Talmud do Liczb 21:42

⁴⁴For this Aggada and more aggadic parts in this Tractate there exists a Medieval copy in the Qonteros Aḥaron of Yalqut Shimˋony reproduced by L. Ginsberg in his Yerushalmi Fragments from the Genizah, pp. 311–313, referred to by Q. A short parallel is in the Babli, Roš Haššanah 3a; parallels are in Mekhilta dR. Ismael Bešallaḥ, Masekhta de Wayassa 1; Tanḥuma Ḥuqqat 18. The entire paragraph is discussed by Rashi in his Commentary to Num. 26:13. It is written⁴⁵Deut. 10:6. According to Num., he did not die at Mosera and never was buried. In the text, the word [אל] has been added from the masoretic text and Q.: and the Children of Israel travelled from the wells of Bene Yaaqon to Mosera; there Aaron died. Did Aaron die at Mosera? Did he not die on Mount Hor? This is what is written⁴⁶Num. 33:38., Aaron the Priest ascendedMount Hor by the order of the Eternal and died there. But when Aaron died, the clouds of glory⁴⁷Who had covered the Israelites’ camp from the moment of the Exodus. disappeared and the Canaanites wanted to attack them. This is what is written⁴⁸Num.21:1., the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who was dwelling in the Negev, heard that Israel came in the way of Atarim, and made war against Israel. What means “in the way of Atarim”? That the great scout had died who had scouted the way for them. They came and attacked them. Then Israel wanted to return to Egypt and returned eight travel stations⁴⁹As enumerated in Num. 33.. The tribe of Levi ran after them and killed from them eight families⁵⁰In Q: “16 families”.. Also they killed from them four families, ⁵¹A redundant verse in 1Chr. 26:23. (See Rashi, quoted in Note 44).for the Amramite, the Yisharite, the Ḥevronite, the Uzzielite. When did they recover? In the days of David. This is what is written⁵²Ps. 72:6., in his days the just may bloom, immense peace, without moon-periods. They said, what caused us all this bloodshed? They said, because we did not show compassion for this perfect person⁵³To organize due eulogies. In this context, גְּמִילוּת חֶסֶד means services to the living or the dead by a person himself, which cannot be bought by money.. They sat down, organized his eulogies, and showed compassion for this Just; then the Omnipresent credited them as if he had died there, was buried there, and they showed compassion for the perfect person.

King Hezekiah decided four things, and his decision was in accordance with the will of the Omnipresent God. He hid the Book of Healing, and his decision was in accordance with the will of the Omnipresent God. He broke apart the copper snake, and his decision was in accordance with the will of the Omnipresent God [as it says in II Kings 18:4, “Until those days, the children of Israel had been burning incense to it, and it was called Nekhushatan (‘the snake god’)”]. He removed the shrines and altars, and his decision was in accordance with the will of the Omnipresent God, as it says (II Chronicles 32:12), “Hezekiah removed His shrines and His altars and spoke to Judah and Jerusalem, and said: Will you bow down before one altar, and burn incense upon it?” He stopped up the waters of Gihon, and his decision was in accordance with the will of the Omnipresent God, as it says (II Chronicles 32:30), “Hezekiah stopped up the spring of the waters of [upper] Gihon, leading it downward, west of the City of David. And Hezekiah was successful in all that he did.”

“Seven seas surround the Land of Israel: The ocean, lake Tiberias, lake Samkho, the salt sea, lake Ḥolata, lake Sheliat, lake Apamea.” But does there not also exist the lake of Ḥomṣ? Diocletian dammed up rivers and created it. It is written (Num. 21:20): “Looking down on the desert.” Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, if one ascends the desert mountain one finds the likeness of a sieve in lake Tiberias, that is the well of Miryam. Rebbi Joḥanan bar Mara said, the rabbis estimated it and it is assessed opposite the middle gate of the old synagogue of Imdvtgyn.

“Seven seas surround the Land of Israel¹²⁹The list is not only in the parallel in Ketubot but also in Babli Baba Batra 74b, Midrash Psalms 24, and, as a secondary source, YalquṭPsalms 24. The latter source and the Munich, Rome and Hamburg mss. of Baba Batra have “lake Paneas” (Banias) instead of “lake of Apamea”. The pool of the Jordan source at Banias is in the Land of Israel, Apamea is in Northern Syria (but Ḥomṣ is also in Syria). The ocean is the Mediterranean, Lake Tiberias is Lake Genezareth, the salt sea is the Dead Sea. Lake Ḥuleh in Greek sources is lake Samokhonites. What is missing in the list is Birket Ram on the Golan heights and possibly a pool at Ḥamat Gader, mentioned in Babli Šabbat 109a. Since lake Samkho is lake Ḥuleh, ימא דחולתא “the lake of the dunes” cannot be Lake Ḥuleh but might have been a swamp in the plain between Haifa and Acco since in Yalquṭ it is called “the lake of Acco”.: The ocean, lake Tiberias, lake Samkho, the salt sea, lake Ḥolata, lake Sheliat, lake Apamea.” But does there not also exist the lake of Ḥomṣ? Diocletian dammed up rivers and created it. It is written (Num. 21:20): “Looking down on the desert.” Rebbi Ḥiyya from Biria¹³⁰An otherwise unknown Amora. said, if one ascends the desert mountain one finds the likeness of a sieve in lake Tiberias, that is the well of Miryam¹³¹The well accompanying the tribes of Israel during their forty years in the desert (Seder Olam, Chap. 5). The version בארה in the Rome ms., instead of בורה, is an intrusion of Babylonian traditions. The parallel in Babli Šabbat 35a identifies the mountain as Mount Carmel. As noted by the editor of Kaftor waPeraḥ (p. קלט), this is an intrusion from the preceding mention of Mt. Carmel (cf. Yerushalmi Berakhot p. 54) since the Munich ms. of the Babli identifies the sea as Lake Tiberias. The original name of the mountain in the Babylonian tradition is lost.
The place of Balaam’s vision must have been near the Dead Sea, not Lake Tiberias.. Rebbi Joḥanan said, the rabbis estimated it and it is assessed opposite the middle gate of the old synagogue of Sarongin¹³²In Ketubot, יסרוטגין. The place is unidentified..

³³³Similarly Thr. rabba 3(38), Yalqut Prophets 421; cf. Tanhuma Yitro 5. Rebbi Joḥanan said, 80’000 young priests (broke through) [fled to] Nebuchadnezzar’s armies and went to the Ismaelites. They said to them, give us to drink for we are thirsty. They brought before them salted fish and inflated waterskins. They said to them, eat and then you can drink. When one of them opened the waterskin and put it into his mouth, the wind came out and suffocated him. That is what is written³³⁴Is. 21:13–15., load in Arabia, a large load on Arabia. In a forest in Arabia they will stay, those that should have been in the forest of Lebanon, in Arabia they will stay. But the ways of Dedanians³³⁵A grandson of Abraham by Qetura., that is the way the Dedanians act. When Ismael was thirsty, did they not bring water towards the thirsty? God opened her eyes and she saw a water cistern³³⁶Gen. 21:19.. Not voluntarily they came to you, for they fled from swords. From the unfettered sword, because they did not want to keep their Sabbaticals, as you are saying, and the seventh unfetter and abandon³³⁷Ex. 23:11.. And because ofcocked bows, because they did not want to keep their Sabbaths, as you are saying, in these days I saw in Jehudah people pressing wine-presses on the Sabbath³³⁸Neh. 13:15.. And because of the difficulty of war, they did not want to engage in the Torah’s war, [as you are saying], therefore it was said in the book of the wars of the Eternal³³⁹Num. 21:14..

HALAKHAH: “One does not interrupt curses.” Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Gamda said, do not be repelled by his reproach¹²⁸Prov. 3:11. Babli 31b. The entire paragraph is more or less reproduced in Soferim 12:1–6., do not split it into many thorns¹²⁹An untranslatable pun, identifying the roots קוּץ “to be repelled” (Accadic קצצ “to be enraged”) and קוֹץ “thorn” (without obvious cognate).. Rebbi Levi said, the Holy One, praise to Him, said that it is not logical that My children be cursed and I praised. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, not because of that reason¹³⁰He rejects the homiletic reason given by preachers (accepted in the Babli 31b) and points to a simple technicality which makes stopping during the reading of the curses impossible. but because one who stands up to read in the Torah needs to start with something good and conclude with something good. Levi bar Paṭi asked Rav Ḥuna: these curses¹³¹The curse formulas Deut. 27:15–26. which we read as one, should one recite a benediction before and after? He said to him, nothing needs a benediction before and after except the curses in Leviticus and the curses in Deuteronomy¹²⁵Either Lev. 26:3–46 or Deut. Chapter 28.. Rebbi Jonathan the scribe of Gufta came down here¹³²To Tiberias.; he saw Bar Abuna reading the Song of the Well¹³³Num. 21:17–20. and recite a benediction before and after. He said to him, does one do this? He answered him, you still are about this? All songs need a benediction before and after. Rebbi Simon was asked. Rebbi Simon told them in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi, only the Song on the Sea¹³⁴Ex. 15:1–19., and the Ten Commandments, and the curses [in Leviticus and the curses]¹³⁵The addition by the corrector is questionable since the Babli requires benedictions only for the text of Lev. and excludes that of Deut. in Deuteronomy need a benediction before and after. Rebbi Abbahu said, I did not hear¹³⁶The topic never came up in his studies.. It seems reasonable for the Ten Commandments¹³⁷The special treatment accorded here to the Song on the Sea and the Ten Commandments may be the reason for the Ashkenazic custom to stand during the recitation of these texts; a custom otherwise unexplained.. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun: the eight verses in Deuteronomy¹³⁸The last 8 verses, Deut. 34:5–12, about Moses’s death and its aftermath, which are ascribed either to Joshua or to Moses who wrote them by Divine command without separation of words. Babli Bava batra 15a. need a benediction before and after. Without this do not the one who starts and the one who finishes recite the benediction before and after¹³⁹The original Palestinian usage was that a benediction was recited before the start of the Torah reading (“Who choose us from all peoples and gave us His Torah”) and after the end (“Who gave us His Torah”) recited, respectively, by the first reader before and the last reader after his reading. Separate benedictions for every reader, which make all the preceding discussion unnecessary, are Babylonian usage. It follows that the benedictions mentioned here for the Song on the Sea, the Ten Commandments, and Blessings and Curses, must be different from the beginning and ending benedictions.? But it is needed for a New Moon which falls on a Sabbath¹⁴⁰Since the reading has only 5 verses (Note 123) it cannot be split; the text has to be recited seven times. Since starting and finishing readers read the same text, it remains questionable why they should differ in their benedictions..

R. Joshua b. Levi said: Every day a Bath Ḳol¹⁰lit. ‘a daughter of a voice’, used of a heavenly proclamation. goes forth from Mount Ḥoreb¹¹Another name for Sinai. and proclaims, ‘Woe to mankind for the contempt which they display¹²By neglect to study and observe its laws. towards the Torah! For whoever is not constant in his study of the Torah is termed ‘censured’,¹³Heb. נזוף. By the Rabbinic method of Noṭariḳon, the word is constituted from certain letters of the Heb. phrase, a ring of gold in a swine’s snout. as it is stated, As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman that turneth aside from discretion,¹⁴Prov. 11, 22. and it states, And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.¹⁵Ex. 32, 16. Do not read¹⁶A form of Rabbinic exegesis, where, by a change of vowel, another and sometimes higher interpretation is derived. ḥaruth [engraven] but ḥeruth [freedom], for no man is free but he who occupies himself with the Torah; and whoever studies the lore of the Torah is exalted, as it is stated, And from Mattanah to Naḥaliel; and from Naḥaliel to Bamoth.¹⁷Num. 21, 19. These are place names meaning lit. ‘gift’, ‘inheritance of God’ and ‘heights’. They are interpreted homiletically as the stages of a man’s spiritual progress through the study of the Torah. By accepting the Torah, which is God’s gift, and making it his valued possession, the inheritance of God, he rises to the spiritual heights.

MISHNAH: Similarly, the Eternal said to Moses, yourself make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole¹¹³Num. 21:8., etc. Does the snake kill or the snake make live? But in times when Israel look upwards and make their thought subservient to their Father in Heaven they were healed, otherwise they were rotting.

HALAKHAH: ¹¹⁴A somewhat extended version is Gen. rabba 31(8). Rebbi Yasa said, in four places it is said “make for yourself.” In three it is explicit, one is not explicit. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood¹¹⁵Gen. 6:14.. Make yourself two silver trumpets¹¹⁶Num. 10:2.. Make yourself flintstone knives¹¹⁷Jos. 5:2.. Make yourself a poisonous snake¹¹³Num. 21:8. He did not make explicit. Moses said, is its root not nḥš¹¹⁸The words for “brass” and “snake” both use the root nḥš whose meaning seems to be unrelated to both.? Therefore, Moses made a brass snake¹¹⁹Num. 21:9.. From there, Rebbi Meïr interpreted names¹²⁰Slightly differently Babli Yoma 83b.. There was a man called Kidor. Rebbi Meïr told them, guard yourselves from him, he is a bad person; for a generation of perverts they are¹²¹Deut. 32:20..

HALAKHAH: ¹¹⁴A somewhat extended version is Gen. rabba 31(8). Rebbi Yasa said, in four places it is said “make for yourself.” In three it is explicit, one is not explicit. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood¹¹⁵Gen. 6:14.. Make yourself two silver trumpets¹¹⁶Num. 10:2.. Make yourself flintstone knives¹¹⁷Jos. 5:2.. Make yourself a poisonous snake¹¹³Num. 21:8. He did not make explicit. Moses said, is its root not nḥš¹¹⁸The words for “brass” and “snake” both use the root nḥš whose meaning seems to be unrelated to both.? Therefore, Moses made a brass snake¹¹⁹Num. 21:9.. From there, Rebbi Meïr interpreted names¹²⁰Slightly differently Babli Yoma 83b.. There was a man called Kidor. Rebbi Meïr told them, guard yourselves from him, he is a bad person; for a generation of perverts they are¹²¹Deut. 32:20..

Rebbi Levi in the name of Rebbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina. It is not written, “and one bitten”, but and anyone bitten¹¹³Num. 21:8., even bitten by a dog, even bitten by a snake. But they do not compare. A dog bite, and he sees¹¹³Num. 21:8.; a snake bite, and he gazes^119,Num. 21:9.¹²²Gazing needs intent, seeing may be unintentional.. Rebbi Jehudah the circumcizer in the name of Rebbi Aḥa, A dog bite which is not of its kind, and he sees; a snake bite which is of its kind, and he gazes. But the rabbis say, A dog bite which does not make tremble, and he sees; a snake bite which makes tremble, and he gazes.

Rebbi Levi in the name of Rebbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina. It is not written, “and one bitten”, but and anyone bitten¹¹³Num. 21:8., even bitten by a dog, even bitten by a snake. But they do not compare. A dog bite, and he sees¹¹³Num. 21:8.; a snake bite, and he gazes^119,Num. 21:9.¹²²Gazing needs intent, seeing may be unintentional.. Rebbi Jehudah the circumcizer in the name of Rebbi Aḥa, A dog bite which is not of its kind, and he sees; a snake bite which is of its kind, and he gazes. But the rabbis say, A dog bite which does not make tremble, and he sees; a snake bite which makes tremble, and he gazes.

When Jonathan, a children’s teacher from Gufta,¹⁶In Galilee. V incorrectly ‘Gufthera’. came down here,¹⁷Tiberias where R. Abuna re-sided. The city is a on lower level, hence the verb ‘came down’. he saw a children’s teacher, R. Abuna, reading the Song of the Well¹⁸Num. 21, 17-20. and reciting the benedictions before and after it. ‘Is it proper,’ he asked him, ‘to act in this manner?’¹⁹The rule is that the benedictions are recited only at the beginning and end of the entire section to be read. The Song of the Well, appearing in the middle of a section, should consequently require no benedictions before and after its reading. ‘Do you,’ the other retorted, ‘still require [a ruling] on this subject? All poems²⁰Such as the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15, 1-19), the Song of the Well and probably also Deut. 32, 1-43. must be preceded and followed by benedictions.’

Ten words in the Torah are marked with dots. They are as follows: 1. “The Eternal will judge between me and you” (Genesis 16:5). There is a dot above the letter yod in the term, “and you.” This teaches that Sarah did not say this to Abraham, but to Hagar. Some say that it means she was speaking about those who caused the fighting “between me and you.” 2. “They said to him, Where is Sarah?” (Genesis 18:9). There are dots above the letters aleph, yod, and vav in the term, “to him,” to indicate that they already knew where she was, but they nevertheless inquired about her. 3. (There is a dot on the verse,) “When she lay down and when she arose” (Genesis 19:33). There is a dot above the letter vav in the term, “When she arose” the first time it is used [with regard to Lot’s older daughter]. This teaches that he was not aware of what happened until the (younger daughter) arose. 4. “And Esau ran to greet him, and he hugged him, fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Genesis 33:4). The term for, “and kissed him,” has dots above every letter, to teach that he did not kiss him sincerely. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: It means that this kiss was sincere, but every other one he gave Jacob was not. 5. “His brothers went to shepherd their father’s flocks in Shechem” (Genesis 37:12). There are dots on the word just before “flocks.” This teaches that they did not actually go to shepherd the flocks, but to eat and drink (and indulge their temptations). 6. “All the Levites who were recorded, whom Moses and Aaron recorded” (Numbers 3:39). There are dots above Aaron’s name. Why? To teach that Aaron himself was not counted in this record. 7. “On a long journey” (Numbers 9:10). There is a dot above the letter hei in the word “long.” This teaches that this does not really mean a long journey, but any exiting the boundaries of the outer court of the Temple. 8. “We caused destruction all the way up to Nophach, which reaches into Medeba” (Numbers 21:30). There is a dot above the letter reish in the word “which.” Why? To teach that they destroyed the idolaters but not the countries themselves (whereas the practice of idolaters was to destroy entire countries). 9. “A tenth, a tenth for each” (Numbers 29:15). [This verse delineates the meal offering that accompanies the burnt offering] on the first day of the Sukkot festival. There is a dot above the letter vav in the [first occurrence of the] word “tenth.” Why? To teach that there is only one-tenth [measure] for each. 10. “The hidden things are for the Eternal our God, and the revealed things are for us and our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:30). There are dots above the words “for us and our children,” and above the letter ayin in the word “forever.” Why? For this is what Ezra said: If Elijah comes and says to me: Why did you write it this way? I will say to him: I have already put dots above these words [to indicate I was not certain it was correct]. But if he says to me: You wrote it correctly, then I will remove the dots.
There are eleven instances in the Torah where the Hebrew word for “she,” היא, is written as הוא (which means “he” or “it”) but vocalized to mean “she.” The first is: “The King of Bela, he is [i.e., “she is”] Tzur” (Genesis 14:1). The second: “He himself said to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and SHE also said, ‘He is my brother’” (Genesis 20:5). The third: “As she was being brought out, SHE sent a message to her father-in-law, saying” (Genesis 38:25). The fourth: “If one of your animals of which it is [i.e., “she is”] used for food dies” (Leviticus 11:39). The fifth: “And it [i.e., “and she”] has turned the hair white” (Leviticus 13:10). The sixth: “If the priest sees it…and it [i.e., “and she”] has faded” (Leviticus 13:21). [The seventh: “It (i.e., “she”) shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for you” (Leviticus 16:31). The eighth: “And SHE sees his nakedness” (Leviticus 20:17). The ninth: “SHE has disgraced her father” (Leviticus 21:9). The tenth: “And SHE has kept secret, and defiled herself (and she was not caught)” (Numbers 5:13). The eleventh: “A spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he is jealous of his wife…but SHE has not defiled herself” (Numbers 5:14).