סנהדרין דף קד

מעמון ומואב.

from Ammon and Moab. Although they were relatives of the Jewish people, as they descend from Lot, Abraham’s nephew, it is prohibited for a Jewish woman to marry a convert from either of those nations, because they failed to provide bread and water to the Jewish people in the wilderness.

ומקרבת את הרחוקים – מיתרו, דאמר רבי יוחנן: בשכר ״קראן לו ויאכל לחם״, זכו בני בניו וישבו בלשכת הגזית, שנאמר: ״ומשפחות סופרים ישבי יעבץ תרעתים שמעתים שוכתים

And the fact that it draws near the distant is derived from Yitro, as Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In reward for Yitro telling his daughters: “Call him, that he may eat bread” (Exodus 2:20), inviting Moses to join them for a meal, Yitro’s descendants were privileged and sat as scribes in session with the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone. As it is stated: “And the families of the scribes who dwelt in Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These were the Kenites who came of Hammath, father of the house of Rechab” (I Chronicles 2:55). And it is written there with regard to the identity of the Kenites: “And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of the palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people” (Judges 1:16).

המה הקינים הבאים מחמת אבי בית רכב״, וכתיב התם: ״ובני קיני חתן משה עלו מעיר התמרים את בני יהודה מדבר יהודה אשר בנגב ערד וילך וישב את העם״.

ומעלמת עינים מן הרשעים – ממיכה.

And the fact that it averts eyes from the wicked is derived from Micah, who was not punished, because he provided bread to passersby.

ומשרה שכינה על נביאי הבעל – מחבירו של עדו הנביא, דכתיב: ״ויהי הם ישבים אל השלחן ויהי דבר ה׳ אל הנביא אשר השיבו״.

And the fact that it causes the Divine Presence to rest on the prophets of the Baal is derived from the colleague of Iddo the prophet, the elderly prophet who convinced Iddo to eat with him contrary to the directive of God, when Iddo went to Bethel to prophesy to Jeroboam, as it is written: “And it happened as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back” (I Kings 13:20). Although the elderly prophet was a false prophet, he was rewarded with true prophecy as a reward for hosting Iddo.

ושגגתה עולה זדון, דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב: אלמלי הלווהו יהונתן לדוד שתי ככרות לחם, לא נהרגה נוב עיר הכהנים, ולא נטרד דואג האדמי,

And the fact that an unwitting transgression with regard to it is at times considered an intentional transgression is derived as Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Had Jonathan lent David two loaves of bread when he was fleeing Saul, David would not have sought sustenance from the priests in Nov. The residents of Nov, city of the priests, would not have been killed, and Doeg the Edomite would not have been banished from the World-to-Come, and Saul and his three sons would not have been killed as punishment for that massacre.

ולא נהרג שאול ושלשת בניו.

ומפני מה לא מנו את אחז? אמר רבי ירמיה בר אבא: מפני שמוטל בין שני צדיקים, בין יותם לחזקיהו. רב יוסף אמר:

§ The Gemara asks: And for what reason did the tanna’im not enumerate Ahaz among the kings with no share in the World-to-Come? His wickedness is extensively recounted in the Bible. Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba says: He is not enumerated because he is cast between two righteous people, between his father, Jotham, and his son, Hezekiah. Rav Yosef says: He is not enumerated because he had a sense of embarrassment from Isaiah the prophet, as it is stated: “And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer’s [koves] field” (Isaiah 7:3). What is the meaning of the term koves? There are those who say: It means concealed [kavash], as Ahaz concealed [dekhavshinhu] his face and passed by the prophet because he was embarrassed to be seen. And there are those who say: He placed a launderer’s vessel over his head and passed by the prophet so that Isaiah would be unable to identify him.

מפני שהיה לו בשת פנים מישעיהו, שנאמר: ״ויאמר ה׳ אל ישעיהו צא נא לקראת אחז אתה ושאר ישוב בנך אל קצה

תעלת הברכה העליונה אל מסלת שדה כובס״. מאי ״כובס״? איכא דאמרי: דכבשינהו לאפיה וחלף, ואיכא דאמרי: אוכלא דקצרי סחף ארישיה וחלף.

מפני מה לא מנו את אמון? מפני כבודו של יאשיהו. מנשה נמי לא נמני מפני כבודו של חזקיהו? ברא מזכי אבא, אבא לא מזכי ברא. דכתיב:

The Gemara continues and asks: For what reason did the tanna’im not enumerate the wicked Amon among the kings with no share in the World-to-Come? The Gemara answers: He is not enumerated due to the honor of Josiah, his righteous son. The Gemara challenges: Let us also not enumerate Manasseh due to the honor of Hezekiah, his righteous father. The Gemara explains: The son confers merit upon the father, as it is to the father’s credit that he raised a righteous son; but the father does not confer merit upon the son, as it is written: “None delivers from My hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39). Abraham does not deliver his son Ishmael from the judgment of Heaven; Isaac does not deliver his son Esau from judgment. The Gemara comments: Now that you have arrived at this understanding, Ahaz too was not enumerated in the mishna due to the honor of his son Hezekiah.

״ואין מידי מציל״. אין אברהם מציל את ישמעאל, אין יצחק מציל את עשו. השתא דאתית להכי, אחז נמי לא אימני משום כבודו של חזקיהו.

ומפני מה לא מנו את יהויקים? משום דרבי חייא ברבי אבויה, דאמר רבי חייא ברבי אבויה: כתיב על גולגלתו [של] יהויקים ״זאת ועוד אחרת״.

The Gemara asks: And for what reason did the tanna’im not enumerate Jehoiakim among the kings with no share in the World-to-Come? His extreme wickedness is described extensively in the Bible. The Gemara explains: It is due to that which was stated by Rabbi Ḥiyya, son of Rabbi Avuya, as Rabbi Ḥiyya, son of Rabbi Avuya, says: It was written on the skull of Jehoiakim: This and yet another, indicating that he will receive a double punishment. The Gemara relates that Rabbi Perida’s grandfather, apparently Rabbi Ḥiyya, son of Rabbi Avuya, found a skull that was cast near the gates of Jerusalem, and on it was written: This and yet another. He buried it, but it did not stay buried. He buried it again, and again it did not stay buried. Each time he buried the skull it emerged from the grave.

זקינו דרבי פרידא אשכח גולגלתא דהוה קא שדיא בשערי ירושלים, וכתיב בה ״זאת ועוד אחרת״. קברה ולא איקברא, קברה ולא איקברא.

אמר: גולגלתו של יהויקים היא, דכתיב ביה ״קבורת חמור יקבר סחוב והשלך וגו׳״. אמר: מלכא הוא, ולא איפשר לזלזולי ביה. כרכה בשיראי ואותבה בסיפתא. חזיתה דביתהו, סברא:

He said: This is no doubt the skull of Jehoiakim, as it is written in his regard: “He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19). The fulfillment of this verse is exemplified in the inability to bury him. Rabbi Perida’s grandfather said: He is a king, and it is inappropriate to display contempt for it. He wrapped the skull in silk and placed it in a box. His wife saw the box and thought: This was the skull of his first wife, as he is not forgetting her. She ignited the oven and incinerated the skull. When she informed her husband what she had done, he said: That is the meaning of that which is written on the skull: This and yet another. Not only was his corpse discarded in a demeaning manner and not buried, but his skull was incinerated. That ordeal atoned for some of his transgressions, and he received a share in the World-to-Come.

הא דאיתתא קמייתא הוה, דהא לא קא מנשי לה. שגרא תנורא וקלתה. היינו דכתיב: ״זאת ועוד אחרת״.

תניא, אמר רבי שמעון בן אלעזר: בשביל ״והטוב בעיניך עשיתי״ – ״מה אות״. בשביל ״מה אות״ – גוים אכלו על שולחנו.

§ It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Because of Hezekiah’s boastful statement: “And I have done what is good in Your eyes” (II Kings 20:3), he also asked the prophet inappropriately: “What shall be the sign that the Lord shall heal me” (II Kings 20:8). Because of his question: “What shall be the sign,” gentiles ate at his table. The sign was that the sun reversed its path and appeared lower, rather than higher, on the sundial of Ahaz, leading the king of Babylonia to dispatch messengers to Hezekiah. Because gentiles ate at his table, it ultimately caused the exile of his descendants. The Gemara comments: This supports the statement of Ḥizkiyya, as Ḥizkiyya said: Anyone who invites an idol worshipper into his house and serves him causes the exile of his descendants, as it is stated: “And of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylonia” (II Kings 20:18).

בשביל שגוים אכלו על שולחנו – גרם גלות לבניו. מסייע ליה לחזקיה, דאמר חזקיה: כל המזמן גוי לתוך ביתו ומשמש עליו גורם גלות לבניו, שנאמר:

״ומבניך אשר יצאו ממך [אשר תוליד] יקחו והיו סריסים בהיכל מלך בבל״.

״וישמח עליהם חזקיהו ויראם את בית נכתה את הכסף ואת הזהב ואת הבשמים ואת השמן הטוב וגו׳״. אמר רב: מאי ״בית נכתה״? אשתו השקתה עליהם. ושמואל אמר:

With regard to the verse: “And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them his treasury [beit nekhoto], the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious ointment” (Isaiah 39:2), Rav says: What is the meaning of beit nekhoto? It means that his wife, who typically did not appear before strangers for reasons of modesty, poured drinks for them. And Shmuel says: It means that he showed them his actual treasury. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It means that he showed them a weapon so powerful that it breaks another weapon.

בית גנזיו הראה להם. ורבי יוחנן אמר: זין אוכל זין הראה להן.

״איכה ישבה בדד״. אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: מפני מה לקו ישראל באיכה? מפני שעברו על שלשים ושש כריתות שבתורה.

§ Apropos the exile of the descendants of the kings of Judea to Babylonia, the Gemara cites an aggadic statement about the destruction of the Temple and the sins of the Jewish people that caused it. With regard to the verse: “How [eikha] does the city sit solitary” (Lamentations 1:1), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: For what reason were the Jewish people stricken and their plight bemoaned with the term eikha? It is due to the fact that they violated thirty-six prohibitions punishable with karet that are enumerated in the Torah, corresponding to the numerological value of eikha, spelled alef, yod, kaf, heh.

אמר רבי יוחנן: מפני מה לקו באלף בית? מפני שעברו על התורה שניתנה באלף בית.

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: For what reason were the Jewish people stricken, and their plight bemoaned with an acrostic based on the alef beit, as the book of Lamentations contains multiple alphabetical acrostics? It is due to the fact that they violated the Torah, which was given in the language of the alef beit.

״ישבה בדד״. אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, אני אמרתי ״וישכן ישראל בטח בדד עין יעקב אל ארץ דגן ותירוש אף שמיו יערפו טל״,

With regard to the phrase “Does the city sit solitary,” Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I said: “And Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob in solitude, to a land of grain and wine; also His heavens shall drop down dew” (Deuteronomy 33:28), indicating that their solitude shall be one of wealth and prominence. Now that they have rejected my directive and cleaved to and learned from the gentiles, their dwelling shall be solitary in sorrow. With regard to the phrase: “The city that was full of people” (Lamentations 1:1), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: They would marry a younger female to an older male and an older female to a younger male so that they would have many children.

עכשיו יהיה בדד מושבם. ״העיר רבתי עם״, אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: שהיו משיאין קטנה לגדול וגדולה לקטן, כדי שיהו להם בנים הרבה.

״היתה כאלמנה״ – אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: כאלמנה, ולא אלמנה ממש, אלא כאשה שהלך בעלה למדינת הים ודעתו לחזור אליה. ״רבתי בגוים שרתי במדינות״ – אמר רבא

With regard to the phrase describing Jerusalem: “She became like a widow” (Lamentations 1:1), Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Like a widow, but not an actual widow. Rather, Jerusalem is like a woman whose husband has gone to a country overseas, and yet he intends to return to her. With regard to the phrase: “Great among the nations, and princess among the provinces” (Lamentations 1:1), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Every place they go, when exiled among the nations, the Jewish people become princes to their masters due to their wisdom.

אמר רבי יוחנן: כל מקום שהן הולכין, נעשין שרים לאדוניהן.

תנו רבנן: מעשה בשני בני אדם שנשבו בהר הכרמל, והיה שבאי מהלך אחריהם.

The Sages taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving two Jewish people who were taken captive on Mount Carmel, and their captor was walking behind them.

אמר לו אחד מהם לחבירו: גמל שמהלכת לפנינו סומא באחת מעיניה, וטעונה שתי נודות, אחת של יין ואחת של שמן, ושני בני אדם המנהיגים אותה,

One of the captives said to the other: The camel that is walking ahead of us is blind in one of its eyes and laden with two wineskins, one filled with wine and one filled with oil. And two people are driving the camel, one a Jew and one a gentile. The captor said to them: Stiff-necked people, from where do you know these matters that you cannot see?

אחד ישראל ואחד גוי. אמר להן [שבאי]: עם קשה עורף! מאין אתם יודעין?

אמרו לו: גמל מעשבים שלפניה, מצד שרואה אוכלת, מצד שאינה רואה אינה אוכלת. וטעונה שתי נודות, אחת של יין ואחת של שמן; של יין מטפטף ושוקע,

They said to him: We know that the camel is blind from the grass that is before it, as from the grass on the side that it sees, it eats, and from the grass on the side that it does not see, it does not eat, i.e., it eats grass from only one side. And we know that it is laden with two wineskins, one filled with wine and one filled with oil, as wine drips and sinks into the ground and oil drips and floats on the surface, and we see the difference on the ground. And we know that two people are driving the camel, one a Jew and one a gentile, as the gentile defecates on the road and the Jew, in the interests of modesty, goes to the sides of the road to defecate.

ושל שמן מטפטף וצף. ושני בני אדם המנהיגים אותה, אחד גוי ואחד ישראל; גוי נפנה לדרך, וישראל נפנה לצדדין.

רדף אחריהם ומצא כדבריהם. בא ונשקן על ראשן, והביאן לביתו ועשה להן סעודה גדולה. והיה מרקד לפניהם ואמר: ברוך שבחר בזרעו של אברהם ונתן להם מחכמתו,

The captor pursued the camel and its drivers to determine whether the statements of the captives were accurate, and found that the reality was in accordance with their statements. He came and respectfully kissed them on their head, and brought them to their house and prepared a great feast for them. And he was dancing before them and said: Blessed is He who chose the descendants of Abraham and granted of His wisdom to them, and in every place that they go they become princes to their lords. And he released them and they went to their houses in peace.

ובכל מקום שהן הולכין נעשין שרים לאדוניהם. ופטרן [והלכו] לבתיהם לשלום.

״בכה תבכה בלילה״ – שתי בכיות הללו למה? אמר רבה אמר רבי יוחנן: אחד על מקדש ראשון ואחד על מקדש שני. ״בלילה״ – על עסקי לילה, שנאמר:

§ The Gemara returns to its interpretation of verses in Lamentations: “She cries [bakho tivke] at night” (Lamentations 1:2). These two cries, indicated by the use of a compound verb, why are they written? Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: One is a cry over the destruction of the First Temple, and one is a cry over the destruction of the Second Temple, which was destined to be destroyed. The term “at night” indicates that the crying is over matters of night, as it is stated with regard to the response of the Jewish people to the report of the spies after their return from the land of Canaan: “And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and the people cried that night” (Numbers 14:1).

״ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא״.

אמר רבה אמר רבי יוחנן: אותו היום ליל תשעה באב היה. אמר להן הקדוש ברוך הוא לישראל: אתם בכיתם בכיה של חנם, ואני אקבע לכם בכיה לדורות.

Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: That day that they heard the spies’ report was the evening of the Ninth of Av. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: You cried an unwarranted cry, and so I will establish for you a reason to cry for generations.

דבר אחר: ״בלילה״ – שכל הבוכה בלילה, קולו נשמע. דבר אחר: ״בלילה״ – שכל הבוכה בלילה, כוכבים ומזלות בוכין עמו. דבר אחר: ״בלילה״ – שכל הבוכה בלילה,

Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that with regard to anyone who cries at night, his voice is heard due to the ambient silence. Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that in the case of anyone who cries at night, the stars and the constellations cry with him. Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that in the case of anyone who cries at night, one who hears his voice is touched by his suffering and cries with him. There was an incident involving one woman, the neighbor of Rabban Gamliel, whose son died, and she would cry over his death at night. Rabban Gamliel heard her voice and cried with her until his eyelashes fell out. The next day his students noticed that he had been crying, and they removed the woman from his neighborhood so that Rabban Gamliel could sleep.

השומע קולו בוכה כנגדו. מעשה באשה אחת, שכנתו של רבן גמליאל, שמת בנה והיתה בוכה עליו בלילה. שמע רבן גמליאל קולה ובכה כנגדה, עד שנשרו ריסי עיניו.

למחר הכירו בו תלמידיו והוציאוה משכונתו.

״ודמעתה על לחיה״, אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: כאשה שבוכה על בעל נעוריה, שנאמר ״אלי כבתולה חגרת שק על בעל נעוריה״. ״היו צריה לראש״,

With regard to the verse: “And her tears are on her cheeks” (Lamentations 1:2), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This is like a woman who cries over the husband of her youth, as it is stated: “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth” (Joel 1:8). With regard to the verse: “Her adversaries have become the head” (Lamentations 1:5), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This indicates that anyone who torments the Jewish people becomes a leader, as it is stated: “For there is no weariness to him that is set against her; at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali and afterward He afflicted her more grievously by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan and the Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 8:23). Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: From this verse one derives that anyone who harasses Israel does not grow weary.

אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: כל המיצר לישראל נעשה ראש, שנאמר ״כי לא מועף לאשר מוצק לה כעת הראשון הקל ארצה זבלון וארצה נפתלי

והאחרון הכביד דרך הים עבר הירדן גליל הגוים״. אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: כל המציק לישראל אינו עיף.

״לא אליכם כל עברי דרך״, אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: מכאן לקובלנא מן התורה. ״כל עברי דרך״, אמר רב עמרם אמר רב: עשאוני כעוברי על דת.

With regard to the verse: “It is nothing to you, all you who pass by” (Lamentations 1:12), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: From here there is a source from the Torah for complaint, i.e., it is appropriate for one to make his suffering public so that others will have compassion for him. With regard to the phrase “all you who pass by,” Rav Amram says that Rav says that it is as though Jerusalem said: They have rendered me like a city of those who violate the most fundamental precepts of law and morality, as, with regard to Sodom, it is written: “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven” (Genesis 19:24), while with regard to Jerusalem, it is written: “From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it prevails against them” (Lamentations 1:13). In both cities, fire rained down from Heaven. And it is written: “For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom” (Lamentations 4:6).

דאילו בסדום כתיב: ״וה׳ המטיר על סדם״, ואילו בירושלים כתיב: ״ממרום שלח אש בעצמתי וירדנה וגו׳״. וכתיב: ״ויגדל עון בת עמי מחטאת סדם״.

וכי משוא פנים יש בדבר? אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: מדה יתירה היתה בירושלים שלא היתה בסדום, דאילו בסדום כתיב: ״הנה זה היה עון סדם אחותך גאון

The Gemara asks: And is there partiality in the matter? Why was Jerusalem not overturned like Sodom? Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It is because there was an additional measure of suffering in Jerusalem that was not in Sodom, as with regard to Sodom it is written: “Behold this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; pride, surfeit of bread and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; and yet she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). The people of Sodom were not subject to the afflictions of hunger and famine. Whereas, with regard to Jerusalem it is written: “The hands of compassionate women cooked their own children” (Lamentations 4:10). The residents of Jerusalem were punished with great severity.

שבעת לחם ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה וגו׳״, ואילו בירושלים כתיב: ״ידי נשים רחמניות בשלו ילדיהן״.

״סלה כל אבירי ה׳ בקרבי״, כאדם שאומר לחברו: נפסלה מטבע זו.

The verse: “The Lord has spurned all my mighty men in the midst of me” (Lamentations 1:15), means that this is like a person who says to another: This coin was invalidated. The prominent residents of Jerusalem were crushed and discredited, and their reputations were irreversibly tainted.

״פצו עליך פיהם״ – אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: בשביל מה הקדים פא לעין? בשביל מרגלים שאמרו בפיהם מה שלא ראו בעיניהם.

With regard to the verse: “They have opened their mouths against you” (Lamentations 2:16), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: For what reason did the prophet precede the verse beginning with the letter peh to the verse beginning with the letter ayin in several chapters of Lamentations? Since peh means mouth and ayin means eye, it is for the spies who said with their mouths [befihem] what they did not see with their eyes [be’eineihem].

״אכלי עמי אכלו לחם ה׳ לא קראו״. אמר רבא אמר רבי יוחנן: כל האוכל מלחמן של ישראל טועם טעם לחם,

With regard to the verse: “The eaters of My people ate bread, and they call not upon the Lord” (Psalms 14:4), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Any gentile thief who eats the bread of the Jewish people tastes the flavor of bread, and one who does not eat from the bread of the Jewish people does not taste the flavor of bread. Apparently they enjoy only what they steal from the Jewish people. With regard to the people referred to in the phrase “And they call not upon the Lord,” Rav says: These are the judges who are not God-fearing, and Shmuel says: These are schoolteachers who do not perform their job in the name of God.

ושאינו אוכל מלחמן של ישראל אינו טועם טעם לחם. ״ה׳ לא קראו״ – רב אמר: אלו הדיינין, ושמואל אמר: אלו מלמדי תינוקות.

מי מנאן? אמר רב אשי: אנשי כנסת הגדולה מנאום. אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: בקשו עוד למנות אחד. באה דמות דיוקנו של אביו ונשתטחה לפניהם, ולא השגיחו עליה.

§ The Gemara resumes its discussion of the kings and commoners enumerated in the mishna who have no share in the World-to-Come. The Gemara asks: Who enumerated them? Rav Ashi says: The members of the Great Assembly enumerated them. Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: They sought to enumerate one more, King Solomon, in the list of kings with no share in the World-to-Come. The image of the face of his father, King David, came and prostrated itself before them, pleading to omit Solomon from the list, and they paid it no heed. A fire came from Heaven and the fire scorched their benches [safseleihem], and they paid it no heed.

באה אש מן השמים ולחכה (אש) בספסליהם, ולא השגיחו עליה.

יצאה בת קול ואמרה להם: ״חזית איש מהיר במלאכתו לפני מלכים יתיצב בל יתיצב לפני חשכים״. מי שהקדים ביתי לביתו, ולא עוד אלא שביתי בנה בשבע שנים

A Divine Voice emerged and said to the members of the Great Assembly: “Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall stand not before obscure men” (Proverbs 22:29). See the greatness of Solomon, who preceded construction of My House, the Temple, to the construction of his house. Moreover, My House he built quickly, in just seven years, and his house he constructed in thirteen years. Therefore, “he shall stand before kings; he shall stand not before obscure men,” and it is inappropriate to enumerate him among the wicked. And they paid it no heed. A Divine Voice emerged and said: “Shall His recompense be as you will it? For you loathe it, so that you must choose, and not I? Therefore, speak what you know” (Job 34:33). Only God, and not the people, determines who has a share in the World-to-Come.

וביתו בנה בשלש עשרה שנה. ״לפני מלכים יתיצב [בל יתיצב] לפני חשכים״. ולא השגיח עליה. יצאה בת קול ואמרה: ״המעמך ישלמנה כי מאסת כי אתה תבחר

ולא אני וגו׳״.

דורשי רשומות היו אומרים: כולן באין לעולם הבא, שנאמר: ״לי גלעד ולי מנשה ואפרים מעוז ראשי יהודה מחקקי. מואב סיר רחצי על אדום אשליך נעלי עלי פלשת התרועעי״.

The Gemara adds: Those who interpret the Torah metaphorically would say: All of those enumerated who have no share ultimately enter the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine, and Ephraim also is the strength of My head; Judah is My scepter; Moab is My washing pot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; Philistia, cry aloud because of Me” (Psalms 60:9–10, and see 108:9–10). “Gilead is Mine and Manasseh is Mine”; this is referring to Ahab, who fell in Ramoth Gilead. “Manasseh”, in its plain meaning, is referring to King Manasseh. “Ephraim also is the strength of My head”; this is referring to Jeroboam, who comes from the tribe of Ephraim. “Judah is My scepter”; this is referring to Ahithophel,

״לי גלעד (ולי מנשה)״ – זה אחאב שנפל ברמות גלעד. ״מנשה״ – כמשמעו. ״אפרים מעוז ראשי״ – זה ירבעם דקאתי מאפרים. ״יהודה מחקקי״ – זה אחיתופל