a good while.¹²²ibid., a good while is explained that Joseph kept on weeping but Jacob still did not kiss him. That is to say, he [only] kissed him when he died, as it is written, And wept upon him, and kissed him.¹²³ibid. L, 1. Joseph said, ‘Thirty-nine years have [passed] before him¹²⁴i.e. it was thirty-nine years since Joseph left home. As Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years (ibid. XLVII, 28), Joseph must have been separated from his father twenty-two years. and I have not kissed my father’s mouth, and now shall I bury him without kissing him?’ That is the meaning of what is written, And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons and said: Who are these?¹²⁵ibid. XLVIII, 8. Did he not know until then who they were? But [Jacob] inquired of him whether they had been born in wedlock,¹²⁶lit. ‘with a kethubah’, i.e. according to the Hebrew marriage law. and when he showed him the kethubah his mind became at rest and he kissed them for the sake of Joseph.
Raba said: Infer from this that [Joseph] was aroused sexually by her;¹²⁷viz. Potiphar’s wife (ibid. XXXIX, 7ff), otherwise Jacob would not have doubted Joseph’s moral purity. for should you say that he was not aroused by her, it has been taught:¹²⁸B.M. 83b (Sonc. ed., pp. 478f.). The reference is to the story of R. Eleazar b. Simeon, who had a man arrested because of his insolence towards him and subsequently hanged. R. Eleazar regretted his action, but was assured by his disciples that the man must have been guilty of a capital crime. On hearing this, he felt relieved and reassured that his own body would not decompose after his death. He laid his hand upon his heart¹²⁹lit. ‘his inwards’, and similarly in the continuation. and exclaimed, ‘Rejoice my heart, rejoice my heart! If matters about which you are doubtful are so,¹³⁰i.e. seem to be just. He was doubtful whether the man deserved hanging. how much more those about which you are certain! I am confident that neither worms nor decay will have power over you’. He applied to himself the verse, My flesh also dwelleth in safety.¹³¹Ps. 16, 9. Now he¹³²viz. R. Eleazar; and yet he felt assured that the worms would have no power over his body. is not mentioned among those [over whom the worms have no dominion],¹³³Cf. B.B. 17a (Sonc. ed., p. 86): ‘There are seven over whom the worms had no dominion, viz. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and Benjamin, son of Jacob’. how much more so Jacob who is mentioned!¹³⁴How could Jacob then doubt the innocence of Joseph, seeing that the sin of suspecting the innocent would have lost him that privilege? Therefore [we must say] that Jacob held back from kissing Joseph because of what he saw by means of the Holy Spirit.¹³⁵He was inspired by God to do so in order that Joseph should not communicate her moral impurity to him. And where is this¹³⁶Joseph’s moral impurity. alluded to? As it is written, But his¹³⁷i.e. Joseph’s. bow abode firm;¹³⁸Gen. 49, 24. The word bow is found in both the passages cited. On the exegetical rule of Gezerah Shawah, inference from analogous phraseology, what applies to one applies also to the other. In Hab. the bow is described as being bare, ‘eryah, which is equated with ‘erwah, ‘forbidden intercourse’. Consequently the use of bow in connection with Joseph indicates that there was an occasion when he was aroused sinfully. and it is written there, Thy bow is made quite bare.¹³⁹Hab. 3, 9. The Heb. maṭṭeh can mean ‘rod’ or ‘tribe’. The Rabbinic interpretation is that God swore to Jacob that the tribes descended from him would be pure. What caused him to be saved? Sworn are the rods of the word. Selah. What is the meaning of Selah?¹⁴⁰The word. Selah is by a process of analogy equated with the words the God of Jacob … Selah; that is to say, the word sworn by the God of Jacob to him. It is to be taken in the sense of The God of Jacob … Selah.¹⁴¹Ps. 46, 12. It was quoted in refutation, And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him¹⁴²Gen. 29, 13.—is not this a case where an inference from minor to major is to be drawn? If of Laban who kissed idols and harlots it is so written,¹⁴³That he kissed Jacob. Joseph who did not kiss these [yet did not kiss Jacob]! Perhaps the verse should not have written this, but it points to Jacob’s merit. [It indicates,] And he [Laban] ran to meet him, i.e. he wanted to kiss him but [Jacob] would not permit him; he then embraced him again to kiss him, whereupon he struck [Laban] on his cheek. This may be proved from the fact that it is written wayyenashsheḳ¹⁴⁴There are two Heb. roots with the same letters, one meaning ‘to kiss’ and the other ‘to be equipped with weapons’, and the verb in the verse is given the second sense, i.e. he attacked him. and not wayyishshaḳ. Hence it is proved; here it is written, And he kissed them¹⁴⁵Gen. 48, 10, where the verb is wayyishshaḳ and denotes an expression of love. and [continues], And embraced them.
What is the difference between wayyishshaḳ and wayyenashsheḳ? The latter¹⁴⁶Which is an intensive form of the verb. indicates [kissing] with the whole body, the former [only] with the mouth. Whence do we know that this is so? For it is written, He kisses [yishshaḳ] the lips that giveth a right answer.¹⁴⁷Prov. 24, 26. Wherever wayyishshaḳ occurs it denotes a [light] impress to be added to the count.¹⁴⁸A single gesture which may form part of a further display of affection subsequently. Come and hear: [It is stated,] And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him.¹⁴⁹Gen. 33, 4, the verb being wayyishshaḳ. Is not this [act of kissing] similar to what Laban did? The reply is: Go and see how many teeth were dug into him.¹⁵⁰In the Heb. text the word has dots over the letters, which are taken by the Midrash to indicate that Esau’s real intention was to bite Jacob. [Cf. ARN, p. 165.] And why? Because he [really] wanted to bite him, but at the time his teeth became as [soft as] wax and he knocked his jaws against Jacob’s neck and became weak. To that episode David alluded when he said, Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God; for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek, Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.¹⁵¹Ps. 3, 8.

BARAITHA. Seven patriarchs died in universal honour, and the worms and maggots had no power over them, viz. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Amram the father of Moses, Benjamin the son of Jacob, Jesse and Chileab.¹⁷⁹The second son of David (2 Sam. 3, 3, who is named Daniel in 1 Chron. 3, 1). Cf. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, I, p. 22. Some add: David, as it is stated, Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also dwelleth in safety.¹⁸⁰Ps. 16, 9.
Seven entered Paradise in their lifetime, viz.: [Seraḥ [the daughter of Asher],¹⁸¹She showed Moses the place in the Nile where Joseph’s coffin lay hidden, thus enabling him to take it with him when the Israelites left Egypt (Ex. 13, 19). Cf. Ginzberg, op. cit., II, pp. 116, 181; V, pp. 96, 165, 356, n. 295, 359, n. 321. See also Soṭah 13a (Sonc. ed., p. 67). Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh,¹⁸²Cf. 1 Chron. 4, 18; Meg. 13a (Sonc. ed., p. 74); Ginzberg, op. cit., II, p. 270; V, p. 401, n. 60. Hiram, king of Tyre,¹⁸³Because he was of great help to Solomon in the building of the Temple. Cf. 1 Kings 5; Ginzberg, op. cit., IV, p. 155; V, pp. 96, 165; VI, p. 425. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,¹⁸⁴He rescued the prophet Jeremiah when his life was in danger. Cf. Jer. 38, 11ff.; Ginzberg, op. cit., IV, pp. 318ff.; VI, pp. 387, 409f., 411f. Eliezer [the servant of Abraham],¹⁸⁵op. cit., I, p. 297; V, pp. 96, 165, 263, n. 301. the grandson of Judah the Prince,¹⁸⁶op. cit., V, p. 96, where he refers to R. Judah’s ‘slave’, not his grandson. Jabez¹⁸⁷op. cit., V, p. 96; VI, p. 187, n. 30, where Jabez is identified with R. Judah’s grandson. and some add, R. Joshua b. Levi].¹⁸⁸op. cit., V, pp. 31, 96, 165.
GEMARA. Seraḥ, as it is written, I am of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel¹⁸⁹2 Sam. 20, 19, E.V. we are of them, etc.; the words which the wise woman spoke in the name of the people of the city. Here the words are applied to another wise woman, Serah. [which is interpreted,] It is I who completed the number of entrants to the Garden of Eden. Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, as it is written, And his wife Hajehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor … and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took.¹⁹⁰1 Chron. 4, 18. God said, ‘I will call Moses by no other name than she called him’,¹⁹¹Cf. Ex. 2, 10. as it is stated, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses.¹⁹²ibid III, 4. To this David alluded when he exclaimed, He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.¹⁹³2 Sam. 22, 17; Ps. 18, 17. [It is written,] And she called his name Moses, and said: Because I drew him out of the water.¹⁹⁴Ex. 2, 10. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘Because she caused salvation to come to Israel and brought them forth to life, behold, I will prolong her life’. He [also] said, ‘I have made a covenant with your fathers and they followed in the path of their fathers. This woman, however, who has forsaken her royal status and attached herself to you, shall I not reward her?’
In what did Hiram, king of Tyre, earn his merit? Because he built a Tabernacle as Moses did; as it is written, Even all these vessels.¹⁹⁵1 Kings 7, 45. In the Heb. text the word for these is so spelt that it could be read ’ohel which is reminiscent of the ’ohel mo‘ed, ‘the tent of meeting’, which Moses erected. To what does the word these allude? To the tent of meeting. [Why did] Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [enter Paradise alive]? Because he brought up Jeremiah [from the dungeon], as it is written, And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, etc.¹⁹⁶Jer. 38, 12f. [Why did] Eliezer [enter Paradise alive]? Because he prayed on Abraham’s behalf. On what occasion? When he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray Thee, good speed this day,¹⁹⁷Gen. 24, 12. and it is further written, Because the Lord thy God sent me good speed.¹⁹⁸ibid. XXVII, 20. Jacob said this to his father. And whence do we know that the latter one¹⁹⁹Jacob. [entered Paradise alive]? For it is written, And he brought him wine, and he drank;²⁰⁰ibid. XXVII, 25. and it further states, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.²⁰¹ibid. 27, i.e., the Garden of Eden. Jacob, according to tradition, brought the vine from the Garden of Eden; cf. Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, LXV, 22 (Sonc. ed., p. 599): ‘When Jacob went in to his father, the Garden of Eden entered with him’.
And the grandson of R. Judah the Prince? For this we have a tradition. And R. Joshua b. Levi? For this too we have a tradition. And whence do we know it of Jabez? For it is written, And Jabez called on the God of Israel … and that Thy hand might be with me.²⁰²1 Chron. 4, 10. Some derive it from here, And that Thou wouldest work deliverance from evil, that it may not pain me.²⁰³ibid. Whence do we know that evil means death? As it is written, The righteous is taken away from the evil to come;²⁰⁴Isa. 57, 1. and it has been taught: But for the ills that come upon the world, the righteous would not be taken away before their time. And Jabez prayed concerning himself, That it may not pain me, [and then it is written,] And God granted him that which he requested.²⁰⁵1 Chron. 4, 10.

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.

There were ten generations from Noah to Avraham. And why was it necessary to bring all those people into the world? But this is to teach us that all those generations continued to anger God, and there was not one among them who walked in the ways of the Holy Blessed One until Abraham our forefather came along, and he walked in the ways of the Holy Blessed One, as it says (Genesis 26:5), “Because Abraham heeded My call [and kept My charge, My commandments, My rules, and My Torahs.]” (But there is only one Torah! How could he have kept Torahs, plural?) This teaches that the Holy Blessed One planted two inner voices in Abraham, like two wise men, who helped him understand, advised him, and taught him wisdom all night long, as it says (Psalms 16:7), “I will bless the Eternal who has advised me. Even at night, the voices inside of me [lit., my kidneys] have admonished me.” Moreover, Abraham our forefather would always give charity first, and only after would he execute justice, as it says (Genesis 18:19), “For I have singled him out, in order that he command [his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of the Eternal, doing charity (lit., righteousness), and justice].” Whenever two parties to a conflict would come before Abraham our forefather seeking justice, and one would say about the other: He owes me money, Abraham our forefather would take his own money and give it to the claimant. Then he would say to them: Make your cases before me. So they would argue their cases. When he found that it was actually the first one who owed the money, he would say: Take the money in your hand, and give it to your fellow. And if no one owed money, he would say: Split (what you have), and go in peace. But King David did not do it like this. Rather, he executed justice first, and only afterward gave charity, as its says (II Samuel 8:15), “And David would execute justice and charity [lit., righteousness] for all of his people.” Whenever two parties to a dispute came before King David, and one would say: This one owes me money, he would say to them: Make your cases. So they would argue their cases. Then, when one was found to be liable to the other, [David] would take out his own money and give it to him. If no one owed money, he would say to them: (Split what you have and) go in peace.

Anyone who causes others to do good, his own sins will not overtake him. For it cannot be that his students will inherit the World to Come while he himself goes down to Sheol, as it says (Psalms 16:10), “For you will not abandon me to Sheol.” And anyone who causes others to sin, no amount of repentance will ever help him. For it cannot be that his students go down to Sheol while he himself inherits the World to Come, as it says (Proverbs 28:17), “A person with blood on his hands will go down into a pit.”