Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sotah

Folio 47a

R. Hanina said: On account of the forty-two sacrifices which Balak, king of Moab, offered,³  were forty-two children cut off from Israel. But it is not so; for Rab Judah has said in the name of Rab: Always should a man occupy himself with Torah and the commandments even though it be not for their own sake,⁴  for from [occupying himself with them] not for their own sake he comes to do so for their own sake; because as a reward for the forty-two sacrifices which Balak, king of Moab, offered,⁵  he merited that Ruth should issue from him and from her issued Solomon concerning whom it is written: A thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer!⁶  And R. Jose b. Honi said: Ruth was the daughter of Eglon the son of Balak!⁷  — Nevertheless his desire was to curse Israel.⁸ 

And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth etc.⁹  [But how could it be so] since 'the water is naught and the land miscarrieth'! What, then, was its pleasantness? — R. Hanin said: The favour of a place in the estimation of its inhabitants. R. Johanan said: There are three kinds of favour: the favour of a locality in the estimation of its inhabitants, the favour of a woman In the estimation of her husband, and the favour of an article in the estimation of its purchaser.

Our Rabbis taught: Elisha was afflicted with three illnesses: one because he stirred up the bears against the children, one because he thrust Gehazi away with both his hands, and one of which he died; as it is said: Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.¹⁰

Our Rabbis have taught: Always let the left hand thrust away and the right hand draw near. Not like Elisha who thrust Gehazi away with both his hands (and not like R. Joshua b. Perahiah who thrust one of his disciples away with both his hands).¹¹  How is it with Elisha? As it is written: And Naaman said: Be content, take two talents,¹²  and it is written: And he said unto him, Went not my heart with thee when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and sheep and oxen, and manservants and maidservants?¹³  But had he received all these things? Silver and garments were what he had received! — R. Isaac said: At that time Elisha was engaged [in the study of the Law concerning] the eight kinds of [unclean] creeping things;¹⁴  so he said to [Gehazi], 'You wicked person, the time has arrived for you to receive the reward for [studying the law of] the eight creeping things.'¹⁵  The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever.¹⁶

Now there were four leprous men¹⁷  — R. Johanan said: This refers to Gehazi and his three sons. And Elisha came to Damascus¹⁸  — why did he go there?¹⁹  — R. Johanan said: He went to induce Gehazi to repent but he refused. He said to him, 'Repent'; but he replied: 'Thus have I received from thee that whoever sinned and caused others to sin is deprived of the power of doing penitence'. What had he done? Some say: He applied a loadstone to the idolatrous image of Jeroboam²⁰  and suspended it between heaven and earth. Others say: He engraved upon it the Name [of God] so that it used to exclaim, 'I [am the Lord thy God]' and 'Thou shalt have no [other God beside me]' — Still others say: He drove the Rabbis from before him, as it is written: And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us²¹  — hence, up to then it had not been too strait.

What²²  was the incident with R. Joshua b. Perahiah? — When King Jannaeus²³  put the Rabbis to death, Simeon b. Shetah was hid by his sister, whilst R. Joshua b. perahiah fled to Alexandria in Egypt. When there was peace,²⁴  Simeon b. Shetah sent [this message to him]: 'From me, Jerusalem, the Holy city, to thee Alexandria in Egypt. O my sister, my husband²⁵  dwelleth in thy midst and I abide desolate'. [R. Joshua] arose and came back and found himself in a certain inn where they paid him great respect. He said: 'How beautiful is this 'aksania'!²⁶  One of his disciples²⁷  said to him, 'My master, her eyes are narrow!' He replied to him, 'Wicked person! Is it with such thoughts that thou occupiest thyself!' He sent forth four hundred horns and excommunicated him.²⁸  [The disciple] came before him on many occasions, saying'Receive me'; but he refused to notice him. One day while [R. Joshua] was reciting the Shema', he came before him. His intention was to receive him and he made a sign to him with his hand, but the disciple thought he was repelling him. So he went and set up a brick and worshipped it. [R. Joshua] said to him, 'Repent'; but he answered him, 'Thus have I received from thee that whoever sinned and caused others to sin is deprived of the power of doing penitence'. A Master has said: The disciple practised magic and led Israel astray.

It has been taught: R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: Also human nature²⁹  should a child and woman thrust aside with the left hand and draw near with the right hand.³⁰

MISHNAH. IF THE MURDERER WAS DISCOVERED BEFORE THE HEIFER'S NECK WAS BROKEN, IT GOES FREE AND FEEDS WITH THE HERD; BUT IF AFTER THE HEIFER'S NECK WAS BROKEN, IT IS BURIED IN THAT PLACE BECAUSE IT CAME THERE FROM THE OUTSET IN CONNECTION WITH A MATTER OF DOUBT,³¹  AND ATONED FOR THE DOUBT WHICH IS NOW GONE. IF THE HEIFER'S NECK WAS BROKEN AND AFTERWARDS THE MURDERER IS DISCOVERED, BEHOLD HE IS EXECUTED.

IF ONE WITNESS SAYS 'I SAW THE MURDERER' AND ONE WITNESS SAYS 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM';³²  OR IF A WOMAN SAYS 'I SAW HIM' AND ANOTHER WOMAN SAYS 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM', THEY BREAK ITS NECK. IF ONE WITNESS SAYS 'I SAW HIM' AND TWO SAY 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM', THEY BREAK ITS NECK. IF TWO SAY 'WE SAW HIM' AND ONE SAYS TO THEM 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM', THEY DO NOT BREAK ITS NECK.³³

WHEN MURDERERS MULTIPLIED THE CEREMONY OF BREAKING A HEIFER'S NECK WAS DISCONTINUED. THAT WAS WHEN ELIEZER B. DINAI, ALSO CALLED TEHINAH B. PERISHAH, APPEARED;³⁴  HE WAS AFTERWARDS RENAMED 'SON OF THE MURDERER'. — WHEN ADULTERERS MULTIPLIED THE CEREMONY OF THE BITTER WATER WAS DISCONTINUED AND IT WAS R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI WHO DISCONTINUED IT, AS IT IS SAID, I WILL NOT PUNISH YOUR DAUGHTERS WHEN THEY COMMIT WHOREDOM, NOR YOUR BRIDES WHEN THEY COMMIT ADULTERY, FOR THEY THEMSELVES ETC.³⁵  WHEN JOSE B. JOEZER OF ZEREDAH AND JOSE B. JUDAH OF JERUSALEM DIED, THE GRAPE-CLUSTERS³⁶  CEASED, AS IT IS SAID, THERE IS NO CLUSTER TO EAT; MY SOUL DESIRETH THE FIRST RIPE FIG.³⁷

JOHANAN THE HIGH PRIEST³⁸  BROUGHT TO AN END THE CONFESSION MADE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE TITHE.³⁹  HE ALSO ABOLISHED THE WAKERS AND THE KNOCKERS⁴⁰

1. These were miraculously created for the occasion.
2. If there was no forest provided for them in which they could hide, they would not have dared to attack the children.
3. Num. XXIII, 1, 14, 29.
4. Without the expectation of reward.
5. Although he did not offer them for their own sake.
6. I Kings lii, 4. V. Hor. (Son. ed.) p. 75.
7. So this was Balak's reward and not the death of the children.
8. And so he had his reward in the death of these children.
9. II Kings II, 19.
10. Ibid. XIII, 14. Sick and sickness denote two, apart from his fatal illness.
11. MSS. and old editions read Jesus the Nazarene. R. T. Herford sees in Gehazi a hidden reference to Paul. Cf. his Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, pp. 97ff.
12. II Kings V, 23.
13. Ibid. 26.
14. Name of the Chapter in Mishnah Shabbath, XIV, I, cf. Lev. XI, 29ff.
15. Referring to the eight kinds of presents he had accepted. That will be his reward in this world so that he may be punished in the Hereafter. For a fuller version v. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) p. 735.
16. II Kings V, 27. 'For ever' indicates the World to Come.
17. II Kings VII, 3.
18. Ibid. VIII, 7.
19. V. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) p. 734, n. 8.
20. Cf. I Kings XII, 28.
21. II Kings VI, I.
22. The following paragraph is deleted in censored editions, v. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) p. 736, n. 2.
23. Alexander Jannaeus, king of Israel from 104 to 78 B.C.E., a persecutor of the Pharisees. The chronological discrepancy is obvious since he lived a century before Jesus, v. however, Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) loc. cit.
24. On his death-bed the King advised the Queen to put her confidence in the Pharisees. V. Josephus, Ant. XIII, XV, 5.
25. His teacher, R. Joshua.
26. The word means 'inn' and 'female innkeeper'. The Rabbi intended it in the first sense, Jesus in the second.
27. MSS.: 'Jesus'.
28. A horn is blown at the ceremony of excommunication. The large number used on this occasion indicated the extreme severity of the penalty.
29. One must learn to control it so as to avoid extremes.
30. [One must not be too severe in chiding a child or reproving a wife lest they be driven to despair.]
31. The unknown murderer.
32. [I.e., 'I was present with you at the time of the alleged murder and testify that it did not take place.' J. reads 'I did not see it', and similarly in the following clause substitutes the first person for the second.]
33. The single witness does not upset the evidence of two, so there is no doubt about the murderer.
34. He was a notorious bandit who committed numerous murders; (v. Josephus, Ant. XX, 6, I; 8, 5.)
35. Hos. IV, 14.
36. Descriptive of Rabbis of exceptional learning. These two Rabbis flourished in the first half of the second cent. B.C.E. and were the first of the Zugoth or 'Pairs' of teachers who preserved and passed on the Torah-lore accumulated by the men of the Great Assembly. [Lauterbach. J.Z. (JQR VI, p. 32, n. 34) explains this to mean that with his death teachers ceased to act as a body, reporting only such teachings as represented the opinion of the whole group to which they belonged, but began to report rulings of individual teachers.]
37. Micah VII, 1.
38. John Hyrcanus who reigned over Judea from 135 to 104 B.C.E.
39. Cf. Deut. XXVI, 13f.
40. These terms are explained in the Gemara.

GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: Whence is it that if the heifer's neck had been broken, and the murderer is afterwards discovered, they do not set him free? There is a text to state, And no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.³

IF ONE WITNESS SAYS, 'I SAW THE MURDERER' etc. The reason [why his evidence is not accepted] is because there is somebody who contradicts him; therefore if there is nobody who contradicts him, one witness is believed. Whence is this? — As our Rabbis taught: And it be not known who hath smitten him⁴  — hence if it be known who had smitten him, even by one person at the other end of the world, they do not break the neck. R. Akiba says: Whence is it that if the Sanhedrin saw a person commit murder, but they do not recognise him, the neck of the heifer is not broken? There is a text to state, Neither have our eyes seen it;⁵  but [in this case] they had seen it.⁶

Now that you admit that one witness is believed, how is it possible for another individual to contradict him? Surely 'Ulla has said: Wherever the Torah accepts the testimony of one witness, he is regarded as two [witnesses], but the evidence of one is not regarded as the evidence of two!⁷  'Ulla can reply to you, Read in the Mishnah: They do not break its neck. Similarly said R. Isaac, Read in the Mishnah: They do not break its neck; but R. Hiyya said: Read in the Mishnah: They break its neck. Then R. Hiyya is in conflict with the teaching of 'Ulla! — There is no contradiction, one case referring to evidence given simultaneously⁸  and the other when one witness follows the others.⁹

The Mishnah declares: IF ONE WITNESS SAYS 'I SAW THE MURDERER' AND TWO SAY 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM', THEY BREAK ITS NECK. Consequently if there is one against one, they do not break its neck; and this is a refutation of R. Hiyya's statement!¹⁰  — But according to your own argument, cite the con tinuation: IF TWO SAY 'WE SAW HIM' AND ONE SAYS TO THEM 'YOU DID NOT SEE HIM', THEY DO NOT BREAK ITS NECK. Consequently if — there is one against one, they do break its neck!¹¹  But our Mishnah deals entirely with disqualified witnesses,¹²  and is in accord with R. Nehemiah who said,¹³  Wherever the Torah accepts the testimony of one witness, [the decision] follows the majority of persons [who testify], so that two women against one woman is identical with two men against one man. But there are some who declare that wherever a competent witness came [and testified] first, even a hundred women are regarded as equal to one witness; and with what circumstance are we dealing here? For example, if it was a woman who came first [and testified]; and R. Nehemiah's statement is to be construed thus: R. Nehemiah Says: Wherever the Torah accepts the testimony of one witness, [the decision] follows the majority of persons [who testify], so that two women against one woman is identical with two men against one man, but two women against one man is like half and half. Why, then, have we two teachings concerning disqualified witnesses?¹⁴  What you might have said was that when we follow the majority of persons [who testify] it is for taking the severer view, but to take the lenient view we do not follow [the majority]. Therefore [the Mishnah] informs us [of one case where the neck is broken and one where it is not, and in each the majority is followed].

WHEN MURDERERS MULTIPLIED etc. Our Rabbis taught: When murderers multiplied the ceremony of breaking a heifer's neck was discontinued, because it is only performed in a case of doubt; but when murderers multiplied openly, the ceremony of breaking a heifer's neck was discontinued.

WHEN ADULTERERS MULTIPLIED etc. Our Rabbis taught: And the man shall be free from iniquity¹⁵  — at the time when the man is free from iniquity, the water proves his wife; but when the man is not free from iniquity, the water does not prove his wife. Why, then, [was it necessary for the Mishnah to add]: AS IT IS SAID, 'I WILL NOT PUNISH YOUR DAUGHTERS WHEN THEY COMMIT WHOREDOM etc'? Should you say that his own iniquity [prevents the water from proving his wife] but the iniquity of his sons and daughters does not, come and hear: 'I WILL NOT PUNISH YOUR DAUGHTERS WHEN THEY COMMIT WHOREDOM, NOR YOUR BRIDES WHEN THEY COMMIT ADULTERY'. And should you say that his sin with a married woman [prevents the water from proving his wife] but not if it was with an unmarried woman, come and hear: FOR THEY THEMSELVES GO ASIDE WITH WHORES AND WITH THE HARLOTS etc.' What means And the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown?¹⁶  R. Eleazar said: The prophet spoke to Israel, If you are scrupulous with yourselves, the water will prove your wives; otherwise the water will not prove your wives.

When hedonists multiplied, justice became perverted,¹⁷  conduct deteriorated and there is no satisfaction [to God] in the world. When they who displayed partiality in judgment multiplied, the command Ye shall not be afraid [of the face of man]¹⁸  became void and Ye shall not respect [persons in judgment]¹⁹  ceased to be practised; and people threw off the yoke of heaven and placed upon themselves the yoke of human beings. When they who engaged in whisperings in judgment²⁰  multiplied, fierceness of [the divine] anger increased against Israel and the Shechinah departed; because it is written: He judgeth among the judges.²¹  When there multiplied [men of whom it is said] Their heart goeth after their gain,²²  there multiplied they who call evil good and good evil.²³  When there multiplied they 'who call evil good and good evil', woes²⁴  increased in the world. When they who draw out their spittle²⁵  multiplied, the arrogant increased, disciples diminished, and Torah went about [looking] for them who would study it. When the arrogant multiplied, the daughters of Israel began to marry arrogant men, because our generation looks only to the outward appearance. But that is not so; for a Master has declared: An arrogant person is not acceptable even to the members of his household, as it is said: A haughty man one abideth not at home²⁶  — i.e., even in his own house! — At first they jump round him, but in the end he becomes repugnant to them.

When there multiplied they who forced their goods upon householders,²⁷  bribery increased as well as miscarriage of justice, and happiness ceased. When there multiplied [judges] who said 'I accept your favour' and 'I shall appreciate your favour', there was an Increase of Every man did that which was right in his own eyes;²⁸  common persons were raised to eminence, the eminent were brought low, and the kingdom [of Israel] deteriorated more and more. When envious men and plunderers [of the poor] multiplied, there increased they who hardened their hearts and closed their hands from lending [to the needy], and they transgressed what is written in the Torah, viz., Beware that there be not etc.²⁹  When there multiplied women who had stretched forth necks and wanton eyes,³⁰  [the need] increased for the bitter water but it ceased [to be used]. When receivers of gifts multiplied, the days [of human life] became fewer and years were shortened; as it is written: But he that hateth gifts shall live.³¹  When the haughty of heart multiplied, dissensions increased in Israel. When the disciples of Shammai and Hillel multiplied who had not served [their teachers] sufficiently, dissensions increased in Israel and the Torah became like two Toroth. When there multiplied they who accepted charity of Gentiles, Israel became on top and they below, Israel went forward and they backward.³²

WHEN JOSE B. JOEZER DIED etc. What does 'grape-clusters' [eshkoloth] mean? — Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: A man in whom is everything [ish she-hakol bo].

JOHANAN THE HIGH PRIEST BROUGHT TO AN END THE CONFESSION MADE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE TITHE etc. What was his reason? — R. Jose b. Hanina said: Because people were not presenting it according to the regulation; for the Allmerciful said that they should give it to the Levites

1. V. note on the Gemara infra.
2. Produce about which there is uncertainty whether it had been tithed. The Gemara will explain what is intended.
3. Num. XXXV, 33.
4. Deut. XXI, I.
5. Ibid. 7.
6. Consequently the ceremony is not performed.
7. But according to the Mishnah, if one is contradicted by one, the former is not accepted and the neck is broken.
8. Then one witness can contradict another.
9. The evidence of the first witness having been accepted is regarded as that of two.
10. He proposed that when one is against one the Mishnah should read: They break its neck.
11. Which supports R. Hiyya and in apparent contradiction to the first clause.
12. Women and slaves.
13. What follows is quoted from supra 31b et seq., q.v. for notes.
14. In the two clauses of our Mishnah which have been explained as referring to the evidence of women and slaves.
15. Num. V, 31.
16. Hos. IV, 14.
17. Judges accepted bribes.
18. Deut. I, 17.
19. Ibid.
20. To influence the judges in favour of one party.
21. Ps. LXXXII, I, i.e., God is only with honest judges.
22. Ezek. XXXIII, 31.
23. Isa. V, 20.
24. The word woe occurs frequently in Isa. V.
25. As a mark of ostentation.
26. Hab. II, 5 sic.
27. Judges who compelled them to buy against their will.
28. Judg. XVII, 6.
29. Deut. XV, 9.
30. Isa. III, 16.
31. Prov. XV, 27.
32. A euphemism for the reverse: Israel became below etc. This sentence has fallen out of the text in some modern editions.