Seder Olam: The Rabbinic View of Biblical Chronology

SEDER OLAM

SEDER OLAM THE RABBINIC VIEW OF BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY

translated a n d with commentary b y

HEINRICH W. G U G G E N H E I M E R

A JASON ARONSON BOOK ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Oxford

A JASON ARONSON BOOK

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com PO Box 317 Oxford 0 X 2 9RU, UK Copyright © 1998 by Heinrich W. Guggenheimer First Rowman & Littlefield Edition 2005 Ail rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Seder olam rabbah. English & Hebrew. Seder olam / [edited] by Heinrich Guggenheimer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7657-6021 -5 (cloth) 1. Jews—History—To 70 A.D.—Chronology. 2. Bible. O.T.-— Chronology. 3. Seder olam rabbah. I. Guggenheimer, Heinrich W. (Heinrich Walter), 1924II. Title. DS114.S413 1998 221.9'5—dc21 98-14429 CIP HE Printed in the United States of America © The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To my wife whose patience and support made all my studies possible

Contents

Introduction

ix

PART 1 PENTATEUCH 1 2 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Creation to Jacob Jacob Covenant and Slavery The Flood Thornbush to Sinai At Sinai Consecration of the Tabernacle Book of Numbers The Fortieth Year Death of Moses

3 22 37 46 57 72 79 88 92 100

PART II ANTERIOR PROPHETS 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Joshua Judges Samuel, Saul, and David David Solomon Rehabeam to Asa Asa to Ahaziah Joash JehutoUziah The Prophets

109 120 129 136 141 148 153 160 163 170

vii

SEDER OLAM

viii

CONTENTS

PART III PROPHETS TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Prophets (Continued) Destruction of Samaria Hezekiah Manasseh to Jehoiakim Jehoiakim to Zedekiah Ezechiel Fall of Jerusalem Daniel Ezra and Esther Nehemiah to End of Second Temple

183 191 199 209 216 223 232 237 247 255

APPENDIX THE JEWISH CALENDAR Introduction Calendar Data Computation of the Year Conversion of Jewish and Gregorian Dates

268 270 272 276

INDEXES Index of Biblical Verses Index of Talmudic References Babylonian Talmud Jerusalem Talmud Mishnah and Tosephtah Midrashim and Targumim General Index

277 280 280 281 281 281 283

Introduction

Large parts of the Hebrew Bible are historical, but the information given often is anecdotal, as in the period of Judges, and contradictory, as in the different accounts of the period of Kings. In order to see in the Bible a history of the Jewish people, a systematic interpretation of the Biblical text is r e q u i r e d . The a u t h o r i t a t i v e R a b b i n i c a l interpretation of the historical passages of the Bible is given in Midrash Seder 'Olam. Seder 'Olam is a composition of Tannaitic material, a companion to the Mishnah. It is the basis of the historical world view of the Babylonian Talmud and of our counting of years "from the Creation." The book exists in many manuscripts of different versions and several printed editions. The first printed edition was made in Mantua (1514), followed by Hebrew editions [Constantinople (1517), Venice (1545), Amsterdam (1711), Hamburg (with notes by Jacob Emden, 1757), Prague (1795)], and Hebrew text with Latin translation [Basel (1580), Amsterdam (1693)]. Scholarly editions based on the earliest printed books and manuscripts were published by Adolf Neubauer (in Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles, vol. II, Oxford 1895), Dov Ber Ratner [Wilna (1894-97), reproduced, with an introduction by S.K. Mirsky under the name Midrash Seder Olam by The Talmudical Research Institute, New York (1966)], and in a Yale thesis by C.Y. Minkowski, 1981. The first ten chapters were edited on the basis of all manuscripts then known by Alexander Marx in his K6nigsberg thesis, 1896. In addition, there exists a recent reprint of the book with the notes of R. Eliahu of Wilna and reference notes (together with Seder 'Olam zuta, the Book of Tradition of R. Abraham ben Daud of Toledo, and Midrash Konen), Jerusalem 1971 (no publisher), and a reprint of a 1904 Warsaw edition with Notes of R. Eliahu of Wilna, R. Jacob Emden, and a short commentary by I. Weinberg, Jerusalem (1987). The questions to be answered in a study of the book are: 1) what is its purpose, 2) when and where was it composed, and 3) what ix

SEDER OLAM

INTRODUCTION

x.

are its sources? The easiest question to answer is the second one. We find that the quotes of h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l in the Babylonian Talmud are either identical with our text of Seder 'Olam or differ from it only slightly in wording. In that Talmud , we find a statement of the Palestinian authority Rebbi Yohanan that the anonymous material in Seder 'Olam belongs to the Tanna Rebbi Yose ben Halaphta, the most authoritative among the students of Rebbi Akiba. Other quotes from Seder 'Olam are given directly in the name of Rebbi Yose, are anonymous, or even as teachings of Rebbi Yehuda the Prince, the editor of the Mishnah . In the Babylonian Talmud, "Rebbi Yose" without indication of his father's name always refers to Rebbi Yose ben Halaphta. In chapter 30 of Seder 'Olam, there is a discussion on the legal status of the obligations regarding agriculture in the Holy Land after the return from Babylon that in the Talmud is given in the names of Rebbis Ismael and Eleazar, the sons of R. Yose ben Halaphta. In general, except for some parts of chapters 3 and 4 that are explicitly attributed to older sources, the remaining parallels in the Babylonian Talmud can be attributed to the school oi Rebbi Yose ben Halaphta . The older sources naturally were also taught in that school. One main point of the commentary will be to show that the entire composition follows a logical rule formulated explicitly by Rebbi Yose ben Halaphta. The situation in the Jerusalem Talmud and other (Midrash) Yerushalmi sources is completely different. Most of the parallels to statements of Seder Vlam are given there in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Hanina, an Amora of the second generation who was very active in the fixation of the texts of the Mishnah and other Tannaitic traditions . Some of the parallels are given in the names oi Rebbi 1

2

3

4

5

1 Yebamot 82b, Niddah 46b. 2 Moid Qatan 7b. 3 Arakhin 32b, Niddah I.e. 4 Professor Mirsky wants to p r o v e that the composition of Seder 'Olam precedes that of the Mishnah since the Mishnayot Idiut II, 8-9 can be understood only on basis of Seder 'Olam chap. III. But since both chapters III and IV of Seder 'Olam and these two Mishnayot are clearly labelled as teaching of Rebbi Akiba, all that one can say that the two texts have a common source and that Seder 'Olam, by its nature, is more explicit and complete than the e x t r e m e l y concise Mishnah. 5 Cf. J.N. Epstein, nw»n noirt Kiaa, pp. 307-310.

SEDER OLAM

xi

INTRODUCTION

Yose the Galilean and Rebbi Yose bar Ilai, almost always in the name of a sage whose name was "Rebbi Yose." The only Palestinian Amora who seems to quote Seder 'Olam in midrashic sources is R. Shemuel ben Nahmani, of whom we know that he spent considerable time in Babylonia. The Jerusalem Talmud clearly does not know of any composition called Seder 'Olam. From all these circumstances, details of which will be given in the commentary to the text, it seems clear that Seder 'Olam as a separate composition is a product of the Babylonian academies. Since the text is quoted by the earliest authorities, it must be a composition of the first generation of Amoraim. The editor of Seder 'Olam and the editor of the historical statements contained in the Tosephta Sot a must have drawn from the same source (details are given in the commentary, e. g. Chapter 9). Hence, it is most reasonable to assume that Seder 'Olam was edited in the academy of Rav, who brought the teachings of the Galilean academies to Babylonia, and that the editor or e d i t o r s based themselves on material of the school of Rebbi Yose ben Halaphta. This text was never received in the Galilean academies. The other two questions have to be answered together. On one hand, Seder 'Olam is a rabbinic text in the tradition of the Sadducee Book of Jubilees , which treats the history of the world from Creation to the theophany on Mount Sinai. Since Sadduceeism was practically extinct at the time of composition of the book, a polemic against Sadducees cannot be the central theme. Naturally, since Christianity took over some Sadducee tenets, the book may have had some value in the fight against Christian encroachments on the Jewish population. In particular, some fathers of the early church wanted to prove that their savior died exactly in the year 4000 of the world, to finish the 2000 "years of Torah" and to start the "2000 years of the Messiah^". It is known that the Biblical canon u n d e r w e n t a 6

6 The Book of Jubilees exists only in Ethiopian, which may show the Sadducee roots of Ethiopian Jewry, and in a few fragments found in the Qumran caves. An English translation may be found in R. H. Charles, The Apocryphe and Pseudoepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, vol. II, Pseudepigrapha, Oxford 1913. The Book of Jubilees gives Biblical chronology only up to the Revelation on Mount Sinai which it puts on Sivan 15, 2410 A.M., in contrast to our book that by rabbinic tradition has the date of Sivan 6, 2448 A.M. 7 Sanhedrin 97a: Six thousand years does the world exist: 2000 years tohu,

SEDER OLAM

xii

INTRODUCTION

reevaluation after the destruction of the Temple because certain books (e. g., Ezechiel) seemed to contradict pentateuchal teachings and the historical books show glaring inconsistencies in parallel narratives. Tosephta Sota contains the record of older attemps at harmonization of contradicting sources. Seder 'Olam not only proposes a logical method of dealing with these seeming inconsistencies by introducing a principle in the name of R. Yose that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," but in effect uses this principle and others of Talmudic logic to derive a logically consistent, complete chronology that eliminates these inconsistencies from the creation of Adam to the end of the Biblical period at the time of Ezra. The method of derivation is explained in detail in the commentary. It follows that the contents of Seder 'Olam, with the exception of statements attributed explicitly to older sources, can be considered as results of logical investigation of the Biblical texts. In the cases of disagreement between Seder 'Olam and Yerushalmi sources (sometimes also Josephus), tradition is on the side of the Yerushalmi but logical consistence is on the side of Seder 'Olam. It seems that this logical consistence is one of the main reasons for the unquestioned acceptance by the Babylonian academies of Seder 'Olam as authoritative interpretation of Biblical texts. Seder 'Olam also deals with some other issues of interpretation of the Bible. Not only does it explain verses used by Christians as reference to their savior as references to historical events in Biblical times, it also firmly comes down on the side of people who see in all prophecies of the book of Daniel references to the times of the Hasmoneans. In the view of Seder 'Olam, there are no references in Daniel that could be used to predict the time of the coming of the Messiah. Alexander Marx did not include the Amsterdam edition in his sources because he could not find its readings in the manuscripts at his disposal. However, those manuscripts all belong to the European

2000 years Torah, 2000 years Messiah, and by our many sins there passed of them all that is a l r e a d y passed. [It is possible that the insistence on a very short duration of the Persian e m p i r e in Seder 'Olam c h a p t e r s 29 and 30 is d i r e c t e d against C h r i s t i a n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . A c c o r d i n g to our source, the c u r r e n t a r e a begins in year 3760 Anno Mundi.]

SEDER OLAM

xiii

INTRODUCTION

(Spanish and French) tradition. The Yemenite Midrash Hagadol, in its quotes of Seder 'Olam, has readings close to the Mantua and Amsterdam texts. It follows that the Amsterdam printer followed an Oriental manuscript. Since we saw earlier that Seder 'Olam is a Babylonian composition, it is best to adopt Oriental sources from communities strongly dependent on Babylonia, of which the Yemenite Jewish community is the best example. Yemenite Jews even used Babylonian vowel signs and the Babylonian (Seleucid) method of dating until the begin of modern times. Therefore, I chose as text that of the Amsterdam edition except for a few places where there are obvious copying or typographical errors. Any deviating Western tradition is noted in the commentary. There exists a Gaonic historical compilation XOIT oViy T?o, "The short order of times." This is a chronicle of the Davidic dynasty and it implies that the Heads of the Diaspora in Muslim times, Bostanai and his descendants, were no members of the dynasty of David but that the earlier Heads of the Diaspora and the later Geonim in the Land of Israel were direct descendants of King Jehoiachin. However, Rav Sherira Gaon, in his letter, and the Eleventh Century Geonim in Jerusalem do strongly imply that the Heads of the Diaspora in Babylonia were true Davidic rulers to the end. T h e c o m m e n t a r y to t h e book c o n c e n t r a t e s on t h e understanding of the text and its derivations. The text of Chapter 4 presupposes a knowledge of the principles of the Jewish calendar. I have added an explanation of the calendar in an appendix that contains all the information needed to compute the calendar and to convert Jewish and Gregorian (civil) dates from one to the other. In the Hebrew text of Seder 'Olam, most Biblical verses are abbreviated. In the translation, these verses are given in full in order to make the text intelligible for the reader.

Part 1: Pentateuch

1 Creation to Jacob

^ r o m Adam to the Deluge 1656 years and the following are the details: Adam 130 years. Seth 108 years. Enosh 90 years. Keinan 7 0 years. Mehalalel 68 years. Jered 162 years. Hanoch 65 years. Methuselah 187 years. Lemekh 182 years. (Gen. 7:6): "And Noah was 600 years old" etc. Hanoch buried Adam and lived after him 57 years. Methuselah ended his life just before the Deluge. From the Deluge to the Language Split 340 years. It follows that Noah survived the Language Split by 10 years. Our father Abraham was 48 years old at the Language Split. Rebbi Yose said: Eber was a great prophet that he called his son Peleg ("split") "because in his days the earth was split" (Gen. 10:25). You cannot say this happened when Peleg was born since his younger brother Yoqtan had 13 families as his descendants at the Language Split. You cannot say that this happened during Peleg's middle life since Scripture does not come to hide but to explain. Therefore, the verse must mean that the Split occurred during Peleg's last year. 2

3

4

5

3

SEDER OLAM

CREATION TO JACOB

4

Commentary 1. The number 1656 is the sum of the numbers given in Gen. 5:3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 28; 6:6. The total sum of 1656 years is also quoted in Bereshit rabba 38(6). T h e d e t a i l s of t h e computation are missing in some manuscripts but it seems t h a t they are genuine parts of the original text. 2. The assertion that Methuselah died just before the Flood is also d i r e c t l y d e r i v a b l e from t h e Biblical verses: Methuselah was 187 years old at Lemech's birth {Gen. 5:25), Lemech had Noah at age 182 {Gen. 5:28) and Noah was 600 at the time of the Flood: 187+182+600 = 969, the age of Methuselah at his death. It is characteristic for the compiler of Seder 'Olam that he refrains here and at most o t h e r p l a c e s to introduce aggadic material that cannot be substantiated from the Biblical verse according to his p r i n c i p l e of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n explained below. Rashi quotes the midrash on M e t h u s e l a h ' s death in his commentary on Gen. 7:10: "It was after seven days that the waters of the Deluge were over the earth." His source is the Toseftah Sotah Chap. 10, which contains much material parallel

to Seder 'Olam. P a r a g r a p h 1 there starts with the statement "When a just man is born, good things are happening" and 113 continues: "All the time that criminals are in the world, rage is in the world. When criminals a r e r e m o v e d from the world, rage is removed from the world. But for the just, not only is the world spared during their lifetime but even in their death, as it is said: 'It was after seven days', these are the seven days of mourning for Methuselah the Just that p r e v e n t e d p u n i s h m e n t from engulfing the world." 114: "Another explanation: This (i.e., Gen. 7:10) teaches us that the Almighty changed for them the laws of nature, the sun was rising in the West and setting in the East. 115: "Another explanation: The Almighty gave them seven days like those of the Future World, they ate and drank, so that they would realize what they had lost (by their evil ways)." The many contradicting explanations of one and the same verse indicate clearly the sermonizing tendencies of the text of the Tosephta. Talmudic

SEDER OLAM

5

quotes of the same material are found in Babli Sanhedrin 108b, Yerushalmi Mo'ed qatan 5:5 (22c), Abot dR. Natan (A) Chap. 32, Bereshit rabba 32, Midrash Tehillim 26, 67. In c o n t r a s t , Seder 'Olam r e f r a i n s f r o m introducing material that cannot be justified by the principles explained in note 5. 3. This computation also is a s i m p l e sum of t h e y e a r s mentioned (Gen. 11:10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19) together with the later statement that the work at the Tower of Babylon was halted in the year of death of Peleg : 2 + 35 + 30 + 34 + 30 + 209 = 340. The sum is mentioned Bereshit rabba 26(4) in the G a l i l e a n tradition. 4. According to Rebbi Yohanan and Rebbi Hanina (Bereshit rabba 64 (1)) did Abraham at age 48 recognize God, t h a t is, as consequence of the Splitting of Languages, against the aggadic opinion of R. Shimon ben Laqish, who puts Abraham's recognition of God at age 3 (loc. cit. cf. Maimonides, Hilkhot Abodah zarah 1:3, Hagahot Maimuniot ad loc.) Only the latter opinion is found in the Babylonian Talmud (Nedarim 32a). For the detail of the computation, see the end of the next note. t

CREATION TO JACOB

5. The argument produced here is at the heart of the entire work and justifies its attribution to Rebbi Yose (who is identified in Bereshit rabba 3 7 ( 1 0 ) as Rebbi Yose ben Halafta). The principle "that Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" contains two exegetical principles. The first one is what I call the axiom of definiteness that I have explored at l e n g t h p r e v i o u s l y (H. Guggenheimer, Logical Problems in Jewish Tradition, in Confrontations with Judaism, ed. Philip Longworth; Anthony Blond, London 1 9 6 7 , pp. 1 7 1 1 9 6 . ) : The Biblical verse has definite and clear meaning. This is a principle accepted in all of Talmudic literature and is the basis of all legal i n f e r e n c e s drawn from Scripture, particularly from the Pentateuch. As an example of the application of this principle, we may study Exodus 2 2 : 1 3 , 1 4 : ur»K VKW*-OI i&y-pK vVya ,n»-w nauni viyi DVD . "And if a man borrow from his fellow man and it was broken or died, its owner not being with him he certainly has to pay. If its owner was with him, he does not have to pay . •.." It is to be noted that at first reading the expressions i»? ,toVT? dangling modifiers since it is not clear whether one should l o o k

l i k c

SEDER OLAM

t r a n s l a t e "with him" ( t h e b o r r o w e r ) or "with it" ( t h e borrowed implement or animal). Now it is impossible to say that t h e e x p r e s s i o n "its o w n e r being/not being with him" should refer to the owner's accidental presence at the scene of t h e accident since this would deprive the expression "with him" of fixed legal meaning. Therefore, the only interpretation that will make the borrowers obligation unequivocal is to translate "with him," that is, the borrower in his work. The only case in which t h e b o r r o w e r is f r e e d from paying for the accident is if the owner not only lends him the animal but is working alongside the borrower with the animal or implement at the beginning of the lending relation (Baba MezVa 8a). As applied to numbers, the principle reads "if you accept the minimum, you have accepted something; if you try to accept m o r e , you d i d n o t a c c e p t anything" (Rosh Hashanah 4b). This means t h a t if a v e r s e d e s c r i b e s a set of n u m b e r s without upper bound, the minimum is understood. For example, the verse Lev. 15:25 uses the expression "many days." Now "days" a l o n e , as p l u r a l , implies at least two days. "Many days" therefore describes any

6.

CREATION TO JACOB

number of days more than 2: 3, 4, 5, and so on. This set clearly has no upper bound. Hence, the only definite interpretation of "many days" is "three days"; this is the t r a n s l a t i o n of t h e A r a m a i c Targum Yerushalmi of the verse (cf. Rashi ad loc). In our case, the number of years of Peleg's life have a beginning and an end. Since Scripture does not indicate a particular date of Peleg's life for the Separation of Languages, it follows that this event fell either at his birth, in that case the name would be given after the event, or at the end of his life, and his father was a great prophet. Now Rebbi Yose uses the principle of definiteness also in a second, c o m p l e t e l y d i f f e r e n t sense for the understanding of the Biblical verse as record of history, not in the legal sense. The argument that the Separation of L a n g u a g e s h a p p e n e d in Peleg's last year is a straightforward application of the legal p r i n c i p l e of definiteness. However, the principle "that Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" has much more far reaching consequences. Obviously, not everybody is born on New Year's Day, and so the question arises, how can one simply add the years of l i f e of s u c c e s s i v e

SEDER OLAM

generations since there will be an overlap of several months for each birth and this will add up to many y e a r s at t h e e n d . In addition, the a u t h o r uses the same principle of simple addition for the years of rule of the kings of Judah. Now it is well known (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) that if a king dies on Ellul 28 and his son accedes to the throne on Elul 29, then the second year of his rule will start on Tishre 1, the second day of his actual rule. So we have no way of estimating the length of the year of "the begin of his rule" OroVa? n w i ) and to o b t a i n an e x a c t c o u n t of nonoverlapping years. The principle "that Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" therefore must mean that the data in the name lists of Genesis and the regnal lists of l a t e r Biblical books are not raw data but a d j u s t e d to be used in additions to determine the exact time in history a certain event took place. We have to say that a c c o r d i n g to R. Yose, it is impossible to assert that Enosh was born exactly in the year 105 of Seth's life - it could have been 104 or 106 depending on t h e month of birth of father and son - but we a r e sure t h a t t h e addition of years from Adam to the Flood, giving 1,656 years, is an exact measure of time. This

7

CREATION TO JACOB

agrees with the general attitude of the scholars of Talmudic times that the essence of Scripture is in the information o b t a i n e d by logical inferences and extralogical rules of transference and not what the Verse means to the untrained ear. Rebbi Yose's special rule is: "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain". In the general opinion of t h e Talmudic sages, any interpretation of Scripture that is not b a s e d on t h e r u l e s of inference and transference is " d i s c o v e r i n g m e a n i n g s in Scripture against the rules," which is a sin precluding an afterlife (Abot 111:15); in their opinion, the traditional rules, or "oral law," are a necessary basis for the understanding of t h e "written law." [C.J. Minkowski, the editor of an eclectic edition of Seder 'Olam (Ph.D. thesis, Yale University 1981), doubts the attribution of the work to R. Yose (ben Halafta) since the only reference to him is a bpraita at t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e t e x t . However, as we shall show, the statement of R. Yose is the basis and backbone of the entire text and d o u b t l e s s t h e m a t e r i a l belongs to his school.] Now t h a t w e h a v e e x p l a i n e d t h e p r i n c i p l e of interpretation of Scripture that is the basis of Seder 'Olam, the

SEDER OLAM

argument should be clear. Since Scripture connects Peleg with the Separation of Languages and no other date is given for the event, it must have happened in t h e year of his birth or his death. But Peleg was t h e oldest of Eber's sons (Gen. 11:15); Yoqtan was y o u n g e r . Y o q t a n ' s 13 children (Gen. 10:26-29) w e r e among those whose families were dispersed after the Flood (Gen. 10:32); t h e y h a d t h e i r own families before the dispersions. Therefore, the dispersion happened during Peleg's last year of life. The (much older) S a d d u c e e Book of Jubilees explains that Peleg received his n a m e ("split") b e c a u s e t h e different descendants of Noah split the earth among themselves

8

CREATION TO JACOB

at the time of his birth. Hence, the times after Creation given by the Book of Jubilees are less than those of Seder 'Olam. From Gen. 11:19, 20, 22, 24, 26 it follows that Abram was born 32 + 30 + 29 + 70 = 161 years after the birth of Rc'u. On the other hand, Peleg lived 209 years after the birth of Re'u. Hence, Abram was 48 at the time of Peleg's death. In all pointed sources p r i o r t o t h e e n d of t h e Eighteenth Century, the Rabbinic title is Rebbi, Ribbi, *an, not Rabbi, *2n, or also RevI, *an. In old sources, the form "Rabbi" is unique to the New Testament. A discussion of that form is found in my The Scholar's Haggadah, Northvale NJ 1995, p. 261.

Our father Abraham was 70 years old when he was spoken to (by God's presence) at the Covenant Between the Pieces as it is said (Ex. 12:41): "And it was after 430 years," etc. After that he was spoken to he returned to Haran, stayed there five years as it is said (Gen. 12:4): "And Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran." It follows that from the Dispersion until Abraham left Haran there were 26 years. These are exactly (Gen. 14:4-5) "12 years they served Kedorla'omer and 13 years

SEDER OLAM

they rebelled. came."

CREATION TO JACOB

9

And in the fourteenth year Kedorla'omer

Commentary T h e a r g u m e n t is s o m e w h a t cryptic but well known. It is written (Ex. 12:41) "And it was after 430 years, exactly to the day, that all hosts of the Eternal left the land of Egypt." On the o t h e r h a n d , it says at t h e Covenant Between the Pieces (Gen. 15:13) "You should know that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs for 400 years." Now from t h e children of Abraham only Isaac is called his seed (Gen. 21:12) but not Ismael. Since "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" and no other dates are given, it follows that the 400 years have to be counted from the birth of Abraham's "seed" but that the Covenant happened in the night of the 15th of Nissan, 30 years earlier. It is also impossible to explain that Israel was in Egypt close to 400 years since Seder 'Olam itself establishes (Chapter 3) that "from the death of Levi to the Exodus 116 years and the years of slavery were not more than these nor less than 76 years, the age of Miriam at the Exodus." Since Abraham was 100 years old at the birth of Isaac (Gen.

21:5), it f o l l o w s t h a t t h e Covenant happened when he was 70 years of age. It also says at the Covenant (Gen. 15:16) "the fourth generation will r e t u r n h e r e , " this m e a n s t h a t t h e Covenant was executed in the Land of Canaan. The "fourth generation" that is mentioned there was Serah, the daughter of Asher, who is mentioned (Gen. 46:17) as one who entered Egypt with Jacob and (Num. 26:46) as one to whom part of the land was to be distributed after the conquest. This p r o v e s t h a t A b r a h a m w a s in C a n a a n , returned to Haran, and left for good five years afterwards with his entire family. By t h e w a y , the harmonization of the dates given in Genesis and Exodus solves another problem that has puzzled commentators. In Gen. 15:1-6 it is reported that after Abraham's victory over t h e kings, God assures him of his protection, p r o m i s e s him numerous descendants and the possession of the Land, and Abraham "trusted the Eternal, who counted it as a merit." Then in v. 8, Abraham

SEDER OLAM

seems to turn around and ask for a sign that he will inherit. But according to R. Yose, what is told in vv. 1-6 happened 30 y e a r s after what is told in vv. 7-21. From the p r e c e d i n g computation, that Abraham was 48 at the Dispersion of mankind and 75 when he left Haran, it would follow t h a t t h e t i m e difference was 27 y e a r s , the reading of a single manuscript, and not 26 as in the consensus of the editio princeps and the major manuscript sources. It is also clear from the use of the verse Ex. 12:4, with its insistence on "the exact day," that R. Yose a c c e p t s t h e o p i n i o n of R. Yehoshua (Rosh Hashanah 11a) that the patriarchs were born in Nissan. Therefore, he seems to follow the convention that years are counted from the first of

10

CREATION TO JACOB

Nissan, not from t h e first of Tishre, and one might explain the reading "26 years" that in the o p i n i o n of t h e c o m p i l e r , A b r a h a m left H a r a n d u r i n g Nissan of his 75th year, at the end of 26 y e a r s a f t e r t h e Dispersion. Therefore, the isolated reading "27 years" is an easy attempt at harmonization and has to be rejected as a gloss. The computation of the years of existence of a settlement at Sodom until the wars of the kings (Gen. 14) is obvious since the settlement cannot have been started before the Dispersion. An alternative translation of Gen. 14:4 would be that "they served for 12 years and rebelled in the 13th year"; see next section. The entire piece is quoted by Rashi and Tosafot Shabbat 10b with no changes in the text.

That same year in which Abraham left Haran was the year of famine; he descended into Egypt and was there for three months, returned and settled at the grove of Mamre in

SEDER OLAM

CREATION TO JACOB

11

Hebron; the same year he conquered the kings. He spent there 10 years before he married Hagar as it is said (Gen. 16:3): "Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian her bondmaid, at the end of 10 years of Abram's stay in Canaan, etc" And it is written (Gen. 16:16): "Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore IsmaeL" It turns out that Ismael was Isaac's elder by 14 years. It turns out that from the Dispersion until the birth of Isaac were 52 years. All the time Sodom was settled was 52 years, of which time it and its sister cities were in rest and quiet for 26 years.

Commentary Here again, the fixation of the d a t e s of t h e h a p p e n i n g s recounted in Genesis, chapters 12-17, is based on R. Yose's principle, "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." It is clear from the context that the war with the kings (Chap. 14) was before the birth of Ismael. Hence, it must be dated at the only explicit date that precedes the marriage of Hagar, that is, the year of Abraham's last move from Haran. Even though the compiler c l e a r l y a c c e p t s t h e principle that the historical parts of t h e T o r a h a r e n o t in chronological order, since by his account the Covenant of Gen. 15:7-21 precedes the theophany of Gen. 15:1-6 by five years, it is impossible to date the war of the kings before the adventure in Egypt since t h e i n c r e a s e in Abraham's and Lot's property

lead to t h e i r split and Lot's residence in Sodom. Therefore, t h e c o m p i l e r is f o r c e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e all the e v e n t s referred to in Gen. 12-14 in one year. He finds support in the computation of the duration of the settlement of Sodom, because if Isaac was born 52 years after the Dispersion and Sodom was founded immediately after the Dispersion, then it was settled for 52 (or 51 by the reading of the editio princeps) y e a r s . An unspoken hypothesis here is that all peoples s t a y e d u n d e r Nimrod's rule for some time after the Dispersion and probably he accepts the identification, found in an anonymous Galilean source (Bereshit rabba 4 2 ( 5 ) ) , t h a t Nimrod and Amraphel a r e one and the same person. As noted above, the interpretation of Gen. 14:4 adopted by Seder Vlam that

SEDER OLAM

11

the city of Sodom persevered 13 years in its r e b e l l i o n is not accepted by everybody. There is explicit disagreement reported in Bereshit rabba 42 (10): "Rebbi Yose and Rabban Shim'on ben Gamliel. Rebbi Yose says: 12 and 13 m a k e s 2 5 . Rabban Shim'on ben G a m l i e l s a y s , altogether there were 13 years. How does Rabban Shim'on ben Gamliel explain and in the year 14', in the year 14 of his rule came Kedorla'omer." Similarly, Josephus Flavius, two generations before R. Yose ben Halafta and Rabban Shim'on ben Gamliel, adopts the latter's position in his exposition (Jewish Antiquities) of Gen. 14. According to Rabban Shim'on ben G a m l i e l , it is impossible to d e t e r m i n e t h e length of Sodom's settlement, but, probably, he will agree that it was at most 52 years. The Babylonian Talmud as always follows strictly the interpretation of Seder 'Olam. We read Sabbath 10b: "Raba bar Mehassya says in the name of Rab Hama bar Gurya in the name of Rab: A person should always try to d w e l l in a r e c e n t l y e s t a b l i s h e d s e t t l e m e n t ; since (

CREATION TO JACOB

because of its recent settlement the sum of its sins is small. Rab Hanin says: what is the relevant scriptural verse? (Gen. 19:20) 'Here please this city (Zoar) is close by to flee there and it is small, may I please flee there since it is minute, so that I may survive'. What does it mean 'it is minute'? If you would say it is close by and small, the angel can see it (and it does not have to be repeated), but since it is a recent s e t t l e m e n t , its sins a r e less numerous. Rebbi Izhak says: Zoar was settled for 51 years since it says to noVax (may I please flee) and the numerical value of xi is 51. Sodom's time of settlement was 52 years and its peaceful existence 26 years." Rashi ad loc. explains that the years of subjugation were not years of quiet and those of rebellion not of rest, therefore the years of rest and quiet began only after the war, in the year 26 of its s e t t l e m e n t . The t r a n s l a t i o n h e r e follows t h e marginal note of the Munich manuscript. The last sentence is a straightforward quote of Seder 'Olam. Cf. Rashi and Tosafot ad loc.

SEDER OLAM

CREATION TO JACOB

1 1

From the Flood to the birth of Isaac 392 years. These are the details: (Gen. 11:10) 'These are the descendants of Sem. Sem was 100 years old when he had Arpakhshad, 2 years after the Flood." Arpakhshad 35 (Gen. 11:12), Shelah 30 (Gen. 11:14), Eber 34 (Gen. 11:16), Peleg 30 (Gen. 11:18), Re'u 32 (Gen. 11:20), Serug 30 (Gen. 11:22), Nahor 29 (Gen. 11:24), Terah 70 (Gen. 11:26). (Gen. 21:5) "Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him."

Our forefather Isaac was 37 years old when he was bound to the altar. (Gen. 21:34) "And Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines many days". These days were more than those he dwelt at Hebron, the latter were 25 years and the former 26 years.

Commentary Isaac was 37 years old when his mother, Sarah, died since she died at age 127 and he was born when she was 90. The tradition that Sarah died when she heard that her husband had tried to sacrifice her son is explicitly ascribed to (a later) Rebbi Yose (Bereshit rabba 58(5)). However, there is another reading from a single manuscript (Parma) published by C.J. Minkowski in his edition of Seder 'Olam: "Our father Isaac was 26 years old when he was bound to the altar."

This reading was also proposed by E l i a h u of W i l n a in his commentary to Seder 'Olam on logical grounds without r e f e r e n c e to any manuscript evidence [but there is a parallel reading "26 years," not mentioned by Eliahu of Wilna, in Bereshit rabba 57(11)]. That would place the 'Aqedah (the s a c r i i i c e of I s a a c ) a t t h e m o m e n t of Abraham's return from Bcerseba to Hebron. Since A b r a h a m returns from Mount Moriah to Beerseba (Gen. 22:19) and a few

SEDER OLAM

verses later is found at Hebron, the author of the second version will connect 'Aqedah and return to Hebron, maybe as cause and effect. The reading "26 years" seems also better suited to the theory of interpretation of R. Yose. We understand that the information that Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines many days will mean time at Beerseba > time at Hebron a n d by t h e p r i n c i p l e of definiteness, one would conclude that time at Beerseba = time at Hebron + 1. [Since Sarah died at Hebron, another possible interpretation would be that Abraham returned to Hebron just before Sarah's death, which would add another 11 years to the stay at Beerseba. However, the verses Gen. 23:2 ff. are taken to imply that Abraham was i n s t a l l e d at H e b r o n as regular inhabitant some time before Sarah's death.] Since no date is given for Isaac's sacrifice, it would seem to follow from the principle that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" that the sacrifice was at the end of A b r a h a m ' s stay at B e e r s e b a . A b r a h a m w a s i n f o r m e d of Rebbeca's birth shortly after he returned to Beerseba from Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:20). If Rebbeca

14_

CREATION TO JACOB

was born the same y e a r ( a c c o r d i n g to R e b b i Yose's principle), that would make her 14 years old when Isaac married h e r at a g e 40; s e e b e l o w . However, in all French (Rashi and Tosafot) and O r i e n t a l (Midrash Hagadol Bereshit, ed. M. Margaliut, p. 431) sources, the reading is consistently "37 years." The Sadducee Book of Jubilees gives the age of Isaac at the Aqedah as 34 years when Sarah was only 124 years of age. The Book of Jubilees does not present t h e o r e t i c a l bases for its assertions. The assertion that Abraham's first stay at Hebron was 25 years is based on t h e previous assertion that he moved to the Grove of Mamreh the year he left Haran for the last time, when he was 75 years of age. He stayed there until after Sodom was destroyed. Since the story of Abraham's move to Gerar is told just after the story of Lot's daughters' incestuous relationships with their father, the usual interpretation is that Abraham left Hebron because of the shame brought on his family by Lot (Bereshit rabba 52(3), an anonymous source.) Since Abraham was 100 years old at the birth of Isaac, he was 99 or 100 when he left Hebron.

SEDER OLAM

CREATION TO JACOB

J5.

At that time, Rebecca was born. It follows that Isaac married Rebecca when she was 14 years old.

Commentary In most French manuscripts and sources, the reading is "3 years old"; in few, we find "4 years." The reading "3 years" is quoted by Rashi (Gen. 25:20) and Tosafot (Yebamot 61b, s.v. pi) who write: "Seder 'Olam teaches explicitly that she was t h r e e years old when Isaac married her and it is impossible to emend t h e text since we read t h e r e : 'Our forefather Isaac was 37 years of age when he was bound to the altar and at that time, Rebecca was born,' and it is written (Gen. 25:20) 'Isaac was 40 years old when he m a r r i e d Rebecca'." Once one accepts the reading "37 y e a r s " in t h e preceding paragraph, the unlikely conclusion that Rebecca went out alone to fetch water at the age of three seems to be inescapable. The reading "4 years" can also be e x p l a i n e d in t h e s a m e way: A b r a h a m was i n f o r m e d of Rebecca's birth on his r e t u r n from Mount Moriah, so Rebecca can be assumed to have been born in the preceding year This f

argument does not violate any of Rebbi Yose's principles. But if we accept the reading "37 years," it seems better to accept also the r e a d i n g "3 y e a r s " , not only b e c a u s e of t h e o v e r r i d i n g authority of Rashi and Tosafot, who accept the reading, but also, as we have seen before, that Rebbi Yose accepts the opinion of R. Yehoshua that the years start, and the p a t r i a r c h s and matriarchs were born, in Nissan. The tradition is that the 'Aqedah on Mount Moriah was on the first day of Tishre; there seems to be no d i s s e n t to this o p i n i o n . Therefore, the messenger would have more than 6 months from Haran to Beerseba. In addition, Rashi is a very careful reader of manuscripts who never hesitates to point out readings he finds questionable. But nevertheless, it is difficult to accept the reading "3 years." The text "at that time, Rebecca was born" is found in all manuscripts, whether A s h k e n a z i c , S e p h a r d i c , or

SEDER OLAM

Oriental. This text is the base for the computation of "3 years" as explained. On the other hand, none of the Galilean midrashim has any trace of an opinion that Rebecca married as a toddler; and also the Babylonian Talmud (Yebamot 61b) is clearly of the opinion that Rebecca married as a na'arah, a girl in her puberty, who legally is no longer a minor but has not yet a c q u i r e d the status of an independent adult. This also seems to be implied by the legal language of the verse Gen. 24:16. The Talmud (loc. cit.) has difficulties with reconciling the rule, derived from Gen. 16:3, that a couple after 10 years of childless marriage is obliged to seek ways to have a child with the fact (Gen. 25:20,26) that Isaac w a i t e d 20 y e a r s a f t e r h i s marriage before he was roused to activity. If Rebecca actually was only 3 years of age, the first nine years of her marriage would not count since, for a minor, any pregnancy is a hazard to her health or life (Jebamot 12b). However, t h e Talmud, w h i c h otherwise follows Seder 'Olam very strictly, does not choose this easy way out but instead insists that Isaac was sterile during the first ten years of his marriage. In addition, R. Yose (ben Halafta) is quoted in Pirqe Rebbi Eliezer (Chapter 32) saying "3 years did

J6_

CREATION TO JACOB

Isaac mourn his mother. After 3 years he married Rebecca and forgot the mourning for his mother," without mentioning that he had to wait anyhow since 3 years is the minumum age after which a father can marry off his daughter. Similarly, the Galilean Bereshit rabba (57(2)) mentions that "after these h a p p e n i n g s " (Gen. 22:20) of the 'Aqedah, Abraham realized that he should find a mate for Isaac and was informed of Rebecca's existence, without insisting that it was a notice of her birth. In fact, as explained in the next paragraph, the notice that A b r a h a m received from his family was a notification of his father's death, with the notices on his brother's children being incidental. Therefore, it seems clear t h a t one s h o u l d a c c e p t t h e reading "14 years" as the original reading of Seder 'Olam, as given in Oriental -Sephardic manuscripts. The Tosafot themselves (Yebamot 61b) give the following argument: "Rebbi Samuel (ben Kalonymos) t h e Pious of Speyer p r o v e d t h a t Rebecca was 14 years old since it is stated in Sifry (Dent. # 357, cf. also Bereshit rabba 100(10)): 6 couples lived the same number of years, and among them Kehat and Rebecca. Kehat lived 133 years as given by Scripture (Ex.

SEDER OLAM

T7

SEDER OLAM

17

6:18), and if Rebecca was 14 at the time of her marriage then the computations come out right. When Jacob was born she was then 34 years of age and Jacob was 99 y e a r s old w h e n his mother died (see next Chapter), that makes 133 years. For Jacob was 63 y e a r s old w h e n he received his father's blessing (Seder 'Olam Chapter 2), 14 years he hid in the house of Eber (loc. cit. Megillah 17a), 20 years in Laban's house (Gen. 31:38), 2 years he spent on the road (Seder 'Olam Chapter 2), and at that time Rebecca died (Seder 'Olam C h a p t e r 2) as w e e x p l a i n (Bereshit rabba 81(5), Qohelet rabba 7(2), Tanhuma Teze 4, Tanhuma Buber Wayishlah 26, Pesiqta deR* Kahana Zakhor 24a) "(Gen. 35:8) allon bakhut, aXXov maa ' a n o t h e r c r y i n g ' , two mournings, one for Rebecca and the other one for her wet-nurse; for a total of 99 years. One has to a s s u m e t h a t t h e r e a r e different midrash traditions." We even know that not Rebbi Samuel the Pious is the author of the argument but Rebbi Eliezer ben Natan of Mayence, known as RAVaN (Responsa, #118). He reports to have been a s k e d by Rebbi Samuel ben Kalonymos about the source for the assertion that Rebecca's life was equal in length to that of t

CREATION TO JACOB CREATION TO JACOB

Kehat "and I answered him, it is taught in Seder 'Olam: At the time of the 'Aqedah, Rebecca was born and was married to Isaac at age 4, and Deborah the wet-nurse of Rebecca died (Gen. 35:8) together with Rebecca, and if you compute from the 'Aqedah to the death of Deborah you will find only 123 years and she would have lived 10 years less than Kehat. But certainly, the author of Sifry disagrees with the author of Seder 'Olam and in his opinion she was 10 years old at the time of the 'Aqedah and was married at age 14, or also he might be of the opinion that she was born at the time of the 'Aqedah but he does not accept that she died at the same time as her wet-nurse but lived another 10 years and the entire statement is a tradition (not supported by Scripture)." His interpretation is accepted by the later F r e n c h c o m m e n t a t o r H i z q u n i (Gen. 25:20) as based on the correct r e a d i n g of Seder 'Olam "14 years." As e x p l a i n e d in t h e introduction, it seems that Seder 'Olam is a Babylonian compilation of the school of Rab, based on Rebbi Yose's material. There are also good reasons to accept the a t t r i b u t i o n of t h e editing of Sifry to t h e same school. Therefore, it is most

18

SEDER OLAM

reasonable to accept the reading that Isaac was 26 years old at the time of the 'Aqedah and Rebecca was married at age 14 as t h e

CREATION TO JACOB

original Babylonian text. This is a l s o t h e o p i n i o n of C . J . Milikowski.

>ny nny t?y nrm>:o >3a> V I N m r r j w nap orniK W I N -vqSH J W S J M .riiy io o r n i N W I N - J I N vi^yi npi> o>jy .njy h i n^ywjp-jw vi&Voy) .njy J oy-ni* w:oy npy > inN*)?;) .hjy i n i p\y*ori O-JN-JIN n^ywwpi $

nby

iwxnj} O I K :in tew ,nrnN m W T J obiyiv^D-jiN

o»p in>n ^^VO n^nffi try/pig) afop j ov/l ^ u r forefather Abraham buried his father Terah two years before the death of Sarah. Jacob served Abraham 16 years. It follows that Jacob served Sem for 50 years. S e m served Methuselah 98 years. Methuselah served Adam for 2 4 3 years. I t follows that four men lived in the span of 2 2 Commentary generations and seven men folded the entire world together and saw lived one another, Adam, Jacob, 2. Methuselah, Abraham was Sem, 160 years old 1. Terah to be 205viz., years Amram, Ahiya of Siloh, Elijah, and the latter is still living. when Jacob w a s b o r n (Gen. (Gen. 11:32), a t that moment 25:26), he died at age 175 (Gen. Abraham was 135 years old (Gen. 25:7). Jacob was born 392 + 60 = 11:26) and when Sarah died at 452 years after the Flood. Sem age 127, Abraham was 137. If lived another 502 years ai ter the t h e n o t i c e of T e r a h ' s d e a t h Flood (Gen. 11:10,11). Hence, reached Abraham together with Sem died when Jacob was 50 the information on R e b e c c a ' s years of age. birth, this would be additional 2

3

4

5

s u p p o r t f o r t h e r e a d i n g "14 years" for Rebecca's marriage.

3. We already noted that Methuselah died just before the

SEDER OLAM

19

SEDER OLAM

J9

Flood. Sem was 100 years old two years after the Flood (Gen. 11:10). It seems that the author does not count the year of the Flood among the years of history. Another possibility is that he counts the years of the world from Nissan, following Rebbi Yehoshua, but the Flood from Tishre, following Rebbi Eliezer. In t h a t c a s e , he w o u l d put A r p a k h s h a d ' s b i r t h about 18 months after the Flood, during the second year after the Flood. These problems will be dealt with in Chapter Four.

CREATION TO JACOB CREATION TO JACOB

(Rebbi Shemuel ben grandson of Rashi):

Meir,

4. Adam, who lived to be 930 y e a r s old, was 627 when Methuselah was born.

Talmud: The Rebbis have taught: Seven men folded the world among themselves. Methuselah knew Adam, Sem knew Methuselah, Jacob knew Sem, Amram knew Jacob, Ahiyah of Siloh knew Amram, Elijah knew Aijah of Siloh and he still exists. How could Ahiyah of Siloh h a v e known Amram? Does it not say "and nobody of them was left except for Caleb ben Yephuneh and Joshua bin Nun" (Num. 26:65)? Rab Hamnuna said: the decree of death did not include the tribe of Levi.

5. T h e a s s e r t i o n s h e r e a r e partially based on s c r i p t u r a l verses, partially on interpretations and partially on t r a d i t i o n s not s u p p o r t e d by Scripture. In French texts, one reads of the six men that they "folded the entire world together, saw one another, and studied Torah together"; this addition is an important element of their i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . T h e p i e c e is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba batra 121b) in a discussion of the rights of inheritance of the people who left Egypt, I am giving here the Talmud text and the c o m m e n t a r y of Rashbam

Rashbam: Seven men. This is a baraita in Seder 'Olam and is quoted here since we are dealing with the property rights of Joshua and Caleb and it comes to tell us that these seven, since they were just and studied Torah, folded the world among themselves, i.e., surrounded it so that the world appeared folded among them. Each one of these seven men served his precedessor as it is stated earlier in Seder 'Olam: "It turns out that Jacob served Sem for 50 y e a r s , Sem s e r v e d M e t h u s e l a h f o r 98 y e a r s , Methuselah served Adam for 243

SEDER OLAM

20

years," these statements follow f r o m t h e a c c o u n t of t h e generations that are written in t h e s t o r y of t h e F l o o d . Methuselah died only at t h e beginning of the Flood as it is stated in Heleq (the chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin dedicated to the t h e o l o g y of t h e F u t u r e World, p. 108b): "it was after seven days that the Flood came" (Gen. 7:10), these were the seven days of mourning for Methuselah the Just. At that moment, Sem was 98 years of age as it is written (Gen. 11:10) "Sem was 100 years of age when he had Arpakhshad, two years after the Flood." And Lemekh also knew both Adam and Sem, but he counts only perfectly just people who served one the o t h e r as s t u d e n t s t h e i r master. This Tanna (teacher of the Mishnaic period) is not of the opinion that H a n o k h is M e t a t r o n since otherwise he would have had to say "two people folded the world among themselves," but he is of 1

CREATION TO JACOB

the opinion that the verse (Gen. 5:24) "Hanokh ambled with God and he was no more because God had taken him" means that he died after only half his normal life span, as he a l s o s t a t e s "Hanokh buried Adam and lived after him 57 years, Methuselah ended his life just before the Flood." Amram knew Jacob. This is a reasonable inference since his father Kehat was of those who entered Egypt as it is written (Gen. 46:11) "The sons of Levi Gershon, Kehat and Merari," (Gen. 47:28) "And Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years" and during these 17 years Amram was born since he was Kehat's first son as it is written (Ex. 6:18): "The sons of Kehat were Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uziel." Ahiyah of Siloh knew Amram, Elijah knew Ahijah of Siloh. This is a tradition (unsupported by Biblical verses). This Tanna is not of the opinion that Elijah is

1 M I T C V I O O , the herold announcing the r u l e r (Du Cange, Medieval Greek Glossary I, p. 919), a Medieval term applied to the angel who presides over the four Archangels and who in s e v e r a l Gaonic sources is identified with Hanokh about whom it is said {Gen. 5:24) "Hanokh ambled with God and he was no more because God had taken him." The main source is the Jewish "Book Henoch" (A. Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash, vol. 5, 170-190). In an older midrashic source (Derekh Ere; Zuta I), Hanokh is counted among the nine people who entered the h e a v e n l y Garden of Eden alive, together with Bitya the d a u g h t e r of P h a r a o who rescued Moses and others. Rashbam notes that the author of Seder 'Olam must d i s a g r e e

SEDER OLAM

21

2

identical with Phineas because otherwise he would have said "Moses knew Amram, Phineas knew Moses and he still exists" and he w o u l d not h a v e to mention Ahijah at a l l A slightly different version of Seder 'Olam is quoted in Abot deR. Natan, version 2, Chapter 38, w h e r e Serah the daughter of Asher is substituted for Amram. This eliminates the need for Rav H a m n u n a ' s explanation. The text of Abot deR. Natan seems to be Galilean.

CREATION TO JACOB

By contrast, Rav Hamnuna is one of the foremost students of Rab in Babylonia, a member of the school to whom the editing of Seder 'Olam can be ascribed. To sum up: The assertions p r e s e n t e d in t h i s chapter are all d e r i v e d from Scripture by the method of Rebbi Yose except one which is a reasonable inference and one (Ahijah/Serah and Elijah) or two (Rebecca m a r r i e d at age 14 a c c o r d i n g to B a b y l o n i a n tradition) which are traditions without scriptural justification.

with the authors of Derekh Erei Zuta and the Henoch version of Sefer Hekhalot. 2 This identification is quoted in Yalqut Shim'oni Pinehas in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Laqish from an anonymous midrash; it is presupposed in Tar gum Yerushalmy (Pseudo-Jonathan) to Ex. 4:13, which does not t r a n s l a t e "Please, o Lord, send by anybody You would want to send" but "Please, o Lord, send Phineas who is apt to be sent at the end of days," a reference to Elijah and Mai. 3:23.

•2 Jacob

jib

la .niy it>-*)3 ^ a r i ^ nyya n>p ipv > wan

N©N J R I V ^ IRIRW

s

P^WF*

NIST>tytf» W bNV^v? NYIP#

^V»L

NVAI

Ttt3>J) .5}>N# IMA} 1

Our forefather Jacob was 63 years old when he was blessed . At that time, Ismael died as it says (Gen. 28:6-9): "Esaw saw that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to on the road to Aram to take there a wife for himself, when he blessed him and told him not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. So Jacob listened to his father and mother and he went on the road to Aram. Then Esaw understood that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of his father Isaac. Then Esaw went to Ismael and took Mahalat, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaiot as an additional wife." The verse had no need to mention that she was the sister of Nebaiot. So why does the verse mention that she was the sister of Nebaiot? This teaches you that Ismael betrothed her but then he died and her brother Nebaiot gave her away.

.•uy-JIN vmt?) 19V»» 1* iwnty? ywz apy> W$ ntyy .o>3y onbJ O*>N£ u>a$ ap^> ta*rn> "\m rwa -ojfl I$ ) 2 i8?0 ^"iQly'Kyp) -°nbJ o'lN&'itJ' Nai oyp I) rriruQi^-jiN HTY lOy t .YFT J i m nyy n $ 5) . n ^ . N 3 H I o>pa^ "ft* n!?iw'->ri# o>$ viw Jrin^N^-nis HTYYT? I ^ Y I V T H - ^ ,vpm>p >pn o>}^ fa vr!?tt o>oai^r$a »qnM n^vi ^rwtf? NaV r r i ^ p N*> nriiDO vw apjei npgftf

.OIP^ AWPG O^RI H\$ty 22

SEDER OLAM

JACOB

Our father Jacob then spent 14 years in the Land of Israel hidden, serving Eber. Eber died two years after Jacob's departure for Aram Naharaim. He left and came to Aram Naharaim; hence, he was 77 years of age when he was standing by the well. 20 years he spent in the house of Laban: Seven years before he married the Mothers, seven years after he married the Mothers, and six years after the birth of 11 tribes and Dinah. It turns out that all tribes were born within 7 years (except Benjamin), each one after s e v e n month pregancy. He left Aram Naharaim, came to Sukkoth and spent there 18 m o n t h s as it is said (Gen. 33:17) "Jacob traveled to Sukkoth and built himself a house; for his animals he made huts". He left Sukkoth, came to Beth El and spent there six months sacrificing to the Omnipresent one. 2

3

4

5

Commentary 1. Most statements in this piece are discussed at length in the Babylonian Talmud, t r a c t a t e Megillah, fol. 16b-17a: "Rav Isaac bar Shemuel bar Martha said: The study of Torah is more important than the honor of father and mother since for all the years that Jacob spent in the house of Eber <studying Torah> he was not punished since one said: Why is the length of Ismael's life mentioned ? In order to determine by them t h e c h r o n o l o g y of Jacob's life, since it says (Gen. 25:17): 'Now these are the years of the life of Ismael, 137 years'. How much older was Ismael than Isaac? 14 years, since it says

(Gen. 16:16): ' A b r a m was 86 years old when H a g a r b o r e Ismael for Abram.' And it is written (Gen. 21:5): ' A b r a h a m was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.' It is also written (Gen. 25:26): 'Isaac was 60 years old when they were born." How old was Ismael when Jacob was born? 74 years old! How many of his years w e r e left? 63 years! We did learn: Our father Jacob was blessed at age 63. At that time, Ismael died since it is written (Gen. 28:6): 'Then Esaw understood that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of his father Isaac. Then Esaw went to Ismael and took Mahalat, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaiot as an

SEDER OLAM

a d d i t i o n a l wife.' Since s h e <Mahalat> is characterized as Ismael's daughter, does this not imply that she was N e b a i o t ' s sister? Deborah died. This implies that Rachel died at age 37 and Leah did not live beyond 4 4 years. This implies that Rachel and Leah both married at age 2 2 since they were twin sisters. He <Jacob> came to his father Isaac in the Land of Canaan and served him for 2 2 years and Joseph served him nn n y a >r»>i yw-Jia-JW rmn> Nyj D>p»n ten tpna .ny !?y vviay!? nnN njy :nx\ rrnn> o y 'in rrprp iy\ n i y nyb JIDN m y .rmny n n n y n N y y j ' o ^ y < ny b^T) jinN niy .tpahrjpa n$)o!?N >ay> JinN njy oa>y liiKb nrw bnan V u r ^ ™ay!? NNK my .y w-na njpra B>p>n lan*)^ nr>N njy in*n> JIDN niy .h* n n ny* Nyji o>)y t >n9

xanyw? Vr^ !n»m lv^m Inorte During that time Judah married Bat Shua as it is said (Gen. 38:1-2): "It was at that time that Judah separated from his brothers and he turned to an Adullamite man by the name of Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a trader by the name of Shua, he married her and went into her." One year for the pregnancy of Er. Er grew up to be seven years old when he married; this makes eight years [from the sale of Joseph]. One year for Ert's marriage], one year for Onan who married his brother's widow, one year for (Gen. 38:11) "remain as a widow in your father's house", one year for (loc. cit. 12) "after some time, Bat Shua, the wife of Judah, died." One year for the pregnancy of Perez. Perez grew up to be seven years old when he married, this makes 18 years [from the sale of Joseph]. One year for Hezron, one year for Hamul; Hezron and Hamul descended into Egypt. oijnaN tm.j n$a .oto TIN i>thn p ri MOSH HJIN ia N S V D njy-TW)? la^n i a > a n p w i o>?y nyy rnyr? .n^y ninsp 5Si$ oirnht rvni n$y o^yy^riarj'nny-ONi .n K>riy n)py nr)JiNipD n^y? n y * *n Nyy) n."m ^ ).mnfl!? rny o>)y m 'y;p>N iN>ny RRIN p Qto!prp) bnjiri nat??!p ny$ .niy JION '3\y!?ap n)y *w np o>ao nim> ^N %>oy ino* y\ni a n n^p? naib n^a niy T

T

T

T

SEDER OLAM

22

JACOB

Similarly it is said (Gen. 11:27): "Haran generated Lot." How much older is Abraham than Sarah? Ten years, at it is said (Gen. 17:17): "He said to himself: Can there be a child for one a hundred years old, and about Sarah, can a ninety year old one give birth?" How much older is Abraham than Nahor? [At least] a year. How much older is Nahor than Lot? [At least] a year. Haran grew up to be six years old when he married a wife. One year for Lot, one year for Jessica who is Sarah. Why is her name Jessica (MO?)? Because everybody stared (HDO) at her as it is said (Gen. 12:15): "The ministers of Pharao saw her and praised her to Pharao." Another explanation: Jessica because she saw (nao) in prophecy as it is said (Gen. 21:12): "Listen to everything Sarah will say to you."

o n n a N ] *3\y njy *>* i a ^ y nvya njn w>aN o r n a N

nr>© m y] ruy fw)p ia njn .w 1t?1»ria njy VWT\) o>yyrr)5 apV21 rijy bp ia run pns? / w nny »n vn?i w njy ftp ni }yx\ v»o ap^> >£> vri?i w riiy *op ia T

4

:

4

Our father Abraham was 99 years old when he circumcized himself as it is said (Gen. 17:24): "Abraham was 99 years old when he had circumcized the flesh of his foreskin." He died at age 175 and Sarah died at age 127 as it is said (Gen. 23:1): "The life span of Sarah was 100 years and 20 years and 7 years, the years of the life of Sarah." Isaac died at age 180, Jacob died at age 147 at it is said (Gen. 47:28): "The days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years."

Commentary The general problem addressed in the first two sections here is how to deal with events that do not fit the time frame appearing in Scripture. At t h e sale of Joseph, Judah a p p e a r s as the leader among the brothers. Then it is told that he separated from

his brothers, married, had three children, lost his wife, after some time had twin sons from his daughter-in-law, and then had grandchildren from one of his twins who descended with him into Egypt (Gen. 46:12), all in the short time of 20 years. If Judah

SEDER OLAM

had married before the sale of Joseph, the problem would disappear. If Hezron and Hamul were twins, t h e c o m p u t a t i o n would no longer be valid. Similarly, while Milkah in Gen. 11:29 is identified as Nahor's wife, her sister Jessica is mentioned only once in the Bible. This s e e m i n g l y m e a n i n g l e s s identification is t h e basis of m i d r a s h i c i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of Jessica and Sarah, found in both Galilean and Babylonian sources. However, the identification introduces the problem that Abraham married his niece, the daughter of his youngest brother, who was only 10 years younger than he was himself [in addition to c o n t r a d i c t i n g the e x p l i c i t statement (Gen. 20:12) that Sarah was the paternal half-sister of Abraham.] Without the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of Jessica and S a r a h , t h e r e w o u l d b e no problem. One has to note that the two sections here are not quoted in any of the Talmudim. The reason is that they contradict s t a t e m e n t s of l a w . Both Talmudim agree that the definition of "man" is a male who is able to have children. The Babylonian Talmud deals with the problem in tractate Sanhedrin (fol. 69b) in connection with the statement that the laws of the rebellious son (Deut. 49:18-21) can apply only d u r i n g a maximum of three months in the

34

JACOB

lifetime of a person since a minor cannot be punished and he cannot be a son, p , when he is an adult male, ur»K The contents of the second section h e r e a r e quoted in the Talmud to prove that a six year old male could have children but the language differs and the discussion is in the name of an early Galilean Amora, Rebbi Isaac, and not in the name of Seder 'Olam. The Talmud disagrees with the statement that Haran must have impregnated his wife at age six and notes that, even if we accept the identification of Jessica and Sarah, it is possible that Haran was the oldest brother and that the list of Terah's sons given in Gen. 11:27 might be by order of importance, not their age. It is noted that in the two lists of the daughters of Zelofhad (Nu. 20:33, 36:11) the order of the names is not the same, hence, at least one of the lists is not chronological. The Jerusalem Talmud discusses the problem in Yebamot 10:14 (fol. l i b ) and its parallel Qiddushin 1:2 (fol. 59c) in the d i s c u s s i o n of t h e baraitha (quoted also in the Babylonian Talmud Niddah 47a): "If a boy between the ages of 9 years and 1 day, and 12 years and one day, grows pubic hair it is as if he grew a wart. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Jehudah says: these (pubic hair) are signs of puberty." The problem is important because levirate marriage, the marriage

SEDER OLAM

of a man to w i d o w of his childless b r o t h e r , c a n be performed only by the sexual act (Deut. 25:5). This act must be p e r f o r m e d by a man and it cannot be replaced by a rabbinic ceremony. The Babylonian Talmud does not go into the details of the question since there is a series of mishnayot in tractate Yebamot that spell out q u i t e c l e a r l y that a sex act performed by a boy of age at least 9 years and 1 day is a sex act w h e r e a s any such act performed by a younger boy ( e v e n o n e d a y y o u n g e r ) is nothing at all. The Jerusalem Talmud, in c o n t r a s t , gives a detailed justification: "Rebbi Judah bar Pazi in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Jehudah learned from A h a z , as w e h a v e a tradition that Ahaz produced a son when he was 9 years old, Haran at age 6, Caleb at age 10 if we identify Caleb ben Hezron and Caleb ben Yephuneh." The statement is somewhat difficult since the sources (2Chr. 28:1, 2Kings 16:2) state that Ahaz died at age 36 when his son Hezekiah was 25 years old (2Chr. 29:1, 2Kings 18:2). At first look, it seems that Ahaz made his wife pregnant when he was 10 years old. The statement about Haran is taken from Seder 'Olam or from a parallel source, but for practical (halakha) purposes, it is disregarded. The s t a t e m e n t

35

JACOB

about C a l e b is a l s o in t h e Babylonian Talmus (Sanhedrin, loc. cit.). A third source is the Targum, the Aramaic translation of C h r o n i c l e s t r a d i t i o n a l l y ascribed to Rav Joseph, that identifies the wife of Caleb ben Hezron with the "wise woman" who spun goat's wool when it was still on the goats (Ex. 35:25). In Chronicles (IChr. 2:18,20), the family t r e e of B e z a l e l , t h e builder of the T a b e r n a c l e , is given as Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, son of Caleb, son of Hezron. If Hezron is the son of Perez the son of Jehudah, there is no problem. If Caleb is Caleb ben Yephuneh, then we know (Jos. 14:7) that he was 40 years old when he went as a spy. Hence, he was 39 years old when the T a b e r n a c l e was built. Bezalel must have been at least 13 years old when he built the Tabernacle as an adult. Hence, Caleb, Hur, and Uri must have had children at an average age of 8 years. But, as said before, the identification of Caleb ben Hezron and Caleb ben Yephuneh is not assured. In any case, the talmudic Sages decided that a male child cannot have children prior to age 9, but the e x a m p l e of Ahaz shows that he can have children at age 9 and one day (since the entire tenth year is called "10 years"). This is the only case of Biblical male personalities having children before reaching

SEDER OLAM

JACOB

_36_

their teens that is clear without recourse to doubtful identifications and computations. As far as our text here is concerned, it is impossible at this moment to decide between two possibilities. It is possible that the entire p a r a g r a p h d e a l i n g with Haran was not in Seder 'Olam that was before the editors of the Babylonian Talmud. This conjecture is supported by then fact that the language of t h e Talmudic reference to Haran is very different from the language of Seder 'Olam and the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of Jessica and Sarah is given t h e r e by an independent a u t h o r i t y of t h e second generation of Amoraim . The identification of Caleb ben Hezron and Caleb ben Yephuneh is also stated in the Babylonian Talmud Sotah l i b ; there Ephrat, the wife of Caleb, is identified with Miriam, the sister of Moses, 1

who would have been 48 years old at Caleb ben Y e p h u n e h ' s birth! The identification of the two Calebs is only an opinion in the Jerusalem Talmud. In the Babylonian Talmud it becomes a generally accepted statement. I am inclined in seeing in t h e treatment of the subject in the Babylonian Talmud a d i r e c t derivative of the discussion in the Y e r u s h a l m i since the paragraph about Haran is found in all manuscripts of Seder 'Olam. O n e may u n d e r s t a n d t h e treatment of the subject in Seder 'Olam by noting that, in the opinion of R. Yose, Scripture will mention Haran twice in order not to let a modifier dangling but to give us important information. Therefore, the identification of Haran (the brother of Abraham) with Haran (the father of Jessica) is for him explicit in Scripture. 2

1 See Diqduqe Soferim ad loc. 2 Cf. my paper (in Hebrew): The Yerushalmi as basis for the Babli Sinai 83 (5738 = 1978), pp. 191-192. %

3 Covenant and Slavery

qyn* n>ii? nr>? Vix\ yvp o n w V3 o ^ t f ? no*? new PO*?^ ro#? p^>i pn*p n\ ynt n*n# noK ap# w i ^ i .onto rr#a n # o w i a piS^i nnN i v k >ivi 'iw i^to pna intoa^ ain m i npy MIL?? rijab) .onp ^ rp^tovp my to© KVT 1 ? .nn»nov^onp 4

T

T

And Joseph and all his brothers died. You do not find among all the tribes one whose life was shorter than that of Joseph, and you do not find among all the tribes one who lived longer than Levi . All the time that Levi was alive, Israel was not enslaved in Egypt as it says (Ex. 1:6): "And Joseph and all his brothers died, all that generation." (Ex. 1:8): "There arose a new king in Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph." [After that Levi died, the Egyptians started to enslave them. From here they said (Sabbat 105b): "If one of brothers dies, all brothers should worry. If one of a company dies, all members of the company should worry." (Ex. 1:7): "The children of Israel were fruitful like vermin etc" (Ex. 1:8): "There arose a new king in Egypt etc"] It turn out that from the death of Levi to the 1. At thewere end of Genesis other extended brothers. For author of Exodus 116 years.(50:26) The slavery notthe more than it is stated that Joseph told his Seder 'Olam, f o l l o w i n g h i s that time and not less that 86 years, the age of Miriam at the b r o t h e r s "I am d y i n g , " t h i s principle that "Scripture does not Exodus, since she was named for come the bitterness. implies that the other brothers to hide but to explain," this 1

2

3

Commentary were still a l i v e . Except for means t h a t 110 a n d 133 Joseph, who died at a g e 110 represents the extremes of the (Gen. 50:26), and Levi, who died ages of the brothers. at age 137 (Ex. 6:16), we have no Jacob was born in year notice about the life span of the 60 after the decree of slavery, he

SEDER OLAM

married in the year 60+84 = 144, his third son Levi was born in 147 and died in year 147+137 = 284. Hence, there were another 116 years to 400. 2. The sentences in brackets are missing in all Ashkenazic and Oriental manuscripts, as well as in the quote from Seder 'Olam in Midrash Hagadol. Hence, it is a gloss t h a t s l i p p e d i n t o t h e manuscript used by the printer of the editio princeps. 3. R. Elia Wilna and R. Jacob Emden, in their editions emend "86" to "87". This emendation is impossible, t h e number 86 is given not only in all manuscripts but also in Midrash Hagadol (Ex. p. 10). The age of Miriam is not given in Scripture but she is considered to h a v e been t h e oldest of Amram's children. She died in the same year that Moses died when he was 120. There are only two women mentioned in the Pentateuch about whose life span we have more

41

COVENANT AND SLAVERY

information, Sarah, who died at age 127, and R e b e c c a w h o according to Sifri died at age 133. If one identifies the age of Miryam with that of Rebecca, she would have been 13, a rather old age for an unmarried girl as which she appears in Ex. 2:4. Therefore, the author seems to have decided to equate the life span of Miryam to that of Sarah, and she was 7 at the birth of Moses and, at the Exodus she was 87. This is the reason for the emendation but it is unnecessary since one day after the birthday is already counted as the next year. The etymology of t h e name Miriam from i n n ) merur "bitterness" is also found in Shir rabba 2(24), but t h e r e t h e language shows that it is clearly a marginal gloss, copied from Seder 'Olam, that has entered the text. There exist other etymologies, either from Hebrew mor "myrrh" or Arabic ra'im "to love tenderly."

SEDER OLAM

COVENANT AND SLAVERY

42

<w o>p>7s;i >b:n n1s3 HOB irn^sp i^nrn ira>bte oarm nflN liiD niaa w v s y >P bahf /V:n b>yyn orrioyi o>r»>r.n toni^A Vpnp>3N^) V9>5t)??) nnwpcn &*pv?¥oJ IP nnin v# b n p i N r n b>r>pn n?nria naavA b>»no ^ N ? oci>3fl? Jibyi} oarpa o>pan n:n by iwvbpn ovpn>) o>pyn liy Nbm m y \ m w ) 'by b>p£iy >p!?iy!? naina o>Di™ bia^p bwy niba!? ayix) <w pba ib] n£a biNyy MbN ?on£ >p .bwy irib3!p ori^sn orryisi nbap ibntp X> uva NbN bnat y>H) ,ib bta-^p jy btotb onn> w y D y >DSP .:jb bta* n>a >r»>3a riba 'iy w^pn T

r

4

4

The Egyptian plagues were for 12 months, as it is said (Ex. 5:12): "The people dispersed all over Egypt to collect straw as building material." When does one find straw? In the month of Iyar! And they left [in Nisan]. Therefore, the Egyptians were smitten with 10 plagues during 12 months. The plagues came over Job during 12 months, as it is said (Job 7:3): "So months of nothingness I was made to inherit and nights of worry they counted for me." Just as nights were for their count, so months were for their count. The judgment of Gog in the future will be 12 months as it is said (Is. 18:6): "They will be abandoned together for the mountain birds of prey and the animals of the land; in summer the birds of prey will flock to them and all the animals of the earth will winter on them." The judgment of the evildoers in hell is 12 months as it is said (Is. 66:23): "And it will be from month to month etc" Rebbi Yohanan ben Nuri said: from Passover to Pentecost, as it is said (loc. cit) "and from holiday to holiday," After 12 months, the souls of Jewish sinners who transgressed Torah and commandments disappears and their bodies decompose, they become ashes, hell expels them, the wind disperses them under on as thewell for those the example, feet evildoers, who day as ofthose deny separate the that (Sadducees,) for Just Iwho the they shall as themselves resurrection cause it will create, isinformers, said be terror ashes says (Mai. from of in the under hypocrites the 3:21): the the Eternal dead, Land the Jewish "You feet and those of ofwill community, Hosts." the of epicureans, who suppress the Living, Just, But say 5

6

7

SEDER OLAM

43

COVENANT AND SLAVERY

that Torah is not of divine origin and Jews who scoff at the words of the sages, will be locked in hell and they will be judged in it forever as it is said (Is. 66:24): "They shall go out and look at the corpses of the men who sin against me, for their worm shall not die and their fire not burn out; they shall be an object of repulsion for all flesh." Not only that, but hell may wear out but they will not wear out as it is said (Ps. 49:15): "And their shapes will wear out hell, not to be his dwelling," from His dwelling (zebul) He will wear out their forms but their forms will wear out hell. What caused this for them? That they lifted their hands against zebul (dwelling), as it is said: "His dwelling" and zebul always means the Temple as it is said (1 Kings 8:13): "I certainly built a zebul house for You."

Commentary 4. The addition [in Nisan] is n e c e s s a r y a n d found in a l l manuscripts. It fell out of the first printed edition by accident. Straw is found on the fields only a short time after the harvest. After t h a t it is g a t h e r e d or plowed under. However, it is not clear that in Egypt also the grain harvest is in late spring. 5. T h e v e r s e is from t h e beginning of the book of Job. It implies an atemporal interpretation of Scripture that really is in contradiction to the general tenor of the composition. 6. In the apocalyptic vision of Ezechiel, Gog is the representant of t h e anti-messianic f o r c e s (Chapters 38, 39). Gog and his

army will be ultimately defeated in the Land of Israel. The dead will be so numerous that it will take seven months to bury them all (Ez. 39:12). The quoted verse from Isaiah belongs to a very cryptic chapter announcing messianic times when even the p e o p l e that live beyong t h e Hindukush mountains will bring gifts to God in Jerusalem. The t h e m e is set by v. 3: "All inhabitants of the dry land and those who live on earth will see when the banner is raised and will hear when the shofar is blown." The translation of the verse quoted in Seder 'Olam follows Rashi's interpretation in his commentary to Isaiah. 7. There are three sources for

SEDER OLAM

this piece: the passage here in Seder 'Olam, a full parallel in Tosephta Sanhedrin 13, and an e x t e n s i v e q u o t e in the Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 17a. In the Jerusalem Talmud we find only a s h o r t q u o t e (Sanhedrin 10:3, f o l . 2 9 b ) : "Yehudah, t h e son of R e b b i Hizqiah, and Rebbi say: The Holy One, praise to Him, judges the evildoers in hell for 12 months. At the start He puts into them itch, then they are put into fire and howl *oy, oy'; Afterwards, they are put into snow and howl 'vey, vey\ What is the reason? (Ps. 40:3) *He raised me from the noisy pit, from yawen clay.' What is yawen clay? A place where they say *ya, ya, wen, wen'. After they have received their punishment, should they not partake of Future Life? Because of (Prov. 13:1) T h e scoffer will not listen to admonition' (they have no p a r t in t h e f u t u r e world)." It is not clear whether t h e last s e n t e n c e r e f e r s to evildoers in general or to the generation of the Flood of which the Talmud speaks earlier. The etymology and exact meaning of ]V yawen is unknown. The name of the second tradent is missing. It c a n n o t be "Rebbi," R e b b i Jehudah the Prince, since Yehudah, the son of Hizqiah, is the grandson of Rebbi's student Rebbi Hiyya. In any case, the piece in the Jerusalem Talmud is r

44

COVENANT AND SLAVERY

not derived from any version of the Seder 'Olam or the Tosephta, since t h e d i s c u s s i o n in t h e Yerushalmi is strictly from the Amoraic period whereas in the other three, parallel and almost identical, sources the discussion is attributed to Tannaitic sources. This is another indication that the version of the Tosephta in our hands is Babylonian. In the Tosephta and the Babylonian Talmud, we find a discussion between the schools of Shammai and Hillel. According to the school of Shammai, the perfectly just come immediately to Eternal Life, the perfectly bad are condemned immediately to eternal suffering, and ordinary p e o p l e go down to hell but whistle and rise to Eternal Life. According to the school oi Hillel, God's a b u n d a n t g r a c e s a v e s ordinary people from hell and they enter Eternal Life immediately. The general exception are "Jewish sinners through their bodies and Gentile sinners through their bodies" who are punished for 12 months and then destroyed. These are the "evildoers" in the formulation of Seder 'Olam. The Talmud explains "Jewish sinners through their bodies" to mean "people who never put on tefillin". The inclusion of G e n t i l e s in t h e formulation of the Tosephta seems rather to point to people who sin by their bodies, that is, commit sexual crimes. The

SEDER OLAM

_45_

second exception, in the opinion of the school of Hillel and of our text in Seder 'Olam, a r e t h e people who are a danger to the community; these are condemned to perpetual torture. The first category on the list, Sadducees, do not f a l l u n d e r this classification and is not found in the manuscripts. "Sadducees" in texts printed under C h r i s t i a n censorship is a usual catchword for o r i g i n a l J \ r » " J e w i s h Christians" or on»wa "apostates"; manuscript texts of all t h r e e sources have one or the other or both instead of "Sadducees". In addition, most sources add "those who lead the community into sin, like Jeroboam and Ahab." The entire theory of 12 months' punishment is due to Rebbi Aqiba who is reported in

COVENANT AND SLAVERY

Mishnah 'Idiut 2:10 to h a v e declared: "Five things are of 12 months duration: The judgment of the generation of the Flood was 12 months, the trials of Job were 12 months, the plagues of the Egyptians were 12 months, the judgment of Gog and Magog in the future will be 12 months, the judgment of the evildoers in h e l l is 12 m o n t h s ( R e b b i Yohanan ben Nuri declares the latter to be from Passover to Pentecost)." The commentators of this mishnah all refer to Seder 'Olam for the details. Since R. Yose ben Halaphta was one of the last students of R. Aqiba, the inclusion of the list in Seder 'Olam is acceptable. The text of the Tosephta is not derived from Seder 'Olam, neither is Seder 'Olam from the Tosephta.

4

The Flood

/in ro >»o!p n^y rriNjo yy njya yih a>-ba n>ri tna©o D7Na >nn irp-Nb VJ^J )?H) Nan bbiyb v?n IV>N inVn >iy wny m Ynhb a >?y s yiha yyin> .obyb ijyy >9in TiypW np>D lai oVlvn ioaS lay ^ J^y^avnpvv>ynayoippoon>'y^&-r»N iay nyri> >.>y wny ]iynn© m vnhb t*a >iyo vnna nptit .ny>:n by r>3£\ nrpn K>JTJ n^iv* npp iai o^iyr) Nnaj .jiianpnb yyirp n^nrn biagb ^ V ^ t t TiTO W < n 1

Q >

1

The Deluge was all of twelve months since it is said (Gen. 7:11): "In the year 6 0 0 of Noah's life, on the 17th of the second month, on that exact day, there broke open all sources of the great deep and the sluices of heaven were opened." Its generation will not partake of the Future World and will not be judged as it is said (Gen. 6:3): "My spirit shall not judge this mankind forever." Rebbi Jehoshua says, the 17th of the second month that is the 17th of Iyar, second to Nisan in which the world was created and in which the Pleiads disappear but since they perverted their ways the Holy One, praise to Him, perverted nature for them . Rebbi Eliezer says, Commentary the 17th of the second month that is the 17th of Marheshwan, 1. This chapter is the of the previous one, detailing the second to Tishre in continuation which the world was created and in which the Pleiads appear, and it was the start of the winter rains. The sages accept the words of46R. Eliezer for the Deluge but the words of R. Jehoshua for the computation of seasons. 2

3

4

SEDER OLAM

12 months of the Deluge. By comparison of Gen. 7:11 and 8:14 it f o l l o w s t h a t t h e D e l u g e continued for 12 lunar months and 11 days, i.e., a full solar year. 2. The s t a t e m e n t about the exclusion of the generation of the Deluge from future life is a Mishnah (Sanhedrin 10:3); that they will not be judged means they will not be judged in the future but they w e r e totally punished during the Deluge, in that their souls were e x t i n g u i s h e d a s s o u l s of e v i l d o e r s , and t h e i r b o d i e s destroyed at the same time. The Mishnah in the Jerusalem Talmud (fol. 29b) e x p r e s s e s t h i s as follows: "The generation of the Deluge h a v e no p a r t in t h e World to Come and will not see the future." 3. The discussion of R. Jehoshua and R. Eliezer is r e p o r t e d in detail in the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah l l b - 1 2 a . The Talmud of Jerusalem follows R. Eliezer in everything; it is stated (Ta'aniot 1:3, fol. 64a): "Rabbi Abba Mari the brother of Rebbi Yose: All are agreed that the 17th is the time of disappearance of the Pleiads, at that time the Deluge started." The Rebbi Yose mentioned here is not R. Yose bar H a l a p h t a , t h e tanna and collector of the m a t e r i a l for Seder 'Olam, but an amora of the fourth g e n e r a t i o n , about 100

47

THE FLOOD

years after R. Yose bar Halaphta. He always appears w i t h o u t a mention of his father's name, but the complicated appellation of his brother, X b r o t h e r of Y, means that the brother, who is of minor importance in the Talmud, cannot be called by his father's name. Hence, the father's name must have been Abba Mari and the tradent was a posthumous child. Because of the tragedy involved in a name "X son of X," the Talmudim go to great lengths to avoid such names. Seder 'Olam and t h e Babylonian Talmud accept the statement of R. Jehoshua that the world was created in Nissan and follow R. Eliezer only in counting years, which is a m a t t e r of convention and common usage. Rashi (Rosh Hashanah 12a, s.v. "the sages of Israel") comments: "The sages of Israel count the Deluge according to R. Eliezer, i.e., they are counting the years of Noah, the years from the Creation, and the generations, following R. Eliezer, they start the count of years from the first of Tishre, not because t h e y b e l i e v e that t h e w o r l d was created in Tishre but that New Year's Day was accepted as the start of the year; the world was created in Nisan as we have been taught 'the words of R. Jehoshua for the computation of seasons', for the computation of equinoxes and solstices we start from Nisan because that was when they were

SEDER OLAM

c r e a t e d and t h e sun s t a r t e d shining at the start of the night of the Fourth Day of Creation, hence a (Julianic) equinox can fall only on a quarter of the day since there is exactly one and a quarter day difference between the (Julianic) equinox of one year and the next one, and in the same way t h e New Moon is computed from the first New Moon in the night of the Fourth Day at 9 hours 742 parts." For Jewish astronomical computations, the (mean) hour is divided into 1080 parts. The details of the computation of the Jewish calendar a c c o r d i n g to Rashi is given in the Addendum to Mahzor Vitry #78 (ed. S. Horovitz, Nlirnberg 1923), it is based on rules for the New Moon of Nisan and is equivalent to our current method based on rules for the day of the New Year, following R. Hiyya, the Prince of Barcelona, and Maimonides. It seems that Rashi's method is the original Babylonian one which places the New Moon of Creation on the Fourth Day, as against the current method that starts the count of time on the Second Day, 5 hours and 204 parts. The Jerusalem Talmud in Rosh Hashanah (1:1, fol. 56b) mentions only R. Eliezer. In 'Abodah zarah (1:2, fol. 39c), in a discussion of Creation, they note simply: "one opinion holds for Tishre, one opinion holds for Nisan," without mentioning any

48

THE FLOOD

names. Also the Galilean midrash (Gen. rabba 33(10)) quotes only the opinion of R. Eliezer. It follows t h a t the o p i n i o n of R. E l i e z e r w a s received in Galilee but that in Babylonia the majority accepted the opinion of R. Jehoshua. It follows not only that Seder 'Olam is a Babylonian compilation but also that the prayer for the New Year's Day, "this is the day of the beginning of Your work," known as "shofar blowing in the house of Rab," is not a composition of Rab in Babylonia but a Galilean prayer. [From what we know of the prayer rites in the school of Rab it followed Galilean practice in most ways, e. g., accepting poetic insertions (piyutim) in standard prayers.] 4. In Antiquity, summer was defined as the time of visibility of the Pleiads; it was the time w h e n n a v i g a t i o n in t h e Mediterranean was considered safe. Hence, the opinion of R. Eliezer seems the more natural. In t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d (Berakhot 58b), t h e P l e i a d s represent cosmic frost, combatting Orion's cosmic heat, and t h e "sluices of h e a v e n " mentioned in the story of the Deluge were opened by pulling two stars from the Pleiads. This is what R. Jehoshua means by "perverting nature," t h a t t h e beginning of summer started a full year of winter.

SEDER OLAM

The entire piece is close to a baraita q u o t e d in t h e Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah l i b : "In Noah's 600th year, on the 17th day of t h e second month. R. Jehoshua says, this was the 17th of Iyar, a day when the sign of kimah (Pleiads) disappears during daytime and the springs diminish but, since they perverted their deeds, the Holy O n e , p r a i s e t o H i m , perverted nature and let the sign of kimah appear during daytime, removed two stars from kimah and brought the Deluge over the world. R. Eliezer says, this was the 17th of Marheshvan, a day when the sign of kimah (Pleiads) appears during daytime and the springs increase but, since they perverted their deeds, the Holy One, praise to Him, perverted nature and let the sign of kimah appear during daytime, removed t w o s t a r s from kimah and brought the Deluge over the world. The teachers have stated: the sages of Israel count from the Deluge like R. Eliezer and for the calendar like R. Jehoshua, the sages of the Gentiles count in everything like R. Jehoshua." It sems that the language of the Seder Vlam is original and t h a t of t h e T a l m u d an elaboration and a deviation from straight astronomical facts. (This is also Rashi's opinion in his commentary on t h e Talmud.) T h e one d i f f e r e n c e is t h a t i n s t e a d of n»*D t h e T a l m u d

49

THE FLOOD

speaks of n»*o bin Now a Vr» is a sign of the Z o d i a c and t h e Pleiads are in Taurus, so n»*D bin is T a u r u s . In g e o c e n t r i c a s t r o n o m y , t h e sun p a s s e s t h r o u g h e a c h one of t h e 12 houses of the Zodiac once in a year (not taking into account the precession of the equinoxes), and the sun is in Aries in Nisan, in Taurus in Iyar. However, one should not correct the text of Seder Vlam by the text of the Talmud. The more concise text of Seder Vlam is t h e m o r e correct one. One has to note that the identification of Hebrew no*D with Greek Pleiads (also for the occurrence of the word in the book of Job 9:9) is a tradition accepted both by Rashi and Ibn Janah. However, Ibn Ezra (und R. David Qimhi, s.v. on>) quote older authorities to the effect that kimah is a group of seven stars at the end of Aries that look like six. In Ibn Ezra's own opinion, kimah is a single, large star known as Taurus's left eye. From the text of Ibn Ezra and a G e o n i c r e m a r k in R a s h i ' s explanation of the Talmud it seems that they identify kimah with the last three stars in Aries [numbers 8,9,10 in Ptolemy's star catalogue as given in Ptolem&us, Handbuch der A s t r o n o m i c Deutsche Ubersetzung von K. Manitius. Teubner, Leipzig 1963; vol. 2, p. 44. The last of these stars is at (27°. i°500, the first star

SEDER OLAM

THE FLOOD

.50-

of T a u r u s at ( 2 6 ° 2 0 \ -6°).] Gentile astronomers follow Ptolemy in s t a r t i n g t h e y e a r approximately at the beginning of March (similar to old Roman practice), the start of the reign of

the Assyrian king Nabonassar, the first one from whom we have systematic astronomical observations. This agrees more or less with the opinion of R. Jehoshua.

,ina O > D Y W D>yySiT) yipwp V7)?1v vr) O>®JT} .lypa inn (Gen. 7:12): 'The rain was on the earth for forty days and forty nights" until when? Forty days and forty nights until the 27th of Kislev . (Gen. 6:24): "The waters were strong over the earth for 150 days" until when? Until the first of Sivan; the waters were standing quietly and the evildoers were punished in them, every one according to his deeds . (Gen. 8:3): "The waters diminished after 150 days," (Gen. 8:5): "The waters diminished steadily until the tenth month; at the first day of the tenth (month), the peaks of the mountains became visible. " The waters were 15 cubits over the earth, they diminished by one cubit e v e r y 4 days, one and a half handwidth per day. 1

2

3

Commentary 1. Since it was already decided that the Sages accept R. Eliezer's v i e w of t h e D e l u g e , t h e following computations follow R. Eliezer only. T h e facts and definitions about calendar computations needed here a r e given in the Appendix to this book. According to the compiler

of Seder 'Olam, a year about which nothing special is asserted is a simple (12 months), regular year (of 354 days) a n d t h e l e n g t h s on m o n t h s are alternatingly 29 and 30 days following the standard Jewish calendar. Hence, Marheshvan is short and 40 days a f t e r 17

SEDER OLAM

THE FLOOD

51

M a r h e s h v a n ist t h e 2 7 t h of Kislev and 151 days afterwards is the first of Sivan (3 + 29 + 30 + 29 + 30 + 2 9 + 1 = 151). 2. A Mishnah (Sanhedrin 107a) states that the generation of the Deluge has no part in the World to Come and are not judged. Rab Hisda explains (loc. cit. 108b) that the waters of t h e d e e p w e r e boiling hot and the generation of the Deluge was judged in that boiling water. 3. The peaks of the mountains were first sighted on the first of Ab, the 10th month, 60 days (29 + 30 + 1 = 60) after the first of Sivan. It appears that the author of Seder 'Olam subscribes to the

theory of a flat earth, therefore he attributes equal sinking of the water level to all days. For a spherical model, t h e first days would yield slower sinking than the last days. Spherical shape of the earth is explicitly mentioned in t h e Talmud of J e r u s a l e m (Abodah zarah 3:1, fol. 42c) but not in the Babylonian Talmud. Since it took 60 days for t h e water level to sink 15 cubits, it sank 1 cubit in 60/15 = 4 days. Then it took another 60 days, until the first of Tishre, for the water to d i s a p p e a r from t h e surface of the earth. Hence, the water line of the arc must have been 15 cubits above ground on the first of Ab; see t h e next piece.

i?>njie nrifctyrn ,n>p m ,ov t>a >yayii «nha nano njr»i H7) .oi> nyy nyy!? n ^ i !)t<xr?) ,T)>)? o>)?yj.b ipo^Vp iro>?> rpna m>py>? nrpri r\rpo) nioK i V w ? p n^'aa nri>ri TDQD . n i p * N> o > ® o

(Gen. 8:4): The arc came to rest of the 17th of the Seventh Month, that is Sivan. If you start to count after the stopping of the rains it turns out to be 16 days. Hence, how much was (its bottom) distant from the earth? 4 cubits! And how much was its draught? 11 cubits. m yv3 n i o n £ o?©o to'rmriy ^p!? .oi> o>ya*}N >(P£ T\*$ *xx\ anivrriiK n ^ i *w n^>nrj iten-rw cti nr»sn nona vfy n ^ ) .-riy ity* ^ 9V* njlnrn^'n^i a y n\ o n ^ o > y r q my v n r £ IQH$ lytyVfr o n ^ i i >yxn T

n

SEDER OLAM

SEDER OLAM

a*a it^rs

52.

THE FLOOD

52.

THE FLOOD

.*n>> o>»yan li^nnnyyp rm)p> t»nri© njwvto o>®rj w>a} nyria iny *TV| 4

(Gen. 8:6): "It was at the end of forty days" after the waters started to recede "that Noah opened the window of the arc that he had made." (Gen. 8:7): "He sent forth the Raven who went and came until the waters dried out from the earth." He waited seven days (Gen. 8:8-9) "and sent the Dove out from him to see whether the waters had become light on the earth. But the Dove did not find a resting place for its feet and returned to him to the arc." He waited another seven days (Gen. 8:10-11) "and sent the Dove another time from the arc. The Dove came to him towards evening with an olive leaf torn in its mouth." He waited another seven days (Gen. 8:12) "and sent the Dove away who did not continue to return to him" but went and rested on the mountain tops. (Gen. 8:5): "In the tenth month at the tenth of the month the mountain tops became visible," this is A b if one starts to count from the beginning of the rains. The waters were absorbed from the Commentary first of Ab to the first of Tishre. 5

4. The problem here is t h a t according the Biblical narrative it would seem that Noah waited 40 d a y s ( v . 6) a f t e r t h e reappearance of the mountain tops (v.5) before sending out the birds. It seems unreasonable to assume that he would voluntarily stay cooped up in the arc longer than n e c e s s a r y . Hence, the interpretation is that t h e "40 days" are counted from the day the waters started to recede. If one adds the three weeks for the mission of the birds, one sees that the Dove left the arc for the

last time on day 61 of the sinking of the waters, one day after the mountain tops had become visible. Hence, it could rest on the mountain tops. The details of Rashi's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n in his commentary on the Pentateuch follow the reasoning of Seder 'Olam. 5. Ab really is the 11th month if one starts to count from Tishre. Hence, the count must start at Marheshvan. The entire computation, to the end of this chapter, is also quoted in Chapter

SEDER OLAM

THE FLOOD

53

33 of Genesis rabba.

(Gen. 8:13): "It was in the one and sixhundredth year, in the first [month], on the first of the month." We learn from here that part of a month is counted as a month. We learn that from the first of a month one counts a full month, and from the start of a month of a new year one counts the full year since part of the month is like the entire month and part of the year is like the entire year. "The surface of the earth had dried". The water that can come from above were dissolved by the wind and those that had come from below were absorbed where they were, but the earth was still moist and had the consistency of thick soup. They waited and did not sow until the rains came because the waters of the Deluge were a curse and no blessing is contained in a curse.

Commentary Here, the months are again the months of a year, s t a r t i n g in Tishre (or eventually in Nisan). There is an extensive discussion of the problem in question in the Babylonian Talmud (Rosh Hashanah lOa-lla) and a short one in the Jerusalem Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 1:1, fol. 56b). In the Babylonian Talmud, we find a discussion between Rebbi Meir and his c o n t e m p o r a r y Rebbi

Elazar (ben Shamua). According to R. Meir, a year is counted full (e.g., in the count of regnal years) if only one day of the year has passed but according to R. Elazar 30 days have to pass before a year is counted as full. The formulation of the Seder 'Olam is ambiguous, intentionally formulated not to decide betwen the two opinions. The repetition "since part of the month is like

SEDER OLAM

the entire month and part of the year is like the e n t i r e year" seems to be superfluous and is a b s e n t in most A s h k e n a z i c manuscripts but is justified in view of the discussion of t h e Babylonian T a l m u d . In t h e Jerusalem Talmud, the opinion held by R. Elazar ben Shamua in t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d is a s c r i b e d to R. E l i e z e r ben Hyrkanos, preceding R. Meir and R. E l a z a r by a l m o s t t w o

_54_

THE FLOOD

generations. Since the rest of the c h a p t e r is also following R. Eliezer, a separate discussion here would be unnecessary. This is again an indication that the final editor of Seder 'Olam was Babylonian. In the opinion of Genesis rabba, Noah and his sons tried to work the earth after their exit of the arc but they could not before the next rains since the waters of the Deluge were cursed.

(Gen. 8:14): "And in the second month, on the 27th of the month," that is Marheshvan, "the earth dried up." That makes in all 12 full months and another 11 days. What is the nature of these? It teaches us that the solar year is 11 days longer than the lunar year. R. Elazar said: But is it not from Creation that the solar year is 11 days longer than the lunar year since they were both created full on the 15th. Deduct from here 4, you arrive at 11. They said to him: But after the first intercalation the moon reaches the sun again. He said to them: It is always periodical and returns. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He who wants to determine the excess of the solar year over the lunar year should make an incision at the

SEDER OLAM

THE FLOOD

5£

time of the summer solstice and the next year the shadow will not reach there until 11 days afterwards. From that you will know that the solar year is 11 days longer than the lunar year.

Commentary The opinion of the anonymous first tanna is clear: Noah entered t h e a r c on t h e 1 7 t h of Marheshvan and left it on the 27th of the same month one year later. Including the starting day that is one year and 11 days, but, according to the theory of R. Aqiba, it must be exactly one year. Hence, the year is a solar year and 11 days longer than the lunar year if the latter is taken to be simple and regular and if one c o u n t s only full d a y s . [However, t h e J u l i a n i c y e a r (known in Jewish sources as based on Samuel's solstices) is only 10 days, 21 hours, 204 parts longer than the mean 12 month lunar year. The solar year of the Metonic cycle is a little more than 11 days and one hour longer than the mean 12 month lunar year.] R a b b a n Shimon ben Gamliel simply gives a primitive e x p e r i m e n t so that e v e r y o n e could approximately determine the length of a solar year even without astronomical instruments: Having a peg fixed in a southerly wall and noting the minimal shadow at noon of the summer solstice (which is the shortest shadow for the entire year) one

can then w a i t u n t i l such a minimal shadow is reproduced the year after. T h e a r g u m e n t of R. Elazar (ben A r a k h ) is m o r e difficult to understand and all explanations must be tentative. Rabban Gamliel in the Talmud states that no month is shorter than 2 9 1 2 793P. Also, the Mishnah in Arakhin states that up to three months in the year can have variable lengths if decreed so by the Synhedrion. Our traditional calendar computations therefore deviate from talmudic data both in the length of the mean month and the length of the actual year as indicated in the Appendix. Unfortunately, our information about calendar computations following the Talmud that seem to underlie a famous q u a r r e l involving Rabbenu Saadya Gaon in the 10th C e n t u r y a b o u t the determination of Rosh Hashanah when the molad falls in Tuesday is too f r a g m e n t a r y to let us reconstruct the alternate way of computing the year. Hence, we have to try to understand the arguments given h e r e on t h e basis of our known c a l e n d a r d

h

SEDER OLAM

computations. First, we have to note that the compiler of Seder 'Olam did note earlier that, in matters of the Creation, we follow R. Jehoshua and assert t h a t t h e world was c r e a t e d in Nisan. According to R. Eliahu Wilna, the argument goes as follows: On t h e 15th of Nisan a f t e r Creation which was Sunday, the moon was full. Four days earlier, when the stars were put in the sky, t h e sun was c r e a t e d at equinox. Hence, the (nonexisting, theoretical) first molad was 11 days (of which 7 did not exist) earlier. The sages answer R. Elazar that this proves nothing since in an intercalary cycle of two simple and one intercalary year may just contain the 1095 days needed to reproduce the same distance of equinox and full moon. My own interpretation is that R. Elazar identifies the light of the sun with the light that was created during the First Day and that the moon was hung in the sky in the position of full moon on the Fourth Day; hence, both

56

THE FLOOD

moon and sun reached the same position of the first of Iyar in year 2. The other sages answer R. Elazar that they agree that the rules of intercalation form part of the Law of Nature [cf. Pirqe R. Eliezer, Chapters 7,8] but that the relative position of moon and sun at their creation is irrelevant, to which R. Eleazar answers that the relative positons of sun and moon will repeat periodically and, hence, we can reconstruct the position that happened at Creation. His position implies the acceptance of the Julianic year (which, while it is foreign to t h e J e w i s h c a l e n d a r , is traditionally used to determine the onset of "winter," 60 days after the fall equinox, and of the solar period of 28 years). Only in the Julianic year is there a simple period; the period in the Mishnaic year, in use at Rebbi Yose's time, is 2'160 years. The period of the calendar in current use is 678*472 y e a r s ; t h e s e matters are explained at length in the Appendix..

5 Thornbush to Sinai

For seven days was the Holy One, praise to Him, arguing with Moses by the thornbush as it says (Ex. 4:10): "And Moses said to the Eternal; please, o Master, I am not a man of words, neither yesterday, nor three days ago, nor since You started to speak to Your servant." Three days ago, that are three days. Neither, nor, nor, another three. Add the day when he was arguing to obtain seven.

Commentary Nahmani) [Leviticus rabba 11(6), Numeri rabba 21(15), Tanhuma Hayye Sarah 1, Tanhuma Wayiqra 3, Tanhuma Bobr Shemini 5, Shoher Tob 18:22]. Sometimes, t h e s t a t e m e n t is b r o u g h t in t h e n a m e of anonymous "sages" (Exodus rabba 3(14), Tanhuma Waethannan 5) a n d o n c e (Tanhuma Bobr

This statement appears in many parallel sources. In a Mekhilta fragment (Mekhilta dR. Shimon bar Yohay p. 2), it is part of an a r g u m e n t of R. E l a z a r b e n Arakh, the first Century tanna. In Y e r u s h a l m i sources, t h e argument is usually attributed to the third Century amora Rebbi Samuel b a r Nahman (or b a r 1

1 While the Mekhilta dR. Shimon bar Yohay seems to be a Yerushalmi composition from the academy of Hizqiah, that particular fragment cannot be attributed with certainty to a particular Mekhilta. 57

SEDER OLAM

58

Wayiqra 4) in the name of Rebbi Levi, a student of Rebbi Samuel bar Nahman. It seems that in Babylonian tradition, the stament

THQRNBUSH TO SINAI

is old and tannaitic; in Galilean tradition, it is more recent and amoraic.

This happened at the time of Pesah and one fixes it on the 15th of Nisan. On the same day the following year did the Children of Israel leave Egypt. Similarly, on the 15th of Nisan was our father Abraham talked to between the Pieces. On the 15th of Nisan, the angels came to Abraham to announce [the birth of Isaac] and on the same day the following year was Isaac born as it says (Gen. 18:14): "At that time I shall return to you in the time for life and Sarah will have a son." On the 15th of Nisan, Israel left Egypt as it is said (Ex. 12:41): "It was at the end of 430 years to the day that the hosts of the Eternal left the Land of Egypt," there is one term of all [of these occurrences]. On that 14th of Nisan, Israel were slaughtering their Passover sacrifices in Egypt; in that night the firstborn were smitten.

Commentary The statement that Moses was appointed God's messenger on the 15th of Nisan is not derived from a verse but is the logical conclusion from Rebbi Aqiba's statement quoted earlier that the

Egyptians were smitten for 12 months. In fact, it was stated in Chapter 3 that the actual plagues lasted only for six m o n t h s . According to t h e Babylonian tradition found in Seder 'Olam,

SEDER OLAM

both R. Eliezer and R. Jehoshua agree that the slavery of our f o r e f a t h e r s e n d e d at Rosh Hashanah with the first plague. Also, it was seen that the first attempt of Moses before Pharao must be dated in later spring, a f t e r the g r a i n h a r v e s t and before the clearing of the fields. Hence, the 12 months must apply for t h e e n t i r e p r o c e s s of redemption, starting with t h e appointment of Moses, and Moses must have been arguing with God, the people, and Pharao for almost half a year before things started happening. According to some Medieval c o m m e n t a t o r s (Tosaphot Rosh Hashanah 11a) did the plagues start in Nisan but slavery ended only in Tishre, but it is much more reasonable to assume that forced labor stopped with the first plague. In fact, after the first plague Moses only speaks about the people leaving for a feast of sacrifices and no longer about cessation of work. T h e s l o w s t a r t is a l s o c h a r a c t e r i s t i c for the e n t i r e psychological development of Moses from reluctant shepherd to forceful leader. The plagues started at Rosh Hashanah since the verse

59

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

(Ex. 3 : 1 7 ) "I certainly remembered you" is a verse of remembrance for Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah 32b). Seder 'Olam disagrees with the Midrash (Ex. rabba 9(12)) t h a t t h e duration of each plague was a full month; according to t h a t Midrash (of unknown origin), there would not have been time in half a year to accomodate all plagues. It had been explained in Chapter 1 that the Covenant between the Pieces with t h e announcement of the e n s l a v e m e n t of A b r a h a m ' s descendants must have happened on the same day as the Exodus since it happened "on exactly t h a t day." T h e d a t e of slaughtering the Passover sacrifice is an explicit verse (Ex. 12:6). The argument that places the Exodus on Friday is in detail given at the end of this chapter: It is explained there that the D e c a l o g u e was g i v e n on a Sabbath. According to Jewish doctrine, Pentecost is the "time of the giving of the Torah," in Pharisee doctrine 50 days after the Exodus. Hence, the Exodus happened 7 weeks and 1 day earlier, on a Friday.

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

SEDER OLAM

The day after Pesah was Friday. They travelled from Rameses as it says (Ex. 12:37): "The Children of Israel travelled from Rameses to Sukkoth," and it is written (Num. 33:3): "They travelled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth of the month" and it is written (Num. 33.4): "While the Egyptians were burying the firstborn whom the Eternal had slain among them." From Rameses they travelled to Sukkoth, from Sukkoth to Etham, from Etham to Pi Hahiroth; that makes three days. On the fourth day (Ex. 14:5): "The king of Egypt was informed that the people had fled." On the fifth and sixth (Ex. 14:9): "The Egyptians pursued them and reached them camping on the seashore." In the evening of the seventh day they descended into the sea as it is said (Ex. 14:20): "There was cloud and darkness illuminating the night." The next morning, Israel was rising from the sea, the Egyptians were sinking, and Israel sang as it is said (Ex. 15:1): "Then Moses and the Children of Israel sang the following song." That was a Thursday, the holiday of the last day of Passover.

Commentary In a technical sense, Pesah does not d e n o t e t h e h o l i d a y of unleavened bread that starts with the seder and the ceremonial eating of the rosted Paschal lamb and is celebrated from the 15th to the 21st of Nisan but t h e ceremony of slaughtering the Paschal lamb during the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan. Hence, "the day after the Pesah ' 1

was the 15th of Nisan. It is e x p l a i n e d in Scripture that they walked day and night (Ex. 13:21). Hence, it is reasonable to assume that the places mentioned in the story of the Exodus were places of rest (this is said explicitly for the places named in the list of Num. 33), one per day. There are two verses speaking of Pharao's (Ex.

SEDER OLAM

14:8) and the Egyptians' (v. 9) pursuit of t h e I s r a e l i t e s ; t h e author takes this as indicating two days of pursuit. That the sea

11

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

was split during the night and the Egyptians d r o w n e d t o w a r d s m o r n i n g is s p e l l e d o u t in Scripture (Ex. 14:24).

From the Reed Sea they travelled to Marah as it is said (Ex. 15:23): "they came to Marah";and it is said (Ex. 15:25): "there He gave them ordinances and laws and there He tried them." There Israel received 10 commandments, seven of those had already been given to all of mankind as it is written (Gen. 2:16-17): "There commanded the Eternal, God, to Man, saying: From any tree of the Garden you may certainly eat." "There commanded" refers to a system of laws, and so it says (Gen. 18:19): "For I knew him so that he should command his descendents after him to exercise justice and law in the land." "Eternal" refers to blasphemy as it is said (Lev. 24:16): "He who blasphemes the name of the Eternal shall certainly die." "God" refers to idolatry as it is said (Ex. 20:3): "You shall not have other gods before Me." "To Man" refers to murder, as it is said (Gen. 9:6): "He who spills the blood of a man, by man his blood shall be spilled." "Saying" refers to adultery as it is said

SEDER OLAM

62

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

(Jer. 3:1): "Saying: If a man send his wife away and she went and became another man's, could he return to her again? Would not the land be filled with immorality? But you committed harlotry with many friends, nevertheless return to Me, pronouncement of the Eternal." "From any tree of the Garden" refers to robbery as it is said (Lev. 5:24): "About anything that one would swear falsely about, he should pay its capital and at its fifths to it." "You may certainly eat" refers to eating limbs of a still living animal as it is said (Gen. 9:4): "But meat, when its life is still in its blood, you shall not eat." Israel added to these at that time Sabbath, the Procedural Law, and Honor of Father and Mother.

Commentary The argument about the Seven Noahide Commandments seems here like an addition but it is found in a l l v e r s i o n s a n d m a n u s c r i p t s and is c e r t a i n l y original in Seder 'Olam. T h e detailed derivation is reproduced in t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d Sanhedrin 56b in the name of R. Yohanan; the introductory and final sentences there a r e tannaitic statements. [In some manuscripts, t h e l a n g u a g e is almost identical with that of Seder 'Olam.] In Y e r u s h a l m i s o u r c e s t h e r e is a s i m i l a r derivation in Genesis rabba 16(9) and Pesiqta dR. Kahana on Pentecost. Old Y e r u s h a l m i sources always talk about six commandments given to Adam. The prohibition of eating parts of a living animal was added for Noah since before the Deluge only v e g e t a r i a n f o o d w a s

allowed (Gen. 1:29). In Gen. rabba, R. Jacob of Kfar Hanin adds that the sentence Gen. 2:17 contains a hint for a future prohibition of parts of living animals. In all, it is clear again that Seder 'Olam is a Babylonian compilation. The idea oi the derivation needs some elaboration. The verse really serves more as a memnotechnic device than a proof since all p r o h i b i t i o n s a r e s p e l l e d out otherwise in Genesis, e. g., the prohibition of incest and adultery in 2:24 (as explained in Chapter 2) and the prohibition of murder in 9:6. The hermeneutic principle underlying most of the derivation is known as gezerah shawah, the principle that words of God in the Pentateuch have an invariable meaning. Hence, the

SEDER OLAM

root in the sentence has the s a m e m e a n i n g as in G o d ' s reference to Abraham, and that is to command to exercise justice and law. The law here is not specified; in particular, there are no procedural restrictions on e x e c u t o r s of N o a h i d e l a w . Constitutional safeguards were only added for the Israelites at Marah. These are defined as restrictions on the testimony of relatives and interested persons and substitution of multijudge panels (acting as jury) for single judges allowed for Gentiles. T h e d e t a i l s a r e as follows. The double appellation of Divinity, "Eternal, God" is split into two assertions. The Name of God, E t e r n a l , i m p l i e s a recognition of God. There is no explicit requirement that a G e n t i l e w o r s h i p God, but a prohibition of blasphemy (and atheism). The name usually translated as "God" really means "the All Powerful"; as such there can be no s e c o n d a r y p o w e r worshipped, e.g., forces of nature. "Man" (the name of Adam) again by gezerah shawah is taken as a l a b e l for t h e p r o h i b i t i o n of m u r d e r t h a t in any c a s e is explicitly given to Noah, and all of mankind are obligated by it as Noah's d e s c e n d a n t s . [In the T a l m u d , t h e r e is a d o u b l e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Gen. 9:6 dependent on where the comma is put that is not written in the unvocalized text. It means either

63

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

"He who spills the blood of man, by man his blood shall be spilled" or "He who spills the blood of man in a human, his blood shall be spilled." The second version makes abortion a capital crime for Gentiles.] T h e c o n n e c t i o n of adultery with "saying" comes as gezerah shawah from the verse in Jeremiah. There the initial i&xV "saying" is genuinely dangling; it c o n t r a d i c t s a l l r u l e s of c o m p o s i t i o n to s t a r t a new chapter and a new subject with "saying." T h e r e f o r e , it is assumed that the puzzling word is written to connect with some other statement. Now, as pointed out before, the institution of m a r r i a g e f o r G e n t i l e s is contained in Gen. 2:2 where it is stated that a man should be glued to his wife. Hence, there is no divorce for Gentiles. [In strict t h e o r y , it is t h e T a l m u d i c position that a Gentile woman becomes a wife by first sleeping with a man; any s u b s e q u e n t relation with any man but the first is adultery.] Now, the verse in Jeremiah refers to the law (Deut. 24:1-4) that one may not remarry one's divorcee if she had m a r r i e d a n o t h e r man in t h e meantime. Since divorce is a p u r e l y Jewish i n s t i t u t i o n in Talmudic theory, this p a r t of Jeremiah's statement cannot apply to rules for G e n t i l e s . Hence, it must be the symbolic comparison of idol worship with

SEDER OLAM

adultery of the second part of the sentence that is applicable h e r e , a n d it i m p l i e s t h a t punishment for i d o l a t r y and adultery are identical. In the Talmud, the quote about robbery is much shortened: "'From any tree of the Garden,' that refers to robbery; 'You may certainly eat' but not of a living creature." In the text reported by Rabbenu Hanan'el ( K a i r a w a n , Tunesia, Eleventh Century) the text is "'From any tree of the G a r d e n e a t , ' t h a t r e f e r s to robbery; 'You may certainly eat' but not of a living creature." The statement attributed to Rebbi H i y y a ( b e i n g at l e a s t o n e generation younger than R. Yose bar Halaphta) is not found in any other Talmudic source. The preceding quote from Leviticus is also puzzling since it c l e a r l y refers to the obligation of a Jew but is not applicable to Gentiles. So it seems that the inference is not from the quote itself but from the introductory statement of the entire paragraph (Lev. 5:20-26) dealing with the guilt incurred by dishonest dealings with one's fellow man: "A person who sins and commits treason against the Eternal by dealing dishonestly with his fellow man either in matters of a deposit, of money held in trust, or robbery, or that he oppressed his fellow man [by d e n y i n g h i m j u s t wages]." Here, robbery is taken out of the framework of Civil

64

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

Law and defined as t r e a s o n against the Eternal, applicable to all of mankind. The gloss of Rebbi Hiyya then connects the definition of robbery with the Garden of Eden. The prohibition oi eating blood of a living animal and parts cut from a living animal is explicitly given to Noah when animal food was permitted to him (Gen. 9:3-4). Next, we turn to t h e additional commandments given to I s r a e l at M a r a h . The s t a t e m e n t of Seder 'Olam is q u o t e d v e r b a l l y in the Babylonian Talmud. It is generally agreed that DDU?» "law" r e f e r s to t h e s p e c i f i c r u l e s mentioned after the revelation of Sinai, mainly in Ex. 21-23, where it is expressly stated (21:1): "These are the laws that you shall put before them" meaning that they are not d i r e c t e d to Gentiles, pn " o r d i n a n c e " is usually restricted to ritual law, addressing the relationship of man to God. Now in the second version of the Ten Commandments, both the Sabbath (Deut. 5:12) and the commandment to honor father and mother (Deut. 5:16) a r e referred to as commandments to be kept "as the Eternal, your God, had commanded you." It is obvious from the Biblical recital that the Sabbath was given to Israel before they a r r i v e d at Sinai (Ex. 16). H e n c e , t h e

SEDER OLAM

commandment to honor father and mother also must have been given beforehand, and the only additional place mentioned as place of law giving is Marah. This is t h e a r g u m e n t in a l l Babylonian sources and it is a r e c u r r e n t s t a t e m e n t of Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav that a statement in the Pentateuch "as I commanded you" always means " c o m m a n d e d you at M a r a h " (Sanhedrin 57b, Sabbath 87b). In Yerushalmi sources, there are two questions raised that do not have a uniform answer. In the Mekhilta dR. Ismael (Beshallah 1, ed. Horovitz-Rabin p. 156) there is a statement ascribed to Rebbi Y e h o s h u a , o n e of t h e t w o foremost s t u d e n t s of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, that j?n refers to the Sabbath and D W » to the honor of father and mother. R e b b i E l a z a r of M o d i i n , a younger c o n t e m p o r a r y of R. Yehoshua s p e c i a l i z i n g in t h e interpretation of Biblical verses, asserts that pn refers to incest prohibitions peculiar to Jews and Ofitito to the monetary aspects of the law of torts. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Bezah 2:1, fol. 61a) t h e r e is a n anonymous disagreement over the date of t h e c o m m a n d m e n t of t h e Sabbath, whether it happened at Marah or at Alush. [The way station just before Rephidim is called Alush in Num. 33:13 but Wilderness of Sin in Ex. 16:1; the two places are t h e r e f o r e

65

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

identified (see the next section).] At Alush in the Wilderness of Sin they received the Mannah; according to everybody details of the the prohibition to leave the camp on Sabbath (|*&inn) was given at Alush. According to one opinion in the Yerushalmi, all ordinances concerning the Sabbath were given at Alush. In the Babylonian Talmud (loc. cit.) it is understood that principles of Sabbath were given at Marah following R. Yehoshua (who is the higher authority), but there is a disagreement among later sages whether the principles of the laws of ^fcinn w e r e given at Marah or whether they still were allowed to travel on Sabbath (Sabbath 86b-88a). The discussion there starts with: The rabbis have taught: The Ten Commandments were given to Israel on the Sixth of the month, R. Yose says on the Seventh. Rava comments: According to everybody, they arrived at Sinai on the First of the month. It is written here (Ex. 19:1) "on that day they a r r i v e d at t h e Wilderness of Sinai", and it is written at another place (Ex. 12:2) "That month should be for you the first of months." Since the second quote speaks of the First of the month, so does the second [by gezerah shawah.] Everybody also agrees that the Torah was given to Israel on the Sabbath. It is written here (Ex. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day

SEDER OLAM

to sanctify it", and it is written at a n o t h e r p l a c e {Ex. 13:3) "Remember t h i s day of t h e Exodus". Since the second quote was spoken on the day itself to which it refers, so does the first quote. The statement of Rava is based on the next section of Seder Vlam in the present chapter: the Ten Commandments were given on a Sabbath. If the feast of Tabernacles is identified with the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments, then the 50th day after the Exodus was a Sabbath. Hence, Israel left Egypt on a Friday as stated earlier. So far, t h e Sages a n d R. Y o s e agreee. All other determinations in Seder Vlam follow the opinion of the other sages and not R. Yose (ben Halaphta), the reputed author of Seder Vlam. This is stated explicitly t h e r e in t h e Talmud. R. Jacob Emden and R. Samuel Strashon are the only commentators who remark on the difficulty one has in meeting a disagreement between R. Yose and Seder Vlam, the latter being supposed to represent R. Yose's teaching. They solve the problem by pointing to another disagreement between R. Yose and Seder Vlam, Niddah 46b, that t h e Talmud r e s o l v e s by declaring that "R. Yose is the author of the formulation quoted in Seder Vlam but it does not represent his personal opinion." The remark is important but not

66

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

quite satisfactory. In fact, the problem discussed in Niddah is whether: (1) the obligation of the Jews r e t u r n i n g from the Babylonian e x i l e to o b s e r v e t i t h e s and o t h e r o b l i g a t i o n s bound to the soil of the Holy Land were obligations imposed by t h e T o r a h or t a k e n on voluntarily, and (2) whether the obligations i n c u r r e d by t h e r e t u r n e e s from B a b y l o n i a d i s a p p e a r e d in t h e s e c o n d diaspora after the destruction of the Second Temple or whether they are permanent and apply also to the third colonization of the Land by returnees of t h e second d i a s p o r a . The two questions are intimately connected one with the other and are discussed at length in the last chapter of Seder 'Olam. The Yerushalmi discussion is found in Shebiit 6:1 (fol. 36b), and there the opinion of Seder 'Olam is given by R. Yose bar Hanina, an amora of the second generation, contemporary of R. Yohanan. Now, it seems rather queer that the Talmud should point out such an apparent contradiction in a side-remark of a few lines (in Niddah) and remain silent in a lengthy discussion (in Sabbath) extending over several pages! There is an additional problem. We accept, on the authority of Rab Sherira Gaon in his Letter, that all compositions due to t a n n a i t i c a u t h o r s of t h e generation after the war of Bar-

SEDER OLAM

67

K o k h b a (Mishnah, Mekhilta, Sifra, Sifry) represent the teachings of Rebbi Akiba. Now Seder 'Olam does not appear in R. Sherira Gaon's list but R. Yose bar Halaphta appears in his list of surviving students of R. Aqiba. We already found at the end of Chap. 3 a longer piece directly derived from the teachings of R. Aqiba, inserted even though it is unnecessary in the context of the theme of the entire book Now, in the Talmud's discussion of the

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

date of the Ten Commandments, a main s o u r c e is R. A q i b a himself. R. Aqiba there supports the assertion of R. Yose t h a t Israel arrived at Sinai on the first of Sivan and that the Revelation took place on the Seventh. The q u e s t i o n a g a i n is o n e of interpretation of Scripture. We shall take up these p r o b l e m s again and try to solve them after the next and final section of this chapter.

From Marah they travelled to Elim as it is said (Num. 33:9): "They travelled from Marah and arrived at Elim; in Elim there were 12 water springs and 70 date palms." Hence , we learn that Israel only encamped near water. From Elim they travelled to Alush as it is said (Ex. 16:1): "They travelled from Elim and the entire congregation of the Children of Israel arrived at the Wilderness of Sin" (that is Alush) "on the 15th 1

2

68

SEDER OLAM

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

day of the second month after the Exodus," which was on a Sabbath. Hence , the First of Iyyar fell on a Sabbath, and in addition we infer that Israel ate from the cakes that they had taken out of Egypt 30 whole days; on that day it was finished, in the evening they ate quail, and early next morning they collected Mannah. In Alush they were given the Sabbath and there Israel kept the first Sabbath as it is said (Ex. 16:30): "The people observed the Sabbath on the Seventh Day." On Sunday , the 23rd of Iyar, they travelled from Alush and came to Rephidim. There the Well was given to them , they fought with Amaleq and observed there the second Sabbath . They travelled from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and found its top in clouds of glory. For the next five days Moses ascended the mountain, descended, told the people the words of the Omnipresent, and returned their answer to the Omnipresent. In the Third month, on the Sixth of the month, the Ten Commandments were given to them on a Sabbath day. 3

4

5

6

7

8

Commentary A c c o r d i n g to e v e r b o d y , t h e assertion that Israel arrived "in the third month, on that day" means that they arrived on the First of the month. In addition, since it is said once (Ex. 34:4) t h a t Moses w e n t up to t h e mountain at dawn, and o t h e r places do not mention any time for his ascent of the mountain, it f o l l o w s t h a t Moses a l w a y s ascended the mountain at dawn. This proves two assertions of Seder 'Olam and shows that they are generally accepted: Moses did not climb the mountain on the first day, since they arrived after dawn, and he never climbed

the mountain more than once in any given day since the second ascent then could not have been at dawn. So in Chapter 19, v. 1. describes the First of Sivan, and v. 3 the Second of Sivan when Moses ascended to receive the declaration of Israel as the Select People. Moses r e t u r n e d the people's answer on the Third (v. 9) and r e c e i v e d o r d e r s t o sanctify t h e p e o p l e and to p r e p a r e them for God's Revelation "on the Third Day" (v. 11). That would put the Revelation on the Sixth of Sivan. However, when Moses instructs the people (v. 15), he tells them

SEDER OLAM

to prepare for three days when they are not supposed to touch a woman. This would put t h e Revelation on the Seventh of Sivan. In addition, after t h e recital of the Ten Commandments and the civil laws appended to them, it says (Ex. 24:16) t h a t t h e Cloud covered the mountain for six days and on the seventh Moses was c a l l e d to a s c e n d the mountain. The Talmud (Yoma 4b) explains that according to R. A q i b a ( a n d R. Y o s e b a r Halaphta) that Seventh Day is the day of the Theophany and all of Chapter 24 happenened before that day. According to R. Yose the G a l i l e a n and most o t h e r rabbis, the "seventh day" mentioned there is the seventh day after the Theophany and all of Chapter 24 happened after the giving of the Ten Commandments. It follows that the entire discussion of the present chapter of Seder 'Olam follows another Rebbi Yose, viz., Rebbi Yose the Galilean, one of the students of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai at Y a b n e d u r i n g and after t h e Jewish war of 68/71 C.E. Now, the disagreement about the length of the enforced abstinence from sex before the Revelation on Sinai has a legal background. It is spelled out in Leviticus (15:16-17) that semen makes men, women, and garments ritually unclean. The particular language

69

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

used, ¥17 naw, "layer of seed," is taken to imply that semen is a source of ritual impurity only as long as it preserves its fertilizing power. Hence, t h e question arizes, how long does semen have to stay in the womb of a women that, were it expelled after that, it would not make the woman nor her clothing ritually impure? The answer is given in Mishnah (Miqwadt 8:3) and T a l m u d (Sabbath, Babylonian Talmud 86b, Jerusalem Talmud 9:3, fol. 12a). The best version of the t e x t s e e m s t o b e t h a t of Sephardic authorities (Maimonides and Ben Adrat) that R. Aqiba requires 5 periods of 12 h o u r s t o p a s s by b u t t h e c o l l e c t i v e of S a g e s , w h o determine actual practice, require 3 full 'onot, where an 'onah is the time either from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. According to everybody, the theophany presupposed that all of Israel was ritually pure. For the Sages, this could happen on Sabbath, but for Rebbi Aqiba and his students, including R. Yose bar Halaphta, it could not happen before Sunday. We note that the editor of Seder 'Olam was careful to exclude interpretations that went against current halakha, even if it meant to go against a statement of R. Yose bar Halaphta. It could also be that at t h e time of final compilation of Seder 'Olam, Christian m i s s i o n a r i e s w e r e

SEDER OLAM

enough of a problem to eliminate any hint of an opinion that the theophany on Sinai could have happened on Sunday. There is another textual problem. We have seen that in t h e opinion of t h e Sages as represented in Seder 'Olam, the Ten Commandments were given on the Sixth of Sivan, a Sabbath. That implies that the First of Sivan was a Monday. In our calendar, the preceding month, Iyyar, always has 29 days. This fixes t h e F i r s t of I y y a r on Sunday, as a s s e r t e d in Seder 'Olam, and also all the weekday dates mentioned in Seder 'Olam. The problem is the verse (Ex. 16:22): "On the Sixth Day, they collected a double portion [of Mannah]," t h e sixth day of collection of Mannah. That would imply that they arrived at Alush on the Sabbath and, hence, did not receive instructions about the Sabbath at Marah. In fact, Ashkenazic m a n u s c r i p t s r e a d "Sabbath" instead of "Sunday" for the date of rest at Alush. This is the Galilean reading supported by both Mekhiltot on Ex. 15:1 (R. Ismael, p. 159, R. Shimon bar Yohay p. 241). [We n o t e d already that Yerushalmi sources do not t a k e n o t i c e of Seder Vlam.] The Babylonian Talmud (Sabbath 87b) notes that "it is possible that they a r r i v e d at Alush on t h e Sabbath if we assume that they made Iyyar of that year 30 days long." This is a

70.

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

typical note in the style of the Babylonian Talmud to show that a c e r t a i n c o n c l u s i o n is not logically necessary, but it does not c a r r y much w e i g h t . In addition, it certainly contradicts the basic s t a t e m e n t of Seder 'Olam "that Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." Hence, it is better to accept the reading of the editio princeps and Oriental sources against European manuscripts. Finally, we can turn to some textual notes. 1. This statement is acribcd to R. Yehoshua in Mekhilta dR. Ismael, p. 159. 2. The resting p l a c e b e f o r e Rephidim is called "Wilderness of Sin" in Exodus but "Alush" in the list of camping places in Num. 33. 3. Ibn Ezra, in his commentary on Ex. 16:1, points out that all that is clear in the Biblical text is that the Mannah started to fall on a Sunday but that the length of the stay at the wilderness of Sin in indetermined. He objects to R. Saadya Gaon's A r a b i c translation without mentioning that R. Saadya Gaon follows strictly the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Seder 'Olam. 4. This is given as "alternative explanation" in Mekhilta dR. Ismael p. 159 (and not noted by

SEDER OLAM

71

the editors). 5. The d a t e of the d e p a r t u r e from Alush is not noted in any parallel source. It seems that it is a n o t h e r a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e overriding principle that "Scripture does not come to hide b u t to e x p l a i n that their departure happened immediately after the last happening m e n t i o n e d at A l u s h , i.e., immediately after the Sabbath. 11

6. We find in the Pentateuch that they had trouble with water at R e p h i d i m just a f t e r t h e E x o d u s a n d a g a i n in t h e Wilderness of Zin in the 40th year of their wandering (Num. 20:1-11) a f t e r t h e d e a t h of Miriam. The generally accepted

THORNBUSH TO SINAI

implication is that the well taken out of the rock at Rephidim (Ex. 17:1-7) was given them by the merit of Miriam and accompanied them at all t h e wanderings through the desert for 39 years. 7. According to everybody's opinion, they a r r i v e d in t h e w i l d e r n e s s of Sinai at t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e w e e k of preparation for the theophany, and they all had received full i n s t r u c t i o n s on t h e l a w s of Sabbath. 8. T h e d e t a i l s of M o s e s ' activities in these five days, as given here, is discussed in great detail in the Babylonian Talmud Sabbath 86b-88a.

6

At Sinai

1

On the Seventh Day after the Ten Commandments , Moses ascended the Mountain as it is said (Ex. 24:16): "The glory of the Eternal dwelt on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for seven days," to purify him , "and He called to Moses on the seventh day from amidst the cloud." (v. 18) "He ascended the Mountain; Moses staid on the Mountain for forty days and forty nights." On the 17th of Tammuz he descended , broke the tablets (Ex. 32:30) "and on the next day, Moses said to the people: You have committed a grave sin." He ascended on the 18th of Tammuz and asked for mercy on Israel as it is written (Deut. 9:18): "I fell down before the Eternal the forty days and forty nights that I fell down because the Eternal had said to destroy you." At that moment, the Eternal showed pleasure with Israel and said to Moses to quarry the second tablets and to ascend as it is said (Deut. 10:1) : "At that time, the Eternal said to me: quarry for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, ascend the Mountain to me, and make yourself a wooden chest." 2

3

4

72

SEDER OLAM

73

AT SINAI

Commentary 1. It was shown in the preceding c h a p t e r , t h a t for h a l a k h i c reasons, Seder 'Olam follows R. Y o s e t h e G a l i l e a n in t h e chronology of h a p p e n i n g s at Mount Sinai. The main parallel source is the Babylonian Talmud Yoma 4a,b: "Moses ascended into the cloud, was covered by the cloud and sanctified by the cloud in order to receive the Torah for Israel in holiness as it is said: T h e glory of the Eternal dwelt on Mount Sinai/ That happened after the Ten Commandments whose date was the first of the Forty Days, the words of Rebbi Yose the Galilean. Rebbi Aqiba says: T h e glory of Eternal dwelt on the Mountain from the First of the month, the cloud covered the Mountain, He called Moses* and all of Israel was standing; the verses are written only to glorify Moses. Rebbi Nathan says: The verse shows only that Moses had to be cleansed from the food and drink in his body to equate him with the angels. Rebbi Matthias ben Heresh says, the verse shows only that Moses was put into a state of fear." According to R. Aqiba, the day of the revelation was the Seventh day of the week, the Seventh of the month, and the Seventh day of their camping at Mount Sinai, in all the seventh day with a definite article. For Rebbi Yose the Galilean, the

revelation was on the sixth day of their camping at Mount Sinai; hence, it is impossible that Ex. 24:16-18 deal with the t i m e before the revelation. Since Rebbi Yose the G a l i l e a n represents the a u t h o r i t a t i v e halakha, as e x p l a i n e d in t h e preceding chapter, he is followed also here. 2. By adding one word, "to cleanse him (i.e., Moses)," to the Biblical verse, the e d i t o r of Seder 'Olam includes not only the opinion of R. Nathan, that Moses ascended the Mountain in a state of purity otherwise reserved for angels, but also the opinion of R. Yose the Galilean that the first six d a y s of w a i t i n g w e r e incorporated in the first 40 days and nights that Moses spent on the Mountain. Rebbi A q i b a would start counting 40 days only from the seventh day of actual climb to the top of the Mountain. The normal length of Sivan is 30 days; hence, Moses spent 23 days of Sivan on the Mountain and his 40 days were completed of the 17th of T a m m u z , w h i c h , therefore, became a permanent fast day for the Jewish people. T h i s c o m p u t a t i o n is a l s o acceptable to R. Aqiba; in the Babylonian Talmud Sabbath 87a the computation is quoted from a tannaitic source. In Yoma 4b it is

SEDER OLAM

formulated in A r a m a i c as an amoraic statement. This can be taken as confirmation of our opinion that Seder 'Olam was edited in amoraic Babylonia. 3. The computation is given in the preceding note. The assertion that the first tablets were b r o k e n on the 17th of Tammuz is a Mishnah (Ta'anit 26a). The verse quoted from Exodus (32:30) asserts Moses' intention to return immediately to the Mountain to intercede for the people; hence, his return can be dated the next day. 4. The quarrying of the second tablets is also described in Ex. 34:1. However, the quote from Deut. is preferable since there Moses makes it clear t h a t he returned to the Mountain for 40 days and nights of prayer and

74

AT SINAI

only afterwards r e c e i v e d the o r d e r to q u a r r y t h e s e c o n d tablets. Only from Deuteronomy can one infer that Moses was 3 times 40 days on the Mountain and only t h a t c o m p u t a t i o n connects the Ten Commandments with the institution of Yom Kippur in the following section: The relevant statements are Deut. 9:9: "When I a s c e n d e d t h e Mountain to receive the Tablets of Covenant . . . I stayed on the Mountain for 40 days and 40 nights." This was his first instruction in the Torah. Deut. 9:18: "I fell down b e f o r e the Eternal the forty days and forty nights that I fell down because the Eternal had said to destroy you." These 40 days were spent in prayer. Deut. 10:10: "I stood (after bringing the second tablets) on the Mountain for 40 days and 40 nights."

SEDER OLAM

AT SINAI

75

He descended on the 28th of Ab and quarried two stone tablets identical to the first ones as it says (Ex. 34:4): "He quarried two stone tablets like the first ones, then Moses got up early in the morning and ascended Mount Sinai." He ascended on the 29th of Ab and there the Torah was taught to him a second time as it is said (Deut. 10:10): "I stood on the Mountain like the first days, 40 days and 40 nights; the Eternal listened to me that time also, the Eternal did not desire to destroy you." "Like the first days," just as the first days were in pleasure, so the last days were in pleasure; it follows that the middle days were in anger. He descended on the 10th of Tishre, that is Yom Kippur, and announced that the Omnipresent had shown them His pleasure, as it is said (Ex. 34:9): "You will forgive our crimes and sins and let us inherit." Therefore, it remained an ordinance of remembrance for all generations as it is said (Lev. 16:34): "This shall be for you an eternal ordinance." (Ex. 34:30) "It was when Moses descended from the Mountain that Aaron and all of Israel saw that the skin of his face was radiant, (v.31) they returned to him, (v. 32) and after that all of Israel presented themselves and he commanded them." What did he commend them? He commanded them to build the Tabernacle. They started to build the Tabernacle (Ex. 35:21): "there came everybody whose heart lifted him up."

Commentary Tammuz is 29 days, hence 40 days after the 18th of Tammus end on the 27th of Ab and Moses descended early the next morning. He spent one day making the tablets and ascended again early in the morning of the 29th of Ab. Ab has 30 days, Elul 29. Hence, the third 40 days ended on Tishre 9, and Moses descended for the last time on

Tishre 10. T h e r e is a p a r a l l e l Galilean tradition to this section of Seder 'Olam, to be found in Midrash Tanhuma, Ki Teze 31, in the name of R. Yehuda b a r Shalom. That tradition differs from the text offered h e r e , which is the text of the first print and, by its concordance with the quotes from Seder 'Olam

SEDER OLAM

in t h e Y e m e n i t e Midrash Hagadol, is based on an Oriental manuscript. The tradition of Midrash Tanhuma is identical w i t h t h a t g i v e n by F r e n c h manuscripts of Seder 'Olam and reproduced in Rashi's commentary (Ex. 33:11, Deut. 10:10). A c c o r d i n g to t h e s e sources, Moses a s c e n d e d the Mountain for the third time on Ab 30th. The only difference is that according to all manuscripts of Seder 'Olam, Moses spent only one day in the camp when he came down to destroy the golden calf but according to Tanhuma he spent the 18th of Tammuz to judge the people and ascended a second time only on Tammuz 19. The text of the best of known French m a n u s c r i p t s (Oxford, O p p e n h e i m 317) is i d e n t i c a l word for word with Rashi's c o m m e n t a r y e x c e p t for o n e word, the substitution of Biblical p m a for R a b b i n i c a l H e b r e w p j r n a Both in t h e Tanhuma s o u r c e a n d in t h e O x f o r d manuscript, the verse quoted for God's forgiveness is Num. 14:20: "I f o r g a v e , f o l l o w i n g y o u r request" which is inappropriate since it was said on the 9th of Ab following the return of the spies, not the verse (Ex. 34:9): "You will forgive our crimes and sins and let us inherit" that in the opinion of the Oriental version of Seder 'Olam was said on the eve of Yom Kippur. Tosaphot on Baba qama 82a (s.v. deal

AT SINAI

1 L

extensively with the computations t h a t show t h a t Moses d e s c e n d e d from t h e Mountain the last time on Yom K i p p u r and a r e f o r c e d to conclude that Ellul of that year was kept for 30 days, based on the French version of Seder'OlamlTanhuma. The p r o b l e m d i s a p p e a r s in t h e Oriental version underlying the editio princeps of Seder 'Olam. One has to note with regard to the Ten Commandments that there is a d i s a g r e e m e n t of p r i n c i p l e between Babylonian (Talmud Baba Qama 58b) and Israeli/Byzantine (Exodus rabba 47(10)) sources regarding t h e texts inscribed in the two sets of tablets. A c c o r d i n g to t h e Talmud, the first tablets were inscribed with the text of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus, w h e r e a s the second tablets were inscribed with the text given in Deuteronomy. This is the meaning of the Talmudic discussion: "Rebbi Hanina bar Agil asked Rebbi Hiyya bar Abba: Why does the first text of the Ten C o m m a n d m e n t s not contain the word mo ("good") but the second text contains t h e word? He answered him: instead of asking me why the word aiD appears, ask me if the word aio appears!" The explanation is not that given by Tosaphot Baba 4

SEDER OLAM

Bathra 113a (and that turned into an excuse for Talmudic scholars to follow church teaching and not to study the Bible) that R. Hiyya bar Abba was not aware of t h e t e x t of t h e T e n C o m m a n d m e n t s g i v e n in Deuteronomy, but that he wondered whether the text of Deuteronomy was engraved in the tablets or not. Since t h e matter cannot be decided from a study of the text and R. Hiyya bar A b b a as foremost l e g a l authority seems to have been adverse to sermonizing (aggadic) i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s , he told his

77

AT SINAI

interlocutors that his question h a s to r e m a i n u n d e c i d e d . However, the then current aggadic (symbolic) interpretation of scripture was that the second text of t h e C o m m a n d m e n t s represents the text of the second tablets. Since scriptural quotes in the Talmud are by allusions to fractions of verses and, as a rule, the derivation refers to those parts of the verse that a r e not quoted verbally, it is obvious that the Talmud supposes that any one of its students knows the Hebrew Bible by heart.

(Ex. 39:43): "Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had crafted it, just as the Eternal had commanded so they had crafted it, and Moses blessed them." How did he bless them? He said to them: "May it be the Divine pleasure that the Shekhina should dwell in the work of your hands." They said: (Ps. 90:17): "May the pleasure of the Master, our God, be upon us; may He solidly base our handiwork for us; our handiwork, may He solidly base it." He said to them: "Hail to you, Israel, that you merited to work on the Tabernacle. In the same way that you merited this, so may you merit that the Temple will be given to you and that the Shekhina shall rest in your midst as it is said (Ex. 25:8): T h e y shall make a holy place for me

SEDER OLAM

AT SINAI

78

and I shall dwell in their midst."'

Commentary This piece and the first part of the next chapter is found also in Sifra Shemini (15). It is a generally a c c e p t e d s t a t e m e n t that the anonymous parts of Sifra are from the school of Rebbi Y e h u d a h bar Illai', an o l d e r contemporary of R. Yose bar Halaphta. T h e text in Sifra reads: After that Israel had finished the work on the Tabernacle, Moses came and blessed them, as it is said (Ex. 39:43) Moses saw all the work, . . . and Moses blessed them. How did he bless them? He said to them: "May it be the Divine pleasure that the Shekhina should dwell in the work of your hands." Rebbi Meir said that he gave them the following blessing (Deut. 1:11): "The Eternal, the God of your forefathers, may add to y o u r n u m b e r s a n o t h e r thousand times." They answered (Ps. 90:17): "May the pleasure of the Master, our God, be upon us; may He s o l i d l y b a s e o u r handiwork for us; our handiwork,

may He solidly base it." This version is also found in Ashkenazic manuscripts of Seder 'Olam and in Midrash Hagadol (end of Pequde). One manuscript has the name of the dissenting tradent as "R. Yose" instead of "R. Meir." But the latter reading is that of the most t r u s t w o r t h y manuscripts, although it is not excluded that in a work based on the school of R. Yose his name should be mentioned in the quote of a text from the school of R. Yehudah. It is an old tradition that the existence of the Temple (and also the Tabernacle) leads to a g r e a t i n c r e a s e in t h e numbers of the Jewish people. The Shekhina is God's presence in the Temple. The expression is based on Deut. 12:5, w h e r e the c e n t r a l i t y of t h e worship in the Temple as unique place of God's presence in the world is expressed as *tbTrn inipuft n&u; nxai "seek His Shekhina and T T

T

T

come there."

7

Consecration of the Tabernacle

(Ex. 40:1-4): "The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: On the First day of the First month you shall erect the dwelling of the Tabernacle and put there etc., and bring the table," etc. The Seven Days of Dedication started on the 23rd of Adar and were completed on the first of Nisan. All Seven Days of Dedication, Moses was erecting the Tabernacle every morning, brought sacrifices, and disassembled the Tabernacle. On the Eighth Day he erected it and did not dissassembled it. Rebbi Yose the son of Rebbi Yehudah says, also on the Eighth Day he erected and disassembled it.

Commentary On the first look it would seem t h a t t h e d e d i c a t i o n of t h e Tabernacle started on the first day of the first month (Nisan), The proof that that day was, in f a c t , t h e e i g h t h d a y of celebration is given in detail in Sifra Shemini (14). This section, therefore, also originated in the school of R. Yehudah, see the preceding chapter. The

a r g u m e n t of Sifra g o e s as follows: (Lev. 9:1): "It was on the Eighth day," the e i g h t h day of t h e sanctification of Aaron and his sons. Or maybe the eighth of the month? Since it says (Ex. 40:17): "It was on the first day of the first month of the second year that the Tabernacle was erected," t h a t t e a c h e s us t h a t t h e 79

SEDER OLAM

Tabernacle was erected on the first of the month. I could think that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of the month, but the Shekhina entered (Lev. 9:24) only on the eighth? Another verse says (Num. 9:15): "On the day of the erection of the Tabernacle, t h e c l o u d [of G o d ' s g l o r y ] covered it." This teaches us that on the exact day on which the T a b e r n a c l e was e r e c t e d , t h e Shekhina dwelt on Aaron's work. Because during all t h e Seven Days of D e d i c a t i o n , Moses officiated but the Shekhina did not d w e l l on his w o r k until Aaron came and served in the garments of the high priest and the Shekhina appeared through him as it is said (Lev. 9:4): "Today, the Eternal will appear to you." In addition, Sifra could h a v e quoted Ex. 40:1, 35 where it is stated first that the Tabernacle was erected on the day of the new moon of the first month (Nisan) and that the Shekhina englobed the Tabernacle on that same day. Hence, that day of the new moon must be identical with the "eighth day" of Lev. 9:1. The seven p r e c e d i n g days, whose ritual is described in Lev. 8, must therefore be the last week of Adar. The sentence declaring t h a t for s e v e n d a y s Moses erected the Tabernacle, performed the prescribed sacrifices, and then disassembled

80

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

the Tabernacle, is taken verbally from Sifra Zaw (Milluim 36)) and Sifry Naso (44) and discussed in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 1:1, fol. 38b). [In Pesiqta dR. Kahana 6, a similar statement is quoted in the name of later Amoraim.] On the statement, that Moses r e erected the Tabernacle every morning, the Jerusalem Talmud remarks: "R. Ze'ira said: this proves that any erection done in the night is invalid for t h e service of the day." The reason for this remark is that while Lev. 8 prescribes that all sacrifices d u r i n g t h e S e v e n D a y s of C o n s e c r a t i o n had to be p e r f o r m e d by Moses, it also prescribes that all sacrifices that were not be burned on the altar had to be eaten by Aaron and his sons within the holy precinct. However, if the Tabernacle was disassembled, there was no holy precinct. Therefore, if Moses disassembled the T a b e r n a c l e during the day, Aaron and his sons had to reassemble it in the night for their ritual meals and then disassemble it again for Moses to start all over again in the morning. It would be easier to assume that the Tabernacle was erected once and then never disassembled except for transportation during the w a n d e r i n g s of I s r a e l in t h e desert. But this contradicts the statements presented earlier that t h e Shekhina d w e l t in t h e Tabernacle on the day of its

SEDER OLAM

erection and it did not dwell there as long as Aaron was not officiating. In addition, on Num. 7:1: "It was on the day that Moses finished to erect the Tabernacle," the Sifry notes that during the Seven Days of his officiating, Moses did not finish to erect the Tabernacle. Hence, since it is s t a t e d in Ex. 40:17 t h a t t h e Tabernacle was erected in one day, it follows that it was reerected every day of the Seven Days of Dedication. The determination of the "Eighth Day" plays a role also in a d i s c u s s i o n of t h e Second Passover, held on the 14th of Iyyar for p e o p l e w h o w e r e ritually unclean on the 14th on Nissan. Their story is told in Num. 9, noting that at Passover time in the year following the Exodus " t h e r e w e r e p e o p l e impure from a corpse" (v.6). As e x p l a i n e d in Num. 19, any impurity caused by touching a corpse, a coffin, or being in one tent together with a corpse needs a quarantine time of a full seven days to be removed. Hence, people necessarily i m p u r e on Nissan 14 must h a v e been in touch with a corpse on or after Nissan 7. The Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 25a) quotes a discussion about the identity of the people who w e r e impure. A c c o r d i n g t o R. Y o s e t h e

81

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

Galilean, these people were the bearers of the coffin of Joseph [whose bones Israel brought with t h e m to t h e H o l y L a n d . ] According to R. A q i b a , they were Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uziel the uncle of Aaron, who had to carry the corpses of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu who died on the Eighth Day of Consecration (Lev. 10:1-4). R. Isaac (a student of R. Ismael, one generation after R. Aqiba and two after R. Yose the Galilean) said: if they were the bearers of the coffin of Joseph, they could have purified themselves [since the coffin was not carried after their arrival at Sinai, 10 month before the next Passover], if they were Mishael and Elzaphan, they could have purified themselves [since Nadab and Abihu died on the first of the month]. Hence, it seems that they were occupied in burying a recent d e a d whom nobody else was burying. At first look, it seems that R. Aqiba is of the opinion that the Eighth Day was the eighth of Nissan. However, the comparison with the coffin bearers shows that such an inference is unjustified and that the laws of the Second Passover applies to all people who were actually impure on the 14th of Nissan even if they could have purified themselves beforehand.

SEDER OLAM

82

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

(Ex. 29:32): "Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread in the basket." (Lev. 8:35-36): "At the entrance to the Tabernacle you shall sit day and night for seven d a y s , . . . Aaron and his sons did all that the Eternal had commanded through Moses." (Lev. 9:1): "It was on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel," after the Seven Days of Dedication. It was the first day of the week, the first day of Nissan. On that day, Aaron and his sons entered their priesthood, washed their hands and feet from the wash basin, performed all cultic acts and established their order. On that day, the princes started to sacrifice as it is said (Num. 7:12): "He who sacrificed on the first day was Nahshon ben Aminadab of the tribe of Judah." [This day was] first in the count of Creation, first for the princes, first of the dwelling of the Shekhinah in Israel as it is said (Ex. 29:45): "I shall dwell among the Children of Israel," first day of prohibition of

SEDER OLAM

83

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

private altars, first for the priesthood, first for the priestly blessing, first for the Temple service, first for slaughtering North of the altar, first for consumption of sacrifices, first for the heavenly fire as it is said (Lev. 8:24): "Fire went out from before the Eternal and consumed holocaust and fats on the altar." On that day, Israel started to offer daily sacrifices, vows, voluntary offerings, sin offerings, reparation offerings, first born animals and tithes. About that day it is said (Cant. 4:16-5:1): "Awake North wind, come South wind, blow in my garden, let its fragrances drip; may my friend enter his garden and eat its delicious fruit. I came to my garden, o sister bride, I plucked my myrrh and fragrances, I ate my honeycombs with honey, I drank my wine with milk; eat, o friends, drink and get intoxicated, beloved ones." Awake North wind,' this is the holocaust slaughtered North of the altar; 'come South wind,' these are peace offerings slaughtered in the South; 'blow in my garden,' the Tabernacle; 'let its fragrances drip/ that is the spice burning; 'may my friend enter his garden,' that is the Shekhinah; 'and eat its delicious fruit,' these are the sacrifices. 'I came to my garden, o sister bride,' that is the Eighth Day; 'I plucked my myrrh and fragrances,' that are the incense and flour offerings; 'I ate my honeycombs with honey,' these are the limbs of the holocaust and the altar's parts of the other sacrifices; 'I drank my wine with milk,' these are the wine offerings and offered part of family sacrifices; 'eat, oh friends,' that is Moses and Aaron; 'drink and get intoxicated, beloved ones,' that is the congregation of Israel. 4

Commentary The slaughtering of the holocaust and sin and reparation offerings in the North are commanded in Lev. 1:11, 4:29, 7:2. The holocaust (nViy) is burned completely, as t h e name i m p l i e s . Sin a n d reparation offerings are eaten by

the priest except for fat and organs that are the parts (Hebrew on&'K, Greek TJ jinpia) of the altar. The first born of altar animals was eaten by the priests, the family sacrifices were eaten by the people except

84

SEDER OLAM

for the parts reserved for altar and priests. The list of 10 firsts, or 10 crowns, of the Eighth Day of Dedication is found in Sifra Shemini (1) and is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud Sabbath 87b. In t h e s e s o u r c e s , "first for slaughtering north of the altar" is missing and replaced by "first in the count of months." In some French m a n u s c r i p t s of Seder Olam> both firsts are counted for a total of 11 crowns. Rashi, in his Pentateuch commentary (Lev. 9:1) writes: "It was on the Eighth Day, that is the first of Nissan, the day on which the Tabernacle was erected and which took ten crowns as enumerated in Seder 'Olam." The order of the 10 crowns varies from manuscript to manuscript. On "first in the order of C r e a t i o n " w r i t e s R. Abraham ben David (Rabad) of Posquieres in his commentary to Sifra: "This means it was a Sunday. I do not know the source of this statement if not that it is derived from Num. 7:12: He who sacrificed on the first day was Nahshon ben A m i n a d a b , ' meaning the day known as first day of the week, counting from Creation, since o t h e r w i s e the formulation would have to be 'He who sacrificed first was Nahshon.' The princes certainly started to sacrifice on the Eighth Day of Dedication since it says (7:1): 'It was on the day t h a t Moses finished to e r e c t t h e l

4

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

Tabernacle,' i.e., on the first of Nissan when it was f i n a l l y erected and it is written there (v.10): 'The p r i n c e s of Israel brought their sacrifices,' and Nahshon was the first of the princes." Rabad a g r e e s with Rashi that the reason for t h e mentioning of the princes before the enumeration of the 10 crowns is that the verse in Numeri is the source for the assertion that the Eighth Day of Dedication was a Sunday. The statement about the 10 crowns must be very old, before Christianity chose Sunday over the Sabbath, b e c a u s e otherwise falling on a Sunday could not be counted as a crown. However, the expression "first in the order of Creation" could m e a n "the f i r s t of N i s s a n " (otherwise missing in the text of Seder Vlam), since according to R. Yehoshua, Creation started on the first of Nissan. Then the Eighth Day in a sense is the Eighth Day of Creation, in the words of Sifra (Shemini 15): "Why does the verse (Lev. 9:1) start with 'it was'? This teaches us that there was joy before Him in Heaven like the day on which Heaven and Earth were created [when all creation was executed by the word 'it was']." This refers to the statement ('Abodah zarah 3a) that the world was created conditionally, "if Israel will accept the Torah, it is fine, o t h e r w i s e the world will be returned to Tohu Wabohu." Since

SEDER OLAM

sacrifices atone for the entire world, the world can continue to exist . The sermon on the verses in the Song of Songs is alluded to in t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d Zebahim 116a and in extenso in the Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 1:13 (fol. 82 b,c). The discussion there is between R. Elazar (ben Pada) who asserts that p e a c e (family) offerings were offered by t h e d e s c e n d a n t s of Noah before the giving of the Torah and R. Yose beR. Hanina (who in t h e J e r u s a l e m T a l m u d is a frequent source of statements attributed by t h e Babylonian Talmud to Seder 'Olam), who asserts that before the erection of t h e T a b e r n a c l e , o n l y holocausts were permitted. On that, the Talmud comments: "The following supports R. Yose ben Hanina, 'Awake, North wind and come, South wind'; awake North wind that is the holocaust that 1

85

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

must be slaughtered in the North. W h y d o e s it say ' A w a k e ' ? Something that was sleeping and awoke," i.e., a previous existing but f o r g o t t e n r u l e . [The argument is also quoted in Shir rabba 4:16.] From the support given to R. Yose bar Hanina in Yerushalmi sources and the order of discussion it seems that the Jerusalem Talmud accepts the opinion of R. Yose ben Hanina as halakha, t h a t t o d a y , in t h e absence of a central a l t a r in Jerusalem, a gentile is permitted only to sacrifice holocausts on his private altar. This seems also to be the opinion of the editor of Seder 'Olam and the reason for the inclusion in the crowns that the day was the first for bringing voluntary sacrifices, supported by the lengthy sermon on the Song of Songs and the opinion of Maimonides, in his code (Ma'ase Haqorbanot 19:16).

On that day, Elisheba the daughter of Aminadab was differing from the rest of Jewish [women] by four joys and one

1

Cf. the author's The Scholar's Haggadah, "The prayer."

SEDER OLAM

86

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

mourning: Her brother-in-law was king, her husband high priest, her brother prince, and her sons vice high priests. Her mourning for her two sons Nadab and Abihu. Some people say, also her grandson anointed priest for war, that is Phineas. On the second of Nisan, Eleazar burned the red cow, Israel had its ashes sprinkled and repeated. On the 14th they slaughtered the Passover sacrifice; that was a Sabbath.

Commentary The main text of Seder 'Olam is of the opinion that only Aaron and his sons w e r e a p p o i n t e d p r i e s t s , since only t h e y a r e mentioned in Ex. 2 8 : 1 . T h e grandsons of Aaron who were already born at that time were not induced into priesthood. The exception is Pinhas (Phineas), who was born in Egypt (Ex. 6:25) and was e l e v a t e d to t h e priesthood after he slew Zimri (Num. 25:10-15). The opinion of "some people" is that Aaron and all his d e s c e n d a n t s w e r e consecrated from the start. We find Phineas as priest serving the army only 39 years later (Num. 31:6). A text similar to the one here is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud Zebahim 10lb-102a (the readings of Shitta Mequbezet and Diqduqe Soferim a r e almost identical with our text) except that it follows the opinion of "some people" and from the start mentions five joys. The quote there is used to prove that, after the Exodus Moses had the legal status of a king.

The rules of the red cow whose ashes in water cleanse from the impurity imparted by a corpse are given in Num. 19. There it is explicit that Eleazar, as oldest surviving son of Aaron and second in command in the Tabernacle had to supervise the p r e p a r a t i o n of t h e red cow. While no time is indicated in Numbers, it is clear from the i n s t i t u t i o n of t h e " S e c o n d Passover" (Num. 9:1-14) that most of Israel was cleansed from any impurity connected with dead bodies. Now the slaughter and burning of the red cow had to be done "in view of the Tabernacle," hence it could not have been done b e f o r e t h e s e c o n d of Nissan. Since the sprinkling with water containing of the ashes had to be performed on the third day after defilement and repeated on the s e v e n t h , t h e ceremony must have been performed between the second and the seventh of Nissan. By the principles of Seder 'Olam, the absence of a date implies that

SEDER OLAM

the action took p l a c e on t h e second of Nissan. The Jerusalem Talmud also mentions this fact in a discussion of the Four Parshiot, the special readings of the Law preceding the Passover festival, where the Laws of the red cow are recited after Purim and the laws of the month of Nissan the following Sabbath (Megillah 3:6, fol. 74b): "Rebbi Levi in the same of Rebbi Hama bar Hanina: T h e laws of Nissan should r e a l l y precede the laws of the red cow since the Tabernacle was erected on the First of Nissan and on the second the red cow was burnt. Why does one read about the cow first? Because it is t h e purification of Israel.'" Since it was inferred that the first of Nissan was a Sunday, the 14th must h a v e b e e n a Sabbath. It was already stated that the year earlier, in Egypt,

87

CONSECRATION OF TABERNACLE

the Passover sacrifice was on a Thursday. Hence, the year of the Exodus was such that there were only two weekdays difference between Passover one year and that of the next. Then also the difference from Rosh Hashanah of one year to the next was only two days. As explained in the theory of the calendar, this is i m p o s s i b l e in o u r J e w i s h calendar. However, the Mishnah ('Arakhin 8b) s t a t e s that the number of full (30 day) months in a year cannot be less than 4 nor more than 8. According to these rules, a year with 8 short (29 day) months is possible. For such a year, the difference from one Rosh Hashanah to the next and one Passover to the next would only be two days, as noted in t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d (Sabbath 87b-88a).

8

Book of Numbers

(Num. 1:1): "The Eternal spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tabernacle, on the first of the second month in the second year : (Num. 1:2) count the heads on the entire congregation of the children of Israel, (Num. 1:3) those twenty years old and older, every man of military age in Israel. (Num. 1:4) With you shall be one man from each tribe, each one being a family head." After that (Num. 4:1) "distinguish 1

88

SEDER OLAM

|9

BOOK OF NUMBERS

the persons from the family of Qehat"; after that (Num. 4:22) "distinguish the persons from the family of Gershon"; after that (Num. 4:29) "distinguish the persons from the family of Merari"; after that (Num. 4:49) "by the order of the Eternal they were put into office by Moses." On the fourteenth of Iyyar the impure by corpses did slaughter the Passover sacrifice as it is said (Num. 9:6-11): "there were people who were impure by a human corpse . . . These people said to [Moses]. . . The Eternal said to Moses, saying: every person that will be impure by a human corpse or on a trip far away, for you or for future generations, shall make a Passover for the Eternal." (Num. 10:11): "It was in the second year in the second month on the twentieth of the month that the Cloud rose from the Tabernacle." It follows that they stayed in the wilderness of Sinai from 12 months minus 10 days . It says (Num. 33:2): "Moses wrote down the starting places of their journeys." They set out from the wilderness of Sinai, came to the Graves of Desire, and staid there for 30 days as it says (Num. 11:19-20): "Not one day shall you eat and not two days . . . but a full month . . ." They set out from the Graves of Desire and came to Hazerot and staid there for seven days as it is said (Num. 12:15) "Miryam was locked up for seven days." They set out from Hazerot and came to the wilderness of Paran. On the 28th of Sivan did Moses send out the spies as it is said (Num. 13:20): "the days were those of the ripening of early grapes." (Num. 13:25): "They returned from touring the land after 40 days," this was the Ninth of A b , hence, one has to say that on the Ninth of Ab our forefathers incurred the decree that they would not enter the Land. After the spies was the quarrel with Qorah and his being swallowed up [by the earth] as it is said (Num. 16:14): "Not even to a land dripping with milk and honey did you lead us." (Num. 32:10): "Then the rage of the Eternal was kindled against Israel" and it is said (Deut. 2:14): "The time that we went from Qadesh Barnea until we crossed Wadi Zered was 38 years." 19 years they were wandering to and fro and 19 years they dwelt in Qadesh Barnea as it is said (Deut. 1:46): "You dwelt at Qadesh a long time, equal to the time that you dwelt. " All way 2

3

4

5

6

BOOK OF NUMBERS

90

SEDER OLAM

7

stations together were 42 way stations .

Commentary 1. The author seems to want to infer t h a t all laws noted in Numbers from 1:1 to 19:22 were either p r o m u l g a t e d at the consecration of the Tabernacle or given during the second year starting from the first of Iyyar. Numbers continues in v. 20:1 with the 40th year after the Exodus. T h e r e m a i n i n g 38 years a r e without a record except for the list of resting places (Num. 33) a n d t h e f e w r e m a r k s in Deuteronomy quoted at the end of this chapter. 2. All the computations a r e based on the hypothesis that they never travelled more than one day from one r e c o r d e d way station to the next. This is an extreme use of the principle that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." For the same reason of definiteness, the author is of the opinion that anything that happened at a certain place happened on the first day of their stay there (otherwise one could infer from Scripture only that they were at least 30 days at the Graves of Desire and at least 7 days at Hazerot.) 3. The 28th of Sivan is the 37th day after their departure from the wilderness of Sinai (of which

they stayed 30 d a y s at t h e G r a v e s of D e s i r e a n d 7 at Hazerot). One might have to add one or two days for travel but not more because in Israel the first grapes appear on the market during Sivan. So if the spies were sent when grapes still were primeurs, the 28th of Sivan is about the latest possible date. T h e n o t e on t h e s t a t u s of vineyards is quoted as an indirect proof of the author's method of using the axiom of definiteness (Chapter 1, ) f o r the interpretation of Scripture. 5

4. This section is quoted and discussed in t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud Tadnit 29a: "We have learned: Moses sent the spies on t h e 29th of Sivan and it is w r i t t e n *they r e t u r n e d from touring the Land after 40 days.'" On this comes the remark that these 40 days seem to have been only 39 days, since we accept the principle that Moses did everything always early in the morning. If the assembly of the people that refused to enter the Land was held e a r l y in t h e morning of the Ninth of Ab then the spies must have returned in the evening of the eighth (as explained by Rashi ad loc). Now Tammuz is a short month of 29

SEDER OLAM

days. So the spies were away 2 + 29 + 8 = 39 days. Abbai, one of the foremost s c h o l a r s of t h e Fourth Century C.E., explains that "in that year, they m a d e Tammuz to be 30 days long." The explanation seems to me that they had to shorten the winter season by one day, as explained in the p r e c e d i n g c h a p t e r , in o r d e r to i n a u g u r a t e the Tabernacle at the pre-ordained day. H e n c e , to r e t u r n to a regular year, they had to add a

91

BOOK OF NUMBERS

d a y , w h i c h t h e y did w h i l e waiting for the spies to return. 5. After the catastrophy of the spies, no dates are available until the 40th year after the Exodus. 6. The interpretation of t h e verse is "You dwelt at Qadesh a long time, equal to the time that you dwelt at other places." 7. T h e r e a r e 42 mentioned in Num. 33.

places

9

The Fortieth Year

(Num. 20:1) "The entire congregation came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people dwelt at Qadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there." (v.2) "There was no water for the congregation, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron" because the well had disappeared. This was in the fortieth year, on the first of the month of Nissan . At that time (v. 14) "Moses sent messengers from Qadesh to the king of Edom." Israel stayed there for three months . (Num. 33:38) "Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor by the command of the Eternal and died there. " (v.39) "Aaron was 123 years old when he died on mount Hor." When Aaron died, the clouds of glory vanished and the Canaanites came to wage war against Israel, (v.40) "The Canaanite, the king of Arad heard." What did he hear ? He heard that Aaron had died, the great scout, and the Cloud that had waged war for them had disappeared; so he came and waged war against them. They retraced their 1

2

3

4

5

92

SEDER OLAM

93

THE FORTIETH YEAR

6

steps and returned seven stops and rested at Mosera as it is said (Deut. 10:6): "The children of Israel travelled from the cisterns of Bne Yaaqon to Moserah, there Aaron died." But in fact he died on mount Hor. But from the place that he died they returned seven stops until they rested at Moserah. (Deut. 10:7) "From there, they traveled to Gudgodah, from Gudgodah to Yotvatah, a land of water streams." (Num. 21:16) "And from there to the well," that is the well that returned to them . 7

Commentary 1. As we have seen before, in the m e t h o d of R. Yose b a r Halaphta everything that happened and is indicated by month but not by day happened on the first of the month. The entire section presented here is therefore from the school of R. Yose bar Halaphta. In the next chapter, there is a section taken from the Tosephta that asserts that Miryam died on the 10th of the month. We shall show there that the latter statement, taken from Megillat Taanit, is from the school of R. Yose, the son of R. Yehudah. His a r g u m e n t is accepted in Yerushalmi sources, such as the Yerushalmi Targum ( P s e u d o - J o n a t h a n ) , and from there it is copied in the Gaonic Hilkhot Gedolot and the M e d i e v a l Tur and Shulhan 'Arukh. As always, the author of Midrash Hagadol follows t h e Babylonian sources and puts the death of Miryam on the first of Nissan. (The a t t e m p t of t h e editor of Midrash Hagadol, p.

359 line 17, to harmonize the dates of first and tenth of Nissan, has no basis in t h e sources.) H o w e v e r , a l s o R. Yose b a r Halaphta's method and assertion has a Yerushalmi background, it is found in Josephus' Jewish Antiquities, book iv (78). (It seems that Seder 'Olam was not known to modern e d i t o r s of Josephus.) 2. Since no time is indicated in S c r i p t u r e , it is c o n s i d e r e d contemporaneous with the death of Miriam recorded just before the sending of the emissaries. 3. This number is unexplained. French manuscripts have "four months," a better reading since Aaron died on the first of Ab, exactly four months after the first of Nissan. Mount Hor was the stop immediately after Qadesh and they arrived there on the first of Ab. 4. The proof is from the part of

SEDER OLAM

the verse that is not q u o t e d : "Aaron ascended Mount Hor by the command of the Eternal and died there, in the fortieth year after the Exodus from Egypt, in the fifth month on the first of the month." In most manuscripts of the Jewish Antiquities (iv, 84), the Fifth Month is identified as Shebat, the fifth month after Rosh Hashanah. Josephus is forced to t h i s by his identification of t h e King of Arad mentioned here with Sihon, the King of the Amorite, who was slain in Shebat. The verse quoted here and also Num. 21:1-3 make it clear that the king of Arad was beaten shortly after t h e d e a t h of A a r o n . The identification of Sihon and the king of Arad is also found in Babylonian sources (Rosh Hashanah 2b-3a). Yerushalmi s o u r c e s in g e n e r a l t e n d to identify the king of Arad with Amaleq (Rashi Num. 21:1). Since Sihon ruled in Transjordan and A r a d is in t h e N e g e b in Cisjordan, Seder 'Olam rightly rejects the identification. S. The language here is from Tosephta Sota 11:1. The argument is explained in t h e Jerusalem Talmud (Sota 1:10, fol. 17a, Yoma 1:1, fol. 38b): "(Num. 21:1) T h e Canaanite, the king of Arad who dwelt in the Negeb, heard that Israel came by way of atarirri What means 'by way of atariml He heard that Aaron

94

THE FORTIETH YEAR

had died, the great scout (tayyar) who was scouting for them the way." It seems that the Talmud takes the prothetic x as a Greek alpha privativum, and translates "without scouts." French manuscripts of Seder 'Olam add "and the Clouds of Glory had vanished." The addition comes from the Tosephta quoted in the next chapter. 6. In Ashkenazic manuscripts, they returned eight stops. This is a l s o t h e r e a d i n g of t h e Y e r u s h a l m i q u o t e d in t h e preceding note: "Israel desired to r e t u r n to Egypt and t u r n e d backwards for eight stops until they were stopped by the tribe of Levi who killed eight families of them, and they in turn killed from them four. That is what is written 'the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uziel.' When were they restituted? In the time of David. That is what is written (Ps. 72:7) 'In his d a y s , t h e righteous will flower.' They said: W h a t c a u s e d us a l l t h i s bloodshed? They said: Because we did not m o u r n for t h e righteous man! They went and had a great funeral oration and mourned for that righteous man. Therefore, Scripture considers it as if Aaron died there and they gave him due funerary honors." T h e n u m b e r of w a y stations is eight if Mount Hor is also counted, it is seven without counting t h e s t a r t i n g p o i n t .

SEDER OLAM

There are eight families of Israel that are counted at the Exodus but they do not appear in t h e census of the fortieth year, after the conquest of t h e lands of Sihon and Og (Num. 26). On the o t h e r h a n d , t h e r e a r e four families of Levites mentioned in the census of Num. 3 (in t h e second year) that are missing in the census of Num. 26. However, that latter census does not go into details. It is reported in C h r o n i c l e s t h a t in D a v i d ' s o r g a n i z a t i o n of t h e T e m p l e s e r v i c e , t h e f a m i l i e s of t h e Levites w e r e organized in as many groups as t h e r e w e r e groups of priests.

THE FORTIETH YEAR

This entire story is also a c c e p t e d by t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 3a, Tad nit 9a) which comments on the Tosephta of R. Yose BeR. Yehuda, quoted in t h e n e x t chapter: "That is what is written (Num. 20:29): ' T h e e n t i r e congregation understood t h a t Aaron had expired'. R. Abbahu said: Do not read * i m (wayyir'u, 'they saw, understood', root r'h) but m v n (wayyira'u 'they feared', root yrV 7. The well returned, first by the merit of Moses and Aaron, then by the merit of Moses alone, and detailed in the next chapter.

(Num. 21:10-11) "The Children of Israel travelled and camped at Obot. They travelled from Obot and camped at the ruins of Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab from the East." (v. 13) "From there they travelled and camped across the Arnon . . ; " there they made war against Sihon (Num. 21:24) "And Israel 8

96

SEDER OLAM

THE FORTIETH YEAR

smote him by the sword." (v.33) "They turned and went up the way to Bashan " (v.34) "The Eternal said to Moses, do not fear him . . . . " (Num. 22:1) "The children of Israel travelled and camped in the prairie of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho." (Num. 25:19) "It was after the plague that the Eternal said to Moses and Eelazar ben Aharon, the Priest: Count the head of all Children of Isreal " (Num. 26:53) "For these, the Land shall be divided up . . . " , the sons gave back to the fathers and the fathers in turn let the sons inherit. Serah the daughter of Asher was from those who came to Egypt and those who left Egypt . From those who came to Egypt as it is said (Gen. 46:17): "and their sister Serah", from those who entered the Land as it is said (Num. 26:46): "the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah." Yokhebed was of those who came to Egypt and those who left it as it is said (Num. 26:59): "the name of the wife of Amram was Yokhebed, daughter of Levi, to whom she was born in Egypt. " Yair the son of Manasse and Makhir the son of Manasse were born when our forefather Jacob was still alive ; they died after the death of Moses our teacher. Nobah was born in Egypt, died after the death of Moses our teacher, and was buried in Trans Jordan. (Num. 26:65) "No single one of them was left, except for Caleb ben Yephuneh and Joshua bin Nun." 9

10

11

12

Commentary 8. In European manuscripts: "They waged war against Sihon in Ellul, they were free and went up the way of Bashan after they had time after the holidays in Tishre." That interpretation is from Midrash Tanhuma (Bobr Numeri 130, cf. note 376 there; t h e s t a t e m e n t is q u o t e d in Tanhuma Huqat, Numeri rabba, Yalqut): "some people say, the war of Sihon was in Ellul, they

kept the holidays in Tishre, and after the holidays was the war of Og, as it says (Deut. 16:7) 'You shall be f r e e (rpj&i) in t h e morning' and it is written (Num. 21:33) 'They turned (ttfi'i) and went up the way of Bashan'. An equal expression (root mfi) must have the same meaning in both cases. As in the first cases after the holiday, also in the second case after the holiday." T h e

SEDER OLAM

midrash exploits the different meanings of t h e root pnh to translate in both cases "to be idle, to have time." Even though t h e r e is no mention of this i n t e r p r e t a t i o n in Babylonian sources, it seems that we have here an old tradition since the Babylonian Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 2b-3a) identifies the king of Arad with Sihon and the war with Arad was immediately after t h e end of the 30 day mourning period for Aaron, i.e., at t h e b e g i n n i n g of E l l u l . Josephus also (Jewish Antiquities 4:85-93) disregards the war of Horma (Num. 21:1-3) completely and adds that the war against Sihon was still in the summer and more Emorites died from thirst than by the sword, this means that he also p l a c e s the war against Sihon in Ellul. However old this tradition is, it is not from t h e s c h o o l of R. Yose b a r H a l a p h t a s i n c e t h e r e is no definite statement of the date, against his p r i n c i p l e that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." 9. The language of Seder 'Olam is close to that of Tosephta Baba Bathra 7:9 which is quoted in the Jerusalem Talmud Baba Bathra 8:3 (fol. 16a) and, in a slightly d i f f e r e n t v e r s i o n , in Sifry Pinehas 132, Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 117a/b; cf. also Rashi's c o m m e n t a r y on Num. 26:53. T h e p o s i t i o n of t h e

97

THE FORTIETH YEAR

a n o n y m o u s t e a c h e r in t h e Tosephta is identical with that of the authoritative R. Yonathan in the Babylonian and R. Yohanan in the Jerusalem Talmudim. The statement of the Tosephta is: "The Holy Land was given to those who left Egypt but is was distributed to those who where counted in the prairie of Moab. As example, two brothers left Egypt, one had nine sons and the other one son. Each one of the sons r e c e i v e d one letekh (a measure of surface area) in the d i s t r i b u t i o n of l a n d . They returned it to their fathers and the fathers in turn let the sons inherit; the nine together t a k e half of the inheritance and the single one t a k e s half of the inheritance (assuming that the grandfather was living at the time of the Exodus.) R. Simeon ben Elazar says, the Land was given also to those who left Egypt, meaning t h a t a n y o n e present at the Exodus and the count in the prairie of Moab took two parts, if he was not present at the Exodus he took only one part. Those who rebelled against Moses, the spies, and Korah's group did not take a part of the land but their sons inherited by the rights of their grandfathers and grandmothers. Joshua and Caleb each took three parts of the land, one as participant of t h e E x o d u s , one for b e i n g counted in the prairie of Moab, and they also took the part that

SEDER OLAM

98

THE FORTIETH YEAR

10. Serah is mentioned among the 70 souls that came with Jacob to Egypt. She is also mentioned at the occasion of the census of the 40th year. Since the latter census determined who received a distribution of land, it follows that Serah was alive, otherwise she could not receive anything; cf. Rashi Num. 26:46. There is no mention here of t h e Midrash (Qohelet rabba 9(18)) that Serah was the wise woman mentioned 2Samuel 20:16.

Goshen. It seems that the author of Seder 'Olam subscribes to the theory of Nachmanides that the Levites were counted in the 40th year to establish the claims to the Levitic cities that were to be given to them in t h e L a n d . Hence, everybody mentioned in that census also must be assumed to be living at that time. (Ibn Ezra in his commentary to Gen. 46:27 complains about liturgical poets who composed a song for Simhat Torah in which Moses exhorts his mother before his death: w n n n nrot /»»K laav "My mother Yokhebed, console yourself about my death," when she must have been 210 years of age. The poet t a k e s his justification from Seder 'Olam here.)

11. The statement about Yokhebed, the mother of Moses, is attributed in the Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 123b to Rebbi Hama bar Hanina, a contemporary of R. Yose bar Halaphta. He comments on the verse Num. 26:59: "The name of t h e w i f e of A m r a m w a s Yokhebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt" that she was born in Egypt but not conceived there, and that she was the seventieth soul of the family of Jacob t h a t e n t e r e d Egypt, of which Gen. 46 lists only 69, because Yokhebed was born after they had crossed the frontier but before they reached

12. Yair, the son of Manasse, is mentioned Num. 32:41, Makhir is mentioned there v. 40, and Nobah v. 42. Since they participated in the conquest of Bashan, they must have been alive. It also is said (Gen. 50:30) t h a t t h e children of Makhir played on the knees of Joseph. So Nobah was born during t h e l i f e t i m e of Joseph. That Yair and Makhir were born still during Jacob's lifetime is quoted from here in the Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 121b, w h e r e R a s h i d e c l a r e s the s t a t e m e n t as a tradition that is not verifiable from Scripture. According to one opinion, Makhir died only

would have gone to the other spies." The quote here comes to indicate that the census taken in t h e f o r t i e t h y e a r w a s for purposes of dividing the Land only, as e x p l i c i t l y s t a t e d in Scripture.

SEDER OLAM

after the crossing of the Jordan; this would imply t h a t the judgment that all those who had seen the Exodus had to d i e before Israel crossed the Jordan

99

THE FORTIETH YEAR

applied only to males of military age, from ages 20 to 60. It did not apply to Levites nor to females.

10 The Death of Moses

(Deut. 1:3-5) "It was in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the Children of Israel, following all that the Eternal had commanded him about them. After he had smitten Sihon, the king of H e s h b o n , . . . in Trans Jordan, in the land of Moab " From the first of Shebat to the sixth of Adar, during 36 days, did our teacher Moses explain the entire Torah. On the sixth, (Deut. 31:14) "the Eternal spoke to Moses, behold, your days came close to your death." On the seventh (Deut. 31:1-2) "Moses went and spoke these words to all of Israel. Hundred and twenty years of age I am today." Why does Scripture have to say 'today'? It says 'today' to teach us that on the 100

SEDER OLAM

?

DEATH OI MOSES

101

seventh of Adar Moses was born and on the seventh of Adar he died as it is said (Deut. 34:5-7): "And Moses, the servant of the Eternal, died there in the land of Moab by the word of the Eternal. He buried himself in the valley, in the land of Moab, and nobody knows his burial place . . . . Moses was exactly 120 years old at his death, his eye had not dimmed and his sap had not dried up." (Jos. 1:1-2) "It was after the death of Moses, the Servant of the Eternal, that the Eternal said to Joshua . . , My servant Moses died, and now get up to cross the Jordan . . . " (Jos. 1:10-11) "Joshua commanded the policemen of the people: Pass through the camp and order the people, saying, prepare provisions for yourselves for in three days you will cross the Jordan to come to inherit the Land that the Eternal gives you as inheritance." (Jos. 4:19) "The people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month; they camped at Gilgal, on the eastern fringe of Jericho." Count from here 33 days backwards and you are taught that Moses, our teacher, died on the seventh of Adar.

Commentary T h e discussion is q u o t e d in extenso in t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud Qiddushin 38a and in a shortened version in Tosephta Sota 11, Tanhuma (both versions) a n d Deut. rabba e n d of Waethannan, Sifry Deut. 2(3), Mekhilta Wayissa 5. The tradition t h a t Moses died on A d a r 7 is found in all old sources, Babylonian and Galilean, and seems to have been generally accepted. (Josephus writes that Moses died on the first of Adar but it seems that he, or his Greek language assistants, simply copied from his account of the deaths of Miriam and A a r o n ,

maybe for reasons of style.) The reasoning ( a d o p t e d by Seder Vlam and Tosephta) goes from a general statement that the righteous die on their birthdays, to the specific d a t e of t h e seventh of Adar. The argument of the Talmud and the Midrashim goes the opposite direction. In Tosephta and T a l m u d , the argument is based not only on the verse "120 years old I am today" implying that the day b e f o r e , Moses h a d not yet reached the age of 120 years, but also on the verse (Ex. 23:26): "There shall not be a woman having a miscarriage or a sterile

SEDER OLAM

one in your midst; the number of your days I shall fill", meaning that the just will live full years. [In Tosephta kifshutah, R. Saul Lieberman explains that the verse in Exodus has two parts. The first one, in indirect speech, indicates the general blessing bestowed on Israel when it is righteous; the second part, in direct speech, is addressed to Moses personally.] In the computation of the date of d e a t h of Moses, one quote is missing in Seder 'Olam, that is Deut. 34:8: "The children of Israel wept for Moses in the

102

?

DEATH Ql MOSES

prairie of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping for the mourning for Moses were over." Since in Joshua 1:2 it says: "My servant Moses died, and now get up" it must m e a n " g e t u p immediately", on the first day after the thirty days of crying. They prepared food for two days and on the third day, on the 10th of Nissan, they c r o s s e d t h e Jordan. Now the 10th of Nissan would be the 39th of Adar and the mourning started on the day of the death of Moses. Hence, to obtain the day of death one has to take 39 - 32 = 7.

Three good providers arose for Israel, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Three good gifts were given to Israel through them: the well, the pillar of clouds, and the mannah. Mannah by the merit of Moses, the pillar of clouds by the merit of Aaron, the well by the merit of Miriam. When Miriam died, the well disappeared; it was restituted to Israel by the merits of Moses and Aaron. When Aaron died, the pillar of clouds disappeared and was restituted to Israel by the merits of Moses. I When Moses died] all three disappeared and were never restituted, as it is said (Zach. 11:8) "I removed the three shephards in one month," but did they die in one month, not rather in one year?

SEDER OLAM

?

DEATH Oi MOSES

103

Miriam died on the 10th of Nissan, Aaron on the first of Ab, Moses our teacher on the seventh of Adar. Rather, on the day of Moses' death all three disappeared and never were restituted.

Commentary This p i e c e is not from t h e t r a d i t i o n of R. Y o s e b a r Halaphta, the authority for most of Seder 'Olam, but from R. Yose, the son of R. Yehudah. T h e statement comes in the latter's name in the Babylonian Talmud (Taanith 9a) and in a shortened, different, version in Tosephta Sota 11:4. It is anonymous in Sifry Deuteronony 304. The connection of t h e well with Miriam and of t h e clouds of glory with Aaron were already given in the preceding chapter in the formulation of the school of R. Yose bar Halaphta. Some European manuscripts of Seder 'Olam have "the first of Nissan" instead of "the tenth of Nissan" for the date of Miriam's death, obviously in an attempt of harmonization with the statement of chapter Nine that Miriam died on the first of the month. However, all Oriental manuscripts, and the first print, have "10th of Nissan" and there is no need to emend the text. We saw in the preceding chapter that a proof that Miriam died on the first of the month is only possible if one accepts the principle of R.

Yosse bar H a l a p h t a t h a t "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." We have no reason to expect this principle to be accepted by other Tannaim, at least not in the systematic way it is used by R. Yose bar Halaphta. We have here a disagreement of tannaitic authorities and there is no reason to believe that R. Yose berrebbi Yehudah must accept the opinion of R. Yose b a r Halaphta. In t h e Mekhilta (Beshallah, Wayyissa' 6), the statements other than the dates in this sections are attributed to R. Yehoshua, two generations before the two R. Yose. Most European manuscripts add at the end of this section, "and the wasp did not cross the Jordan with them." The wasp, mentioned in Ex. 23:28, did d r i v e out t h e Canaanites before Israel. The s e n t e n c e is a p p e n d e d to the statements of R. Yehoshua in the Mekhilta and R. Yose berRebbi Yehudah in the Tosephta; their argument seems to be that the promise of help by the wasps was given to Moses personally, not to the p e o p l e of Israel.

104

SEDER OLAM

There is no need to add this sentence to our text since the Babylonian Talmud deals with the topic of the present section in Taanit 9a but w i t h t h e

DEATH OF MOSES

statement about the wasp in Sota 36a. Hence, in B a b y l o n i a n tradition the two statements are unrelated.

From the Mannah that they collected on the Seventh of Adar they ate until the Sixteenth of Nissan as it is said (Jos. 5:12): "The Mannah stopped the next day when they were eating from the yield of the Land; from thereon, the Children of Israel had no more Mannah but they ate from the produce of the land of Canaan in that year." Why does Scripture say (Ex. 16:35): "The Children of Israel ate Mannah for forty years until they arrived at cultivated land," on the day of Moses's death, the Mannah stopped coming down, "they ate the Mannah until they came to the border of the land of Canaan," that day the Mannah that they had in their hands vanished. That makes forty years minus 30 days, plus the thirty days they ate from the cakes they brought with them from Egypt that was good [in taste] for them like Mannah.

Commentary This section is also attributed to R. Yehoshua in t h e Mekhilta quoted in the preceding section. The proof really is from t h e verse preceding the quoted one

(v. 11): "They ate from the yield of the Land starting from the day a f t e r P a s s o v e r , matzot and r o a s t e d g r a i n , on t h a t d a y exactly." It follows that before

SEDER OLAM

that, they did not eat from local produce. In the Mekhilta (deR. Ismael) t h e r e is an o p i n i o n ascribed to a R. Yose that Israel ate Mannah the entire 14 years of conquest and d i s t r i b u t i o n . T h a t t r a d i t i o n is g i v e n in Mekhilta deR. Simon bar Iohay (and in the Yemenite Midrash Hagadol) as opinion of "others." It is difficult to identify that R. Yose to R. Yose bar Halaphta since our Seder 'Olam has no trace of such an opinion that clearly contradicts the pentateuchal verse. Without any names of authors, the argument is given in a somewhat more wordy form in Tosephta Sota 11:2; the computation of the missing 30 days is given there as "another explanation." T h e t o p i c is t r e a t e d in t h e B a b y l o n i a n

105

DEATH OF MOSES

Talmud, Qiddushin 38a, as a baraitha, different in formulation both from Seder 'Olam and from t h e Tosephta. A separate baraitha there states that "in the cakes that they brought out of Egypt they tasted the taste of Mannah." It seems that the text u n d e r l y i n g C h a p t e r 11 of Tosephta Sota was also before the editors of Seder 'Olam\ the Tosephta is not derived from Seder 'Olam. The word i n s e r t e d in parenthesis in the last sentence of the text is from European manuscripts; the word must have fallen out in t h e manuscript before the printers of the first edition by a scribal error since " c a k e " is f e m i n i n e , " t a s t e " masculine, and the verb "was good" is given in the masculine.

Part II

Anterior Prophets

11 Joshua

(Jos. 4:19) "The people ascended from the Jordan on the Tenth of" that month. The took with them 12 stones from the outside and deposited them under where the feet of the priests stood. They took another 12 stones from the Jordan and deposited them at Gilgal, at the Eastern border of Jericho. After they ascended from the Jordan they came to Mounts Gerizim and Ebal in Samaria, near Sichem, by the groves of Moreh as it is said (Deut. 11:30): "Behold, they are on the other side of the Jordan, westward, on the way to sunset " There Israel recited the blessings [and returned to the camp. The stones] they erected in their order as he had ordered them (Jos. 4:3) "saying, carry with you from here, from the Jordan, from the place of the feet of the priests, preparing twelve stones and transfer them with you " (Jos. 4:20) "And those twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua erected them at Gilgal," whitewashed them, and they wrote on 109

SEDER OLAM

JOSHUA

110

it the Torah in 70 languages as it is said (Deut. 27:8): "You shall write on them all the words of this Torah, well explained." They sacrificed peace-offerings and ate there as it is said (v.7): "You shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there . . ." At that moment, Israel became obligated to the laws of Hallah, 'Orlah, and Hadash.

Commentary The words in parenthesis were added from European manuscripts. The opinion of Seder 'Olam about the day of crossing t h e J o r d a n is r e p e a t e d , anonymously, by the Babylonian Talmud (Sota 35b) and t h e Tosephta (Sota 8). The Jerusalem Talmud (Sota 7:3) and parallel Yerushalmi sources identify some disagreeing scholars. The Tosephta, amplifying the argument quoted in Seder 'Olam, notes that the obligation to write down the T o r a h and its translations is meant for "the day that you shall cross the Jordan" (Deut. 27:2). The obligation to p r e s e n t blessings and curses (whose text is found Deut. 27:1526) is formulated as "it shall be when the Eternal, your God, will bring you to the Land" (Deut. 11:29). On this comments Sifry (R'eh 55) "'it shall be* means immediately." Against this a r g u e s R e b b i Ismael in t h e Yerushalmi (Sota fol. 21c) that "all 'bringing, c o m i n g ' in t h e Torah means after the fourteen

y e a r s " (of c o n q u e s t a n d distribution). According to him, the stones were e r e c t e d immediately but blessings and curses were recited at Sichem only at an assembly of the people before they fixed the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Jos. 18:1). Similarly. Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 5:69) puts the blessings and curses at the assembly that decided on the procedure for dividing up the land, i.e., after the first seven years of conquest. This account seems best to describe what is said in Jos. 8:31-35. According to Tosephta and Seder 'Olam, on one day they not only crossed the J o r d a n and put up s t o n e s , whitewashed them and inscribed the entire Torah, but also went for 120 Roman miles and had time to climb the two mountains and solemnly utter blessings and curses. The second disagreement (Sifry Deut. 56, Yershalmi Sota 7:3) is about the places called Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Rebbi Yehudah identifies these as the mountains that still are

SEDER OLAM

111

called by this name. North and South of Sichem (Nablus). Rebbi Ismael agrees with this determination (but R. Yehudah thinks that Blessings and Curses were pronounced before the fall of Jericho). Both a u t h o r i t i e s interpret the expression Kia» vovn (Deut. 11:30) as "going of the sun," i. e., sunset, West. However, Rebbi Eliezer reads waipn toa» as "coming of the sun," sunrise in the East. In the verse, Gerizim and Ebal are characterized as being "in the land of t h e C a n a a n i t e , " b u t Sichem is land of the Hiwwite, "dwelling in the prairie," but Sichem is in t h e m o u n t a i n s , "opposite Gilgal," but Sichem is 60 Roman miles to the north. Hence, Gerizim and Ebal in Deut. 11:30 a r e t w o h i l l s in t h e neighborhood of Gilgal. Of the Aramaic versions, Onqelos f o l l o w s R. E l i e z e r a n d t h e Yerushalmi (pseudo-Jonathan) follows R. Yehudah. As a source of traditional interpretations, R. E l i e z e r ( b e n H y r k a n o s ) is unsurpassed. The Tosephta quoted a b o v e c o n t a i n s an e l a b o r a t i o n of t h e a p p r o a c h taken by Seder 'Olam and the Babylonian Talmud; one might conjecture that after the disaster of the war of Bar Kokhba, the rabbis wanted to increase the miraculous aspects of the first conquest to discourage any new attempt to reconquer the Land. The Yerushalmi text seems to be

JOSHUA

based of Sifry but not on any t e x t s e r v i n g as basis for Tosephta. Hallah is a small piece that has to be given to the priest from every sufficiently l a r g e dough (Num. 15:20), it is to be burned if ritually impure. 'Orlah is the forbidden fruit from a tree that is not yet three years old (Lev. 19:23). Had ash is new grain harvested before the 'omer ceremony (Lev. 23:9-14). Now it seems t h a t hallah is not an obligation on the Land at all; only Israel was not obligated to give hallah as long as they a t e Mannah and did not make dough. So the obligation to give hallah was concurrent with the end of Mannah. The Babylonian Talmud (Qiddushin 38a) contains a statement of R. Simeon bar Iohay parallel to that of Seder 'Olam, only his list contains kiVaim (sowing a field with seeds from several incompatible plants or c r o s s b r e e d i n g a n i m a l s of different species), 'orlah and hadasK His son, R. Eleazar beR. Simeon, insists that the obligation for these commands started only with the distribution of land. According to the first opinion, all three mitzwot are not bound to the land and obligatory of Jews everywhere, although the connection with t h e Land is mentioned explicitly as reason for prohibitions of 'orlah and hadash. The Jerusalem Talmud (Qiddushin 1:9, fol. 6Id) endorses

SEDER OLAM

the decision reported in Seder 'Olam. R. Yose (the later Amora) notes that hallah is left out of the c o r r e s p o n d i n g Mishnah since

112

JOSHUA

dough prepared by a Gentile is not subject to the laws of hallah whereas 'orlah and hadash grown by Gentiles remain forbidden.

H

1

(Jos. 5:2) At that time, the Eternal said to Joshua,' on the eleventh of Nissan, (v.3) "Joshua made flint-stone swords and circumcised the Children of Israel on the hill of foreskins. On the fourtienth of Nissan, Israel slaughtered their Passover sacrifices as it is said (Jos. 5:10): 'The chidren of Israel encamped and Gilgal and made Passover . . . . " On the sixteenth of Nissan, Israel sacrificed the Omer as it is said (Jos. 5:11): "They ate from the yield of the Land " After Passover, on the 22nd of Nissan, (Jos. 6:3) "You shall walk around the city ...", (v. 15) "it was on the Seventh day ..."; R. Yose says, is was a Sabbath. The battles for Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon, were all within three months. On the third of Tammuz, (Jos. 10:12-13) "he said before the Children of Israel: 11

l

Sun stand still over Gibeon, And Moon over valley of Ayalon! So the Sun was still And the Moon stood Until the people from its enemies vengeance took!

SEDER OLAM

JOSHUA

ill

R. Yose said: this was the day of the summer solstice. It follows that, in that year the first of Nissan was the spring equinox.

Commentary "At that time" can only mean the day after the one mentioned one verse earlier, which was the day they erected the stones after crossing the Jordan, the 10th of Nissan. "After Passover" since the celebration of Passover is referred to between the mass circumcision and t h e war on Jericho. "R. Yose says, it was a Sabbath." This is the opinion of all Y e r u s h a l m i sources, t h a t Jericho was stormed on Sabbath. The main source is the Jerusalem Talmud Sabbath 1 (fol. 4a; also Mo'ed Qatan 2:4, fol. 81b) as commentary on Tosephta 'Erubin 3:7: "One does not start the siege of a Gentile city less than three days before the Sabbath. That is, in a political war. But in a war that is a religious obligation one starts even on Sabbath since we find that Jericho was conquered only on Sabbath s i n c e it is written (Jos. 6:3): 'So you shall do for six days.' And it is written (v. 4): 'On the Seventh Day you shall circle the city seven times,' and it is written (Deut. 20:20): 'until you c o n q u e r [the city]', even on Sabbath." The parallel in the Babylonian Talmud (Sabbath 19a)

omits any mention of Jericho: "The rabbis have taught: One does not attack Gentile cities less than t h r e e d a y s b e f o r e t h e Sabbath but after they started they do not interrupt. In this vein, Shammai explained 'until you conquer [the city],' even on Sabbath." There is a fundamental disagreement between the two Talmudim. The reasoning of the Yerushalmi is well explained by S. L i e b e r m a n n (Tosephta Kifshutah 'Erubin p. 343): The war on Jericho was only one day. Before that, they simply circled the city once, and (Jos. 6:1) "Jericho was closed" from the inside "and enclosed" from the outside; "no one left" for war "and no one came" against it in war. Hence, war was waged only on the Seventh Day and t h e seventh day with definite article is t h e S a b b a t h . In l a t e r Yerushalmi sources we find in Genesis rabba 47(12) "Hizqiah taught: 'until you conquer [the city]', even on Sabbath, since we find that Jericho was conquered only on Sabbath." In Tanhuma Mas'e 5 [Tanhuma Bobr Mas'e 4, Numeri rabba 23(6)] it is

SEDER OLAM

explained that Joshua declared all spoils of Jericho sacred so that nobody should take s o m e t h i n g on S a b b a t h a n d desecrate Sabbath by carrying outside, in the public domain. Hence, Akhan was stoned for desecretion of the Sabbath. [A different opinion, p a r a l l e l to Babylonian sources, is given in Tanhuma Naso 28 [Tanhuma Bobr Naso 3 1 , Numeri rabba 14(5)} noting that they carried the arc on Sabbath "since there are no seven days w i t h o u t a Sabbath"]. By c o n t r a s t , it is asserted in Chapters of Rebbi Eliezer (Chap. 52) that Joshua did not desecrate the Sabbath and that he let sun and moon stay o v e r G i b e o n to a v o i d a desecration of the Sabbath since the battle of Gibeon was fought on a Friday. Similarly, R. Saadya Gaon, in a p o l e m i c a g a i n s t Christians who assert that the laws of t h e T o r a h a r e not invariable, writes (Emunot weDeot part 3, chap. 9) "they say that Joshua waged war on the Sabbath, but this is not so since, during the six days of the siege of Jericho war is not mentioned, but every day they carried the a r c and b l e w h o r n s , w h i c h activities are allowed on Sabbath. The seventh day on which they conquered J e r i c h o was not a Sabbath." It is obvious that the Gaon would not have w r i t t e n what he did if his interpretation of the Babylonian Talmud would y

114

JOSHUA

parallel the statements of the Jerusalem Talmud. It follows that the Babylonian Talmud's suppression of the mention of Jericho is intentional. Therefore, it seems that the statement that Jericho was conquered on the Sabbath is ascribed to R. Yose (bar Halaphta) personally, even though he is understood to be the source for all (or at least most) of the material in Seder 'Olam, in order to emphasize that this is his personal opinion which is not generally accepted and, hence, cannot be quoted anonymously. The tradition that connects the seventh day of the siege of Jericho with the Sabbath must be old since J o s e p h u s (Jewish Antiquities 5(22)) writes that they started to circle the city on the first day of Passover and conquered it on the last day of Passover (which according to R. Yose was also a Sabbath) and which can also qualify as the Seventh Day with a d e f i n i t e article. It may be that Josephus, writing for Gentiles, did not want to come out openly and declare that they attacked Jericho on a Sabbath. As for the succession of the battles of Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon, it is clear that they were fought in that order but no dates are given in S c r i p t u r e . The explanation for fixing the battle of G i b e o n on t h e t h i r d of Tammuz is found by the next statement of R. Yose: "That day

SEDER OLAM

J!5_

was the summer solstice." Again, labelling the statement with the name of R. Yose proves that the editors of Seder 'Olam do not agree with it. In the Babylonian Talmud ('Abodah zarah 25a) there is a discussion between Amoraim about the length of time that the sun stood still over Gibeon. They give times between 24 and 48 hours and t h e r e f o r e (as noted by Gersonides in his commentary to Jos. 10:12) they a r e under an obligation to prove that the sun stood still not only for Joshua but also for Moses, since the Torah asserts (Deut. 34:10-12) that no prophets arose like Moses in the k i n d of w o n d e r s t h a t h e performed. Hence, it seems that R. Yose explains the verses (Jos. 10:12-13) in the way they are explained by Gersonides, the Bible scholar and astronomer: "that Joshua e x c l a i m e d that, before the sun would disappear from over Gibeon and the moon from over the valley of Ayalon the vengeance of t h e p e o p l e from its e n e m i e s s h o u l d be completed. The verse, being p o e t i c , is e l l i p t i c , but it is explained by the second p a r t T h e sun was quiet and the moon stood until t h e p e o p l e t o o k vengeance from its e n e m i e s ' , meaning that the victory was complete while the sun still stood over Gibeon and the moon over the valley of Ayalon and this is a great miracle that Israel

JOSHUA

achieved such a decisive victory in such a short time." It seems that R. Yose explains the end of v. 13: "The sun stood in t h e middle of the sky and did not quickly set since the day was complete" that the "complete day" is the longest day of the year. This shows that he explains the miracle within the framework of the laws of nature ( a n d , as G e r s o n i d e s n o t e s , Scripture stresses God's help in the battle over the length of the day) and according to his method all through the book he find an indication of the date in the text. [ T h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h e 'complete day' as the summer solstice is also accepted by R. David Qimhi ad loc] Now, it is more difficult to explain the date of the Third of Tammuz. It follows from Joshua's poem that it must have been a day where sun and moon w e r e j o i n t l y visible from early morning (the time of the Israeli attack, v. 9-10) to evening. It cannot have been t h e day of t h e New Moon, because then the moon was invisible. It could not have been the fourth of the month or later because then the moon would rise later. It seems impossible to decide between the second and the third of the month. However, Israel's conquest appears more of a natural phenomenon if the year was one of harmony of sun and moon, that the spring equinox was exactly on the first day of

SEDER OLAM

JOSHUA

116

the spring month. That means that the s t a t e m e n t about t h e

equinox serves to determine the date of the solstice 91 days later.

1

Caleb said to Joshua (Jos. 14:7): "I was 40 years old when Moses, the Eternal's servant, sent me from Qadesh Barnea to spy out the land" (v.10) "and now I am 85 years old." This teaches us that for seven years they were conquering. From where do we know that for seven years they were dividing up the land before they started to count years for tithes, sabbatical years, and jubilee years ? Now Israel stayed 850 years from the time they entered until they left, these are 17 complete Jubilee periods. And so it says (Ez. 40:1): "In the 25th year of our exile, on the day of the New Year, on the tenth of the month, 14 years after the destruction of the city [of Jerusalem]." When did he [Ezechiel] have this vision? At the beginning of a Jubilee period. If they staid for 17 entire jubilee periods, how can there be an excess of 17 years ? One has to say that 14 years Israel spent at Gilgal, seven when they were conquering and seven when they we distributing. After that (Jos. 18:1) "All the congregation of the Children of Israel 2

3

4

5

SEDER OLAM

JOSHUA

117

assembled at Shiloh and there they put up the Tabernacle." At that moment, they started to count years for tithes, sabbatical years, and Jubilee years. (Jos. 22:1-2) "Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the semi-tribe of Manasse and said to them: you kept everything that Moses, the Servant of God, had commanded you; you listened to my voice for all orders that I gave you." Joshua sent them to their tents and blessed them. On their return they built a big altar for view . Joshua celebrated with them the first sabbatical year ; he died before he finished the second one. The sanctuary at Shiloh was built on stone walls and was covered by gobelins; Israel worshipped in it for 369 years, then it was destroyed. 6

7

8

Commentary 1. The computation is clear. The spies were sent in the second year after the Exodus. Israel entered the land 38 years later when Caleb was 78. Since he put f o r t h his c l a i m to H e b r o n immediately when they started the distribution of land, at age 85, it follows that for seven years they conquered the land. 2. The count of years for tithes is important since in years 1, 2, 4, 5 of a sabbatical cycle of 7 years, the "second t i t h e " had to be consumed by the farmer at the Temple site, but in years 3, 6 it was reserved for the poor, cf. R a s h i on Deut. 14:28. A sabbatical cycle is 7 years, a jubilee cycle 50 years, cf. Lev. 25. 3. The number 850 years, that will be justified only at the end, Chapter 24, is not found in any

Yerushalmi source. In t h e Babylonian Talmud one finds twice (Sanhedrin 38a, Gittin 88a) a s t a t e m e n t of t h e e a r l y (Palestinian) amora Ullah on verses Deut. 4:28 "when you will get old on the land," v. 26 "you will totally disappear quickly," that God in his g r e a t mercy exiled Israel two years before "when you will get old," onunn w h o s e n u m e r i c a l v a l u e is 6+50+6+300+50+400+40 = 852, so that they would not totally disappear. This midrash is also q u o t e d by R a s h i i n h i s commentary on Deut. 4:28. The number 850 is also the basis for the Talmudic s t a t e m e n t that Solomon's temple existed for 410 years since (1 Kings 6:1) it was built 440 years a f t e r I s r a e l entered the Land. There are two questions here. Does Seder 'Olam follow Ulla's argument? If it

SEDER OLAM

does, one should rather expect that Israel should have stayed on the land for 851 years, since in the method of the author only a difference of 1 gives a definite answer. The latter question is easily answered, since in Chapter 27 the count of 70 years of Babylonian captivity is connected with the v e r s e s a b o u t t o t a l desolation of the Land. T h e remaining population that was not deported fled the land after the m u r d e r of G e d a l i a h ben Ahiqam on New Year's Day after the destruction of the Temple and deportation of most of the people. Hence, complete desolation and absence of human habitation occurred exactly one year before the year 852, as required by the method of Seder 'Olam. The first question cannot be resolved with certainty but it seems that Ulla based his remark on the number 369 for the years of existence of the sanctuary at Shiloh. That number cannot be a s c e r t a i n e d d i r e c t l y from Scripture, but it appears both in the Babylonian {Zebahim 118b119a) and Jerusalem (Megillah 1:14, fol. 72d) Talmudim. The underlying computation seems to be older than Seder 'Olam. It is explained in Zebahim: From the Exodus to the fourth year of Solomon there were 480 years (IKings 6:1). One has to subtract 40 years for the reign of Moses, 14 y e a r s of c o n q u e s t a n d distribution, 13 years from the

118

JOSHUA

d e s t r u c t i o n of Shiloh to the ascent of David (as explained later in Chapter 13), 40 years for David, 4 years for Solomon, makes 111 years. There are left for the sanctuary at Shiloh 480 111 = 369 years. (Josephus has bigger numbers but he does not know how to add; for him from the death of David to the end of the Hasmonean dynasty there are more than 1500 years!) T h e details of the computation of 13 years for the sanctuaries at Nob and Gibeon are given in Chapter 13; the details of the addition of years of judges parallel to the existence of the sanctuary of Shiloh are not given. On the other hand, it is possible to use the number 369 to s e l e c t manuscript readings in the next chapter, a very difficult one dealing with the poorly documented period of the Judges. There, one has to keep in mind that the tannaitic scholars had to come up with a total sum of 369 years from the year 14 of Joshua to the death of Eli. The dates for the existence of the first Temple will be f u r t h e r discussed in Chapters 19 and 23. 4. The verse in Ezechiel is the real proof for the 14 years that elapsed b e f o r e t h e count of Jubilee periods was begun. The a r g u m e n t is g i v e n in t h e Babylonian Talmud (Zebahim 118b, 'Arakhin 13a): It is stated in Lev. 25:9 that in a Jubilee year,

SEDER OLAM

the role of New Year's day is t a k e n o v e r by t h e Day of Atonement when the blowing of the shofar indicates freedom of indentured servants and return of the land to its original owners. If they s t a y e d 17 full j u b i l e e periods in the Land, then the count cannot have started at the beginning but must have been delayed for 14 years. [There is a doctrinal problem with the early exile of the tribes in Transjordan. Rashi discusses the text of Seder 'Olam in detail in his commentary on 'Arakhin 12b.] 5. The reading "excess of 17 years" must be a s c r i b a l or typographical error. It is better to accept the reading of Yalqut Shim'oni Joshua 23: "deficit of 14 years." However, the number 17 appears also in several European manuscripts, in the form "deficit of 17 years." That reading also is difficult to accept.

119

JOSHUA

6. The story of the altar is given in Jos. 22. 7. The detailed a r g u m e n t is given in the commentary at the start of the next chapter. 8. The statement is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud (Zebahim 118a), also in the J e r u s a l e m Talmud (Megillah 1:14, fol. 72c), in the name of R. Yose bar Mai', another R. Yose who transmits material characteristic for Seder 'Olam in Yerushalmi sources! The problem is the a p p a r e n t contradiction between the verses ISamuel 1:24: "she brought him to the house of t h e E t e r n a l at Shiloh," and Psalms 78:60 "He a b a n d o n e d the s a n c t u a r y at Shiloh, the tent in which He dwelt among mankind." This means t h a t t h e sanctuary at Shiloh was both a (stone-)house and a (gobelin and hide) tent.

12 Judges

Joshua provided for Israel for 28 years. (Jos. 24:29-30) "It was after these words that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of God, died at the age of 110 years. They buried him at the border of his inheritance at Timnat-Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, North of Mopunt Gaash." At that time died Eleazar as it is said: (Jos. 24:33) "Eleazar, the son of Aaron died, they buried him on the hill of his son Phineas." (Jos. 24:31) "Israel served the Eternal all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua by days, who had known all the deeds of the Eternal that He had done for Israel"; days they survived but not years.

Commentary This section is quoted by Rashi in his commentary on Judges 11:26, in the computation of the 300 years between the wars of Sihon and 'Og and that of Jephtah. In Rashi's words: "We have learned in Seder 'Olam: Joshua provided for Israel for 28 years, but there is no verse that would imply that." Nevertheless, we are able

to d e d u c e this number from Scripture. We already emphasized many times that the o v e r r i d i n g p r i n c i p l e of t h e a u t h o r of Seder 'Olam is: "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," i.e., it is possible to reconstruct Jewish history from Scripture. In the book of Judges, this means mainly that 120

SEDER OLAM

t h e y e a r s of r e i g n of t h e different judges are consecutive and can be a d d e d to give a correct sum. The first, important, implication is t h a t t h e y e a r s under foreign domination are not to be counted, they are contained in the official length of reign of the Judge savior from oppression; we shall confirm that in our discussion of Jephtah. Now, it is written in Jos. 23:1, as preparation for the last general assembly of all of Israel at Sichem, "It was many days after that the Eternal had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them that Josua was old." According to our principles, we have to infer that "many days" a r e at least as many as the preceding 14 years of conquest and distribution, cf. Chapter 1 on Abraham's "many days" in the land of the Philistines. Hence, Joshua's last speech was given at least 28 = 2X14 years after the d e a t h of Moses, and by t h e principle of definiteness, it was

121

JUDGES

exactly 28 years. Since 24:29 states that Joshua died soon after his last speech, it follows that he ruled for 28 years. Since he survived 14 = 2X7 years after the begin of the sabbatical cycles, it follows that he died during the second sabbatical year that Israel celebrated; this is the meaning of the sentence in the preceding c h a p t e r : "He died b e f o r e he finished the second one." It also explains that all of Israel could participate, first in the assembly at Sichem and then in his funeral, since no one was occupied with agricultural work. The implication that the elders survived Joshua by days only and not by years is given in the Babylonian Talmud (Sabbath 108:b) by R. Yohanan, in answer to a question by R. Hiyya bar Abba. T h e s t a t e m e n t is important for Seder 'Olam since it shows that no intermediate years are to be added between the reigns of Joshua and Othniel ben Qenaz.

After him was Othniel ben Qenaz 40 years. Deduct from his rule eight years of subservience to Kushan Rish'ataim. In the days of Kushan Rish'ataim was the statue of Micha as it is said Uud. 18:30): "the Children of Dan put up the idols for themselves and Jonathan the son of Gershom the son of

122

SEDER OLAM

JUDGES

Mo(na)ses, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of exile of the land. Also in his time was the Concubine of Gibea, (Jud. 19:10,12): "He got up and went and came to oppposite Yebus . . . . But his master said to him, let us not go to a city of Gentiles who are not Israelites." 11

Commentary It is a very old tradition that the stories of the idol at Dan and the Concubine at Gibea, which form the last chapters of the book of Judges, r e a l l y belong to the beginning of the period. Already Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 5:136-178) t e l l s a b o u t t h e Concubine at Gibea (Jud. 19-21) and the expedition of the Danites (Jud. 17-18) before he speaks about Othniel (Jud. 3:7-12). It follows that both he and our author think that only a part of the tribe of Dan emigrated to Laish, t h e rest of the t r i b e remained b e t w e e n Z o r ' a and Eshtaol. It seems that, in general, the sentence "at that time, there was no king in Israel" (Jud. 18:1, 19:1, 21:25) r e f e r s to a time without a judge since a judge had the legal status of a king. The detailed argument for the idol of Micha is quite simple. It says (Jud. 18:31): "They put up the idol that Micha had made all the time that the House of God was at Shiloh." Now, t h i s assertion cannot be verbally true since Joshua and the elders put up the sanctuary at Shiloh and

several verses attest to it that Joshua and his elders did not tolerate any idol worship, but we know that Israel s t a r t e d to imitate Baal worship immediately after the death of the elders. So the expedition of the Danites must be dated in the first period without a king after the death of Joshua. T h e d a t i n g of t h e C o n c u b i n e at G i b e a f r o m Scripture is more complicated. The proof comes from the verses quoted in our text (Jud. 19:10): "He came to opposite Yebus, that is Jerusalem" when his servant suggested they stay there overnight, (v. 12) "But his master said, let us not go to a Gentile city." This proves that at this time, Yebus was the same as Jerusalem and it was a purely Gentile city. Hence, the time was before Jehudah and Benjamin first conquered Jerusalem (Jud. 1:21) and from t h a t time on, Yebus had a partially Jewish population. A c c o r d i n g to tradition (Sifry Deut. 72(17), Pirqe R. Eliezer Chapter 37), this first conquest involved only the

SEDER OLAM

city on the slopes of the later T e m p l e m o u n t but not t h e fortress on top of the mountain; that fortress was t h e p r o p e r Yebus, later called Zion. The r e a s o n g i v e n is t h a t t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of Y e b u s w e r e p r o t e c t e d by t h e o a t h t h a t A b r a h a m h a d s w o r n to t h e Hittites until David removed the statues on which this oath was engraved and bought the Temple Mount with the fortress from Arawna, the last Yebusite king

123

JUDGES

(2Sam. 24:22). A c c o r d i n g to Rashi's r e a d i n g of the same tradition (on Jos. 15:63), the Yebusites were not Canaanites but descendants of the Philistines of Gerar, subjects of Abimelekh, to whom Abraham had sworn (Gen. 21:24), and at the time some g r e a t - g r a n d c h i l d r e n of Abimelekh were still alive and protected by that oath which then expired before the time of David.

After him Ehud ben Gera 80 years, including 18 years subservience to Eglon, the king of Moab. In his days was Shamgar ben Anath, at the end of Eglon's days. About the time of Eglon it was said (Ruth 1:1-2): "It was in the time of judging the judges, there was famine in the land and a man from Bethlehem in Judea went to dwell in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelekh," and there it says (Ruth 1:13): "No, my daughters, it is more bitter for me than for you, for the hand of the Eternal went out against me", and it is said (Jud. 2:15): "Whenever they ventured out, the hand of the Eternal was against them, for evil." Nahshon ben Aminadab died in the second year after the Exodus. Salmon was of those who entered the Land, he died after Joshua (Jud. 2:10) "with his entire generation." Elimelekh was Salmon's brother.

124

SEDER OLAM

JUDGES

Commentary At the end of the r e c i t a l of Ehud's liberation of Israel it says "the Land was quiet for 80 years" without attributing it to Ehud's reign. H e n c e , t h e 80 y e a r s i n c l u d e b o t h t h e y e a r s of domination by Moab and the rule of Shamgar, who has no time assigned to himself. There is great difficulty in placing the story of Ruth in historical context. The genealogical table at the end of the book of Ruth has only five generations (Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Issay, David) from Nahshon, who is listed as prince of Judah at the Exodus, to David. That means that everyone of them must have his child at about age 80, as asserted by Midrash Ruth 6(4). Nahshon is mentioned as prince of Judah at the occasion of the first census of the people before the erection of the Tabernacle. After that, he is not mentioned any more. The leader of Judah at the census in the year 40 was Caleb. Hence, Nahshon must have died in the meantime. By the principles of Seder 'Olam, his death is fixed closed to the last mention of his name. Since Nahshon is i m p o r t a n t in t h e g e n e a l o g y of t h e D a v i d i c dynasty, it is not assumed that he d i e d at an u n s p e c i f i e d d a t e during the 38 years of wandering in the desert.

The fixation of the story of Ruth early has several roots. O n e is g i v e n h e r e , t h e comparison (or gezerah shawah) of the expressions (Jud. 2:15) "always when they left, the hand of the Eternal was against them for evil" and (Ruth 1:13) "the hand of the Eternal went out against me." The first verse speaks of the first period of the time of Judges, and there the only one who is reported to have left the Land was E l i m e l e k h [except for a cryptic remark in the Song of Deborah, Jud. 5:17, about a part of the tribe of Dan, the families of Shuhami ("the brownish-black"), leaving on ships.] We find in Yerushalmi sources the opinion of R. Simeon bar Iohay [Tanhuma Behar 3, Tanhuma Bobr Behar 5] that Salmon, Elimelekh, the anonymous (Ruth 4:1) and the father of Noemi all were sons of Nahshon ben A m i n a d a b . In Babylonian sources (Baba bathra 9 1 a ) , R a b b a b a r R a b Huna reports in the name of Rab that Boaz is identical with Ebzan, contemporary with Manoah, the father of Simson, towards the end of the period of Judges. The statement "Elimelekh was Salmon's brother" is missing in most of the manuscripts of Seder 'Olam. It is a c c e p t e d in the Babylonian Talmud (loc. cit.) by

SEDER OLAM

JUDGES

125

Rab Hanan bar Raba, student and son-in-law of Rab who always reports the traditions of Rab. The opinion that puts the story of Ruth in the time of Simson is also accepted by Josephus. Hence, it seems t h a t Rab, studying in G a l i l e e , k n e w b o t h t h e old tradition that puts the story of Ruth in the time of Manoah and the opinion of the students of R. Aqiba (R. Simeon bar Iohay and R. Yose bar Halaphta) that put

the story in the time of Eglon. The latter tradition, adopted by Yerushalmi sources (Yalqut Judges, Sec. 42), makes Eglon the father of Ruth and ancestor of the Davidic line, as reward for his standing up to receive the word of God (Jud. 3:20). During the time of Eglon, when Judea was annexed to Moab, it would have been easy for a man from Bethlehem to move to Moab.

After him Deborah and Baraq ben Abinoam 40 years. Deduct from these the subjugation under Yabin and Sisera 20 years. (Jud. 6:1): "The Children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Eternal; so the Eternal gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. Forty years of Gideon, but the seven years of Midian are not counted in them. (Jud. 9:22): "Abimelekh lorded o v e r Israel three years." (Jud. 10:1-2): "After Abimelekh there rose Tola' ben Puah ben Dodo from the tribe of Issakhar to save Israel He judged Israel for 23 years . . . ." After him Yair from Gilead 22 years. Deduct from these one year that is counted for both of them.

Commentary It says in Jud. 8:28: "The Land was quiet for 40 years in the

days of Gideon." Here only, the years are conditioned on the rule

126

SEDER OLAM

of Gideon, i.e., excluding t h e a n a r c h y in which M i d y a n i t e bands ruled. The change in language for A b i m e l e k h , "he l o r d e d , " implies that he did not rule by popular consent, as is clear from the Biblical text. Hence, his rule is counted on the same level as foreign rule and is not included in the annals of Jewish history, but his years a r e included in those of Tola , as will be clear from the computation of 300 years from Moses to Yephtah. Up to here, the author of Seder 'Olam was strict in t h e application of his principle, that years of life and rule given in Scripture can be added without 4

JUDGES

caring about overlapping years. It seems, that from here to the end of the period of Judges, the author interprets the expressions "there arose after him" (Jud. 10:3), "there judged after him" (Jud. 12:8,11) to mean that there was no interruption in the rule and, hence, a year each has to be subtracted. Also, if that year was not subtracted, one would h a v e to s u b t r a c t one for overlapping the last year of Yair and t h e o p p r e s s i o n by t h e Ammonites, since of the year of Yair's death it is said (Jud. 10:8): "They roughed up and oppressed the Children of Israel in that year."

(Jud. 10:6-8) "The Children of Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of the Eternal . . . . The rage of the Eternal was against Israel and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the A m m o n i t e s . They roughed up and oppressed the Children of Israel in that year, eighteen years, all Israelites in Transjordan, in the land of the Emorite, that is Gilead"; 18 years until the second year of Jephtah. In the

SEDER OLAM

JUDGES

127

second year of Jephtah, he said to the king of the Ammonites (Jud. 10:26): "While Israel d w e l t at H e s b o n and its surroundings, Ar'or and its surroundings, for 300 years, why did you not save at that time?" Jephtah ruled for six years. Ibzan of Bethlehem seven years. Deduct from these one year that is counted for both of them. [Elon of Zebulun ten years. Abdon ben Hillel eight years. Deduct from these a year that is counted for both of them.] (Jud. 13:1) "The Children of Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of the Eternal; the Eternal gave them in the hand of the Philistines for forty years," 20 in the time of Yephtah and 20 in the time of Simson.

Commentary Jephtah sent a letter to the king of the Ammonites, asserting that at the time of the letter there were 300 years since Moses conquered the lands of Sihon and 'Og. It is clear that the author of Seder 'Olam takes this to be an exact, not an approximate, date. The computation, given by Rashi a n d G e r s o n i d e s in t h e i r commentaries on Judges, goes as follows: 28 years for Joshua, 40 for Othniel, 80 for Ehud, 40 for Deborah and Baraq, 7 for Midyan, 40 for Gideon, 23 for Tola , (22-1) for Yair, Philistines and Ammonites 18 years, a total of 297 years. To these one has to add one year of Moses and two of Jephtah. It seems, therefore, t h a t t h e i l l e g a l r u l e of A b i m e l e k h is not c o u n t e d , otherwise t h e r e would be 300 years already at the appointment of Jephtah, without counting the p a r t of t h e y e a r of M o s e s ' 4

conquest. The text in parentheses is a d d e d f r o m European manuscripts. It is clear from the Biblical text, a n d from t h e compuation of the days of the Tabernacle at Siloh, that t h e manuscript before the printer of the first edition l a c k e d this insertion since its s c r i b e errouneously jumped from one occurrence of "Deduct from these a year that is counted for both of them" to the next. The splitting of the forty years under Philistine domination s e e m s to b e a B a b y l o n i a n tradition, based on the mention of Philistines t o g e t h e r w i t h Ammonites in Jud. 10:7. The time "under Jephtah" naturally has to mean "under Jephtah and his successors." The Yerushalmi tradition (Sota 1:8, fol. 17b) states that the Philistines feared Simson for 20 years during his lifetime

SEDER OLAM

and 20 years after his death. The problem that both traditions are trying to solve is the apparent contradiction b e t w e e n verses 13:1, "the Eternal gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years," and 15:20: "He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines for 20 years." Since Simson is the last of the judges and Seder 'Olam p l a c e s t h e

128

JUDGES

stories of the idol of Mikha and the Concubine at Gibea, t h a t form the end of the book of Judges, at the beginning of the period of Judges, it follows from his principle of interpretation that Eli, the high p r i e s t mentioned at the beginning of the next book of the Bible, was appointed exactly at Simson's death.

13 Samuel, Saul and David

Eli governed Israel for forty years. On the day of his death (Ps. 78:60-61,67): "He abandoned the sanctuary at Siloh He gave His power into captivity He despised the tent of Joseph." (ISam. 6:1-2) "The ark of the Eternal was in the fields of the Philistines for seven months. The Philistines called . ..." (ISam. 7:1-2) "The people of Qiryat Yearim came And from the day the arc was installed at Qiryat Yearim, there were many days, they added to twenty years . . . . " Subtract from these the seven years that David ruled over Jehudah at Hebron, there are left 13 years. Subtract from these 10 for Samuel himself and two for Samuel and Saul.

Commentary Scripture for the destruction of the sanctuary at Siloh. However, Siloh disappears from history with the death of Eli. Samuel as judge resided at Ramah, and, the next time we hear of the family of the high priest, they were at Nob. We also h a v e to

The 40 years of Eli are explained in ISam. 4:18: "He judged Israel for 40 years." And the end of the present chapter, the author will argue that Eli was a newly appointed high priest at the day of Hannah's prayer, one year before Samuel's birth. There is no date given in 129

SEDER OLAM

conclude that in the opinion of the author of Seder Vlam not only those judges whose reign is introduced by "there rose after him" but all judges after Yephtah have a year counted in common with their successors, otherwise we will get more than 369 years for the sanctuary at Siloh (Chap. 11). A f t e r t h e y e a r 2 of Yephtah, we have another 4 for Yephtah, 6 for Ibzan alone, 17 for Elon and A b d o n , 20 for Simson, and 40 for Eli, together 387 years from the conquest of Transjordan. One has to subtract 1 year for Moses and 14 for conquest and d i s t r i b u t i o n of Canaan, this leaves 372 years. Hence, the author of Seder Vlam also subtracts one y e a r each common to Ibzan and Elon, Abdon and Simson, Simson and Eli. It also reaffirms the year of the death of Eli as the year of the end of the sanctuary at Siloh. The statement that the Ark was at Qiryat Yearim for 20

130

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

years is the linchpin for t h e chronology of the entire period between the destruction of Siloh and the reign of David. David brought the ark to Jerusalem at the beginning of his reign there. He was king at Hebron for 7 years, this leaves only 13 years for the judgeship of Samuel and the kinship of Saul. Scripture, quoted in the next passage, gives Saul 3 years; hence, Samuel was j u d g e for 10 y e a r s . Most European manuscripts give here 11 years to Samuel and only two years to Saul. T h i s is t h e Yerushalmi tradition of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of ISam. 13:1: "One year was Saul at his reign and two years he ruled over Israel." However, the Babylonian Talmud and Seder Vlam take this to mean that for one year he shared the rule with Samuel and two years he was king in his own right; this leaves 10 years for Samuel.

w a n m y ontyyji ten n^nrii ."m inNii na\y o v p >n>i i>rj alia o n w ' r»2")pa * i v w n>ny s#*f atil? tyto ^XiH Vi n£yn on\yy nioa .liyaaa o>^ i) ruy ranj?© * i m a#n >nan oiiNriaiy n>a ony> n>*]i?)? * ivwrritf :pari3 NSV uryo^ Hi) :m o ^ i o nylw dnN~rny Ji>a .o>7YbNn irw -voya N^oiihf-iaiy (ISam. 7:2) " And from the day the arc was installed at Qiryat Yearim it was a long time, 20 years, all of Israel was drawn after the Eternal." At the beginning of these 20 years they brought the Tabernacle to Nob. Even though the Arc of the

SEDER OLAM

131

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

Eternal was at Qiryat Yearim they sacrificed at Nob for 13 years and 7 years at Gibeon. At the end of 20 years did David bring up the Arc of the Eternal to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite (2Sam. 6:11) "and the Arc of the Eternal stayed in the house of Obed Edom the Gittite for three months." This teaches us that Obed Edom was blessed only because of God's Ark.

Commentary Since the 20 years of the Ark of Covenant at Qiryat Yearim include seven years of David's reign in Hebron and Saul slew all the priests of Nob (except one, who fled to David's camp), the religious center at Nob cannot h a v e e n d u r e d m o r e t h a n 13 years. (One would have expected 12 years to account for the t i m e t h a t D a v i d w a s a fugitive.) We do not hear of the establishment of a c e n t e r at Gibeon but we are informed that Solomon after his accession to the throne went to sacrifice at the central sanctuary of Gibeon (IKings 3:4). Hence, after the destruction of Nob, a c e n t r a l altar was established at Gibeon. Since it is stated expressly that all of Israel was united in the

Lord's worship while the Ark of Covenant was at Qiryat Yearim (ISam. 7:2), it is clear that some central place of worship must have existed at (almost) all times. Obed Edom was not a Philistine from Gat as his name might imply but a Levite from the family of Qorah serving as a gatekeeper at the Temple (IChr. 6:2-8). Chronicles states the he had eight sons "because God blessed him." He had a total of 62 children and grandchildren. The Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 63b) thinks that at the time of the Ark being in his house all his daughters-in-law had sixtuplets. The Yerushalmi tradition (Yebamoth 4:11, fol. 6b) has it that they had a new baby every month.

SEDER OLAM

132

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

1

(ISam. 13.1) "One year Saul was in his reign . . . ." Samuel said to Saul when he anointed him (ISam. 10:8) "Descend before me to G i l g a l . . . . " He descended the first year, smote Nahash the Ammonite, and Israel anointed him. The second year he descended and did not keep his promise. (ISam. 13:13) "Samuel said to Saul; you acted foolishly, you did not keep the commandment of your God " At that time, David was anointed as it is said (ISam. 16:1): "The Eternal said to Samuel: until when are you mourning for Saul....", after that (v. 13) "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers . . ." when he was 29 years old . (ISam. 19:8) "Saul was hostile to David ..." and it says (ISam. 16:14): "The spirit of the Eternal had left Saul." At that time, Nob was destroyed and they came to Gibeon. Samuel lived only to be 52 years and a little, as it is said (ISam. 1:9-10) "And Eli the priest was sitting on the throne . . . but she was bitter in her soul . . ," at that time he had been appointed Judge over Israel and it says (ISam. 4:18): "He had judged Israel for 40 years." There are 13 years remaining. Subtract from them one year for [Hannah's] pregnancy and 11 years for Samuel and 1 year for Samuel and Saul, one gets 52 years. Samuel died before the death of Saul about four months as it is said (ISam. 27:7): "The number of days that David dwelt in the fields of the Philistines were some days and four months." 2

3

4

SEDER OLAM

133

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

(2Sam. 2:1) "It was after that that David inquired from the Eternal, shall I ascend to one of the cities of Judah . . . . " (v. 10): "Forty years was Ishboshet when he became king and two years he ruled . . . " It turns out that the kingdom over Israel was vacant for 5 years. (2Sam. 5:3): "All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron . . . ." At that time David was anointed a second time. (v. 4) "Thirty years was David when he became king and forty years he ruled."

Commentary 1. The interpretation given in the translation of the difficult verse ISam. 13:1 that seemingly has the impossible statement that Saul was one year old when he became king is quite necessary if one accepts the premiss of Seder 'Olam that there were only 13 years between the destruction of Shiloh and t h e accession of David. It is usual in bible-critical circles to assume that the number of years of Saul simply fell out of the text. Since the masoretic text is the work of responsible editors of the Tiberianic school, that assumption is impossible. The interpretation of Seder 'Olam is that he learned the ropes of kingship from Samuel during his first year and then he ruled another two years as stated in the verse. [A h o m i l e t i c interpretation of the verse in the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 22b) to the effect that at his accession, all his sins were forgiven and he was like a baby of one year, is a Yerushalmi homily (Bikkurim 3:3,

fol. 65d) and does not pretend to historical validity.] If o n e accepts as basic statement for the p e r i o d that t h e A r k w a s a t Qiryat Yearim only for 20 years, it is impossible to give Saul's reign more than t h e 3 years given to him by Seder 'Olam. Already R. Isaiah the First of Trani in the Thirteenth Century, in his commentary on the verse, pointed out that it is almost impossible to attribute to Saul all his achievements as a king in the space of only three years. He d e c l a r e s that t h e t w o y e a r s mentioned as the time of Saul's reign are only the years from the start of his independent reign until the anointment of David. In his interpretation, one can give Saul a total of eight years, and assume that A b n e r d e c l a r e d Ishboshet (whose real name was Eshbaal, IChr. 8:33) as king immediately after the catastrophy of Saul on Mount Gilboa and that David r e a l l y ruled independently at Hebron

SEDER OLAM

only for two years. However, Seder 'Olam explicitly rejects this interpretation and states t h a t Ishboshet became king only five years a f t e r t h e d e a t h of his father. That statement, while not in contradiction to any stated chronological indication in the Bible, is difficult to a c c e p t . There is no easy interpretation of the different diverging verses about this period. 2. Since David became king at a g e 3 0 , t h e d a t e of h i s anointment by Samuel obviously depends on the length of Saul's reign after the expedition against Amaleq in his second year. Most manuscript have here "29 years" for his age (which looks a little old for a lad too young to be of military age). Some Ashkenazic manuscripts have "28 years"; this is a Y e r u s h a l m i t r a d i t i o n (Midrash Samuel, Chapter 12 [4]), that David was a n o i n t e d two years before declaring himself king at Hebron. Nob was destroyed when Saul massacred the family of Eli after David escaped. 3. This computation is crucial for the entire method of Seder 'Olam. In fact, if we do not accept the interpretation of the fact that "Eli is sitting on the throne by the Sanctuary" to mean that Eli was enthroned as High Priest and Judge-Ruler at t h e time of Hannah's prayer at Siloh

134

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

then we do not know the time elapsed between the death of Simson and the accession of Eli and, hence, the direct chain of t e m p o r a l a c c o u n t i n g from Genesis to our days is broken. By the computation here, Samuel was 39 at Eli's death and the destruction of Siloh. The t r a d i t i o n about Samuel's life is found both in the Babylonian (Taanit 5b, Moed Qatan 2 8 a ) a n d J e r u s a l e m (Bikkurim 2:1, fol. 64c) Talmudim. R a s h i in h i s c o m m e n t a r y on Taanit (I.e.) follows the Yerushalmi computation: Hannah told her husband that she would bring the child to Siloh a f t e r it was weaned (ISam. 1:22) and the s t a n d a r d p e r i o d f i x e d in Talmudic tradition for nursing a baby is 24 months. She also said that Samuel should dwell at the Sactuary "for ever." Now Samuel was a Levite and service of a Levite is limited to 50 years (Num. 8:25). Hence, he lived for 52 years. Rashi also notes that his Seder 'Olam has about 2 pages of additions to this topic. We do not have any trace of Rashi's text. By t r a d i t i o n , H a n n a h prayed at Passover but did not become p r e g n a n t u n t i l New Year's Day. As Rashi explains, following the Talmud (Niddah 38b), that this is contained in the verse (ISam. 1:20) "It was after days of seasons t h a t Hannah

SEDER OLAM

became pregnant and bore a son." Now, by t h e p r i n c i p l e of definiteness, "seasons" means "two seasons" or 91 days. Also, after another two seasons, or six months and a few days, she had her baby. This is taken as proof any any b i r t h after six full months and a day is considered a seven-month baby. [One might also translate o*»;n ni&ipn as "turning of the year," i.e., New Year's Day.] Hence, there is at least one year from Eli's accession to the birth of Samuel. 4. In the verse "The number of days that David dwelt in the fields of of the Philistines was d a y s and four m o n t h , " t h e problem is the word o*»* yamim that can mean either "days" or "year". As Rashi explains to "days and four months": "the minimum of 'days' is two days. It is impossible to e x p l a i n t h a t yamim would mean 'year' since David went to Akhish only after Samuel's death and Saul ruled after Samuel's death only four months as is t a u g h t in Seder 'Olam. Also, if one adds t h e

135

SAMUEL. SAUL AND DAVID

number of years of Eli and the 20 years that the Ark was at Qiryat Yearim one gets 60 years. Subtract from these Samuel's 52 years and one year for [Hannah's] pregnancy with these four months, and the seven years that David was king at Hebron until he could bring the A r c from Qiryat Yearim. It follows that Saul could not have ruled more than 4 months after Samuel's death." As R. M.L. Katzenellenbogen in his recent edition of Rashi on the books of Samuel notes, Rashi here seems to c o n t r a d i c t his own interpretation of ISam. 1:20 and to assume that Hannah became pregnant immediately after her return from Siloh and that the time of her p r e g n a n c y p l u s somewhat more than four months add up to just one year. In addition, in French manuscripts of Seder Vlam, the text does not read "about four months" but "four month." The 11 years of Samuel have to be taken as 10 years of his rule and 1 year of joint rule with Saul.

14 David

(IChr. 15:25) "And David, the Elders of Israel, and the commanders over thousands went to bring the Ark of Covenant " (IChr. 16:1-3, 2Sam. 6:17-19) "They brought the Eternal's Ark and presented it in the tent that David had erected . . . . David finished to bring the sacrifices . . . . He distributed to all the people of Israel, from man to woman, per person one loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake." (IChr. 16:4) "He gave before the Eternal's Ark servants from the Levites " (IChr. 16:7) "On that day, David appointed as head, to praise the Eternal, Asaph and his brothers." In the morning they said (IChr. 16:8): "Thank the Eternal, appeal to His name ..." until (v. 22): "Do not touch my anointed, do not do evil to my prophets." In the evening they said (v. 23): "Sing to the Eternal all the Land . . ." until (v. 36): "All the people 136

SEDER OLAM

137

DAVID

said 'Amen and praise to the Eternal.'" This they were doing all of 43 years before the Ark until Solomon brought it to the eternal Temple. When David was fleeing before his son Absalom, Ebiatar was standing until they ascended the Mount of Olives and inquired of Urim and Tummim. Then Ebiatar was removed and Zadoq replaced him and they returned the Ark to its place. But the Tabernacle that Moses had made in the desert, the copper alter made by Bezalel, the candelabra, the table, and the heavenly fire that had descended in the days of Moses, were at the holy place at Gibeon, (IChr. 16:39) "But Zadoq the priest and his brothers the priests were before the Eternal's Tabernacle at the holy place at Gibeon." (v. 40) "And with them Heman and Yeduthun . . . ." This they did for 50 years at Gibeon until they came to the eternal Temple.

Commentary It seems t h a t Z a d o q and his family from the descendants of Eleazar took the Tabernacle and all its implements from Nob and put it up at Gibeon. Ebiatar, the last of the family of Eli, who had escaped the massacre at Nob, was part of the court of David, first at Hebron and l a t e r in Jerusalem. The Tabernacle was in Jerusalem for 33 years during David's r e i g n , 3 years under Solomon until he started to build the Temple, and seven years while t h e T e m p l e was being built, for a total of 43 years. The sanctuary at Gibeon existed all that time plus the seven years that David was king at Hebron, for a t o t a l of 50 years. In rabbinical texts, the Temple is c a l l e d " h o u s e of e t e r n i t y "

because once it was built, its place acquired eternal sanctity that did not disappear with its destruction, in contrast to the temporary sanctity of the holy places at Siloh and Gibeon. The verses dealing with the replacement of Ebiatar by Zadoq a r e very cryptic. The interpretation given here of the verses 2Sam. 15:24-25 is found twice in the Babylonian Talmud as anonymous statement (Yoma 73b, Sota 48b), it is not found in Yerushalmi sources. According to Rashi's explanation, verse 24 is split: "Also Zadoq and all the Levites with him carried God's Ark, they put up God's A r k (while Ebiatar was promoted) until all the people finished to cross out of the city." Since

SEDER OLAM

Ebiatar was High Priest and we h a v e a p r i n c i p l e t h a t "one ascends in holyness but never descends," a high priest is unfit for any other job. Hence, when h$ was promoted, he could only be an attendant at David's court but nothing else. No reason is

138

DAVID

given for the r e p l a c e m e n t of Ebiatar by Zadoq; the tradition of Seder Olam has it that Ebiatar asked for an oracle but did not receive an answer but Zadoq did get Divine answer when he took over the high priestly garments.

(2Sam. 15:7-8) "It was at the end of 40 years that Absalom said . . . because your servant made a vow . . . , " that was the 37th year of the reign of David. Rebbi Nahorai said in the name of R. Yehoshua, at the end of 40 years after Israel demanded a kingdom in the tenth year of Samuel the Seer. From here you can compute that Solomon was 12 years old on his accession. (2Sam. 12:25) "[The Eternal] sent through Nathan the prophet and called his name Yedidiah . . . ." At that time, (2Sam. 13:1): "It was after that, Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, Tamar by name . . . ." (v. 23) "It was after two years " (v. 39) "But Absalom fled and went to Geshur; he was there for three years," makes together five. (2Sam. 14:28) "Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years and did not see the king," that makes seven. (2Sam. 21:1) "There was famine in the days of David for three years " (2Sam. 21:8) "They toured the entire land and returned to Jerusalem after 9 months and 20 days," that makes 11 years. In his last

SEDER OLAM

U 9

DAVID

year, king David instituted the classes of priests and Levites and wrote the rules for the Temple, and it is written (2Chr. 26:31): "In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought..

Commentary The interpretation of the verse 2Sam. 15:7 attributed here to R. Yehoshua is found in his name in the Babylonian Talmud (Temurah 14b, Nazir 5a) and anonymously in the Jerusalem Talmud (Sota 1:8, fol. 7b). The attribution to a named source again implies that this is not a universally accepted norm since it contradicts the following computation that Solomon's age at David's death was 12 years (in the words of the Chronicles ( 1 , 29:1) "a lad and young." If Absalom's rebellion was in the 37th year of David's reign and Solomon was 7 at that time, then he was 10 years old at his accession to the t h r o n e . (Some m a n u s c r i p t s h a v e "36 years" instead of "37 years"; that would imply one year in which Samuel had to look for a king after the people demanded one.) In Talmudic tradition ('Erubin 13b), R. Nahorai is a kinnuy, a sobriquet, of R. Nehemiah, the t r a d i t i o n a l s o u r c e of t h e historical material in Tosephta Sota; a parallel source to Seder Vlam. Josephus reads (Jewish Antiquities 7:196) "four years"

instead of "forty years" in 2Sam. 16:7; t h i s e l i m i n a t e s t h e conceptual difficulty of the verse but is u n s u p p o r t e d by o u r sources. The reading "four years" is found only in the Lucianic recension of the Septuagint, a late Christian working over for popular use. The older versions of the Septuagint, as far as can be a s c e r t a i n e d , all r e a d "40 years." T h e c o m p u t a t i o n of Solomon's age goes as follows: Nathan was sent at the time of Solomon's birth to give him the name Yedidiah. Earlier, when Nathan u p b r a i d e d David for having an affair with Bathseba, he told him that God would bring him trouble in his own family. As explained in Chapter 11, any indication that "it was then" is taken in Seder 'Olam to mean in the same year as the preceding story. Hence, the rape of Tamar h a p p e n e d in t h e y e a r of Solomon's birth. Once this is e s t a b l i s h e d , t h e rest can be reconstructed. After 2 years, Absalom had Amnon murdered. He escaped for 3 years to his mother's family, was then

SEDER OLAM

another 2 years in Jerusalem. Hence, Solomon was 7 years old at Absalom's rebellion. After the rebellion of Absalom was that of Sheba b e n B i k h r i t h a t was subdued immediately; one might take that to have been in the year of Absalom's rebellion. The 3 years of famine are introduced again by "it was," which the author takes to mean "it was immediately after that." [The method of t h e a u t h o r would require us to believe that after the famine, in the last years of David's reign, there were still wars with the Philistines (2Sam. 21:15-22), which is difficult to

140

DAVID

accept.] After that, one has to add one year for the census and its consequence, the selction of the site for the Temple, and one year for the establishment of a temple organization. The latter is dated explicitly to the last year of David's reign in IChr. 26. While it is impossible to establish the chronology given here without frequent recourse to the author's "Principles of Interpretation of the Torah" (nn» p a n u m i minni?), it is clear in Chronicles that Solomon was not yet of military age when he became king.

15 Solomon

(1 Kings 2:11) "The days that David ruled over Israel were 40 years " And it is said (IKings 6:1): "It was in the 480th year after the Exodus, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, that is the second month, of Solomon's rule over Israel, that he built the Temple." In the second year of Jephtah, he said to the king of the Ammonites (Jud. 10:26): "While Israel dwelt at Hesbon and its surroundings, Ar'or and its surroundings, for 300 years . . ." and from Jephtah's second year until the Temple was built 140 years, and 40 years that Israel was in the wilderness, makes together 480 years. The Temple was built in the middle of a Jubilee period and in the fourth year both of a Shemitxah period and of Solomon's reign as it is said

141

SEDER OLAM

T42

SOLOMON

ft

(IKings 6:37-38,7:1): In the fourth year, the Temple had its foundation laid in the month Ziv. In the eleventh year, in the month Bui, that is the eighth month, the Temple was finished according to all its works and rules; it was seven years in building. His own house Solomon built for 13 years . . . ." (IKings 8:1-2) "Then Solomon would assemble the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the hereditary princes of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Eternal from the city of David, that is Zion. There assembled around king Solomon all men of Israel, This teaches us that the Shekhinah dwells only on the general assembly, and so it is said (Lev. 9:24): "All the people saw and rejoyced" and it says (Lev. 9:5): "All the congregation assembled and stood before the Eternal", and at the Giving of the Torah it says (Ex. 19:11): "On the third day, The Eternal will descend onto Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people." For the eternal Temple it says (2Chr. 7:1): "When Solomon was finished with his prayer, the fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocausts and sacrifices and the glory of the Eternal filled the Temple." (v.3) "All the Children of Israel saw the descent of the fire and the glory of the Eternal on the Temple, they fell face down to the earth on the floor and praised the Eternal, the truly good one, whose kindness is eternal." About that hour it says (Cant. 3:11): "Come out and look, o daughters of Zion, at the King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him at the day of his wedding and the day of the joy of his heart," at the day of his wedding, at the eighth day after the dedication, and the day of the joy of his heart, at the completion of the eternal Temple. 11

Commentary As noted in the text, it is stated in IKings 6:1 t h a t Solomon started building the Temple in his fourth y e a r as king. In IKings 6:37 it is stated: "In the

fourth year, the Temple had its foundation laid in t h e month Ziv." There the "fourth year" has no qualification, it is the fourth year of the calendar. Now the

SEDER OLAM

J43_

count of Sabbatical and Jubilee years started in the year 55 after the Exodus, a new Jubilee period started in the year 455, so the year 480 was the year 25 of the Jubilee period, e x a c t l y in its middle. In the period, years 7, 14, 21 were Sabbatical years, hence the year 25 is the fourth year in the Sabbatical cycle. In the count of Jubilee years t h e r e is a difference of opinion whether the 50th year belongs only to the past Jubilee period or whether it is counted as t h e first y e a r of a new Sabbatical cycle. H e r e (as already in Chapter 11 at t h e computation of 14 years to the start of Jubilee p e r i o d s ) , t h e author firmly accepts the principle that the Jubilee year is only the close of the preceding period, against the dissenting opinion of R. Jehudah (identical with that of the Sadducee author of the Book of Jubilees), who wants to count the year 50 also as first in a new Sabbatical and Jubiliee period. The opinion of the author of Seder 'Olam is the majority opinion both in the Babylonian (Arakhin 12b) and the Jerusalem Talmudim (Qiddushin 1:2, fol. 59a). T h e n o t e on the appearance of the Shekhinah, the divine presence in this world, is based on the insistence on the all-inclusive attendance of the Jewish people at the occasions of Divine Revelations.

SOLOMON

The homily on the verse in the Song of Songs does not seem to belong to R. Yose. It may be a product of the schools either of R. Hiyya in Galilee of of Rab in Babylonia. In Cant, rabba 3(21), R. Yohanan reports that R. Simeon bar Iohay asked R. Eleazar, the son of Rebbi Yose, about his father's interpretation of the verse Cant. 3:11. T h e latter's answer was "a parable of a king who had an only daughter whom he loved very much. He called her daughter, but soon was calling her sister, and finished by calling her mother. So the Holy One, praise to Him, loves Israel and called them daughter as it is s a i d : (Ps. 45:11) ' L i s t e n , o daughter, and see', but soon was calling them sister as it is said (Cant. 5:2): 'Open for me, my sister, my beloved', and finished by calling them mother as it is said (Is. 51:4): 'Listen to me my people, and my nation hear me'" [the word "my nation," •NDKV, can be vocalized 'fcKb "my nation" or "»»KV, "to my mother"; even though t h e m a s o r e t i c t e x t has t h e "ungrammatical," better "rabbinic, n o n - B i b l i c a l " f o r m *»*K^, probably just to protest against this kind of homily.] On the other hand, the identification of Solomon (n»^w "His peace") in Song of Songs as "King of Peace," i. e., God, is a t t r i b u t e d to R. Eleazar benR. Yose in Cant, rabba 3(11). A slightly different homily from that of Seder 'Olam

SEDER OLAM

but in the same style and general tenor, also tannaitic, is found in Sifra Shemini, Mekhilta deMilluim 15-16): "About that hour it says (Cant. 3:11) Come out and look, o daughters of Zion, distinguished c h i l d r e n , at the King Solomon, the King of Peace, at the crown with which his mother crowned him that is the Tabernacle that was ornamented with blue, purple, and crimson wool and byssus, his mother, that is Israel as it says 'and my nation

144

SOLOMON

h e a r me,' at the day of his wedding, the day the Shekhina dwelt in the Temple, and the day of the joy of his heart, the day that fire descended and burned on the altar holocaust and fats." The symbolic interpretation of Song of Songs is the topic of the Targum of that book as well as Midrash Shir, rabbah. It can be found in English, e. g., in the Art Scroll translation of the Song of Songs.

(IKings 3:3) "Solomon loved the Eternal, going in the laws of his father David," four years until he started to build the Temple, (v. 1) "He took Pharao's daughter and brought her to the city of David." At that time (IKings 11:21): "Hadad heard in Egypt that David laid with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, had died," (v. 25) "He made war upon Israel all the days of Solomon like the evil that was Hadad." (IKings 10:27-29, 11:1) "The king made silver in Jerusalem like stones . . , and the origin of Solomon's horses was from Egypt . . , there was imported from Egypt a chariot for 600 pieces of silver . . , and king Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharao's daughter . . ," that you end up saying (Jer. 32:31): "Certainly, for anger and rage was this city for me . . . . " But in Solomon's old age, close to his death, the holy spirit rested on him and he composed these three books:

SOLOMON

SEDER OLAM

Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.

Commentary In the Biblical text, the notice about Solomon's marriage to the Egyptian princess (IKings 3:1) precedes that about his love for God (IKings 3:3). Since a forbidden marriage is incompatible with the statement about Solomon's religiosity, and even more with his vision at Gibeon (IKings 3:5-15), t h e author reverses t h e o r d e r of things and postpones the marriage. This part of Seder 'Olam, an i n s e r t i o n w i t h o u t chronological consequences, is not from the traditions of R. Yose. In Cant, rabba 1(10), there is a discussion about the four sins that Solomon committed against the Torah's rules for a king: He collected too many taxes (IKings 10: 27, against Deut. 17:17), he had too many horses (IKings 10: 26, against Deut. 17:16), he dealt too much with Egypt (IKings 10: 28-29, against Deut. 17:16), and he had too many wives (IKings 11: 1, against Deut. 17:17). This is the interpretation given to the verses that a r e q u o t e d h e r e without c o m m e n t a r y . In the Midrash, there follows a discussion of verses IKings 11:12: "And king Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharao's d a u g h t e r , Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonites,

Hittites. From the peoples about whom the Eternal had said to the Children of Israel, you should not mix with them and they should not mix with you t h a t t h e y should not bend your minds after their gods, to them Solomon clung for love." Three sages of t h e g e n e r a t i o n of R. Y o s e disagree about the interpretation of the last clause "for love." Rebbi Simeon bar Iohay read the clause to mean that he made extramarital love occasionally. R. Eliezer, the son of R. Yose the Galilean, thinks that they made him transgress the Torah without him a s k i n g w h a t t h e y d i d . Against t h e s e , R. Yose b a r Halaphta (who is given here his full name) says that he clung to them for God's love, that he married them only after they had been converted to Judaism. It is seen that R. Yose has no need to invert the temporal sequence of verses IKings 3:1,3, since the E g y p t i a n p r i n c e s s t h a t he married was a convert. One has to n o t e t h a t N a ' a m a h t h e A m m o n i t e , t h e m o t h e r of Solomon's successor Rehabeam, is always mentioned in Rabbinic sources together with Ruth the Moabite, the ancestress of the Davidic line, as sterling example of a p i o u s c o n v e r t (cf.

SEDER OLAM

Babylonian Talmud Baba qama 38b). In his c o m m e n t a r y on Jer. 3 2 : 3 1 , R a s h i e x p l a i n s , obviously based on Seder 'Olam, that Solomon m a r r i e d the (unconverted) Egyptian princess on the day that the foundations of the Temple were laid. In a Palestinian source, Lev. rabba 12(4), the date is the completion of the Temple; that would give Solomon 11 years of piety. T h e text m a k e s short

146

SOLOMON

s h r i f t of t h e p e o p l e w h o regained their independence at the start of Solomon's reign, mentioning Hadad and Edom by name but Rezon ben Eliada at Damascus only by implication. The tradition that Solomon wrote his three books in his old age is an anonymous baraitha in Cant, rabba 1(10); later Amoraim declare this to be an unreasonable statement. In any case, the entire piece here is not from the school of R. Yose.

Ahiyah said to Jeroboam (IKings 11:38): "It will be if you listen to all that I am commanding to you, that you will walk in My ways and do the right thing in My eyes, to keep My laws and ordinances, as did David, my servant, then I shall be with joy and build for you a long lasting dynasty just as I did for David, and I shall give you Israel." What did He build for David? He gave him rule over Israel for 36 years, 33 years for him and 3 years for his son. But since Jeroboam did not gain merit, his rule was finished in his hands after 33 years for him and 3 for his son. And so it says (IKings 11:39): "I shall deprive the seed of David for that, but not all the days." What does he mean by "for that," for the 36 years that Solomon was son-in-law of Pharao, and what does he mean by "but not all the days," it was already clear before Him that Asa would go astray in the future.

SEDER OLAM

SOLOMON

147

Commentary The text seems somewhat redundant but European manuscripts are even more wordy. A good explanation is g i v e n by R. D a v i d Q i m h i ' s commentary on IKings 11:39: for that', for what Solomon did. In Seder Vlam 'for that', for the 36 y e a r s t h a t Solomon was married to Pharao's d a u g h t e r because he married her in the fourth year of his reign and the Divine o r d e r was given t h a t David's kingdom should be split for 36 years and at the end of 36 years the kingdom should be reunited. For this reason, he said 'but not all the days' and in the m

days of Asa that should have been as it is said 'in the year 36 of Asa's reign did Ba'sha attack', but that was only in his 16th year, but in the 36th year after the rule of Solomon when the kingdom should have been r e c o n s t i t u t e d , but Asa w e n t astray and relied on the king of the Arameans; therefore, it was not reconstituted." The details of the computation of the years of Asa a r e g i v e n in t h e n e x t chapter. [Qimhi then goes on to connect the prophecy with the messianic age. His text follows closely the "French" tradition of the text of Seder Vlam]

16 Rehabeam to Asa

(IKings 11:42) "The days that Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all of Israel, 40 years." His son Rehabeam 17 years. Abiyyah, the latter's son, 3 years. (IKings 15:9) "In the year 2 0 of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa became king over Jehudah." (2Chr. 12:13) "For 41 years old was Rehabeam when he became king and 17 years did he rule in Jerusalem." You would say. how long did David see him? One year. They kept the Torah, he and his sons, for three years but in the fourth year they rebelled as it is said (2Chr. 12:13): "They walked in the ways of David and Solomon for three years." In the fourth they rebelled against the Omnipresent one as it is said (2Chr. 12:1): "It was when the rule of Rehabeam was wellfounded and fortified that he, and all Israel with him, abandoned the Torah of the Eternal." (IKings 14:24): "And 148

SEDER OLAM

149

REHABEAM TO ASA

even male prostitutes were in the Land " (2Chr. 12:2) "It was in the year five of king Rehabeam that Shishaq, the king of Egypt, went against Jerusalem since they were untrue against the Eternal." (v. 9) "He took all treasures of the Temple and the treasures of the royal palace " (2Chr. 13:19-20) "Abiyyah pursued Jeroboam and captured cities from him, Beth El and its surroundings, Yeshanah and its surroundings, and Ephrayin and its surroundings. And Jeroboam did not regain strength in the days of Abiyyah, and the Eternal smote him and he died." You do not know who was smitten. But we can say that Jeroboam buried Abiyyah. And why (did the king not slay him) [did the Omnipresent One smite him] because he was standing and upbraiding Israel, saying to them (2Chr. 13:8): "With you are the golden calfs that Jeroboam made as gods for you," but when he captured Beth El he saw the golden calf and left it standing; therefore the Omnipresent One smote him.

Commentary Since the chronicler describes the ideal of keeping the Torah as "the ways of David and Solomon," he must subscribe to the view of R. Yose that Solomon converted all his foreign wives, and he might agree that, in his old age, Solomon was able to write holy books. T a l m u d i c s o u r c e s all agree that Abiyyah was smitten, not J e r o b o a m . We have no parallel Babylonian sources but in Yerushalmi sources (Yebamot 16:3, fol. 15c; Gen. rabba 65(16), 73(4); Lev. rabba 33; Midrash Shemuel 18) the opinion of Seder 'Olam is q u o t e d as an old

rabbinic tradition rejected by later Amoraic authorities, who base their reasoning on v. 13:17, "Abiyyah and his people smote them excessively," which they take to they that Abiyyah and his people disfigured the faces of the slain Israelites so that their identities could no longer be determined and their widows were unable to remarry. The version in parenthesis is that of the first printed edition; if it gives any sense then the rhetorical question is why Abiyyah did not slay Jeroboam. T h e v e r s i o n in brackets is that of most European

SEDER OLAM

ISO

REHABEAM TO ASA

manuscripts and makes straightforward sense.

Asa ruled 41 years. (2Chr. 13:23) "In his days, the land was quiet for 10 years." In Asa's 16th year came Zerah the Nubian and returned to Asa all the loot that Shishaq, the king of Egypt, had looted from Jerusalem. Asa took it in the year 35 after Solomon's death. The Eternal put up Rezon ben Elyada' as agressor against Israel. (2Chr. 16:1) "In the year 36 of Asa's reign, Ba'sha the king of Israel attacked Jehudah . . . ." It is impossible to say so since Asa buried Ba'sha in the year 26 of his reign. What does Scripture have to tell us? Corresponding to the 36 years that Solomon was married to the daughter of Pharao, the king of Egypt, and corresponding to the 36 years that it was ordained that the kingdom of David should be split but then it should return to them, and corresponding to the 36 years that it was ordained that the kings of the Arameans

SEDER OLAM

REHABEAM TO ASA

151

should attack Israel but then to fall by the hands of the Davidic dynasty; therefore it says 'In the year 36 of Asa's reign' This was in Asa's year 16 after Zerah the Nubian fell into his hands, that is the year 36 after Solomon's death. At that time, the kings of Israel and Aram concluded an alliance to go up and make war against Asa and Asa went astray. (2Chr. 16:2-5) "Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple and the Palace and sent to Ben-Hadad the king of Aram who was headquartered at Damascus, saying: There is a treaty between me and you and between my father and your father. Look, I sent you silver and gold that you should violate your treaty with Ba'sha the king of Israel, that he should withdraw from me. Ben-Hadad listened to king Asa and send his army commanders against cities of Israel, they smote Iyyun, Dan, and Abel Mayim, and the all the storage cities of Naphtali. When Ba'sha heard this, he refrained from building Ramah and stopped the work." (2Chr. 16:7-9) "At that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Jehudah, and said to him: 'Because you relied on the king of Aram and did not rely on the Eternal, your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand. Were not the Nubians and Libyans an enormous army with chariots and horsemen, but when you relied on the Eternal they were given in your hands. Certainly, the eyes of the Eternal scan the entire earth to strengthen those whose heart is full with him; you were silly in this for from now on you will have war with you.'" The kings of Aram did not stop attacking Israel until the death of Ahaz. In the days of Ahaz, the kings of Israel and Aram formed an alliance to go up and make war against Ahaz, but Ahaz had no merit that they should fall by his hand, so both of them fell by the hand of Tiglat Peleser, the king of Assyria.

Commentary A parallel to this section here is found in Tosephta Sota 12:1, the first of a sequence of statements dealing with harmonizing dates

a n d f a c t s in IKings and 2Chronicles all p a r a l l e l e d in Seder 'Olam. S. L i e b e r m a n , following a remark by J.A.H. y

SEDER OLAM

Weiss, notes that, sometimes in Bible and Mishnah the prefix V can have the meaning of 2, and that one may therefore translate: "In the year 36, in the reign of Asa, Ba'sha attacked Jehudah." The only problem is, how can we know that one talks about the year 36 after Solomon's death? It seems to me that the key to understanding the argument of Seder 'Olam is t h e q u e e r statement in Hanani's speech: "the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand." It is clear that a king of Judea has no

152

REHABEAM TO ASA

possibility of attacking the king of Damascus unless the kingdom of Israel is reunited first with Judea. Hence, the prophet tells Asa t h a t he missed t h e opprtunity to reconstitute the Davidic kingdom in its entirety; in 2Kings the reestablishment of an A r a m e a n k i n g d o m a t Damascus (IKings 11:23-25) is connected with Solomon's attachment to foreign wives. The statement that Ba'sha ruled for 22 years has to be corrected to "24 years" as in the next chapter.

17 Asa to Ahaziah

Ba'sha ruled 24 years. Elah his son two years. So Asa buried Elah in the 27th year of his reign. Zimri killed Elah and ruled after him 7 days at Tirzah. (IKings 16:16) "The people in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted and slain the king; all Israel in the camp declared the commander Omri as king of Israel at that day." (IKings 16:21) "The the people were split in the middle; half of the people were after Tibni ben Ginat to make him king, and half after Omri." How did that split endure? (40) [4] years. In the year 31 of Asa, Omri became undisputed king (IKings 16:22): "The people that were behind Omri overcame the people behind Tibni ben Ginat." Why did they kill Tibni? When Omri married his daughter to Jehoshaphat's son they killed Tibni. Omri ruled for 12 years. (IKings 16:29) "Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel in the year 153

SEDER OLAM

154

ASA TO AHAZIAH

38 of Asa, the king of Judah, Ahab ben Omri ruled over Israel in Samaria for 2 2 years." In the year 4 of Ahab did Jehoshaphat become king. He was 35 years old at his accession and ruled 25 years over Jerusalem. In the year 13 of Ahab there was a great famine in Samaria for three years, followed by war with Ben Hadad for 2 1/2 years. (IKings 22:1) "They sat three years without war between Aram and Israel." Ahaziah ben Ahab ruled for two years. In Ahaziah's second year, Elijah was hidden and will not be seen again until King Messiah will come, then he will be seen, then hidden a second time until Gog and Magog come. But now he writes down the deeds of all generations. (2Kings 1:17) "He (Ahaziah) died, following the Eternal's word that Elijah had spoken."

Commentary We noted in the first chapter that in the author's view t h e numbers of years given in the Bible are adjusted so that they can be added. In the period of kings, this is true only for the kings of Judah whose years are important for the determination of a continued record. The years of t h e k i n g s of I s r a e l a r e unimportant in this respect and it seems that the author accepts for them the practice that part of a year at the beginning or end of a reign is counted as a full year. In IKings we r e a d t h a t Ba'sha became king in Asa's third year (IKings 15:33). Ba'sha ruled for 24 years, his son for 2 years. This would place Ela's death in the year 29 of Asa. Hence, it is clear that the overlapping partial

regnal years are not counted and the years given for kings of Israel cannot be added. The number 40 for the split in Israel, given in the first edition of Seder 'Olam, is an obvious s c r i b a l e r r o r . The number 4 is found in almost all manuscripts. The note that Tibni was slain because Omri married his daughter to Jehoshaphat's son is mentioned by Rashi and Ibn Ezra on IKings 16:23. It is true that A t h a l i a h is c a l l e d " O m r i ' s daughter" both in Kings and in Chronicles, but Jehoram was at most 7 years old at Omri's death. However, the description given in Seder 'Olam can be accepted; see later the discussion of the age of Ahaziahu. It should be

SEDER OLAM

remembered that both Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, and Ela, the son of Ba'sha, were killed while t h e army of Israel b e s i e g e d Philistine Gibthon. Gibthon was in the territory of the tribe of Dan (Jos. 19:44) but was taken over by the Philistines when the tribe of Dan was pushed out of the plain into the foothills of Judea. From the text of Joshua and t h e J e r u s a l e m T a l m u d (Tadniot 4:8, Ekha rabba 2(2), cf. A. Neubauer, La geographic du Talmud, p. 72) it is clear that Gibthon was on the via maris just west of Beth Shemesh. It seems that the kings of Israel from J e r o b o a m to Ba'sha t r i e d to capture Gibthon in order to have a foothold to attack Judah from the west. They obviously did not succeed to c a p t u r e G i b t h o n , possibly because the kings of Judah supported the Philistine defenders. It is clear from the Biblical narrative that the dynasty of Omri had as main guiding p r i n c i p l e p e a c e and alliance of Israel with Judah. It is likely that this policy was introduced by the founder of the dynasty and it is not excluded that Asa supported Omri even before the latter became undisputed king. In that case, one only has to wonder about Eliezer ben Dodawahu (2Chr.

155

ASA TO AHAZIAH

20:37), who upbraids Jehoshaphat for associating with the dynasty of Omri, when Jehoshaphat was simply following his f a t h e r ' s policies. The time of the g r e a t famine is not determined in the Bible but if one adds the 3 years of famine, more than 2 years war, and 3 years peace together and remembers that Ahab was killed in the first battle of the renewed war at Ramoth Gilead, it follows that the start of the famine was 9 y e a r s b e f o r e Ahab's death or in the 13 th year of his reign. The story about Elijah's disappearence in a fiery wagon is told in Kings after the death of A h a z i a h and t h e r e i g n of Jehoram. In any case it is clear that Elijah was no longer around when Jehu was anointed since Elisha had to send a n o t h e r prophet to anoint Jehu. It seems that during Elijah's lifetime Jehu was not yet commander-in-chief, so that he could not anoint him. Seder 'Olam is not alone in placing the war of Gog from Magog (Ez. 38) a f t e r t h e a p p e a r a n c e of t h e M e s s i a h . Seder Eliahu rabba (Chapter 31) also puts the battle described in Zachariah 14 after the rule of king Messiah.

SEDER OLAM

156

ASA TO AHAZIAH

(2Kings 1:17) "[Jehoram was king in his stead] in the year 2 of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, since he had no son." Is it possible to say this? Did not he [Jehoram] became king in the year (9) [18] of Jehoshaphat? But since it said (IKings 22:32) "Jehoshaphat cried," Jehoshaphat should have been killed at that moment but by the merit of the cry that he cried does the verse give him another 7 years, but the government is counted for his son. (IKings 8:16) "In the year 5 of Joram ben Ahab the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat being king of Judah, did Jehoram ben Jehoshaphat become king of Judah." When they returned from war, after they killed Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, they came and made Jehoram king of Judah. (2Chr. 21:2-3) "He had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Yehiel, Zekhariahu, Azariahu, Mikhael, and Shephatiahu Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, delicacies, with fortified cities in Judah; but the reign he gave to Jehoram who was the firstborn." After the death of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram stood up and killed his brothers by the sword, as is said (2Chr. 21:4): "Jehoram took over the kingdom of his father and established himself firmly; then he killed all his brothers by the sword and also from the princes of Israel." (2Chr. 21:12) "There came to him a letter from the prohet Elijah ..," seven years after Elijah was hidden.

Commentary The full verse of 2Kings 1:17 r e a d s : "He ( A h a z i a h ) d i e d ,

following the Eternal's word that Elijah had spoken, and Jehoram

SEDER OLAM

J£2L

ruled in his stead, in the year 2 of Jehoram ben Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, because he had no son." The best interpretation, in the sense of our author, is given by R. D a v i d Q i m h i in h i s commentary on this verse: "In the year 2. How is this possible? It says later on that he (Jehoram ben A h a b ) b e c a m e k i n g in J e h o s h a p h a t ' s 18th year and Jehoshaphat joined him in the war against Moab. That means that he ruled for 7 years during J e h o s h a p h a t ' s l i f e t i m e for Jehoshaphat was king for 25 y e a r s . One has to say that Jehoshaphat appointed Jehoram as co-regent during his lifetime because of the opposition of his brothers as it says in Chronicles 'but the reign he gave to Jehoram who was the firstborn.' That note seems unnecessary since it is obvious that the reign passes to the firstborn, but it seems that there was quarrel between his [ J e h o s h a p h a t ' s ] sons and therefore he [Jehoshaphat] gave him [Jehoram] the kingdom in his lifetime and he ruled during the lifetime of his father for 7 years and, in the year 2 of this cor e g e n c y J e h o r a m ben A h a b became king of Israel."

ASA TO AHAZIAH

The note "9" years is certainly a scribal error; most manuscripts have the c o r r e c t Biblical number "18" but there are a few with "19" and such a m a n u s c r i p t may h a v e b e e n before the eyes of the Mantua printer of the first edition. The entire piece has a parallel in Tosephta Sota 12:2. There, the text reads in all manuscripts "did not Jehoshaphat ruled another S years after his accession?" This text is impossible. R. Saul Lieberman in his commentary on the Tosephta does not t a k e notice of the difficulty. The commentary Minhat Bikkurim wants to explain the difference in readings with d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n c a l e n d a r years and regnal years. The explanation of the years added to Jehoshaphat's life by his prayer in time of war is found also in Yerushalmi sources [Tanhuma Pinhas 3, Tahuma Bobr Pinhas 5, Num. rabba 21(6)]. It seems that the author takes the note "but the reign he gave to Jehoram who was the firstborn" to mean that it was clear even to Jehoshaphat that his firstborn was not the best choice to be king.

SEDER OLAM

158

ASA TO AHAZIAH

(cf. 2Kings 8:17) Thirty-two years Jehoram was when he became king and eight years he ruled in Jerusalem. About his son Ahaziahu it says (IKings 8:26): "Twenty-two years old was Ahaziahu when he became king" and at another place it says (2Chr. 22:2): "Forty-two years old was Ahaziahu when he became king and he ruled for one year." Rebbi Yose said: How is it possible for a son to be two years older than his father? But when Asa married his son to the daughter of Omri there was issued a heavenly decree that the dynasty of David should come to an end with the house of Ahab, and so it says (2Chr. 22:7): "From God was the downfall of Ahaziahu to come to Joram . . . " and both of them fell together on the same day.

Commentary A full explanation of the text is g i v e n by P s e u d o - R a s h i on 2Chronicles 22:2: Forty-two years old' and in 2Kings 8:26 it says '22 years old.' Accordingly, the son would be two years older than his father, but two years before Jehoram was born was a heavenly decree issued on the dynasty of David that it should come to an end with the house of Ahab and so it says 'From God was the downfall of Ahaziahu . . .' and on t h e d a y t h a t A s a married the daughter of Omri to his son Jehoshaphat was this decree issued. So it is taught in Seder 'Olam and in Tosephta Sota ,,4

(11:3), but we do not find in any Biblical verse that Jehoshaphat married a daughter of Omri. But I found (2Chr. 18:1): 'He became an in-law of Ahab' and maybe that means that he m a r r i e d Ahab's sister. He must have married her in Asa's 31st year since it says (IKings 16:16): 'Omri became king in Asa's 31st year' and when Asa accepted his daughter for his son Jehoshaphat, Omri was elevated and Tibni was slain. If you compute from Asa's 31st year to the accession of Ahaziahu, you will find 42 years (9 for Asa, 25 for Jehoshaphat, 8 for Jehoram). Now we also find

SEDER OLAM

159

a verse (2Kings 8:25): 'In the year 12 of Joram ben A h a b did Ahaziahu ben Jehoram become king' and a n o t h e r verse says (2Kings 9:28): 'Ahaziahu became king in Joram's 11th year' and one is forced to admit t h a t Jehoram, Ahaziahu's father, died only in the year 12 of Joram ben Ahab since it is written (2Kings 8:16): 'Jehoram ben Jehoshaphat became king in the year 5 of Joram ben Ahab and he ruled for 8 years', and when t h e verse makes Ahaziahu king in Joram's eleventh year it is because he started to rule in his father's lifetime when t h e l a t t e r was incapacitated by his sufferings as it is said (2Chr. 21:18): 'after that, the Eternal smote him [Jehoram] with an incurable sickness of his bowels.' (2Chr. 22:1) 'The people of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziahu king,' that must h a v e been o n e y e a r in t h e lifetime of his father, and that is what is w r i t t e n 'in J o r a m ' s

ASA TO AHAZIAH

eleventh year' and when it says 'in Joram's 12th year' that means after his father's death." From this computation it follows that the sources put the marital connection between the houses of David and Omri in Asa's 33rd year, at a time when Omri was the undisputed ruler already for 2 years but according to what was explained earlier it is very well possible that Omri prevailed because of the help extended to him from Judah and that after his success he cemented the friendly relations with the king of Judah by a bond of marriage. R. David Qimhi, in his c o m m e n t a r y of 2Chr. 22:2, conjectures that Jehoram ruled 8 years until he was incapacitated but that he lived a n o t h e r 20 years during which Ahaziahu was regent. T h i s is n o t reasonably compatible with the chronology of the kings oi Israel.

18 Joash

In the time of Jehoram ben Ahab there was an extended famine in Samaria for 7 years; during that time Ben Hadad made war against Israel. In the last year did Elisha curse Gehazi. Elisha went to Damascus and anointed Hazael as king over Aram and sent Jonah ben Amittay to anoint Jehu at Ramot Gilead. (2C/ir. 22:8-9) "It was when Jehu executed judgment over the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the nephews of Ahaziahu serving Ahaziahu, and he killed them. He searched for Ahaziahu and caught him while he was hiding in Samaria, he killed and buried him . . . ." (2Kings 11:1-3) "But Athaliahu, the mother of Ahaziahu, when she saw that her son was dead, she took the initiative and killed all aspirants to the throne. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziahu, took Joash, the son of 160

SEDER OLAM

16]

JOASH

Ahaziah and stole him from amongst the king's sons who were being put to death, him and his wet-nurse from the bed room, and they hid him from Athaliahu and he was not put to death. He was whith her in the Eternal's house for six years . . ,"; about him the verse says (Ps. 27:5): "He surely will hide me in His hut on the day of evil, He will conceal me in His secret tent, on the rock He will lift me up!" What is 'on the rock He will lift me up'? That refers to the priest Jehoiada, a man similar to a rock. (2Kings 11:12) "He anointed him . . . and they said: long live the king!' (2Kings 11:20) "The people of the land were joyous and the city was quiet . . . ." (2Kings 12:1-2) "Seven years old was Jehoash when he became king. In the year 7 of Jehu did Jehoash become king and 40 years he ruled in Jerusalem." In Joash's 23rd year did he renovate the Temple; that makes 155 years from the time that Solomon built it until Joash renovated it. (2Chr. 24:2) "Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Eternal all the days of Jehoiada the priest." (2Chr. 24:15) "When Jehoiada aged and went along in years he died, 130 year he was at his death." When the corruption started in the times of Solomon, Jehoiada who fixed it was born. (2Chr. 24:16) "After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came," this shows that Joash set himself up as a deity as it is said "they prostrated themselves before the king; then the king listened to them."

Commentary Elisha said to the Shunamite woman that there will be 7 years of famine (2Kings 8:1). At the end of t h e seven y e a r s , we already find Gehazi at the king's court, no longer with Elisha (2Kings 8:1). But from the book of Elisha in 2Kings it seems that the story of Naaman took place before the seven years of famine

(IKings 5). A c c o r d i n g to 2Kings, Elisha's trip to Damascus (v. 8:7 ff.) must have been many years before Jehu was anointed since Joram ben Ahab was wounded at Ramot Gilead in a war against the Hazael whom Elisha had appointed king of Aram. The seeming quote *n*i

162

SEDER OLAM

*ui w n •

T

;iirrVx oxim 'I

V

T

is

:

unidentified and has not been translated. It is not found in manuscripts. Seder 'Olam is the only source that explicitly identifies the Son of the Prophets as Jonah. But the tradition is accepted in the Babylonian Talmud (Yebamot 98a), in a discussion of 2Kings 14:25: "He [Jeroboam II, Jehu's great g r a n d s o n ] r e s t o r e d t h e boundaries of Israel from LeboHamath to t h e Dead Sea, in accordance with the words of the Eternal, the God of Israel, which he spoke through his s e r v a n t Jonah ben Amittai, the prophet from Gath-Hepher," w h e r e a Babylonian authority asserts that Jonah did not p r o p h e s y for Jeroboam II, a bad king, but that it means that just as things for Niniveh turned from bad to good so they turned for Israel in the days of J e r o b o a m II. Now Jeroboam ruled 61 years after Jehu and it is not reasonable to assume that Jonah had dealings with both of them, so it seems that the Babylonian tradition is the one given in Seder 'Olam. Since Athaliah ruled for

JOASH

seven years, it follows t h a t Jehoash was born in the year of his father's death. The temple was finished in Solomon's year 10. Hence, from there to the r e n o v a t i o n under Jehoash, there were another 30 years for Solomon, Rehabeam 17, Abiah 3, Asa 41, J e h o s h a p h a t 2 5 , J e h o r a m 8, Ahaziahu 1, Athaliah 7, Jehoash 23, together 155 years. Jehoiada died at age 130 but no date is given for his death. Hence, he was born not before Solomon's year 35, at least 31 years after Solomon's m a r r i a g e with t h e Egyptian princess. The argument that Jehoash put himself up as an object of veneration seems to come from an interpretation of 2Chr. 24:16. One may assume that it belonged to the regular court ritual even d u r i n g the lifetime of Jehoiada that the ministers prostrated themselves before the king. Hence, if the verse insists on emphasizing the prostration, it must mean that they suggested that they p r o s t r a t e d t h e m s e l v e s in adoration.

19

Jehu to Uziah

Jehu ruled over Israel for 28 years. (2Kings 10:30) "And the Eternal said to Jehu: Since you were good and did the right things in my eye, all my intentions you executed on the dynasty of Ahab, your Children of the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel." Who said that to him? Jonah ben Amittai. (2Kings 10:31-32) "In these days did the Eternal start to reduce the boundaries of Israel; Hazael smote them along all borders of Israel. From the Jordan estwards " (2Kings 13:1) "In the 23rd year of Joash ben Ahaziahu, the king of Judah, did Jehoahaz ben Jehu become king over Israel at Samaria, for 17 years." (v. 10) "In the year 37 of Joash, the king of Judah, did Jehoash ben Jehoahaz become king over Israel at Samaria for 16 years." (v. 14) "And Elisha became sick with his final sickness," that was in the tenth year of Joash, the king of Israel. From there one may compute the number of years during which Elisha cared for Israel, from year 19 of Jehoshaphat until now, more than 60 years.

Commentary About Jonah ben Amittai, see the preceding chapter. 163

SEDER OLAM

On the face of it, 2Kings 13:10 is i m p o s s i b l e s i n c e J e h o a h a z s t a r t e d to r u l e in Joash's year 23 and he ruled for 17 years. That would put the accession of his son Joash of Israel in Joash of Judah's year 40. Also, it says (2Kings 14:1) that Amaziah of Judah became king in the year 2 of Joash of Israel. Since Joash of Judah ruled for 40 years, Joash of Israel must have become king in Joash of Judah's year 38. Rashi points out the difficulty without resolving it. G e r s o n i d e s has t h e c o r r e c t interpretation in the sense of Seder 'Olam: We already saw in Chapter 17 that the years of the kings of Judah are adjusted years that can be added, whereas the years of the kings of Israel are common r e g n a l y e a r s . That means that if a king of Israel became king on Elul 29 of one year and died on Tishre 1 in the year following the next one, his reign of one year and two days would be counted as three years in the text. Hence, Jehoahaz could h a v e died in J o a h of Judah's year 38, and another year might be accounted for by the adjustment of regnal years of Judah. Since the entire thrust of Seder 'Olam is the determination of dates in Biblical history, the remarkable fact that the author glosses over the obvious inconsistencies here is additional

164

JEHU TO UZ1AH

proof that the years of the kings of Israel are not counted in the determination of Jewish history. There is no indication anywhere in the Biblical text that Elisha died in Joash's year 10; neither are there any parallel Talmudic sources. R. David Qimhi notes that the Biblical text seems to require that Elisha died at the start of the reign of Joash of Israel since it seems from 2Kings 13:24-25 that Joash was victorious against Aram from the beginning of his rule. Even though the statement "year 10" is found in all manuscripts, it is i m p o s s i b l e a n d h a s to be replaced by "year 1." From the year 19 of Jehoshaphat we count 6 additional years for Jehoshaphat, 8 for Joram, 1 for Ahaziah, 7 for Athaliah, 39 for Joash of Judah until Joash of Israel became king, for a total of 61 years. If Elisha died in Joash's year 10 then he would have cared for Israel for 70, not more than 60, years. We already saw in Chapter 17 a misreading of 40 for 4. One might wonder whether the original source of our copies of Seder 'Olam used a decimal notation for numerals that would lend itself to an addition of a 0 [as in Arabic numerals the difference between a z e r o and a f l y - s p e c k is minimal].

SEDER OLAM

16£

JEHU TO UZ1AH

(2Kings 14:1-2) "In the second year of Joash [ben Joahaz the king of Israel] did Amaziah [ben Joash] become king [over Judah.] He was 25 years old when he became king and he was king for 22 years." In the 12th year of Amaziah (2Kings 14:7) "he smote Edom in the Salt Valley . . . . " (2Chr. 25:14-16) "It was when Amaziah returned from vanquishing the Edomites, he brought the idols of the sons of Se'ir and put them up for himself as gods before whom he would prostrate himself and to whom he burned incense. The anger of the Eternal was raging against Amaziah and he sent to him a prophet When he was talking to him, he said to him, did they make you a king's counsellor? Stop, why should they kill you. The prophet stopped and said: 'I know, that God has given counsel to destroy you since you did this and did not listen to my counsel.'" What was the counsel that the Omnipresent counselled about him? (2Chr. 25:17-20) "Amaziah, the king of Judah, took counsel and sent to Joash ben Joahaz ben Jehu, the king of Isarel, saying: let us have a fight'. Joash, the king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying: 'the thistle of the Lebanon sent to the cedar of Lebanon You said, lo, you smote Edom, so your mind got overbearing But Amaziah did not listen because this was from God . . . ." (2Chr. 25:22-24) "Judah was beaten before Israel, each one fled to his tent. And Amaziah, the king of Judah, ben Joash ben Jehoahaz did Joash, the king of Israel, catch at Beth Shemesh . . . . All the gold and silver and all vessels of the Temple in the custody of Obed Edom, the treasures of the palace, and the hostages, and he returned to Samaria." At that

SEDER OLAM

JEHU TO UZ1AH

166

time, Joash died and Amaziah returned to Jerusalem. (2Chr. 14:25) "Amaziah ben Joash, the king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash ben Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, for 15 years." (2Chr. 25:27) "And from the moment that Amaziah deviated from behind the Eternal," that he did not listen to the prophet, "there started a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish."

Commentary T h e r e is n o i n d i c a t i o n in Scripture when the Edomite war took place but the war at Beth Shemesh could not have taken place after Amaziah's year 14. By the author's principles, "at t h a t t i m e , Joash died", i. e., e x a c t l y in t h e y e a r 14 of Amaziah, and it follows from Joash's l e t t e r t h a t t h e w a r

followed quickly on Amaziah's success against Edom [maybe b e c a u s e of a t t a c k s of t h e dismissed warrior from Ephraim (2Chr. 25:5-10), Amaziah might have been justified in the eyes of t h e C h r o n i c l e r h a d h e not become an apostate]. About Amaziah's time at Lachish, see the next section.

SEDER OLAM

JEHU TO UZ1AH

167

ran o>y:n m M

(2Chr. 26:3) 16 years old was Uzziahu when he became king and he ruled for 52 years." (v. 5) "He went to seek God as long Zachariah his instructor lived, and as long as he inquired after the Eternal, God gave him success." What kind of success did God give him? (2Chr. 26:2, 2Kings 14:22) "He built Elath and returned it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers." What does the verse mean by 'after the king slept with his fathers?' That he ruled during the lifetime of his father. Another explanation: Just as Jehoram, Ahaziahu, and Joash died a death of suffering through the hands of others, so Amaziah died a death of suffering through the hands of others. Uzziahu and Jeroboam came to rule at the same time except that Jeroboam ruled for one year duting the lifetime of his father as it is said (2Kings 13:13): "and Jeroboam sat on his throne." (2Kings 15:1) "In the year 27 of Jeroboam, the king of Israel, did Azariah ben Amaziah became king of Judah." It is impossible to say so since both of them became kings together, but he (Azariah) ruled a leprous rule, and so it says (2Chr. 26:21): "Uzziahu the king was a leper until the day of his death." Also, it says (IChr. 5:17) "They all were counted in the census of Jotham, the king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the king of Israel." It is impossible to say so since Uzziahu buried Jeroboam and three kings after him, but all the 25 years that Uzziahu was a leper, his son Jotham was the Chief Minister and judged the people of the land. Jeroboam ben Joash ruled for 41 years. (2Kings 15:8) "In the year 38 of Azariahu, the king of Judah, did Zakariahu ben Jeroboam become king over Israel at Samaria for six months." (2Kings 15:12) "That was the word of the Eternal that He had said to Jehu: 'Descendants in the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel.'"

Commentary In t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h e author, Amaziah fled to Lakhish i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r he w a s

released from captivity by Joash and the p e o p l e of t h e l a n d elected Azariah-Uzziahu

SEDER OLAM

JEHU TO UZ1AH

168

immediately after the battle of Beth Shemesh. Uzziahu-Azariah was king without the consent of his father, therefore his and his father's regnal years are counted in parallel, but Jotham ruled with t h e c o n s e n t of his f a t h e r , therefore his years are counted only after the death of his father (see Chapter 21). The insistence of the text that Uzziahu rebuilt Elath a f t e r t h e d e a t h of his father is taken to mean that he ruled already beforehand. Both Biblical sources are silent about the execution of Amaziah but the absence of any mention of a conspiracy and the absence of any reaction by Uzziahu seems to show that it was by a court order. It is a general tradition in r a b b i n i c a l s o u r c e s t h a t Uzziahu and Jeroboam II started their reigns at about the same t i m e [Sifra Mezora 2(11), Babylonian Talmud Moed Qatan 7b, Sheiltot Mezora 88]. The argument goes as follows: One verse s t a t e s (2Kings 14:23) "Jerobeam II b e c a m e king in Amaziah's year 15." Another verse s t a t e s (2Kings 14:17) Kings of Israel 41 years Jeroboam II Zakariah-Shallum 1 year year Menahem 10 years Peqahiah 2 years Peqah 20 years No king 8 years Hoshea 9 years 91 years total

"Amaziah lived after Joash's death another 15 years." A third verse a s s e r t s (2Kings 15:1) "Azariah/Uzziahu became king in Jeroboam's year 27." A fourth verse a s s e r t s (2Kings 15:8) "Zakariah the son of Jeroboam became king in Azariah/Uzziahu's year 38." Now this last assertion contradicts all others. First, Azariah should have become king in Jeroboam's year 15, or if we accept the verse 15:1, then Jeroboam would have died in Azariah's year 68, i.e., towards the end of Jotham's reign. From the last verse, Rashi [both in his c o m m e n t a r y on 2 Kings 15:8 a n d in h i s commentary on Moed Qatan, ed. Kupfer] wants to c o r r e c t t h e readings of Seder 'Olam to read that Jeroboam II ruled for 3 = 4138 (not 1) years d u r i n g his father's lifetime. However, we can justify the reading of Seder 'Olam by a computation of the years of the kings of Israel and Judah from the death of Joash of Israel to the d e s t r u c t i o n of Samaria: Kings of Judah Uzziahu Jotham Ahaz Hezekiah

52 16 16 6

years years years years

total

90 years.

SEDER OLAM

The period of anarchy is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible, but it is said (2Kings 15:30) that Hoshea killed Peqah in the year 20 of Jotham, i.e., year 4 of Ahaz, and in verse 17:1 it is stated that Hoshea became king in Samaria only in the year 12 of Ahaz. Now, we have already seen that in the opinion of the author the years of kings of Israel cannot necessarily be added. Hence, it follows that Jeroboam II ruled at most one year before Uzziahu. The discrepancy pointed out by Rashi can be easily explained by overlapping regnal years. No corrections are needed if the chronology is based on the fall of Samaria (2Kings 18:10). An additional proof is given by t h e c e n s u s of t h e Transjordanian tribes conducted in c o m m o n by J o t h a m a n d Jeroboam II (IChr. 5:17). If Jotham ruled only after Uzziahu's death, he could not have possibly conducted any action together

169

JEHU TO UZ1AH

with a deceased king of Israel. Anyhow, after Jeroboam's death, Israel was rapidly sinking into anarchy and was dismembered by Aram and Assyria, so that the bases for such a census w e r e missing. If we start Uzziahu's reign only in Jeroboam's year 27 and Jotham's reign at the death of Uzziahu then Jotham was not even born at Jeroboam's death. Hence, the chronology of the rabbinical sources is the only one that accounts for all verses. While unfrequent in our sources, there are other people with more than one name, such as Solomon-Jedidiah, A m i e l Eliam the father of Bathsheba. Modern historians prefer to take 2Kings 15:1 at its face value and to incorporate all of Jotham's and part of Ahaz's rule i n t o U z z i a h u ' s r e i g n [cf. Mordechai Cogan, Hayim Tadmor, Kings / / , The Anchor Bible, 1988, p. 182.] Our author's interpretation is better.

20 The Prophets

It says (Zach. 14:5): "And you will flee to the mountain valley because the mountain valley will reach Azal, you will flee as you fled because of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, the king of Judah." (Is. 1:1) "Vision of Isaiah ben Amoz that he saw about Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziahu, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah." (Hos.hl) "The word of the Eternal that was to Hosea ben Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam ben Joash, King of Israel." (Amos 1:1) "The words of Amos who was from the shepherds of Tekoa that he saw about Israel in the days of Uzziah, the king of Judah, and Jeroboam ben Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." (Michah 1:1) "The word of the Eternal that was to Micha of Morasha in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he saw about Samaria and Jerusalem." This teaches us that all of them prophezied during the same period. But you do not know who preceded whom. But since it says (Hosea 1:2): "The word of the Eternal was first to Hosea ..," for Amos it says "two years before the earthquake," and for Isaiah it says (Is. 6:1): "In the year of death of king 170

SEDER OLAM

THE PROPHETS

171

Uzziahu . . a n d that was the moment of the earthquake as it is written (v. 4) "The supports of the thresholds were moving . . (Michah 1:1) "The word of the Eternal that was to Micha of Morasha in the days of Jotham . . . this proves that the others all preceded Michah.

Commentary The quotation from the vision Zachariah in the times of the Second Temple comes as support of the unstated opinion that the earthquake was exactly at the day on which Uzziahu wanted to usurp the priest's functions in the Temple and when he became a leper, since a leper is dead in civil law. All the connecting argument is preserved in Yalqut Isaiah on Is. 6:1, from a lost Yelammedenu source: " i n the year of death of king Uzziahu', but did he really die or rather did he become a leper and a leper is considered dead as it is said (Num. 12:12) 'Please, do not let her be like a corpse.' i saw the Eternal sitting on an exalted and elevated throne and his train filled the Temple' these were the 80 p r i e s t s opposing Uzziahu because 'train' means the priests as it is said (Ex. 28:34) 'on the train of t h e m a n t l e around.' ' S e r a p h i m ["burners"] w e r e standing' because the fire will have burned Uzziahu just as it burned Qorah and his g r o u p . 'Not to allow larceny against Him,' to prevent him [Uzziahu]

from committing larceny in the Temple, saying to him: (2Chr. 26:18) ' l e a v e , b e c a u s e you committed larceny' and the earth opened its mouth to swallow him up as it is said (Zach. 14:5) 'And you will flee to the mountain valley because t h e mountain valley will reach Azal, you will flee as you fled because of the e a r t h q u a k e in t h e d a y s of Uzziah.'" This d e r i v a t i o n identifies bvM "over" in Is. 6:2, derived from "up, high" with a word , c o m p o s i t e of a privative »"without," and a verb Vy» "to commit larceny (mainly on sacral matters)." The verse Hosea 1:2 is taken generally to mean that the period of l i t e r a r y p r o p h e t s started with Hosea; this is the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Targum Jonathan (a Yerushalmi source), Rashi on the verse, and R. David Qimhi in Sepher Hashorashim s.v. dbr and of t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud Pesahim 87a (and a shortened version, attributed to the l a t e r R. Y o h a n a n , Baba bathra 14b). From the headings of the books it is c l e a r that

172

SEDER OLAM

Michah is the only one whose p r o p h e c y d i d n o t s t a r t in

THE PROPHETS

Uzziahu's time,

(Obadiah 1:1) "Vision of Obadiah," when was this war? In the days of Amaziah (IKings 22:48) "No kings stood up over Edom." Since the Edomites fell in the days of Amaziah they did not put up a king not raise their heads until today. Since the Arameans fell according to the words of Elisha they did not get up again, only they woke up in the days of Ahaz and fell. Since the Philistines fell in the days of Hezekiah they did not put up a king until today. And since Egypt fell through Nebuchadnezzar, it did not raise itself over any peoples at it is said (Ez. 29:15): "Among kingdoms it will be lowly and not raise itself further over peoples "

Commentary In all Ashkenazic manuscripts [and in the (Ashkenazic) Yalqut on Obadiah] one reads "in the days of Jehoshaphat" instead of "in the days of Amaziah" of our text. The quote from IKings m a k e s s e n s e o n l y for t h e Ashkenazic reading. Oriental and Sephardic sources read as

our text, "Amaziah." In Babylonian sources (Sanhedrin 39a), the prophet O b a d i a h is identified with Ahab's minister O b a d i a h , c o n t e m p o r a r y of Jehoshaphat. For a l l t h e s e reasons, the Ashkenazic reading is preferable. No king of Edom is mentioned in Amaziah's war.

SEDER OLAM

THE PROPHETS

J73

(IChr. 2:6) 'The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol, Dara\ altogether five;" these prophesied in Egypt. (Ex. 6:24) "The sons of Qorah: Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph," they prophezied in the wilderness. (Jud. 6:6) 'The Eternal sent a prophetic man to the Children of Israel," that was Phineas. (ISam. 2:27) "A man of God came to Eli," that was Elkanah. (IChr. 9:22) "These were instituted by David and Samuel in their faith," these are the 24 clans of priests and Levites.

Commentary The identifications of anonymous prophets is not found in other sources and is not based on Scripture. It seems t h a t t h e author identifies the "prophetic man" with "the messenger who came from Bokhim" (Jud. 2:1) who was Phineas who sometime in his life was a prophet as it is stated (IChr. 9:20) "earlier, the Eternal was with him," but the Divine presence was removed from him after his failure to annul Jephtah's vow. This entire section is an introduction to the e n u m e r a t i o n of t h e n a m e d prophets in the next chapter. It seems that the author follows for the names of prophets a principle similar to that adopted for dates: If the words of a prophet a r e recorded in Scripture, then it is possible to know his name, and,

if the name is not given in the text, then it can be determined from o t h e r verses. T h i s is equivalent to saying that if an identification looks likely then it is surely true. It seems that this method was accepted by Qimhi in his commentary of IKings 13:1. Rashi in his commentary on Kings q u o t e s m o s t of t h e identifications given in the next section. The Temple was run by a very small staff around the high priest, assisted every week by another group of priests and Levites from around the country. E a c h c l a n , e n u m e r a t e d in IChronicles, served once every 24 weeks. T h e T a l m u d of Jerusalem (Sukkah 55d, Taaniot 68a) explains omi&xa as ommxa "in their proficiency." By a

SEDER OLAM

Biblical law (Lev. 27:21), a field that was dedicated to the Temple and not redeemed by the Jubilee year was given to the priests who served during the week of the Day of Atonement of that Jubilee year. The Talmud asserts that the start of the Temple service for these groups was chosen so

174

THE PROPHETS

that no group would serve again at the Day of Atonement until all o t h e r groups h a d h a d t h e i r occasion to do so, i.e., once every 24 Jubilees or 1,200 years. Since the calendar in use cannot be reconstructed, it is impossible to check this assertion.

Gad the seer and Nathan the prophet established the rules of the Temple service together with David. Asaph, Heman and

SEDER OLAM

175

THE PROPHETS

1

2

Yedutun prophesied in David's time . Ahiyyah said to Solomon (1 Kings 6:12-13): "This Temple that you are building, if you will walk in my rules, implement my laws, and keep all my commandments to walk in them . . . then I shall dwell among the children of Israel and never abandon My people Israel." At the end, he said to him (IKings 11:11): "Because that was found with you that you did not keep my covenant and my rules " Shemayahu said to Rehabeam (2Chr. 11:4): "Do not attack and make war against your brethren . . . . " At the end, when they were fleeing before Shishaq (2Chr. 12:7), "was the word of the Eternal to Shemayah saying, they submitted, I shall not destroy them . . . ." Was his name Shishaq and not rather Zebub as it is said (Is. 7:18): "On that day, the Eternal will whistle to the fly (zebub) that is at the end of the Nile branches of Egypt and to the bee in the land of Assyria." So why is he called Shishaq because he was waiting and watching when Solomon would die since Solomon was unique, and after the death of Solomon he came and took the treasures of the Temple . The prophet Iddo prophesied about the altar at Bethel and said (IKings 13:2) "Altar, altar " (2Chr. 15:1-2) "The spirit of God was upon Azariahu ben Oded and he went out before Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin . . . ." (2Chr. 16:7) "At that time came Hanani, the seer, to Asa king of Judah." Michaihu said to Ahab (IKings 20:13): "So says the Eternal, did you see all this great multitude, I shall give them into your hands today . . . ." The second time, he told him (IKings 20:22): "Go, strengthen yourself, know and see what you are doing . . . . " The third time, he said to him (IKings 20:28): "Because Aram said that the Eternal is a god of mountains . . . . " (IKings 20:35) "One man of the younger prophet said to his neighbor: by the Eternal's word, hit m e , . . ." They said, this was Michaihu. At the end, he said to him (IKings 22:20): "The Eternal said: who will seduce Ahab . . . ?" And in the days of Jehoshaphat (2Chr. 19:2), "before him went Jehu ben Hanani, the seer,..." (2Chr. 20:14) "and Jahaziel ben Zechariahu ben Benaiah ben Yeiel ben Mathaniah, the Levite of the descendant of Asaph " (2Chr. 20:37) "And Eliezer ben Dodawahu from Maresha prophesied about Jehoshaphat.. 3

4

5

SEDER OLAM

176

THE PROPHETS

." In the days of Joram (2Chr. 21:12) "a letter from Elijah was delivered to him " In the days of Joash (2Chr. 24:19-20) "he sent to them prophets to make them return to the Eternal. . . and the spirit of God clothed Zechariah ben Jehoiada . . .." In the days of Amaziah (2Chr. 25:7) "a man of God came to him to say: O king, do not let the army of Israel come with you . . .." At the end, he told him (2Chr. 25:16): "I understand that God has planned to destroy you . . . . " They say, this was his brother Amoz . In the days of Ahaz (2Chr. 28:9) "there was a prophet of the Eternal by the name of Oded " Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk prophesied in the days of Manasse but because Manasse was no good they are not referred to him. And so it says (2Chr. 33:10-11): "The Eternal spoke to Manasse and to his people and they did not listen. Therefore, the Eternal brought over them the generals of the king of Assyria and they caught Manasse with hooks " 6

7

Commentary 1. The statement about Asaph, Heman, and Yedutun refers to IChr. 25:1. That verse has a double tradition:nun VTJ Vnan

•pmvi ]o*rn *\w *vA nYavV kain o^aaa nWiaa* Wiraan) o*Kaan D*nV*&3* The vocalized text (qere) can be translated "David and the generals separated for Temple service the sons of Asaf, Heman, and Y e d u t u n , who express (themselves) with lutes, harps, and percussion instruments." The consonantal text (ketib), which has the status of a variant reading, reads "Asaf, Heman, and Yedutun, the prophets." 2.

A h i y y a h ' s n a m e is

not

mentioned in the Biblical text; there, his only dealings are with Jeroboam. But by the principle explained in the previous section, t h e a n o n y m o u s s p e a k e r is identified with a prophet e x p l i c i t l y mentioned in t h i s period. The tradition given here, that God s p o k e to Solomon through the intermediary of a prophet and not directly, demotes Solomon from the position of prophet he has in most other sources; see the list of prophets in the commentary of the next chapter. 3. The notice about Shishaq's name appears only in the editio princeps and a few O r i e n t a l

SEDER OLAM

manuscripts. The piece here is quite unintelligible since there is no etymology given for the root ssq and the verse from Isaiah refers to the future and, hence, must refer to Sanherib or some later king. There are two more versions of this sentence in other sources: Rashi on IKings 14:25: We find in the midrash on Song of Songs that he is Pharao Necho and is called Shishaq because he longed (ppw) and desired all his life Solomon's, his son in law's, ivory throne and now he came and took it. Midrash Esther rabba on Esther 1:2: Rebbi Samuel ben Nahmani said: Shishaq is Pharao and why is his n a m e c a l l e d S h i s h a q because he came with longing ( mp*pv) over Israel and said: "I am taking it (the ivory throne) as ketubah (the wife's guaranteed portion of her dead husband's estate) of my daughter." I did not find the story repeated in Cant, rabba. The midrashic sources identify the roots puw on the theory that the basis of any r o o t w i t h r e p e a t e d consonants is the two-syllable root containing every consonant only o n c e . T h a t t h e o r y is sustained by some m e d i e v a l grammarians. The identification of the throne of Ahasuerus with Solomon's throne and its history a f t e r Shishaq's conquest a r e given in the two Targumim to Esther 1:2.

177

THE PROPHETS

4. The prophet of Bethel is anonymous in Kings. Id do the seer is mentioned as a chronicler of Rehabeam's reign in 2Chr. 12:15. Since the anonymous prophet died at the begin of Rehabeam's reign, the identification is very questionable. 5. Michaihu is mentioned by name only at the last encounter with Ahab, but there it is clear that p r o p h e t and king w e r e familiar one with the other. By the author's principle, therefore, the anonymous prophet of Ahab's time was Michaihu. (One would not expect Elijah ever to give an encouraging prophecy to Ahab.) 6. A tradition quoted in the Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 10b): "Rebbi Levi said: It is a tradition from our forefathers that Amoz and Amaziah were brothers." Maybe the reason for the tradition is that the prophet was not punished by the king. Amoz was the father of Isaiah; his place in the list of prophets comes from a statement of R. Yohanan that any prophet whose father's name is mentioned is the son of a prophet (Yalqut Isaiah 386). 7. In European manuscripts, only Nahum and Habakkuk are listed. Also, in Rashi's copy of Seder Vlam, Joel was not listed since

SEDER OLAM

178

he quotes (Joel 1:1) the tradition that Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk were contemporaries of Manasse from Hilkhot Gedolot (Hilkhot Evel) and not from Seder Olam. Now Rashi brings three traditions about the time of Joel (an u n s o l v a b l e p r o b l e m in Biblical scholarship), viz., that he was a son of Samuel, that he was in the time of Elisha, or in the time of Manasseh (Yalqut Joel 1). The second of these assertions is Talmudic (Tadnit 5:1) in t h e l

THE PROPHETS

name of the Galilean authorities R. Isaac and R. Yohanan. Now the Babylonian Talmud usually d o e s not d e v i a t e from t h e historical interpretation of Seder 'Olam, but the present chapter and the next one are not part of the historical narrative and the s o u r c e of Hilkhot Gedolot c e r t a i n l y was a B a b y l o n i a n (Oriental) one. Hence, it is better to accept the r e a d i n g of the p r i n t e d t e x t as g i v i n g t h e Oriental tradition.

(Zeph. 1:1) "The word of the Eternal that was upon Zephaniah ben Kushi ben Gedaliah ben Amariah ben Hizkiah " (Jer. 1:1) "The words of Jeremias ben Hilqiahu. (Ez. 1:3) "The word of the Eternal was to Ezechiel ben Buzi the priest " All of these were prophets at the time of the destruction of the Temple. Baruch ben Neriah ben Mahseiah and Daniel, the lovely man, were in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Mordecai the Jew, Haggai, Zachariah and Maleachi all prophesied in the second year of Darius. You find (among the prophets) 10 who were called "man of God": Moses, Elkanah, Samuel, David, Shemaiah, Iddo, Eliahu, Elisha, Micha and Amoz. Samuel and Hanani were called seers since it says about them "the seer." Ezechiel and Daniel are called "son of man."

SEDER OLAM

THE PROPHETS

179

Commentary. In E u r o p e a n m a n u s c r i p t s , Mordecai is not identified as "the Jew" but as "Bilshan" (Ezra 2:2, Nehemiah 7:7). T h i s is a Babylonian tradition (Megillah 16b) that sees in "Bilshan" not the name of a person, separate from Mordecai, but a title "linguist." In t h e last c h a p t e r , E z r a is declared to be the end of the age of prophecy, so there might be a question whether Mordecai preceded or followed Ezra. All Jewish traditions identify Ahasuerus as the one mentioned in Ezra 4:6 w h o h a d t h e rebuilding of the Temple stopped and, therefore, was before Darius (who would have been Darius II). Now t h e r e is a d i f f e r e n c e between the holidays of Purim and Hanukkah in that Purim is called an institution of prophets

(cf. Rashi Megillah 14a s.v. fin nV>*» mp&D) but Hanukkah is an institution of the Sages. Hence, Mordecai should be counted as a prophet. The argument is really unnecessary s i n c e E s t h e r is definitely counted among the prophetesses in the next chapter. The list of places where people are called "Man of God" is: Moses Deut. 33:1; E l k a n a h identified as "Man of God" in this c h a p t e r , ISam. 2:27; Samuel 1 Samuel 9:1; David Nehemiah 12:24, 2Chr. 8:14; S h e m a i a h IKings 12:22; Iddo, anonymous in IKings 13:1; Elijah IKings 17:18; Elisha 2Kings 4:7; Micha is scribal e r r o r and must r e a d Michaihu IKings 20:28, s e e earlier note ; Amoz 2Chr. 25:9, see earlier note . 5

6

Part III Prophets to End of Second Temple

21 Chapter Twenty-One: Prophets (Continued)

It is said about our forefather Abraham (Gen. 20:7): "And now return the man's wife because he is a prophet." About Sarah it is said (Gen. 11:29): "the daughter of Haran, the father of Milkah and of Jessica" . From where do we know that the 1

183

SEDER OLAM

184

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

patriarchs and matriarchs are called prophets? Because it says (IChr. 16:20, 22): 'They wandered from people to people and from one kingdom to another nation. Do not touch my anointed and do not harm my prophets." About Miriam it says (Ex. 15:20): "And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took " About Deborah it says (Jud. 4:4): "Deborah was a prophetess." About Hannah (ISam. 2:1) : "Hannah prayed and said: My heart is jubilant in the Eternal, my horn is lifted by the Eternal." Abigail prophesied for David . And David told her (ISam. 25:33): "Blessed be your understanding." About Huldah it says (2Kings 22:14, 2Chr. 34:22): "to Huldah the prophetess." About Esther it is said (Esther 9:29): "And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, wrote (with the assistance of Mordecai the Jew) all this valid document." These are the 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses that prophesied for Israel and who are mentioned in Scripture, but there were prophets in number equal to those who left Egypt and they were not mentioned by name. One could think that (those that are not mentioned) were few, but Scripture says (2Kings 2:7): "And 50 men from among the young prophets went " One could think that (those that are not mentioned) were not professionals, but Scripture says (2Kings 2:3,5): "They said to him: Do you know that today the Eternal will remove your master from your head"; they do not say 'our master' but 'your master'; this shows that there all were Elijah's equals and more weighty than Elisha. Similarly, Moses said (Deut. 5:26): "May their heart be like that all the time," and he said (Num. 11:29): "If only all of the Eternal's people were prophets that the Eternal would give His spirit onto them." And Obadiah said to Elijah (IKings 18:13): "Certainly it was told to my master what I did when Isabel killed all the prophets of the Eternal, and I hid from the prophets of the Eternal 100 men . . ," not counting those that were in Judah and Benjamin. And Elijah said to Elisha (2Kings 2:2-3): "Please, stay here because the Eternal sent me to Bethel. And the young prophets that were at Bethel came out . . ." Then he said to him (2Kings 2:5,7): "Please, stay here because the Eternal sent me to the Jordan . . . And 50 from the young prophets w e n t . . . " because 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

SEDER OLAM

185

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

there was no single city in Israel without its prophets. But every prophecy that was important for future generations was written down [and what was for its time only] was not written . About these it is spelled out in Song of Songs (4:1011): "How beautiful is your friendship, o sister, bride, how much better is your friendship than wine and the smell of your oils than all spices. Your lips, o bride, drip of flowing honey; honey and milk is under your tongue " 9

Commentary 1. This entire chapter presents Babylonian t r a d i t i o n s w h o s e parallels a r e found mainly in tractate Megillah. There in the d i s c u s s i o n of t h e l i s t of prophetesses (14a, also Sanhedrin 69b), Rabbi Isaac, a Palestinian Amora whose teachings a mainstay of Babylonian aggadah, states that Jessica is Sarah, and why is she called Jessica (njo*) because she was shielded (nroo) by the Divine Spirit. T I T '

1

2. The sources note that as prophetess, Miriam was the sister of Aaron but not the sister of Moses, meaning that she already was prophetess before the birth of Moses. 3. The real proof is from the sentence "my horn is lifted by the Eternal," which is taken to mean t h a t t h e d y n a s t y of a k i n g anointed by a flask (Saul and Jehu) does not endure but one anointed by the horn (David and Solomon) does endure; this is an

assertion of future events. 4 Abigail said to David (ISam. 25:31)"/ should not be for you an obstacle to m a k e your h e a r t stumble," i.e., she would not sleep with him unless married to him but another woman (Bathseba) would do so. 6. The problem with all lists with a fixed number of items in talmudic litterature is that no one is really satisfactory. The basic list is given at the end of Hilkhot Gedolot. There exist two versions of this list, one copied by Rashi (Megillah 14a) from Hilkhot Gedolot, the other one in the several editions of Hilkhot Gedolot from m a n u s c r i p t s (Warsaw ed. p. 285b, Hildesheimer Jerusalem ed. vol. 3, p. 374). Rashfs writes: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Phineas, Yael, Elkanah, Eli, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, David, Solomon, Iddo, Michaihu, Achiyah, Jehu ben

SEDER OLAM

Hanani, Hiziel from the sons of Mataniah, Eliezer ben Dodo, Hoshea, Amos, Michah, Amoz, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Isaiah, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, U r i a h from Q i r y a t Y e a r i m , Jeremias, Ezechiel, Daniel, Baruch ben Neriah, Seraiah ben Mahseiah, Haggai, Z a c h a r i a s , Maleachi, Mordecai Bilshan; this list is from Seder 'Olam. But about Daniel, we said e a r l i e r (Megillah 3a) that he was no prophet, and one has to add Shemaiah who prophesied for Rehabeam. Two of them I do not know. R. Elijah of Wilna (the Gaon of Wilna) it his glosses to the Talmud adds Hanani and Oded from the previous chapter of Seder 'Olam. One should also add O b a d i a h , whose name is missing in the list, but remove Yael who was a woman. So we cannot get more than 46 names. Since Rashi notes that two names are missing in his list, it follows t h a t t h e names a d d e d w e r e before Rashi but fell out by copyist's errors. The text of Hilkhot Gedolot is practically identical in the two editions quoted. The first part is copied from the next section in Seder 'Olam: The following a r e t h e prophets who prophesied for the world b e f o r e t h e T o r a h was given: A d a m , N o a h , Sem, Japheth, Eber, until there came A b r a h a m , I s a a c , and J a c o b .

186

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

After Abraham Bileam and his father Laban who is identical with Beor, they are the rulers who prophesied about Moab, and Job, E l i p h a z t h e Y e m e n i t e , Bildad the Shuhite, Zopher the Naamite, Elihu ben Berachel the Buzite. These prophesied for the Torah was given to Israel. But after the Torah was given to Israel, the Divine Spirit stopped for Gentiles as it is said (Ex. 3 3 : 1 6 ) : "And w e s h a l l be distinguished, I and Your people, from any other people on the face of the earth." The sons of Zerah: Zimri, E t h a n , H e m a n , K a l k o l , and Darda; these five prophesied in Egypt. After the T o r a h was given to Israel: Moses, Aaron, Asir, Elkanah, Abiasaph, these prophesied in the wilderness and the contents of the prophecy in Egypt was suppressed for 900 years until Ezechiel came and explained it. After Israel entered t h e Land: J o s h u a , P h i n e a s , Elkanah, Samuel, David, Gad the Seer, Nathan the prophet, Asaph, Heman, J e d u t h u n , A h i y a h of Siloh, Solomon, Iddo, Azariah ben Oded, Hanani the seer, Jehu ben Hanani, Elijah, Michaihu, Elisha, Hiziel ben Zachariah (a Levite from the descendants of Asaph), Eliezer ben Dodawahu, Zachariah ben Jehoiada, Amoz, Isaiah, Zechariahu who understands, Oded, J e r e m i a h , Uriah ben Shemaiahu, Ezechiel, Daniel, Hoshea ben Beeri, Amos,

SEDER OLAM

Michah, Obadiah, Jonah, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah ben Kushi, Haggai, Zachariah, Maleachi. Seven p r o p h e t e s s e s Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah the prophetess, and Esther. The first Elkanah in this list is one of the sons of Korach at the Exodus, the second Elkanah is the father of Samuel, from the same family. As E. Hildesheimer points out, "Solomon" in the list should be r e p l a c e d by "Shemaiah" since (a) Seder Vlam does not count Solomon among t h e p r o p h e t s a l t h o u g h it is reported that "God spoke to him" and (b) his place after Ahiyah does not fit Solomon. The list contains 58 names and the t h r e e p a t r i a r c h s a r e not mentioned. Even if we remove the 5 Zerahites who prophesied in Egypt, we still have 53. The sum of the number of prophets mentioned in Chap. 20 plus those who have a book in the Bible is 47. Therefore, the exact determination of the 48 names is impossible. The present chapter and the preceding one contain Babylonian a g g a d i c m a t e r i a l which need not come from the school of R. Yose. In fact, the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s h e r e a r e not based on R. Yose's principles of interpretation of Scripture. 7. The number of prophets is given as "equal in number to

187

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

those who left Egypt" (i.e., 600*000 adult m a l e s ) in a l l manuscripts of Seder 'Olam and Hilkhot Gedolot and most manuscripts of the Talmud, and not "double the nember of those who left E g y p t " in p r i n t e d editions of the Talmud (Megillah 14a). Cf. the end of the next note. 8. The text in brackets is missing in the first p r i n t e d edition and has to be added from manuscripts. Another version is "those that were not needed for further generations." In some manuscripts, the e n t i r e p i e c e about Elijah, Elisha, and t h e young prophets is very much extended. It is well possible that this was not part of the original t e x t of Seder 'Olam and, therefore, local versions abound here. Apart from Seder Vlam there are two other sources that speak about the great number of prophets, Tosephta Sota 12:5 (seemingly a Yerushalmi source) a n d Midrash Ruth rabba, Introduction #2, a YerushalmiByzantine source. In both these sources, the existence of 600'000 prophets is restricted to the time of Elijah, but in the Babylonian sources Seder Vlam and Hilkhot Gedolot the number includes all generations from Moses to Ezra. This is the text of the Tosephta: Before Elijah was hidden, the Divine Spirit was

SEDER OLAM

common in Israel as it is said (all the p r o o f s a b o u t t h e many prophets in every town as in Seder Vlam.) From where do we know that the Divine Spirit left them? Since it is said (2Kings 2:16): they (the young prophets) said to him (Elisha), here your servants are 50 valiant men, they should go and search for your master, maybe the wind of the Eternal carried him and threw him on one of the mountains or one of the valleys." Is it possible that the day before they said (v.5): "Do you know that today the Eternal will remove your master from your head" and now they say "let us search for your master," but certainly the Divine Spirit removed itself from them. In Ruth rabba, the discussion begins with a sermon on the verse (Prov. 19:15): Van n)yy mrnn which is not explained as "laziness i n d u c e s s l e e p " but "Laziness c h e a p e n s p r o p h e t i c trance", because Israel were lazy in repenting in the days of Elijah, there fell much prophetic trance. (How can bnm "fell" can mean "cheapens?" The way one talks

188

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

about prices of commodities!) R. Dosa said: 600*000 prophets arose for Israel in the times of Elijah; R. Jacob said: 1'200'000. R. Yohanan said: from G a b a t to Antipatris there were 600*000 settlements and the worst of them were Bethel and Jericho, Jericho because it was cursed by Joshua and Bethel w h e r e J e r o b o a m ' s g o l d e n calf was standing. But is is w r i t t e n (2Kings 2:3): "And the young prophets that were at Bethel came out . . . ." T h e plural indicates that there were at least two of them. Why were their prophecies not written down? Because future generations had no need for them. We may say from here that no prophecy was published that is not important for future generations. But at the End of Days, the Holy One, Praise to Him, will come and brings them with Him and their prophecies will be made public; that is what is written (Zach. 14:5): "The Eternal, my God, will come and all the holy ones with You." 1

R. Yohanan is one of the

1 A. Neubauer (La geographic du Talmud, Paris 1868) identifies Talmudic ma with Biblical ]inai in the domain of the t r i b e of Dan. However, it seems u n r e a s o n a b l e to allow for 600*000 s e t t l e m e n t s in the short d i s t a n c e between Antipatris and Gibton near Beth Shemesh. Also, both Gibton and Antipatris are in the coastal plain and neither Bethel nor J e r i c h o , r e s p e c t i v e l y on the mountain ridge and in the Jordan valley, can be said to be "between Gibton and Antipatris." Now Antipatris is mentioned in the Mishnah (Gittin 7:7) as the northern b o r d e r of Judea. Hence, Gabat has to be some place in the North of Galilea since our texts insist that one speaks only of the prophets of the kingdom of Israel.

SEDER OLAM

189

Galilean sages who often presents the Yerushalmi version of texts treated by Seder Vlam. R. Dosa was a contemporary of R. Y o h a n a n , R. J a c o b was a B a b y l o n i a n w h o s t u d i e d in T i b e r i a s u n d e r R. Y o h a n a n . Hence, the reading that there

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

w e r e ( a t l e a s t ) 1*200*000 prophets in Israel in the time of Elijah is the Galilean version; the Babylonian one is the one given in Seder Vlam that there were 600*000 at a l l t i m e s t a k e n together.

About Adam it says (Gen. 2:21): "And God made fall sleep on Adam " About Noah it says (Gen. 6:9): "Noah was a just, straightforward man in his generation, Noah walked with God." About Japheth it says (Gen. 9:27): "May God beautify Japheth". About Sem it says (Gen. 9:26): "Praised be the Eternal, the God of Sem," (Ps. 110:4) "about my word to Malchisedek ." About Eber it says (Gen. 10:25): "The name of one of them was Peleg since in his days the earth was split ." These are the prophets that arose in the world before our forefather Abraham came to the world. And since our forefather Abraham came to the world: B a l a a m and his father, Job from the land of Oz, Eliphaz the Yemenite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zopher the Naamite, and Elihu ben Berachel the Buzite. These are the prophets that arose in the world before the Torah was given to Israel. But after the Torah was given to Israel, the Divine Spirit stopped among the Gentiles, and so 9

10

11

12

SEDER OLAM

190

PROPHETS (CONTINUED)

Moses said (Ex. 33:16): "By what should it then be known that I found grace in Your eyes, I and Your people, only that You would go in our midst, and we would be distingished, I and Your people, from all other peoples on the face of the earth." From where (do we know) that the Holy One, praise to Him, fulfilled his wish? Because it says (Ex. 34:10): "Behold, I am concluding a covenant, before all of your people I shall work miracles . . . " ; at that moment the Divine spirit stopped among the Gentiles.

Commentary Another version of the same text is found in the commentary, note 6, from Hilkhot Gedolot. From the text here it is clear that the interpretation of Ex. 34:10 is that God's miracles are only in Israel. 9. The text here makes it clear that n»*nn is prophetic trance. This must be t h e Babylonian tradition. In the old Yerushalmi Midrash Genesis rabba 17(6), it is asserted, in the name of Rab, that there are three kinds of n a i i t t sleep, prophetic trance, and hibernation. The implication seems to be that Adam is counted as prophet because he fell into prophetic trance, but it should be clear that God spoke to Adam repeatedly.

10. The author interprets the verse not about David, who could claim the title Malchisedek as king of Jerusalem, but on the first recorded Malchisedek (Gen. 14:18) who in all T a l m u d i c sources is identified with Sem, the son of Noah. 11. For Eber, cf. the first section of chapter 1. 12. It is not clear whether the implication is that Balaam in his encounter with Israel was no longer a prophet but a sorcerer (Jos. 13:22), or only that no new Gentile prophets arose after the building of the Tabernacle.

22 Destruction of Samaria

Shallum ben Jabesh slew Zechariahu and ruled after him a month in Samaria. (IKings 15:14) 'There rose Menahem ben Gadi from Tirzah " (2Kings 15:17) "In the year 39 of Azariah, the king of Judah, did Menahem ben Gadi become king over Israel for ten years." (2Kings 15:23) "In the year 50 of Azariah, the king of Judah, did Pekahiah ben Menahem become king of Israel at Samaria for two years." (2Kings 15:27) "In the year 52 of Azariah, the king of Judah, did Pekah ben Remaliahu become king of Israel at Samaria for twenty 191

192

SEDER OLAM

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

years." (2Kings 15:32-33) "In the year 2 of Pekah ben Remaliahu , the king of Israel, did Jotham ben Uzziahu, the king of Judah, become king. He was 25 years old at his accession and ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem." (2Kings 16:12) "In the year 17 of Pekah ben Remaliahu did Ahaz ben Jotham become king of Judah. Ahaz was 20 years old at his accession and 16 years he ruled in Jerusalem." In Pekah's year 17 (2Chr. 28:6): "Pekah ben Remaliahu slew in Judah 120'000 at one day ..." (v. 19) "Because the Eternal had humbled Judah because of king Ahaz . . ." (v. 7-8) "Zikri, the strongman of Ephraim, killed Maaseiahu, the king's son, Azrikam, the head of the household, and Elkanah, the viceroy. The men of Israel captured 200'000 women and children . . .." In Pekah's year 2 0 there happened (Is. 7:1-6): "It was in the days of Ahaz . . . It was told to the house of David . . . The Eternal said to Isaiah . . . Tell him . , . Because they took c o u n s e l . . . Let us go up againt Judah and dismember i t . . . So says the Eternal, God: It shall not continue and not be." At that time (2Kings 16:9-10): "Ahaz took all the silver and gold that was found in the Temple and the king's treasuries and sent it as a bribe to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria listened to him . . . . " In Pekah's year 20 (2Kings 15:29) "came Tiglath Pileser " He took the golden calf at Dan and went away. And so it says (2Chr. 28:20-21): "There came against h i m Tilgath Pilneeser, the king of Assyria, and oppressed him, he did not support him. For Ahaz had stripped the Temple and the palaces of king and nobles and gave it to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him," after he had heard the prophet say "It shall not continue and not be." 1

2

3

4

5

Commentary 1. The year 2 of Pekah is Uzziahu's year 52. From here is an a d d i t i o n a l proof for t h e opinion of the author that the years of kings of Israel a r e r e g n a l y e a r s that c a n n o t be

added but the years of kings of Judah are adjusted years to give the correct sums. It is well possible that the author would admit that Uzziahu might have died in the 53rd year of his

SEDER OLAM

reign. 2. The date is not in Scripture, but it says at the description of the beginning of Ahaz's reign that (2Kings 16:5) "then Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the k i n g of I s r a e l , a t t a c k e d Jerusalem." By t h e a u t h o r ' s principle, "then" must be the last date mentioned (v.l), P e k a h ' s year 17. 3. The date is not in Scripture, but it follows from the author's principle "that Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." It seems to be clear from the text (2Kings 15:20) that Pekah was murdered by Hoshea because he was defeated by Tiglath Pileser. Since Pekah ruled for 20 years, the year of defeat is taken to be his last. The Assyrian attack is described in scripture to be the consequence of Ahaz's b r i b e , who stripped the Temple and his palace of all gold and silver because he did not believe the prophets prediction. Hence, the story of Isaiah is the starting point of all this and, by t h e author's principle, if no year is noted, it happened in the one

193

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

year that is noted in Scripture for the entire sequence of events. There is some problem with Isaiah's prediction (Is. 7:8) that in 65 years, Ephraim will cease to be a people. Rashi in his commentary on the verse refers to a statement in Seder Vlam that is not in our editions or known manuscripts which d e t e r m i n e s t h e 65 y e a r s as starting with Amos's prophecies, two years before the earthquake, i.e., two y e a r s before Azariah/Uzziahu was stricken by l e p r o s y , 27 y e a r s b e f o r e Uzziahu's death. The chronological list from chapter 19 then shows t h a t this was exactly 65 years before the fall of Samaria. 4. Scripture mentions t h e deportation of the p e o p l e of Gilead and Naphtali; since Dan is situated b e t w e e n Gilead and Naphtali, it is r e a s o n a b l e to assume that Dan also was exiled and the golden calf with them. 5. Here the king who is oppressed is Ahaz, who did not believe in the encouraging words of the prophet.

194

SEDER OLAM

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

6

At that time (2Kings 15:30): "Hoshea ben Elah formed a conspiracy against him . . . in the year 20 of Jotham ben Uzziah." That is year four of Ahaz. It is impossible to say so, but the (heavenly) decree was issued in the time of Jotham. Another explanation: Scripture prefers to count for Jotham in the grave rather than for Ahaz living. (2Kings 17:3) "Against him came Salmaneser, the king of Assyria, and Hosea became his servant..."; it turns out that Ahaz, the king of Judah, and Hoshea, the king of Israel, were subjects of the king of Assyria for 8 years . In the year 12 of Ahaz (IChr. 5:26): "The God of Israel raised the spirit of Pul, the king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgat Pilneeser, the king of Assyria, and he exiled the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh . . .," he took the golden calf at Bethel and returned, to confirm what is said (Hosea 10:6): "It also shall be transported to Assyria." R. Nahorai said in the name of R. Joshua, here it says (Amos 3:12): "So says the Eternal: Just as the shepherd will save from the mouth of the lion two feet or an earlobe," these from all of Israel, "like the corner of a couch ," this teaches us that one in eight was left of them. Where were the remainder of the people? In Damascus, to fulfill what was said (Amos 5:27): "I shall exile you farther than Damascus " 7

8

9

Commentary 6. As explained before, Hosea killed Pekah in the latter's 20th year.

7. Scripture explains only that Ahaz voluntarily submitted to T i g l a t h P i l e s e r , but in t h e opinion of the author, Hoshea

SEDER QLAM

started out being a subject of the king of Assyria. The next section will show that in t h e opinion of the author, Hoshea b e c a m e k i n g at S a m a r i a in Ahaz's year 12 but he became king, as explained earlier in the present section, in Ahaz's year 4. The intervening years, he seemed to have ruled only over Gilead and other Transjordan regions and managed to seize control at the center of power only after a prolonged struggle and then he promptly rebelled against Assyria. Since Ahaz seems to have been a faithful vassal of Assyria during his entire reign, the 8 years counted here are only the years during which both kings were Assyrian vassals.

195

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

of Naphtali and Gilead, about the second time it only says: "Against him (Hoshea) came Salmaneser" without a date, which by the principles of our auther means it happened at the date indicated two verses earlier, the time of accession of Hoshea at Samaria. The third time, t h e Assyrian army stayed in Israel until the fall of Samaria; the fourth time, in Hezekiah's year 14, Jerusalem was saved by Divine intervention. We do not find any special event connected with the second i n v a s i o n ; t h e r e f o r e , it is t r a d i t i o n a l to i d e n t i i y t h e happenings recorded in IChr. 5:26 about the e x i l e of t h e Transjordan t r i b e s with t h a t invasion. That is a Babylonian t r a d i t i o n in Sanhedrin 94a : "Hezekiah should come, who had eight names, and r e t r i b u t e to S e n n a c h e r i b who had e i g h t names: Tiglath Pileser, Pilneser, Salmanaser, Pul, Sargon, Asnapar the great and dear one." From Pul-Tiglath Pileser, who invaded Israel in the days of Menahem until the defeat of Sennacherib, there are 59 years, which would be difficult to accept but is not impossible, given that Uzziah was king for 52 years. In any case, 1

8. According to our author, the king of Assyria invaded Israel every eight years. The first time in the days of Rezin and Pekah in the year 4 of Ahaz, the second time in the year 12, the third time in Hezekiah's year 4 that would have been the year 20 of Ahaz, until the fall of Samaria in Hezekiah's year 6, and the last time in Hezekiah's year 14. The first time, the king of Assyria exiled the inhabitants of the land

1 In most manuscripts and m e d i e v a l q u o t e s , t h e t r a n s m i t t e r of t h e statement is Rab Papa, an Amora of the fourth generation. In the printed edition, the tradent is Rab, whose academy seems to have been the place of edition of Seder 'Olam. T h e r e f o r e , the r e a d i n g "Rab" is to be p r e f e r r e d , r e p r e s e n t i n g probably an oriental version.

SEDER OLAM

the verse in IChr. can be used for Hosea only if one identifies Pui-Tiglath Pileser and Salmaneser. (The only i d e n t i f i c a t i o n b o r n e out by cuneiform documents is that of Pul and Tiglath Pileser, the first being the Babylonian and the second t h e A s s y r i a n r e g n a l name.) There is no scriptural verse about t h e e x i l e of the golden calf of Bethel and no record of deportation, but we find I s r a e l i t e i n h a b i t a n t s of Bethel in t h e time of Josiah (IKings 23:15-18); the sanctuary at Bethel, which was a "royal sanctuary" (Amos 7:13) probably

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

did not survive the anarchy after Pekah's assassination. The verses quoted in the next section show that Hoshea did not "go in the ways of the prior kings of Israel," i.e., he did not worship at Bethel. That Hoshea abolished the differences between the cults of Israel and Judah can also be i n f e r r e d from the f a c t t h a t Hezekiah, at the s t a r t of his reign, could send invitations to the remaining tribes (Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, and Zebulun) to join in t h e w o r s h i p at Jerusalem (2Chr. 30:1), but only a few of them responded (v. 10-11).

SEDER OLAM

197

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

At that time, when Hoshea ben Elah saw that the golden calves had been taken away he removed the border guards that Jorobeam ben Nebat had set up at the borders not to let anybody do a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Because for all kings of Israel it says "he went in the ways of Jeroboam ben Nebat and his sins" but about Hoshea it says (2Kings 17:2): "He did evil in the eyes of the Eternal, only not like the kings of Israel that were before him." For which reason was their fate sealed in his days to go into exile? Because (before that) they deflected the curse onto their kings as it is said (Hosea 5:3): "I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me " At that time, when Hoshea saw that the king of Assyria was determined to attack and to exile Israel a third time, he went and sought support from the kings of Egypt. (2Kings 17:1) "In the year 12 of Ahaz, the king of Judah, did Hoshea ben Elah become king of Israel." (2Kings 17:6) "In the year 9 of Hoshea ...", it impossible to say so; did he not become king in the year 4 of Ahaz? Why does Scripture say "in the year 9," 9 years of his revolt. And so he says (2Kings 17:4): "The king of Assyria found a conspiracy by Hoshea . . . " (2Kings 18:9-10) "In the seventh year of king Hezekiah, that is the seventh year of Hoshea ben Elah the king of Israel, Salmaneser attacked Samaria, besieged it and captured it after three years, in the year 6 of Hezekiah (that is the year nine of Hoshea's revolt), Samaria was taken." The king of Assyria deported Israel and removed them from their land. (2Kings 17:24) "The king of Assyria brought from Babylonia" (Ezra 4:9-10) "from Din, Afarsatach, Erech, Babylon, Shushan that is Elam and from the rest of the peoples" (2Kings 17:24) "they inherited Samaria and lived in its cities."

Commentary The statement about Hoshea's removal of the border guards appears several times in talmudic litterature [Babylonian Talmud Tadnit 30b, Baba Bathra 121b,

Gittin 68a; Jerusalem Talmud Taaniot 6:7 (fol. 6 8 b , 6 9 c ) ; Tosephta Tadniot 4:8, Threni rabba Introduction #33, Chapter 1 #59; Targum Ecclesiastes 3:11,

SEDER OLAM

Targum Ruth 4:20, Targum IChr. 2:54; Megillat Taanit Baraitha Chapter 51 In Seder 'Olam and Tosephta, the spelling is nuroTUi in most other sources . m x i r n s

198

DESTRUCTION OF SAMARIA

mxTorm Usually, the word is explained as Latin praesidia, "garrison." See also note 8 above.

23 Hezekiah

199

SEDER OLAM

200

HEZEKIAH

It was (2Kings 18:13) "in the year 14 of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib attacked . . . ." Eight years h e waited between the first and the second deportations and eight years between the second and third deportations. He waited another eight years and attacked Judea to confirm what is written (Is. 8:23): "In the first time, he lightened the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and at the end he will sweep out. " R. Joshua ben Qorha said: Sennacherib erred a grievous error. (2Chr. 32:4) "After these happenings of true faith," at this moment he sent Tartan to Ashdod, (Is. 20:1) "in the year that Tartan came to Ashdod . . . , " he swept away the Ammonites and Moabites that had helped him when he was besieging Samaria for three years, to confirm what is written (Is. 16:14): "And now, the Eternal spoke as follows: In three years, the standard contract of a hired man, will the honor of Moab will be despised by all this great multitude, and a few will be left, not mighty ." At that time (2Kings 18:17-18): "The king of Assyria send Tartan, the Chief Eunuch, and Rabshekah, from Lakhish to king Hezekiah with a big army . . . . There came out to them Eliakim ben Hilkiahu, the minister of the royal household . . . ." (2Kings 19:5-7) "The servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Isaiah said to them: So you shall say to your master: So says the Eternal, do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, how the boys of the king of Assyria blasphemed me. Behold, I shall give into him a spirit, he will hear some news and return to his land, then I shall fell him be the sword in his 1

2

3

4

SEDER QLAM

20]

HEZEKIAH

land." What was the news that he heard? (Is. 19:9) "He heard about Tirhaqa, the Nubian king, as follows: He went out to make war against you, so he turned back and sent messengers to Hezekiah " He swept away Shebna, the agent , and his group, went to Nubia, took the best of all countries, and came to Jerusalem, to confirm what is written (Is. 45:14): 'The effort of Egypt ," that is the army of Pharao, the king of Egypt, "and the trade of Nubia," that is Tirhaqa, the king of Nubia, "Sabeans, tall men," these are their armies, "they shall pass by you," that refers to Jerusalem, "they shall be yours," already they are paid to you, "they shall walk after you," that refers to Hezekiah, "in chains they will pass by," these are the handcuffs, "to you they shall bow down, to you they shall pray." They shall proclaim the praise of the Holy One, praise to Him, in your midst and say "Only in you there is a power, none exists except God." At that moment, (2Kings 19:17-18): "The king of Assyria send Tartan, the Chief Eunuch, and Rabshekah, from Lakhish to king Hezekiah . . . . They called on the king " (2Kings 19:20-24) "Isaiah ben Amoz sent to king Hezekiah . . . That is the word that the Eternal said about him . . . Whom did you abuse and blaspheme . . . Through your messengers you blasphemed the Master . . . I dug and drank strange waters . . . " (2Kings 19:35): "It was in that night, the angel of the Eternal went out and slew in the camp of Assyria 185*000 men; they got up in the morning and found them all to be dead corpses," all kings with their crowns bound to their heads. 5

6

7

Before the fall of Sennacherib, Hezekiah was sick for three days . RYose says, the downfall of Sennacherib was on the third day of Hezekiah's sickness and the sun was arrested for him as it stood for Ahaz as it is said (Is. 38:8): "Behold, I shall turn back the shadow of the sundial . . . . " On that day, Sennacherib travelled 10 waystations (Is. 10:28-32): "He came to Ayyat . . . they crossed the ford . . . Sing your voice, Bat Gallim,. . . Madmenah moved . . . This day still he wants to stay at Nob. " You find that on that day he travelled through all of them. 8

9

10

202

SEDER OLAM

HEZEKIAH

11

In the eleventh year of a Jubilee c y c l e , in the fourth year of a Sabbatical cycle, Sennacherib attacked, and so he says (Is. 37:30): "That shall be the sign for you: to eat in the first year aftergrowth," he attacked just before Passover, so they could not sow and had to eat the late growth of the previous harvest, "in the second year the spontaneous growth," because the legions had cut down all fruit trees, "but in the third year sow, and harvest, plant vineyards and eat their yields." That teaches you that only one year was left in the Sabbatical cycle. 11

After the downfall of Sennacherib , Hezekiah stood up and released the multitudes that came to him in chain-gangs; they accepted on themselves the Kingdom of Heaven, to confirm what is written (Is. 19:18): "On that day, there will be five cities in Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Eternal Sabaoth . . . ." They went and built an altar and sacrificed on it holocaust sacrifices as it is written (Is. 19:19): "On that day, there will be an altar for the Eternal in the land of Egypt . . . ." They were praying and prostrating themselves in the direction of Jerusalem as it is said (Is. 45:14): "To you they will bow down, to you they will pray." Before Sennacherib came did Hezekiah enclose the waters of Gihon as it is said (2Chr. 32:3): "He took counsel with his ministers and heroes to close in the waters of the wells outside the city, and they helped him." (2Chr. 32:30): "He, Hezekiah, closed in the waters of the upper Gihon spring and lead them, westward, subterraneously, to the city of David . . . ." (2Chr. 29:1): "Hezekiah became king at the age of 25 and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem "

Commentary 1. As e x p l a i n e d in t h e preceding chapter, all Assyrian kings involved in the deportations are identified. The year 14 of Hezekiah was eight

years after the fall of Samaria in his 6th year and the final assault on Samaria began in Hezekiah's year 4, eight years after the second wave of deportations in

SEDER QLAM

Ahaz's year 12. 2. The following is Rashi's c o m m e n t a r y on the difficult vsrse Is. 8:23: Because he shall not tire in what he oppresses it; in the first time, he shall lighten the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and at the end he will sweep out, on the way over the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, enveloping all peoples. "Because the king of Assyria who will oppress your land shall not tire and shall not be lazy but come against you up to t h r e e times, the first time in the days of Pekah when he took Iyyun and Abel Beth-Maachah, Kedesh, and the entire land of Naphtali in Galilea. That deportation was in the year 4 of Ahaz. But in the year 12 did the God of Israel awake the spirit of Pul, the king of Assyria, and he exiled the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the h a l f - t r i b e of M a n a s s e h , as explained in Chronicles, and that deportation in Ahaz's year 12 was the begin of the rule of Hoshea ben Elah as it is said: T h e king of Assyria found a conspiracy by Hoshea' after that he had served him for e i g h t years. This computation is not explicit in Scripture but it can be inferred from Seder 'Olam. The t h i r d d e p o r t a t i o n w a s in Hezekiah's year 6, year 9 of Hoshea's revolt, when Samaria, the capital, was taken and they were all exiled and that is what

203

HEZEKIAH

is said here: There will be no t i r i n g for t h e e n e m y w h o oppresses the land of Israel about which the prophet is talking, 'on the land he will gaze' (v. 22), in the first time, he shall lighten the land of Zebulun this deportation shall be light like the first one when he lightened the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, because also the second time he exiled only two and one-half tribes in Transjordan, but the last one, the third campaign, he used to sweep the land clean as with a broom. He calls the second exile the first time because when Isaiah spoke this prophecy, the first deportation had alread occurred. 'Over the s e a ' t h a t is l a k e Genezareth, border of the land of Naphtali. On the other side of the Jordan, that is the second deportation of Reuben and Gad. Enveloping all peoples' that is all of the land of Israel which was enveloping into itself all peoples, that everyone desired and all came to trade in as it is said (Jer. 3:19): i n h e r i t a n c e of splendor, m u l t i t u d e s of p e o p l e s ; ' but Jonathan translated in another way [ K j » » y 'fortified places of GentYlesT 3. In Occidental sources, including Yalqut Kings, the t r a d e n t is R. Y o s e . It is impossible to decide between the two traditions since no question of dates is involved. The error mentioned was that Sennacherib

SEDER OLAM

thought Hezekiah had sinned when he destroyed all private altars and "high places." 4. This statement is not explicit in Scripture but it is an important halakhic tradition. The reference is to Mishnah Yadayim 4:4 that deals with the Biblical p r o h i b i t i o n (Deut. 23:4) t h a t Ammonites and Moabites cannot marry a Jewish p a r t n e r even after conversion. On basis of a statement that must have been also the background for Seder 'Olam, the rabbis decided that that prohibition is no longer applicable since "Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, a l r e a d y mixed up all peoples." It is s a i d a b o u t t h e Hebrew slave (Deut. 15:18): "It shall not be hard in your eyes to send him free away from you, because he served you for six years, the double time of a hired man . . . ." It follows that the standard contract of indenture was for three years. 5. T h e a u t h o r s e e m s to distinguish between Pharao and Tirhaqa, not to consider Tirhaqa a king of the Nubian dynasty ruling also over Egypt. It is possible, from our knowledge of fragmentary Egyptian historical records, that Tirhaqa was regent of Nubia w h i l e his b r o t h e r Shebitku was P h a r a o and overlord. As such, Tirhaqa could have been in command of the

204

HEZEKIAH

Egyptian/Nubian force invading the coastal plane of Philistia. It seems clear from Scripture that Sennacherib sent a second batch of messengers when he started the fight against the armies of Nubia and Egypt. There is no doubt that Sennacherib defeated Tirhaqa at Elteke and collected vast spoils. 6. Shebna, the agent, was a minister of the royal household of Hezekiah, who is condemned by Isaiah (22:15 ff.) and to whom the prophet predicts that he will die in exile. 7. The verse is really written in a prophecy about the victories of Cyrus. The following is Rashi's commentary on Is. 45:14: So says the Eternal: The effort of Egypt, the trade of Nubia, Sabeans, tall men, shall pass by you; they shall be yours, they shall go after you, they shall parade in chains; to you they shall bow down, to you they shall pray, only in you the is a power, none exists except God. "The effort of Egypt: behold, I am telling you how I shall rescue my children from the hand of Babylon because I awoke Cyrus for that purpose; in addition, I am describing to you the rescue from S e n n a c h r i b in t h e d a y s of Hezekiah, when he returned from Tirhaka, the king of Nubia, and c a m e to J e r u s a l e m and all desirable things of Egypt and Nubia were in his camp. He

SEDER

QLAM

came to Jerusalem and fell there and Hezekiah and his p e o p l e p l u n d e r e d e v e r y t h i n g . It is explicit in Seder Vlam that this v e r s e r e f e r s to S e n n a c h e r i b . They shall parade in chains, because Sennachrib brought his prisoners in chain gangs but after his downfall, Hezekiah freed all prisoners, they converted and r e c o g n i z e d t h e K i n g d o m of Heaven." 8. The statement seems at odds with the Biblical text since in 2Kings the story about Hezekiah's sickness comes only after the murder of Sennacherib. In addition, it is related that a d e l e g a t i o n of t h e k i n g of Babylonia came to congratulate Hezekiah upon the restoration of his health and in the days of S e n n a c h e r i b t h e r e w a s no independent king of Babylonia. However, the reason for R. Yose to connect Hezekiah's illness with Sennacherib's campaign is 2Kings 20:6, w h e r e I s a i a h promises the king, in the name of God, that "I shall add to your days IS years and I shall save this city from the hand of the king of Assyria." Now, 15 years before Hezekiah's death is the year 14 of his reign, and t h e second clause of the verse shows that Sennacherib was still besieging Jerusalem. The detail that the sickness was exactly at the time of the siege follows from the t

205

HEZEKIAH author's premise that any happening that is given "at that time" (Is. 38:1) and connected with another happening that has a date given is contemporary with that second happening. 9. In case one wonders why a bad king l i k e A h a z s h o u l d qualify for a miracle, it is based on Is. 38:8) which in the Aramaic translation of Jonathan can be given as: Behold, I shall make return the shadow of the sundial, that advanced at the death of Ahaz, backwards for 10 hours; and the sun returned 10 markers, of the markers that it had passed. On that explains Rashi (ad loc): The sun was quick to descend and the day was shortened by 10 hours and the day of the death of Ahaz, so that Ahaz should be denied proper funeral speeches. The midrashic source of that statement is not known. The Yerushalmi version, quoted in Yalqut Kings from a Yelammedenu midrash, is slightly different: Hezekiah failed to sing God's p r a i s e s w h e n he w a s d e l i v e r e d from S e n n a c h e r i b , after that God made him sick so he would celebrate his recovery by a song (Is. 38:9-20). 10. The tradition that connects the verse from Is. 10 with the attack by Sennacherib is found in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 94-95, in the name of Rab Huna. The Yerushalmi

SEDER QLAM

HEZEKIAH

206

a g g a d i c version is found in Targum Jonathan on Is. 10:32: On this very day, he intends to stand at Nob, he will wave his hand against the mountain of daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. "When the day was s t i l l in its f u l l n e s s , t h e r e Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came and stood in Nob, the city of priests, opposite the wall of Jerusalem. He declared and said to his armies: That is the city of Jerusalem against which I mobilized my entire camp, for whch I conquered all countries, behold, it is smaller and weaker than all the fortifications of the Gentiles that I conquered by my might; he stood up and waved his

hand to and fro against t h e Temple mount in Zion and the Temple courtyards in Jerusalem." 11. It seems difficult to understand how one comes to an 11th year in a Jubilee cycle; R. Eliahu, the Gaon of Wilna, in his notes to Seder Vlam, deletes "In the eleventh year of a Jubilee cycle." On the other hand, it is easy to confirm the date given as year 4 of a Sabbatical cycle of 7 years: Solomon's year 4 was year 480 after the Exodus. The count of Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles started in the 14th year of the conquest of Canaan. That means that we get

From Land Distribution to Solomon Solomon Rehabeam Abiah Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoram Ahaziah Athaliah Jehoash Amaziah Uzziah/Azariah Jotham Ahaz First part of the reign of Hezekiah Total We already explained e a r l i e r that the author of Seder Vlam must be of the opinion that the

422 years 40 years 17 years 3 years 41 years 25 years 8 years 1 year 7 years 40 years 16 years 52 years 16 years 16 years 14 years

718 years (= 714 + 4 years.) Jubilee year is counted in the Sabbatical cycles. But even if the Jubilee is not counted, then

SEDER OLAM

the end of the fourteenth Jubilee period is the year 714 and we a g a i n o b t a i n y e a r 4 of a Sabbatical cycle. In the opinion of Seder 'Olam, y e a r 11 of t h e 14th Jubilee cycle was the year 711. Because 1 1 = 7 + 4, that year also is a year 4 in a Sabbatical cycle. However, in the next chapter, we shall see that several manuscripts assert that the year 480 after the Exodus was not the begin of the construction of the Temple but its dedication! We see also that the computation of 850 years (see Chapter 11) of the time elapsed between the death of Moses and the destruction of the f i r s t t e m p l e fits only t h a t tradition: Add to 711 t h e 14 years of conquest, 15 remaining years of Hezekiah, 55 Manasseh, 2 Amon, 31 Josiah, Jehoiakim 11, Z e d e k i a h 11, G e d a l i a h 1, m a k e s a total of 850. The "obvious" number of 718 years contradicts the well-established tradition of a total of 850 years. Hence, the text should not be emended and the fourteenth year of Hezekiah can be fixed at year 711 of the Jubilee calendar. 12. The author of Seder 'Olam follows the opinion of Rebbi Meir in the Babylonian Talmud Menahot 109b-110a. There, the discussion is about the legal status of the temple of Onias near Alexandria in Egypt. R. Jehudah accepts the temple of

207

HEZEKIAH

Onias as legitimate on the basis of the verses of Isaiah quoted here, but R. Meir asserts that that temple is illegitimate and its priests are disqualified from serving in Jerusalem and that the verses in Isaiah refer to a temple built by the Egyptian prisoners of S e n n a c h e r i b f r e e d by Hezekiah. In the parallel in the Yerusalem Talmud, Yoma 6:3, the names are switched and R. Meir declares the temple as legitimate but R. Jehudah has it declared illegitimate. We already saw several times that the author, in his history of the period of kings, asserts that predictions of the prophets are either prophecies of the end of days or short-term prophecies. It is possible that the a t t i t u d e is d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t Christian i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s who scavenge the books of prophets for allusions to their Messiah. Therefore, one may understand that the author did not want to refer the prophecy of Isaiah to an action taken almost 500 years later. If the prophecy oi Isaiah r e f e r s to t h e t e m p l e at Elephantine it would mean that the garrison there, speaking "the language of Canaan," really was not composed of Jews but of converted Gentiles who, as aurin were not required to follow all details of Jewish law. This would automatically resolve all questions about a nonstandard form of Judaism practiced there

SEDER QLAM

as it a p p e a r s f r o m t h e Elephantine letters since t h a t congregation was never required

208

HEZEKIAH

to follow the practices instituted by Ezra, Ezra.

24 Manasseh to Jehoiakim

(2Chr. 33:1, 2Kings 21:1) "Twelve years old was Manasseh when he became king . . . . " In his 22nd year was Manasseh exiled to Babylonia and the statue of Micah with him , as it is said (Jud. 18:30): "The people of Dan put up the statue . . . to the day of the deportation of the land". (2Chr. 12) "When he was in straits, he implored the Eternal " It turns out that Manasseh repented 33 years before his death. 1

2

(2Chr. 33:21, 2Kings 21:19) "Twenty-two years old was Amon when he became king and two years he reigned . . . " (2Kings 21:20) "He did evil in the eyes of the Eternal, just as Manasseh, his father, had done." (2Chr. 33:23) ". . . for he, Amon,

209

MANASSEH TO JEHOIAKIM

210

SEDER OLAM

3

increased guilt," he eliminated the Torah from Israel . (2Chr. 34:1, 2Kings 22:1) "Eight years old was Josiah when he became king and 31 years he reigned in Jerusalem . . . ." (2Kings 22:3) "It was in 18th year of king Josiah " In that year, the book of the Torah was found in the Temple and in that year had Josiah made repairs to the Temple. There were 218 years from the repairs under Joash until the repairs under Josiah. And why was it necessary to repair so quickly in the days of Joash? (2Chr. 24:7) "Because of the criminal Athaliahu, her sons damaged the House of God . . . ." That year, Josiah repented (2Kings. 23:25) "and before him there was no king who so wholeheartedly returned to the Eternal... ." Josiah hid the Ark as it is said (2Chr. 35:3): "He said to the Levites, the instructors of all of Israel, the ones holy to the Eternal, put the Holy Ark into the Temple built by Solomon, David's son, king of Israel, so that it cannot be carried further on the shoulders." (2Kings 23:29) "In his days there attacked Pharao Necho, the king of Egypt, against the king of Assyria on the river Euphrates; King Josiah went towards him, but he (Necho) had him (Josiah) killed as soon as he (Necho) saw (him)." (2Chr. 35:21-24) "He (Necho) had sent him messengers, saying: What have I to do with you, king of Judah . . . But Josiah did not turn his face away from him . . . And the archers shot at king Josiah . . . So his servants transferred him to his secondary chariot and brought him to Jerusalem where he died . . . . " Jeremiah composed a funeral dirge about him (Threni 4:20): "The spirit of our life, the anointed of the Eternal, was caught in their pits. " 4

5

6

Commentary 1. The deportation of Manasseh to Babylon on the order of the king of Nineveh is not mentioned in Kings, only in Chronicles, and there the date is not given. In the Babylonian Talmud,

Sanhedrin 103a, the d a t e is inferred from 2Kings 21:3 "He made an Asherah just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done." Now Ahab ruled for 22 years. The verse is taken to mean that

SEDER OLAM

Manasseh was bad in the mold of A h a b for 22 y e a r s . Since according to the Chronicler, he repented in captivity, he was more or less righteous for 55-22 = 33 years. 2. R. Shemuel ben Meir, Rashi's grandson, quotes (Baba Bathra 110a) from Seder 'Olam t h a t Micah's statue was at Dan until the exile of Dan, i.e., until the time of Tiglath Pileser. This tradition is also quoted by Rashi in his commentary on Jud. 18:30. (Most other medieval commentators prefer to explain "the day of the deportation of t h e l a n d " a s t h e d a y of destruction of Shiloh.) It seems unlikely that the golden calf was taken from Dan and the statue of Micah remained. The Talmud Sanhedrin 103b, in the discussion of the statue put up by Manasseh in the Temple, considers that statue to be new and not connected to the statue at Dan. Cf. the discussion in Chapter 12. 3. In the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 103b, t h e r e is a discussion of Amon's overriding sin. According to one opinion, he burned all books of the Torah, as indicated here. According to the second opinion, he committed incest with his mother. There is no scriptural indication of the latter sin, but it seems to be clear from the story of Josiah that in his time, the only surviving copy

211

MANASSEH TO JEHOIAKIM

of t h e T o r a h was t h e o n e deposited by Moses by the Ark. 4. 186 years from Amaziah to Josiah + 1 7 years of Josiah = 203. The repairs under Joash started in his 23rd year. Hence, in the opinion of the author, the repairs lasted for two years. In European manuscripts, there is here an addition, to the effect that that year was t h e begin of a Jubilee period. This computation is possible only if one identifies the year 480 after the Exodus with t h e year of dedication, not of the start of building, of the Temple. On the basis of the computation given in the previous chapter, the year was the year 800 (= 711 + 15 + 55 + 2 + 17) of t h e J u b i l e e calendar. This a d d i t i o n , not found in earlier printed versions, was not before the Gaon of Wilna. 5. This interpretation of the verse in Chronicles is reported, without attribution of any name, in Tosephta Sota 13:2, Babylonian Talmud Yoma 52b, Jerusalem Talmud (Sheqalim 6:1, Sota 6:3). In all sources except Yerushalmi Sota, there is a dissenting opinion by R. Eliezer (ben Hyrkanos) that t h e A r k of C o v e n a n t w a s transported to Babylonia. That also seems to have been t h e opinion of Josephus and it is the opinion of the author of the next chapter of Seder 'Olaml

SEDER QLAM

6. It is noteworthy that the author does not try to harmonize Hulda's prediction (2Kings 22:20) that Josiah "will be assembled to his forefathers in peace" with his violent death at Megiddo. It is difficult to find out what r e a l l y h a p p e n e d at Megiddo. T h e r e a r e some midrashic accounts that speak of a great battle, but our author is careful to avoid any allusion to anything not spelled out in the verse. Hence, an attempt to read the biblical verses closely will be in the spirit of our author. In Kings, it only says that Josiah went to e n c o u n t e r N e c h o at Megiddo and that the latter had him killed there. There is no mention of any battle. Even in Chronicles, it only says t h a t Pharao warned Josiah away but that the latter insisted on seeing him, w h e r e u p o n J o s i a h was pierced by all the arrows that the archers shot at him. There is no mention of any battle, for which in any case Megiddo would be an unlikely place. If Josiah's aim would have been to stop Pharao by the force of arms, he should have defended the mountain pass South of M e g i d d o , w h e r e he would have been at an advatage. In any case, it seems that Necho was in possession of the fortress at Megiddo when Josiah came there. It is not clear whether Necho had him killed by an ambush or in some way had court-marshalled him.

212

MANASSEH TO JEHQ1AK1M

All our e x t r a - b i b l i c a l sources note that Necho undertook his expedition into Assyria in order to prop up the r e m a i n d e r s of t h e A s s y r i a n empire against the Babylonian attacker. Therefore, the language of Kings, n^v *ttWK, is very q u e e r ; in usual usage it would mean "attacked the king of Assyria," when in fact he went to attack the armies of B a b y l o n i a . Cogan and Tadmor, in t h e i r r e c e n t new translation of 2Kings, translate:". . . set out for the river Euphrates to the king of Assyria . . ." but this is not the meaning of Vy nta which in Gesenius-Kautsch is defined as: "warlike expedition against somebody or some place," with its negation bvp nVy "to retreat from . . . ." Now Necho's father P s a m m e t i c h u s was an Assyrian vassal in Egypt who made himself independent when the Assyrian might collapsed. At the same time, it is clear from Josiah's expedition to Bethel that Josiah intended to reestablish the Davidic monarchy more or less in its original borders by annexing the Assyrian provinces in the former kingdom of Israel. Now the later note (2Kings 24:7) "The k i n g of B a b y l o n i a took everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates" can only mean that the k i n g of Assyria, in his extremity, had turned over to N e c h o , w h o

SEDER OLAM

essentially was a rebel against Assyria, all Assyrian possessions west of the Euphrates in order to k e e p these t e r r i t o r i e s out of Babylonian hands. So Necho was on an expedition to establish his domination over Assyrian

213

MANASSEH TO JEHOIAKIM

territory, which might qualify as "setting out against Assyria," and Josiah was an intruder who tried to t a k e away t e r r i t o r y t h a t belonged to Egypt by Assyrian cession.

(2Kings 23:30-31) "The people of the land took Jehoahaz ben Josiah, anointed him and made him king instead of his father. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he ruled in Jeruisalem for 3 months." (2Kings 23:33-34): "Pharao Necho arrested him at Riblah in the land of Hama . . . Pharao Necho appointed as king Eliakim ben Josiah instead of his father Josiah and changed his name to Jehoiakim." (2Kings 23:35) "Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king and he

SEDER QLAM

214

MANASSEH TO JEHOIAKIM

ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years." It turns out that Jehoiakim was two years older than his brother. (Jer. 26:1) "At the begin of the rule of Jehoiakim ben Josiah, King of Judah was this word from the Eternal." (Jer. 25:2) "When Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke to all the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:" So says the Eternal of Hosts, the God of Israel, (Jer. 25:5) "turn back, each man from his bad way and evil intentions . . . " He exhorted them many times but they would not listen. He repeated and prophesied for them (Jer. 26:6): "I shall make this Temple like Shiloh." (Jer. 27:1-8) ""At the begin of the rule of Jehoiakim ben Josiah, King of Judah So did the Eternal say to me: make yourself fetters and yokes and put them on your neck. And send them to the kings of Edom, Moab , . . . So says the Eternal of Hosts, the God of I s r a e l . . . I created the earth . . . I gave all these lands in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king opf Babylon, my s e r v a n t . . . And all nations must serve him . . . But the people and country that will not serve him . . . I shall remember that people, says the Eternal, until I finish them off through his hand." At that time did Jehoiakim kill Uriah as it is said (Jer. 26:22): "They took Uriahu away from Egypt and brought him to king Jehoiakim who killed him by the sword . . ." All that Uriah prophesied also Jeremiah prophesied but (Jer. 26:24) "but the power of Ahiqam ben Shaphan protected Jeremiah." (Jer. 46:1-2) "The word of the Eternal was to Jeremiah, the prophet, about the Gentiles, about Egypt, the army of Pharao Necho " In the first year, he (Nebuchadnezzar) conquered Nineveh, in the second he subdued Jehoiakim. (2Kings 24:1) "Jehoiakim was his vassal for three years, then he turned around and revolted against him." (2Kings 24:7) "The king of Egypt did not leave his country any more since the king of Babylonia took all possessions of the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates." In the fourth year of Jehoiakim was the judgement sealed for Israel to exile and for Jerusalem to drink the cup of wine of rage.

SEDER OLAM

215

MANASSEH TO JEHOIAKIM

Commentary The time of Uriahu's murder is not indicated in the Bible but it must have been before Jehiakim became Nebuchadnezzar's vassal. There are no indications in Scripture when Nineveh was destroyed. A c c o r d i n g to Babylonian cuneiform documents, Nineveh was destroyed seven y e a r s b e f o r e t h e b a t t l e of K a r k e m i s h when Nebuchadnezzar was only crown prince and Nabopalassar was king. The statement from Seder 'Olam is quoted in Arakhin 12a/b. It is not e x p l i c i t in Scripture that Jehoiakim was subdued in N e b u c h a d n e z z a r ' s s e c o n d y e a r but it can be i n f e r r e d from the v e r s e s discussed in the next chapter, which prove that one does not talk about the original conquest of the lands abandoned by Necho after his defeat at Karkemish but the subjugation of Jehoiakim. This is e x p l a i n e d in Rashi's commentary to Arakhin 12a: 'The suppression of Jehoiakim is not a d e p o r t a t i o n s i n c e he (Nebuchadnezzar) did not exile anybody at that time but forrced him (Jehoiakim) to be his vassal and he served him for t h r e e years as it is written: 'Jehoiakim was his vassal for three years, t h e n he t u r n e d a r o u n d and revolted against him' for three years as it is written in Daniel: 'At the start of Jehoiakim's third

year did Nebuchadnezzar attack Jerusalem' and we have learned in Seder 'Olam 'it is impossible to say so but Nebuchadnezzar did not become king b e f o r e t h e fourth year of Jehoiakim as it is written: 'The word that was to Jeremiah to all the people of Judah, in t h e fourth y e a r of Jehoiakim, that is the first year of Nebuchdnezzar." If it is so, then the year 3 was the third year of his revolt which is the sixth year of his first becoming a vassal. Jehoiakim was taken to Babylon and Jehoiachin made king in his stead. It is written in 2Chronicles: 'Towards the New Year, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him (Jehoiachin) to Babylon.' Hence, J e h o i a c h i n went into exile in the seventh year after the first subjugation of Jehoiakim. It is written at the end of 2Kings: 'Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to him . . . and the king of Babylonia took him prisoner in the eighth year of his rule.' Hence, the seventh year of t h e s u b j u g a t i o n of Jehoiakim was the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar as king and that is what we said: in his second y e a r , he ( N e b u c h a d n e z z a r ) subdued Jehoiakim." The prophecy of doom of the fourth years of Jehoiakim with the imagery of the cup of wine of rage is from Jeremiah, Chapter 25.

25 Jehoiakim to Zedekiah

(Dan. 1:1): "In the year three of the reign of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, to Jerusalem and besieged it." It is impossible to say so since Nebuchadnezzar became king in the year four of Jehoiakim. So why does Scripture say in Jehoiakim's year three? It must mean the year three of his revolt. One verse says (Jer. 52:28) "in year seven" and another verse (2Kings 24:12) "in the year eight (of Nebuchadnezzar)." Why does one verse say year seven and the other year eight? It must mean the year eight since he became king and the year seven after Jehoiakim became his vassal. (Dan. 1:2): "The Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim and some vessels of the Temple and he brought them to Iraq." At another place, it says (Jer. 22:19) "The burial of a donkey will be for him, drag and throw outside the gates of Jerusalem." At a third place, it says (2Chr. 36:6): "He put him into bronze fetters to lead him to Babylon." This teaches us that as soon as he was arrested, 216

SEDER QLAM

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEPEK1AH

217

he died in his prison, was taken out and dragged, to confirm what is written "drag and throw."

Commentary See R a s h i q u o t e d in t h e commentary to the p r e c e d i n g section; the year three is his third year as independent king, vassal neither of Egypt nor Babylonia; that is the year 11 after he was put on the throne by P h a r a o Necho. The years seven or eight a r e t h e r e g n a l y e a r s of Nebuchadnezzar at the time of the deportation of Jehoiachin to Babylon. H e r e is t h e commentary of R. David Qimhi on 2Kings 24:12: "In the year eight of his reign. At the start of his eighth year since Jehoiakim r u l e d f o r 11 y e a r s a n d

Nebuchadnezzar became king in Jehoiakim's fourth year. If it would happen at the end of his eighth year, then one would have 12 years for Jehoiakim, hence, one must speak of the begin of the eighth year. In Jeremiah it says: 'that is the p e o p l e t h a t Nebuchadnezzar exiled in the year seven.' This talks about the end of year seven and begin of year eight. T h e r e a r e many similar instances in this book. But according to the author of Seder Vlam, the year seven of his conquest of Jehoiakim is the year eight of his reign."

(2Kings 24:14) "He exiled all of Jerusalem and all the ministers, all the able soldiers, lO'OOO exiles, all metal workers

SEDER QLAM

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEDEK1AH

218

and all weapon makers; nobody was left but the poor of the land." (Jer. 5 2 : 2 8 ) "That are the p e o p l e w h o m Nebuchadnezzar had exiled in his year seven: from Judah 3'023," the rest from Benjamin and the other tribes, 7000. (2Kings 24:15) "All of them heroes, trained soldiers"; but what is the heroism in people who are going into exile and what kind of war may people fight that are in held in fetters and given in chains; but one talks about heroes of the Torah as it is said (Ps. 103:20): "Praise the Eternal, all His messengers, strong in power, warriors, . . ." who were active in the war of the Torah as it is said (Num. 21:14): "Therefore, it has been said in the book of the wars of the Eternal: given in a hurricane . . ." Among them "one thousand metal workers and weapon makers." "Metal workers" (tmn) that one of them only was talking at any time and the others listened silently. "Weapon makers" (*ttD»), where everybody was sitting before him and learning from him, as it is said (Is. 22:22): "I shall give the key of the house of David on his shoulders, that he may open and nobody can lock, or he locks and nobody can open." (2Kings 24:15): "The leaders of the land," these are the freemen of Judah and Benjamin and about them says Scripture (Jer. 24:5): "Like these good figs, so I shall recognize for their benefit the deported of Judah whom I have sent to the land of the Chaldeans."

Commentary The introduction of a mention of the deportees of Benjamin and other tribes is not in Scripture but is necessary to harmonize the numbers of deportees given in 2Kings and Jeremiah. T h e e x p l a n a t i o n of "metal workers and arms makers" g i v e n h e r e is a l s o in t h e Babylonian Talmud Gittin 88a together with the note of Ulla

that the time elapsed between the death of Moses and the final exile under Gedaliah was 850 years that, as we h a v e seen e a r l i e r , also b e l o n g s to t h e tradition of Seder Vlam. In the Yerushalmi tradition (Nedarim 6:13, Sanhedrin 1:2) there is a difference of opinion whether one talks about Torah sages or political leaders. In the opinion

SEDER QLAM

219

of our author, the "freemen of Judah and Benjamin" are those w h o s t r i c l y a d h e r e to t h e precepts of the Torah; otherwise, there would be no basis for the verse from Jeremiah. T h e e x p l a n a t i o n for "metal workers" is based on a pun, identifying the root tmn, Arabic unit, "to cut metal" (in a secondary meaning, to cut the earth, to plough), with the root win, Arabic unn, "to be deaf and dumb." The root *uo of naoo means "to lock, to lock in"; in modern Hebrew it describes a plumber or locksmith but in Ps. 35:3 "javelin and segor" must mean a weapon, p r o b a b l y a w e a p o n h o l d e r from w h i c h s u c c e s s i v e j a v e l i n s c a n be thrown. The *uo» is the maker of "MO.

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEPEK1AH

In Western manuscripts, the notice about the reign of Jehoiachin (in the next section) precedes the discussion here of the d e p o r t a t i o n . T h a t is chronologically better but the version of the print seems to be original since most of the text about Jehoiachin is contained in the next section in all sources. The verse Is. 22:22 talks about the replacement of a bad minister of the royal house, Shebna, by a good one, Eliakim ben Hilkiahu. The keys are those of the royal palace only but the author seems to give him the power to decide authoritatively between religiously allowed and forbidden actions. In any case, these are not any keys of the kindom of heaven.

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEDEK1AH

220

SEDER QLAM

(2Chr. 36:9) "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days." At another place it says (2Kings 24:8): "Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months." Why does Scripture say eight years and why eighteen years? He was eight years old when he became king but it was eighteen years after his Divine decree that he should go into exile, and about him did Nebuchadnezzar say: From a bad dog comes no good whelp. Jehoiachin was exiled in the middle of a Jubilee cycle, in the fourth year of a Sabbatical cycle. And so it says (2Chr. 36:10): "At the turn of the year did king Nebuchadnezzar send and brought him to Babylon, together with the most desirable vessels of the Temple. The most desirable vessels of the Temple are the Holy Ark. (2Kings 24:17) "The king of Babylonia appointed his uncle Mattaniah in his stead and changed the latter's name into Zedekiah." (2Kings 24:18) "Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king " (Jer. 28:1-3) "It was in that year, at the start of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah ben 'Azzur the prophet said to me . . . . So says the Eternal of Hosts, the God of Israel: I broke the yoke of the king of Babylonia. In another two years I shall return to this place all the Temple vessels . . . ." What made Hanaiah err? The prophecy that Jeremiah had pronounced over Elam, (Jer. 49:35): "Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their power." (Jer. 28:17) "Hananiah the prophet died in that year, in the seventh month."

Commentary The first words, "eight years old," are missing in some manuscripts but they a r e o b v i o u s l y t h e centerpiece of the entire section.

It is r a t h e r i m p r o b a b l e t h a t Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he was exiled since his mother is exiled with him. Also,

SEDER QLAM

a f t e r 37 y e a r s , J e h o i a c h i n became the first ruler of t h e Babylonian Jews, so it might be reasonable to go with the text of Chronicles. R. David Qimhi quotes Seder Vlam in the form: "the year 18 of Nebuchadnezzar and eight years after the Divine d e c r e e of exile." If it w e r e possible to switch the numbers, the year 8 of Nebuchadnezzar and 18 years after the Divine decree of exile, it would fit with the other historical data at our disposal but then we would be left without an indication of Jehoiachin's age, which would be very u n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c for t h e author of Seder Vlam. The verse "At the turn of the year did king N e b u c h a d n e z z a r send and brought him to Babylon" might i n d i c a t e t h a t J e h o i a c h i n did b e c o m e king in Nebuchadnezzar's year seven and was only removed in his year eight, when N e b u c h a d n e z z a r somewhat belatedly decided against him. The Aramaic saying about the bad dog is also in the Yerushalmi source Lev. rabba 19(6). There it is the people of Babylon w h o a s k e d him to remove Jehoiachin because no good whelp can come from a bad dog. While the language here is B a b y l o n i a n A r a m a i c , it is probably of Yerushalmi origin since it is not flattering to the dynasty of the "princes of the e x i l e , " t h e d e s c e n d a n t s of

221

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEDEKIAH

Jehoiachin. T h e c h r o n o l o g y of Joshua and Judges was made dependent, in Chapter 11, on the fact that the year 25 after the deportation of Jehoiachin was a Jubilee year. Hence, he was exiled in the year 25 = 3X7 + 4 of the Jubilee cycle. It seems that our author does not think that the Jubilee went out of existence with the exile of the Transjordanian tribes but was in force as long as some members of all the tribes were sitting on their land, i.e., until the exile of Jehoiachin, for which the author in t h e p r e c e d i n g c h a p t e r s t i p u l a t e d d e p o r t a t i o n of members of all tribes. The tradition that t h e Ark of Covenant was brought to Babylonia is that of R. Eliezer, in contrast to the statement of last chapter that the Ark was buried on the Temple Mount. H e r e again, it seems that this chapter is based on Yerushalmi sources. Also the story of the conflict of Jeremiah and Hananiah, which is given a short treatment in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 89a, is detailed in the Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 11:7 (fol. 30b). The problem here, only hinted at, is that Jeremiah predicted that Hananiah would die in that year, but he died in the seventh month, i.e. after Rosh Hashanah, in a new year. The solution of both Talmudim is that he died on Elul 29 but had given orders to his

SEDER QLAM

JEHOIAKIM TO ZEDEKIAH

222

family to bury him only after Rosh Hashanah, to c o n t r a d i c t Jeremiah's prophecy. One may

say n a t u r a l l y t h a t t h e y e a r mentioned by Jeremiah was a year counted from Nisan.

(Jer. 29:1) "This is the text of the scroll that Jeremiah, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the diaspora . . . ." (Jer. 29:4-7) "So says the Eternal of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the deportees . . . Build houses and well in them, plant gardens and eat their fruits. Take wives and beget sons and daughters . . . and look after the well-being of the town into which I deported you . . . ." It also says (Jer. 29:10): "Once there are fulfilled 70 years for Babylon, I shall remember you . . . . " In Zedekiah's fourth year he went to Babylon to appear before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, and Seraiah with him; then he returned and came to his kingdom in Jerusalem.

Commentary The last sentence comes from Jer. 51:59: "What Jeremiah, the prophet, commanded to Seraiah ben Neriah ben Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of J u d a h , to Babylon in t h e fourth year of the latter's reign, and Seraiah was the minister who controlled access to the king."

Seraiah, who probably was the brother of Jeremiah's student Baruch ben Neriah, was ordered to take a scroll of curses over Babylon, read it at the bank of the Euphrates, tie a stone around it, and throw it into the river to seal the fate of Babylon for destruction.

26 Ezechiel

(Ez. 1:1) "It was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day . . , " thirty years after the Book of the Law was found in the Temple. In the fourth year, (Ez. 1:2-3) "on the fifth of the month, that was the fifth year of the exile of king Joiachin. The word of the Eternal was to Ezechiel ben Buzi, the priest,..." (Ez. 3:15) "I came to the deportees at Tel Abib . . . I sat there seven days speechless among them." After seven days it was said to him (Ez. 4:4-5): "Lie on your left hand side and put the sin of the house of Israel onto i t . . . And I shall give onto you the years of their sins by the number of days, 390 days .,."; that proves that Israel were enraging the Holy One, Praised be He, 390 years from the time they entered the land until they left it. (Ez. 4:6): "When you will have finished these, these lie a second time on your right hand side and carry the sin of the house of Judah for 40 days ..."; 223

224

SEDER QLAM

EZECHIEL

this teaches that for forty years the house of Judah were enraging the Holy One, Praised be He, from the time the Ten Tribes were exiled to the destruction of Jerusalem, 430 years in all. (Ez. 8:1) "It was in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month when I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me," that proves that the year was intercalary, "when the hand of the Eternal fell upon me there." At that time, the Omnipresent showed to Ezechiel how God's glory was departing from the Temple. (Ez. 10:19) "The Cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth . . . " and it is said (Ez. 11:23): "The glory of the Eternal went up, away from the midst of the city " You find that God's Glory moved ten times in all.

Commentary Since Josiah had t h e T e m p l e renovated in the Jubilee year, the thirty years are also years of the Jubilee cycle. P r o b a b l y , t h e author prefers here the reference to finding the Torah since that is e x p r e s s l y m e n t i o n e d in t h e Aramaic Targum Jonathan for this verse. Since Jehoiachin was exiled in t h e m i d d l e of t h e Jubilee period, the year 30 is the fifth year of his exile. After his first vision on 5 Tammuz year 5, Ezechiel came to the exiles at Tel Abib (Accadic telu abubi "ruin from t h e t i m e of t h e Deluge"), sat there for seven days and then was lying down another 430 days before he got a new vision on 5 Ellul year 6. Now in a regular year there are 413 days (± 1 day) between 5 Tammuz one year and 5 Ellul the next year. y

We also must give Ezechiel some time to get from t h e R i v e r C h e b a r to Tel A b i b a n d to recover from his lying down; in an intercalary year there are 443 d a y s (± 1 d a y ) b e t w e e n 5 Tammuz one year and 5 Ellul the next year. So Ezechiel had just 7 days "to sit in his house," not to lie down, between visions. T h e f o r t y y e a r s of rebellion of Judah after the fall of Samaria is composed of the 22 years of Manasseh's sin, 2 years of Amon, 11 years of Jehoiakim; the remaining 5 years must be of Zedekiah and date from the time that he broke his oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. Hence, it follows that Zedekiah must have rebelled in his sixth year. This is the basis of t h e r e m a i n i n g chronology in this chapter. By

SEDER QLAM

this computation, the people of Judah were in compliance with the laws of the Torah for 420 years out of 850. The ten moves of God's glory away from the Temple and Jerusalem a r e detailed in the Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 31a and in Ethics of the Fathers of R. Nathan, version A, Chapter 34. The list is not

225

EZECHIEL

found in Yerushalmi sources and there is no proof either way on the origin of the list in the fact that the Galilean R. Yohanan is the tradent in the Talmud. In the late Midrash Bemidbar rabba. Chapter 13, there is a list of seven travels of God's Glory from the Creation to the slavery in Egypt.

(Ez. 20:1-4) "It was in the Seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, there came men from the elders of Israel... And the word of the Eternal was to me: Son of man, speak to the elders of I s r a e l . . . did you come to seek me? . . . Judge them, tell them the abominations of their forefathers." At that time, Zedekiah (Jer. 34:8-9) "concluded a covenant with the entire people . . . that everyone should free his Hebrew slave " (Jer. 34:11) "And they turned around and returned the slaves and bondmaids that they had freed, and forced them to be slaves and bondmaids." About that he said (Jer. 34:18): "The calf, that they had split into two and passed

SEDER OLAM

EZECHIEL

226

between its pieces" in order to rebel against the Omnipresent. You will say, these (the covenanters) and those (who broke the covenant) were in rebellion against the Omnipresent. At that time did Zedekiah rebel against the king of Babylonia and leaned on the kings of Egypt. You may say these (Israel) leaned on the kings of Egypt and those (Judah) leaned on the kings of Egypt. Both these and those were exiled in three successive deportations. Both these and those suffered three years of siege. Both these and those ate the flesh of their sons and daughters. And so is says (Ez. 23:31): "You (Jerusalem) went in the ways of your sister (Samaria), so I gave her cup into your hand." In the eighth year of Zedekiah did the army of the king of Babylonia against Jerusalem (Jer. 37:5) "and the army of Pharao left E g y p t . . . " swept over Gaza, and returned to Egypt.

Commentary The c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e p r o p h e c i e s of E z e c h i e l a n d Jeremiah is explained by Rashi. Rashi's commentary on Jer. 34:8: "After that the king had concluded a covenant" in t h e seventh year of his reign, as we have learned from Seder 'Olam: "It was in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, there came men from the elders of Israel to inquire about the Eternal . . ." They said to Ezechiel: a slave who was sold by his master, may he still eat of the priestly gifts if his master was a priest? They wanted to say that they would not be punished for forcing their past slaves back into servitude. Rashi's commentary on Ez. 20:1:

"To inquire about the Eternal" about their needs. If He will not hear our needs that we shall not be punished for our misdeeds since He has sold us and neither a slave who was sold by his master nor a woman who was divorced by her husband have any connection with their former masters or mates. One can infer this from the answer that the prophet gave them (v. 32) "what you say shall not be, when you say let us be like the Gentiles . . . it

The arguments put into the elders' mouth by Rashi, that God by giving t h e Jews into captivity has renounced his rights to enforce the Torah, is identical with Spinoza's t h e s i s in his

SEDER QLAM

Tractatus Theologico-politicus\ one can assume that Spinoza in his youth studied the Bible with Rashi's commentary. The commentary to Jeremiah seems to imply that only priests were left as upper-class residents in Jerusalem after the deportations with Jehoiachin; their argument seems to be that their Hebrew slaves, although kept in bondage illegaly, were entitled to eat from their master's a b u n d a n t p r i e s t l y o f f e r i n g s and w e r e therefore better off slaves than free men. From the computation of 40 years in sin for Judah it seems that in the opinion of the author already the freeing of the slaves was done with an eye on their reenslavement and therefore was sinful from the beginning; that is t h e p r o o f of " t h e s e ( t h e c o v e n a n t e r s ) and those (who

227

EZECHIEL

broke the c o v e n a n t ) w e r e in rebellion against the Omnipresent." Some manuscripts read "in that year" instead of "at that time." The freeing of slaves came at the e a r l i e s t in t h e p r e p a r a t i o n s for t h e f i r s t Babylonian siege to Jerusalem, i.e., some time after Zedekiah's revolt. Since he revolted in his sixth year as computed above, the seventh year is t h e first possible date for the freeing of slaves. It seems that the nobles agreed to free the slaves because of a severe shortage of military manpower since lO'OOO weapons bearing men were exiled with Jehoiachin but only 832 ai ter the fall of Jerusalem. The slaves were recaptured after the Babylonian army departed for the plain to fight the invading Egyptians.

SEDER OLAM

228

EZECHIEL

(Ez. 24:1-2) "The word of the Eternal was to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month: Son of man, note down the name of this day, on this exact day did the king of Babylonia invest Jerusalem. On this same day, the Tenth of Teveth. (Ez. 29:1-2) "In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, was the word of the Eternal to me: Son of man, put your face against Pharao, the king of Egypt, and prophesy about him and all of Egypt. (Jer. 32:6-7): "Behold, Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum will come to you,

SEDER QLAM

229

EZECHIEL

saying: buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, because yours is the duty of redemption, to buy. And Hanamel, my uncle's son, came to me, according to the Eternal's word, to the courtyard of the jail, and said to me: please, buy my field in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, because yours is the right of inheritance and redemption . . . and I knew that this was the Eternal's word." (Ez. 30:20-21) "It was in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, that the Eternal's word was to me: Son of man, I broke the arm of Pharao, the king of Egypt . . . , (Ez. 31:1-2) It was in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, that the Eternal's word was to me: Son of man, say to Pharao and his multitude, to whom did you compare yourself in your greatness " (Ez. 26:1-2) It was in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the Eternal's word was to me: Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem hey, it is broken, the gates of peoples I shall turn to me, I shall fill the destruction . . . ." On the third of Tishre, 52 days after the destruction of the Temple was Gedaliah ben Ahikam ben Shaphan and the Jews that were with him slain at Mizpah; the remainder of the escapees went to Egypt and Jeremiah and Baruch with them. n

(Ez. 33:21) "It was in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, there came to me the escapee from Jerusalem saying, the city had fallen." (Ez. 32:12) "It was in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first of the month, that the Eternal's word was to me: Son of man, declaim a dirge about Pharao, king of Egypt, and say to him, you imagined yourself as you lion among the Gentiles . . . ." (Ez. 32:17-18) "It was in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, that the Eternal's word was to me: Son of man, wail about the multitude of Egypt and bring it down . . . . " At that moment, the Holy One, Praise to Him, showed Ezechiel that the Gentiles are condemned to the pit of destruction. In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar was Tyre given in his

SEDER QLAM

EZECHIEL

230

hand; he swept out all the Jews that were in Ammon, Moab, and in countries bordering on the Land of Israel, 745 souls. In the 27th year of Nebuchadnezzar was Egypt given in his hand, he plundered its plunder, collected its booty, and his army made itself be paid. He exiled Jeremiah and Baruch to Babylon. (Ez. 40:1) "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, on New Year's Day, on the tenth of the month, fourteen years after the City had fallen, on this same day, was on me the hand of the Eternal and brought me there." At that moment, the Holy One, Praise to Him, showed to Ezechiel in a vision the shape of the Temple of the future.

Commentary The main topic of this section is to sort out the chronological sequence of Ezechiel's visions, since he is the only prophet who systematically notes down the dates of his visions. As an introduction to the section about the transaction of Hanamel with Jeremiah, there is a sentence missing that is found in almost all manuscripts: "During that year, at that time." The time is fixed in the tenth year by Jer. 32:1. The missing month in Ez. 26:1-2 is missing for a reason according to the logical rules of Seder Vlam: Obviously, t h e curse upon Tyre presupposes the destruction of Jerusalem, so it was after the month of Ab. It also was before the next New Y e a r ; h e n c e , t h e m o n t h is uniquely determined as Ellul and does not have to be mentioned. R. David Qimhi thinks that the

prophecy takes the destruction of Jerusalem for granted after the walls were breached,and opts for the month of Ab. T h e o p i n i o n of o u r author is t h a t G e d a l i a h was murdered on t h e day of t h e traditional fast for Gedaliah, the third of Tishre, and not on New Year's Day with the fast day being moved to the first workday afterwards. T h e day of t h e m o n t h is not i n d i c a t e d in Scripture (Jer. 41:1-3); the third of Tishre is the common date given by B a b y l o n i a n (Rosh Hashanah 18b) and Yerushalmi (Tadniot 68c) sources. Only some Jewish Medieval sources date the m u r d e r on New Y e a r ' s Day, where it should be placed by the principles of Seder Vlam, that "it was in the seventh month" really means "it was on the first of the seventh month." The exile of the 23rd

SEDER QLAM

y e a r of N a b u c h a d n e z z a r is mentioned in Jeremiah (52:30) without mention of the p l a c e from where people were exiled. Since, in the opinion of Seder Vlam, at that time the Land of Israel was completely abandoned, the deportees must have been from surrounding countries. The prophecies of the years 23 and 27 are not confirmed by history.

231

EZECHIEL

By tradition, Ezra the scribe, who r e c o n s t i t u t e d Judaism, was t h e student of Baruch ben Neriah in Babylonia, so that at least Baruch must have gone there. The last verse, about the New Year on the day of Yom Kippur in the year 25 after the exile, was already discussed in Chapter 11, note 4.

27 Fall of Jerusalem

232

SEDER QLAM

233

FALL OF JERUSALEM

(Jer. 52:4-11) "In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month on the tenth of the month, came Nebuchadnezzar and all his army against Jerusalem, camped around it and built a siege-dam around it. The city came into siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, did hunger overpower the city and there was no bread for the ruling class. The city was breached and all the soldiers fled and left the city in the night through the gate between the double walls by the king's garden, while the Chaldeans were around the city, and they took the road to the arid plain. The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and caught up with Zedekiah in the arid plain of Jericho; then all his army scattered away from him. They arrested the king and transported him to the king of Babylonia at Riblah in the land of Hamah, who passed judgment upon him. The king of Babylonia killed all sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, also all the ministers of Judah he killed at Riblah. The eyes of Zedekiah he blinded, he had him bound with brass fetters; the king of Babylonia brought him to Babylon and put him under house arrest until the day of his death." All of 28 days he was picking and flattening on the mountain, and so it says (2Kings 25:8): "In the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, that is year 19 of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, came Nebuzaradan, the chief cook, servant of the king of Babylonia, to Jerusalem." At another place, it says (Jer. 52:12): "On the tenth of the month," and it says (Jer.

SEDER QLAM

234

FALL OF JERUSALEM

52:29): "In year 18 of Nebuchadnezzar." Why does Scripture say 19 and why 18? 19 years of his reign and 18 years since he subdued Jehoiakim. Why does Scripture say the seventh of the month and why the tenth? And if it was the tenth, why is the seventh mentioned? Say then that the Gentiles entered the Temple on the seventh, took away the basin, its foundations, and the pillars, and were picking in it the seventh, eighth, and nineth until evening as it is said (Jer. 6:4): "Start against it (Jerusalem) war, get up and attack . . . woe us because the day is turning, the evening shadows are lengthening." At nightfall they set fires and the Temple was burned on the tenth. About that generation it had been said (Deut. 31:21): "Certainly, I (God) know its evil intentions . . . before I shall bring them to the land that I had sworn to them." It also says (Deut. 31:27): "Certainly, I (Moses) know your rebelliousness . . ," (Deut. 31:29) "Certainly, I know that after my death you will degenerate " And so it says about Zedekiah (2Chr. 36:1321): "Also, he revolted against king Nebuchadnezzar who had let him swear by God . . . Also the leaders of the priests and the people were exceedingly faithless . . . But the Eternal, the God of their forefathers, sent to them by his messengers, early to rise and to be s e n t . . . But they insulted the messengers of God, were contemptuous of his word, and making fun of his prophets . . . The king of the Chaldeans attacked them . . . And all the vessels of the Temple . . . he brought to Babylon . . . He burned the Temple and the palace . . . And exiled those who remained from the sword to Babylonia . . . To fulfill the word of the Eternal through Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed it Sabbatical years, all the years that it was desolate it rested, to fulfill seventy years. Rebbi Yose says: For 52 years nobody was passing by Judah as it is said (Jer. 9:9): "About the mountains I lift my voice in cry and wail, on the oases of the wilderness in dirges, because they have been destroyed so that no one passes by, they do not hear the noise of animals; from the birds of the sky to animals they moved away, went." Rebbi Yose says: Seven years was that verse fulfilled in the land of Israel (Deut. 29:22)

SEDER QLAM

FALL OF JERUSALEM

235

"Sulphur and salt, burned is all its land, it cannot be sown and nothing will grow " (Jer. 52:27) "The king of Babylonia slew them and killed them . . . and exiled Judah from its land," (Jer. 52:29) "832 souls." Three deportations, 4600, and from Benjamin and other tribes 7000 that went into exile with Jehoiachin.

Commentary Some manuscripts start the long quote from Jer. 52 at verse 1, but the first three verses a r e not relevant for the topic of this chapter. I did translate that Nebuchadnezzar "put Zedekiah into beth happequddot" with "put him under house arrest," from Accadic paqadu "to put under s u r v e i l l a n c e , to w a t c h , to safekeep." 28 days are from the 9th of Tammuz to the 7th of Ab. The discussion of the discrepancy in the date of the destruction of the Temple, 7th or 10th of Ab, is q u o t e d is s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t l a n g u a g e in t h e B a b y l o n i a n T a l m u d Tadnit 29a. The discussion appears also, with the same unusual vocabulary used here, in the Jerusalem Talmud (Tadniot 4:9, fol. 69b; Megillah 1:6, fol. 70c). The discussion about years 18 and 19 is not f o u n d in p a r a l l e l t a l m u d i c sources. It could naturally be that the deportation of year 18 was of Jews picked up by the Babylonians outside of Jerusalem. The 52 years are from

the destruction of Jerusalem to Z e r u b a b e l ; the 70 years a r e counted from the accession of Nebuchadnezzar. A small number of manuscripts has "R. Judah" in place of "R. Yose"; that is a later correction on basis of the Babylonian Talmud (Sabbath 145b, Yoma 54a), which quotes R. Judah as deriving the 52 years from the numerical value of the word "animal" in Jer. 9:9. However, it is clear from the p a r a l l e l s o u r c e s in t h e Babylonian (Megillah l i b ) and Jerusalem Talmudim (Tadniot 4:8, fol. 69b) that the statement as formulated here is from R. Yose, who in the next chapter will present the computation of the 52 years from the destruction of J e r u s a l e m to t h e r e t u r n of Zerubabel. It is obvious from the Biblical sources that the r e t u r n e e s did not find any Gentile populations settled near Jerusalem. For some reason, t h e author or the copyists substituted for the verse 2Chr. 36:19 the parallel verse 2Kings 25:9.

SEDER QLAM

The t h r e e deportations were already mentioned in the preceding chapter; they are

236

FALL OF JERUSALEM

r e p o r t e d in t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud (Megillah l i b , Arakhin 12a).

28 Daniel

(Dan. 2:1) "In year two of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, his spirit pounded inside him and his sleep fell on him." It is impossible to say so, but Scripture counts the years after the destruction of the Temple and months after the destruction of the Temple. Similarly, it says (Jer. 52:31): "It was in year 37 of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month on the 25th of the month." Another verse says (2Kings 25:27): "27th." Why does Scripture say 25th and 27th? But on the 25th his accuser Nebuchadnezzar died and was buried, on the 26th, Evil-merodakh removed him from his grave and dragged him through the streets in order to annull his decrees, to fulfill what is written (Is. 14:19): "You have been thrown from your grave like a despised shoot . . ."; on the 27th he freed Jehoiachin. At that time, Zedekiah died and they eulogized him: "Woe that king Zedekiah died who drank the dregs for everybody"; to fulfill what is written (Jer. 34:5): "You shall die 237

SEDER QLAM

DANIEL

238

in peace . . O n e will say that anybody in luck should never forget the possibility of bad luck and anybody unlucky should never give up hope for luck. From whom do we know, from Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar ruled 45 years, his son Evil-merodakh 23 years, the latter's son Belshazzar 3 years.

Commentary Daniel was e x i l e d with Jehoiachin in Nebuchadnezzar's year 8, so after three years of t r a i n i n g he could not be in N e b u c h a d n e z z a r ' s y e a r 2. Josephus counts the years not after the fall of Jerusalem, but after Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt, w h e n he b e c a m e KoaiiOKQaxcDQ, r u l e r of t h e known world. A c c o r d i n g to Babylonian chronicles, Nebuchadnezzar was still crown p r i n c e when he v a n q u i s h e d Pharao Necho at Carchemish and occupied Phenicia and Judea, so from his formal accession to the throne, the date of year 2 is not impossible. However, the relationship of names and dates in the book of Daniel to those inferred from non-Jewish sources is too murky as to allow any comparison, except that the date of the first return to Zion as c o m p u t e d from this book is remarkably accurate if compared to all outside sources. That is really the only date that counts here for Jewish history. Hence, in this c o m m e n t a r y , o u t s i d e

sources are not used for purposes of comparison and seldom used for comment. Rashi e x p l a i n s in his commentary to Is. 14:19 from an otherwise unknown midrashic source that Evil-merodakh was regent during the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar's madness, but when his f a t h e r r e t u r n e d to govern, he jailed Evil-merodakh, who came to know Jehoiachin in jail. This section of Seder Vlam is reproduced in Yalqut Isaiah. Jer. 34:5 predicts that Zedekiah would die in peace and be publicly eulogized. The Babylonian Talmud (Moed qatan 28b) quotes t h e G a l i l e a n R. Yohanan who gives the interpretation that Zedekiah would have the satisfaction to see Nebuchadnezzar die during his lifetime and r e c e i v i n g a public burial. The computation of the years of rule of the three kings is given in the Babylonian Talmud Megillah l i b : Since Jehoiachin was exiled in Nebuchadnezzar's year 8 and released from jail

SEDER QLAM

after the latter's death in the 3 7 t h y e a r of h i s e x i l e , Nebuchadnezzar must have ruled 45 years. That Belshazzar lost his life in the third year of his rule is not directly asserted in t h e b o o k of D a n i e l . The assertion can be understood from the author's principle that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." In t h e next section, the author first shows that the book of Daniel is not arranged chronologically. However, year 3 of Belshazzar is the last date associated with Belshazzar. That must be the last year of his reign. The years of

239

DANIEL

Evil-merodakh a r e a tradition based on calculation, so that Cyrus's t a k e o v e r of Babylon should be 70 years after the start of Nebuchadnezzar's rule. In the formulation of t h e T a l m u d , Belshazzar was using the Temple vessels because 70 years were expired and the Jews were not freed to return to Judah. Hence, he decided that their God was powerless. Since no other ruler between Nebuchadnezzar and B e l s h a z z a r is m e n t i o n e d in Biblical sorces, the remaining years a r e a s s i g n e d to E v i l merodach.

(Dan. 7:1) "In year one of Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, did Daniel have a dream . . . ." (Dan. 8:1) "In year three of king Belshazzar, I Daniel, had a vision " (Dan. 5:1-6) "King Belshazzar made a big dinner . . . Belshazzar said under the influence of wine, to bring the silver and gold vessels that his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had brought from the Temple of Jerusalem . . . Then the golden vessels were brought . . . and

240

SEDER QLAM

DANIEL

from them drank the king and his nobles, his wife and concubines. They drank wine and praised gods of gold and silver . . . At that time, there came out fingers of a human hand and wrote . . . Upon that, the king's face changed . . . ." (Is. 21:8) "The lion calls: I am standing on the Lord's watch . . . . (Is. 21:11-12) "Assertion about Dumah: To me it calls from Seir, watchman, what will be after the night, watchman, what will be after the night?" Who is the watchman? He is the Holy One, praise to Him, as it is said (Ps. 121): "Behold, the Watcher over Israel never slumbers nor sleeps . . . The Eternal may preserve you from all evil . . . " and the entire psalm. What does the prophet mean? That the rule of one people does not overlap with that of another people, nor the rule of one government with that of another government, but a government whose time has expired during the day will fall during the day and that whose time has expired during the night will fall during the night, and so it is said (Ez. 30:16,18): "The enemies will come over Noph by day . . . At Tahpanhes the day will become dark . . . ." And it says (Dan. 5:30): "During that night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed." ft

Commentary The first three quotes show that t h e b o o k of D a n i e l is not arranged in chronological order, as already mentioned. Dumah is an Arab tribe, often associated with Edom, and possibly the place from which Belshazzar's f a t h e r N a b o n i d u s r u l e d his

empire. The connection between the f r a g m e n t s q u o t e d from Isaiah's prophecy and the topic at hand is a verse not mentioned in our manuscripts, Is. 21:9: "There came a c h a r i o t e e r , r i d i n g a c o u p l e of h o r s e s , a n d h e announced: Babylon fell, it fell."

SEDER QLAM

241

DANIEL

(Dan. 6:1) "Darius the Mede received the kingdom when he was 62 years old." What does the verse intend with the information that he was 62 years old? That on the day that Nebuchadnezzar entered the Temple in the days of Jehoiachin, his adversary Darius was born. Similarly, on the day that Jehu was anointed at Ramot Gilead, his adversary Hazael was anointed. These are 70 years since Nebuchadnezzar's accession, and 69 years since he conquered Jehoiakim. (Dan. 9:1) "In year one of Darius ben Ahasuerus from the seed of Media . . . ." You do not find any year of rule for Media in Scripture except this one. And so Jeremiah told Israel (Jer. 51:46): "That your heart should not be weakened by the news that is heard in the land," that refers to Belshazzar, "oppression in the land," on Jerusalem, "a ruler," that is Cyrus the Persian.

SEDER QLAM

242

DANIEL

(Dan. 11:1-2) "But I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, kept my stand to strengthen and help him. And now I shall tell you the truth; behold, another three kings will arise for Persia," that refers to Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius who built the Temple, "and the fourth will be the richest of them all." What does Scripture mean by "fourth," fourth for Media, as it is said (Dan. 1:21): "Daniel lasted until the first year of king Cyrus." At that time, it was said to him (Dan. 9:23-25): "At the start of your prayers, the word went out, and I came to tell you . . . Seventy sabbatical periods it was decided about your people and your holy city to eliminate crime, seal sins, and forgive transgression, and to bring permanent justice; to end vision and prophecy and to anoint the Holiest of Holies. You shall know and understand from the result of the word, to rebuild Jerusalem under the anointed leader, seven sabbatical periods; and 62 sabbatical periods it shall be rebuilt wide and fortified, in times of danger." Seven sabbatical periods they spent in exile and then returned. 62 sabbatical periods they spent in the Land and one sabbatical period partially in the Land and partially outside it. (Dan. 9:26-27) "After 62 sabbatical periods, the anointed will be eliminated; a dominant people will destroy the holy city, its end in a flood, and to the end of war destruction is decreed. For one sabbatical period the covenant of the many will prevail, but for half a sabbatical period he will abolish sacrifice and offering, on the wing of an abomination of devastation, until decreed total ruin is poured out on the devastator." R. Yose said, 70 sabbatical periods from the destruction of the first Temple to the destruction of the second Temple; 70 (years) in its destruction and 410 [420] when it was rebuilt. And why does scripture say, 70 weeks? That the Divine decree was before the 70 years. Similarly, it says (Gen. 6:3):".. . his days shall be 120 years." And it says (Gen. 7:3): "In year 600 of Noah's life " It is impossible to say so; but the Divine decree was issued 120 years before. Similarly, it says (Is. 7:8): "In another 65 years, Ephraim will no longer be a people." That was in year four of Ahaz. It is impossible to say so, but the Divine decree was issued in the time of Amos, two years before the earthquake, as it is said

SEDER QLAM

DANIEL

243

(Amos 7:11): "So said Amos, Jeroboam wiJl die by the sword and Israel will certainly be exiled from its land."

Commentary The author starts out with his proof t h a t Darius the M e d e preceded Cyrus. This needs proof since it already has been shown that the book of Daniel is not arranged chronologically. Now the age at accession of a Gentile ruler is nowhere else in Scripture. But if Darius was born in the year of Jehoiachin's exile and Cyrus conquered Babylon after 70 years, then t h e r e is exactly time for one year of Darius's rule. No other year of Darius is mentioned in Daniel, and it is asserted that he was active at court only to the first year of Cyrus. (From non -Jewish sources, it would seem more likely that Darius the Mede is Darius Hystaspes, the third king of P e r s i a , w h o , b e f o r e his e l e v a t i o n , w a s r u l e r of a province between Persia and Media, not like his r e l a t i v e Cyrus, who, before the overthrow of Media, ruled over Persia proper. The Darius mentioned in Ezra was Darius II; it seems likely that the Darius of Dan. 9,11 is Darius II also. Cyrus was about 62 y e a r s old when he entered Babylon.) T h e p r o p h e c i e s in

Jeremiah and Daniel that make up most of the remainder of this section are explained best by Rashi's commentary to these verses. Rashi explains the verses strictly following Seder Vlam. T h e e n t i r e c h a p t e r 51 in J e r e m i a h is an i m p r e c a t i o n against Babylon and Babylonia. Jer. 51:46: That your heart should not be weakened by the news that is heard in the land; in the year there come news, after that the next year news, oppression in the land, and ruler follows ruler. The news that is heard in the land, that is t h e news t h a t Belshazzar was killed. In the year there come news, in that y e a r comes t h e n e w s t h a t Babylon self-destructed, as it is said (Is. 13:19) "Babylon, the splendor of kingdom, the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be like overturned by God, like Sodom and Gomorra." After that the next year news, the good news that Cyrus, k i n g of P e r s i a , decreed the return. Ruler follows ruler, Darius the Mede was king one year, and the next year Cyrus, the Persian. The speaker in Dan. 9 and 11 is an angel. The number of years of the second Temple is 420 in all manuscripts; t h a t

SEDER QLAM

number is required for a sum of 490 years. (According to Gentile sources, from the destruction of the first Temple in 586 B.C.E. to the destruction of the second in 71 C.E. t h e r e were 657 years. We shall see, that the remaining 167 y e a r s of Jewish history r e m a i n u n a c c o u n t e d for in Talmudic sources. The altar was rebuilt in 536 B.C.E. (Ezra 3:1-6), t h e T e m p l e itself was first rebuilt in the second year of Darius, 520 B.C.E. (Haggai 1:1). That would give 590 years for the Temple proper. The usual Gentile interpretation of Daniel is t h a t 490 y e a r s a f t e r t h e destruction of the first Temple, the second was desecrated by Antiochus and reconstituted by t h e a n o i n t e d p r i e s t s of t h e Hasmonean family.) In t h e following commentary, Rashi follows Seder 'Olam strictly in the interpretation of times and terms but superimposes references to messianic times that come from later medieval sources and are inconsistent with the interpretation of Seder 'Olam that the end of the vision is the d e s t r u c t i o n of t h e s e c o n d Temple. Dan. 9:23-27: At the start of your prayers, the word went out, and I came to tell you that you are beloved; explore the word and understand the vision. Seventy sabbatical periods it was decided about your people and your holy

244

DANIEL

city to eliminate crime, seal sins, and forgive transgression, and to bring permanent justice; to end vision and prophecy and to anoint the Holiest of Holies. You shall know and understand from the result of the word, to rebuild Jerusalem under the anointed leader, seven sabbatical periods; and 62 sabbatical periods it shall be rebuilt wide and fortified, in times of danger. After 62 sabbatical periods, the anointed will be eliminated; a dominant people will destroy the holy city, its end in a flood; to the end of war destruction is decreed. For one sabbatical period the covenant of the great ones will made great, but for half a sabbatical period he will abolish sacrifice and offering, on the wing of an abomination of devastation, until decreed total ruin is poured out on the devastator. Rashi: Seventy sabbatical periods it was decided about Jerusalem, from the first destruction in the time of Z e d e k i a h u n t i l t h e second destruction. To eliminate crime, seal sins, that Israel should receive the remainder of their pubishment in the exile of Titus and their servitude, so that their crimes, sins, and transgression should all be atoned for and to bring them eternal justification and to anoint for the Holiest of Holies, the Ark and Altars that king Messiah will bring them. The count of all s a b b a t i c a l periods is 490 years; 70 years in

SEDER QLAM

exile and 420 y e a r s for the Second Temple. You shall know and understand from the result of the word, from the result of your prayer you should understand how to rebuild Jerusalem. Under the anointed leader, the time is i n d i c a t e d from t h e day of destruction to t h e coming of Cyrus, king of Persia, about whom the Holy One, Praise to Him, had asserted that he would rebuild His city and He called him His anointed and His leader, as it is said Us. 45:1) "So says the Eternal to Cyrus, his anointed . . . " (v. 13) " . . . he will build my city and send my exiles." Seven sabbatical periods, seven complete sabbatical cycles they shall be in e x i l e b e f o r e the coming of Cyrus and in addition there will be another three years but because they do not end up to a full cycle it is not counted. The year 1 of Darius the Mede, in which this vision was given to Daniel, was the end of 70 years after J e h o i a k i m came under Babylonian domination. Deduct eighteen years from there to the destruction of the Temple, there remain 52 years. And this is what our t e a c h e r s have formulated (Seder 'Olam chap. 27): For 52 years nobody was passing by Judah; these are the 52 two years from the exile to the r e t u r n under Cyrus, this makes 7 sabbatical periods and three years. And 62 sabbatical periods it shall be rebuilt, the

245

DANIEL

city and its p u b l i c p l a c e s . Fortified, these are the moats around a city as fortification. In times of danger, these times will be times of danger and worry because the rule of the kings of Persia and Syria was heavy and exacting on them. And even though it was 62 s a b b a t i c a l periods and additional 4 years from t h e e i g h t s p r e c e d i n g sabbatical cycle, these 4 are not mentioned here but are understood since he starts out s p e a k i n g of 70 p e r i o d s a n d details only 69, b e c a u s e one period was split, p a r t i a l l y in exile and partially in rebuilding. After 62 sabbatical periods, the anointed will be eliminated, king Agrippas of Judah, who was r u l i n g at t h e t i m e of t h e destruction, will be killed. "The anointed" designates simply a prince. The holy city, the city and the Temple. A dominant people will destroy, that is Titus and his multitude. Its end in a flood, his end will be a curse and destruction, the power of his reign will be blown away by the Messiah; but until the time of the wars of Gog and Magog (Ez. 3839) destruction is decreed on the city. For one sabbatical period the covenant of the great ones will made great, will Titus force a covenant on the princes of Israel; great ones means princes and ministers as in Jer. 39:13, 41:1. He will abolish sacrifice and offering, that is what was said in

SEDER QLAM

the first vision (Dan. 8:25): "in peace he will destroy many," out of the covenant of quiet he will destroy. On the wing of an abomination of devastation, a c o n t e m p t u o u s expression for i d o l a t r y , m e a n i n g h i g h up between silent idols will he erect his worship. On the wing, high up like the wing of a flying bird. Until decreed total ruin is poured out on the devastator, the rule of

246

DANIEL

the abomination will continue until it is completely eliminated in the days of king Messiah; total ruin is poured out on idols and their worshippers. It is to be noted t h a t Rashi is somewhat inconsistent in that in Daniel Chapter 8, whose vision is not treated in Seder 'Olam, he refers that vision to Antiochus and the s i t u a t i o n before the Maccabean revolt.

29 Ezra and Esther

(Ezra 1:1-3) "In year one of Cyrus, king of Persia, when the word of the Eternal through Jeremiah was fulfilled, did the Eternal enlighten the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. He had a public announcement made in all his kingdom and also by letter, as follows: "So says Cyrus, king of Persia: All kingdoms of the earth the Eternal gave to me, the God of Heaven, and he ordered me to build for Him a Temple in Jerusalem that is in Judah. Anyone among you from all his people, may his God be with him and may he return to Jerusalem in Judah." (Ezra 1:5) "The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, supported everybody whose spirit was enlightened by God to return and build the Temple of the Eternal in Jerusalem." (Ezra 2:64-65) "All the community together, 42'360. In addition, their male and female slaves, 7'337 . . . ." These numbers are the totals; the sum of the details is only 29'450. Where are the missing 12*360? These are the returnees from the other tribes. (Ezra 3:3) "They prepared the altar on its foundation while they were afraid of the Gentiles " (Ezra 3:7) "They gave money to the stone masons and metal workers, food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians to deliver to them cedars to the harbor 247

SEDER QLAM

EZRA AND ESTHER

248

at Jaffa, following the permit issued to them by Cyrus, king of Persia." Cyrus ruled incomplete three years. (Ezra 4:6) "In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they wrote accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem." (Ezra 4:24) "In the meantime, the work at the Temple in Jerusalem stopped and was idle until year two of Darius, king of Persia."

Commentary. T h e r e exist t w o lists of t h e returnees of the first wave of return, Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7. The exact details of the two lists are given in Chart 1 at the end of this Chapter. In our computation, the number of people unaccounted for is 12,910 in the Ezra list and 2,645 in Nehemiah's list. N e h e m i a h as g o v e r n o r probably had access to more complete lists. The number of the author's sum is missing in the p r i n t e d e d i t i o n and in most manuscripts; it seems that the scribes differed in the numbers they added and so left the total out of their copies. It is clear from the texts that most of the Jews remained in Babylonia and the surrounding countries and that the total number of (male) deportees of Nebuchadnezzar was 12'000 at most. That means that either a great number of the other ten tribes also returned to Jerusalem, as is our a u t h o r ' s opinion, or t h a t t h e Jews in Babylonia multiplied at a rate comparable to that of the early

Israelites in Egypt who in 210 years grew from 70 to over 600'000. Dates of Cyrus are only mentioned in Daniel and the last date is the third year of Cyrus (Dan. 10:1). By the principle that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," this must be the last year of Cyrus to be counted. Similarly, the last event told of Ahasuerus is in the year after the Purim affair (Esther 9:29). Since the Purim affair was in year 13, it follows that year 14 is the last year of Ahasuerus mentioned in Scripture. In year 2 of Darius, they started to build the Temple. If we add a n o t h e r y e a r for Darius the Mede in the opinion of Seder Vlam, then the total of y e a r s f r o m t h e e x i l e of Jehoiachin to year 2 of Darius exceeds 70 years: Nebuchadnezzar died in year 37 after the exile of Jehoiachin, add 23 for Evil-merodakh and 2 for Belshazzar, 1 for Darius t h e M e d e , 3 for C y r u s , 14 for Ahasuerus, and 2 for Darius,

SEDER QLAM

makes 79 years. The Talmud (Megillah l i b , see Rashi) notes that Ahasuerus used the Temple vessels for his party because he computed that in his year 3, Seventy years had gone by since the exile and the Temple was not rebuilt, hence, Jeremiah's prophecy was wrong and he did not have to care about Temple property any more. However, all this proves only that years of kings other than the kings of Judah are not adjusted years and there is lots of overlap in the counting of regnal years if the king died in the middle of a year. It is c l e a r t h a t t h e method of the author of Seder Vlam, that "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," extends to the book of Daniel, although the entire thrust of that book is to hide, not to explain. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy to compare the data of the book of Ezra to what is known about the kings of P e r s i a from o t h e r sources. The Temple was destroyed in 586, Cyrus became king of Babylon in 539. His son, Cambyses, ruled from 529 - 522, the false Smerdis 522, Darius I 522 - 486, Xerxes 486 - 465, Artaxerxes I 465 - 425, Darius II 424 - 404, Artaxerxes II 404 358, Artaxerxes III 358 - 338, Darius III 335 - 330. Ezra reports that the altar was rebuilt under Cyrus but that they could not finish r e b u i l d i n g t h e T e m p l e because of a denunciation in the

249

EZRA AND ESTHER

time of Ahashwerosh. In the time of Artahshast there was an order not to continue building until under Darius a copy of the original decree by Cyrus was discovered and the Temple built. It is impossible to i d e n t i f y Artahshast with A r t a x e r x e s I since the High Priest Joshua and Zerubabel were among the returnees from Babylon under Cyrus and they built the Temple under Darius as reported in the books of Haggai and Zachariah. Darius II became king more than 100 years after t h e i r r e t u r n . Hence, Darius must have been Darius I and the rebuilding of the Temple is to be dated 520, as universally accepted. It follows that Artahshast is the magus who ruled under the false name of the Smerdis, who would be hostile to religions other than Z o r o a s t r i a n i s m , in s t r i k i n g contrast to the tolerant policies of the true Achemenides. Hence, the Ahashwerosh (Ahasuerus) of the book of Ezra was Cambyses, the son of Cyrus. This is also the opinion of J o s e p h u s . That implies that from the destruction of the Temple to the final start of its rebuilding were 586 - 520 = 66 years and the dedication 4 years later (Ezra 6:15), exactly 70 years after its destruction. Everything comes out fine if we refrain from using the principle "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" for the closed book of Daniel. Ezra came to

SEDER QLAM

J e r u s a l e m in t h e y e a r 7 of Artahshast, i. e., Artaxerxes I, in the year 458, 58 years after the dedication of the Temple. The Tanna of Seder 'Olam identifies Artahshast and Darius (see the next chapter and Megillah l i b ) because he has only 70 sabbatical cycles from the destruction of

250

EZRA AND ESTHER

the first Temple to that of the second, when from other sources they are determined to be almost 94 cycles. However, the Temple built under Darius was torn down by Herod 497 years after it was built and in its stead a new one was built, which was destroyed under Titus.

(Esther 1:3) "In the year 3 of his (Ahasuerus's) reign he made a feast " For four years, Esther was hidden in the fortress Susa. (Esther 2:16) "Esther was taken to the king, to his palace, in the tenth month, that is Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign." For five years, Haman amassed riches for Mordecai. (Esther 3:7) In the first month, that is Nisan, in the year 12 of king Ahasuerus, they threw the lot before Haman . . . ." On the 13th of Nisan did Haman write letters (Esther 3:13) "to destroy and kill all Jews " On the 15th of Nisan did Esther appear before the king. On the 16th of Nisan was Haman hanged. On the 23rd of Nisan did Mordecai write to countermand the missives of Haman. On the 13th of Adar (Esther 9:5) "did the Jews slay all their enemies," (Esther 9:12) "and in the fortress Susa the Jews slew 500 men" and they hanged the ten sons of Haman who had written incitements against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (Esther 9:11) "On that day, the king was informed of the number of the

SEDER QLAM

251

EZRA AND ESTHER

slain." About the same time the next year it is said (Esther 9:29) "Queen Esther and the Jew Mordecai wrote " Commentary All the dates are from the book of E s t h e r . The midrashic additions are that Mordecai was hiding Esther and the identification of t h e sons of Haman with the people "who w r o t e l e t t e r s of i n c i t e m e n t against the Jews" mentioned in Ezra 4:6: "In t h e r e i g n of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they w r o t e incitement against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem." The identification is also given in Yalqut Shim'oni as a quote from Seder Vlam. The translation of Esther 2:7 by "he hid Esther" is also referred to in Genesis rabba

1:1. It is not found in t h e Aramaic Targumim of Esther. Since no date is given for the Viziership of Haman except for the note (Esther 3:1) "After t h e s e h a p p e n i n g s , " by t h e principles of Seder Vlam this must mean that Haman became vizier the same year that Esther became queen. Hence, he was chief minister from Ahasuerus's year 7 to his year 12, five years. From a modern point of view, the story of Esther and Xerxes (Ahasuerus) has been worked out by Jampel in several papers in Monatsschrift fur Geschichte and Wissenschaft des Judentums, N. F. 14, 1906.

Lo, it says (Jer. 29:10): "When Babylon will have filled 70 years I shall remember you and fulfill My good word to return

SEDER OLAM

EZRA AND ESTHER

252

you to this place"; (Dan. 9:2) "I checked the books for the number of years, about which the word of the Eternal was to the prophet Jeremiah, that 70 years were fulfilled since the destruction of Jerusalem." Israel was 52 years in the kingdom of the Chaldeans, then they were remembered and returned, three years in the reign of Cyrus, 14 of Ahasuerus, and in the second year of Darius the Temple was built. And so says Zachariah (Zach. 1:12): "The angel of the Eternal declaimed and said: O Eternal of Hosts, until when will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, about which You are angry now these 70 years." The Temple was built for four years as it is said (Ezra 6:15): "This temple was finished at the third of Adar in the year six of the reign of Darius." At the same time the next year did Ezra come up from Babylon and other deportees with him as it is said (Ezra 7:6-10): "He is Ezra, who came from Babylon, a scribe quick in the Torah of Moses that the Eternal, the God of Israel had given . . . There came from the Israelites and from the priests, levites (singers, doorkeepers), and temple servants to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes. He arrived at Jeruasalem in the fifth month of the king's seventh year. Really, of the first of the first month was the begin of the voyage from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem since the hand of the Eternal was good over him. Because Ezra had concentrated on studying the Torah of the Eternal, to do and to teach laws and judicial rules in Israel." He came to separate Israel from the foreign wives.

Commentary The chronological problems of this part have been explained in t h e c o m m e n t a r y to the first section of this chapter. Since the author i d e n t i f i e s Darius and Artaxerxes, he has no difficulty i n t e r p r e t i n g Ezra 7:1: "After these happenings, in the reign of

Artaxerxes the king of Persia, came Ezra . . ," as meaning that Ezra came immediately after the dedication of the Temple related in chapter 6. This statement is q u o t e d in t h e B a b y l o n i a n Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 3b, Me'ilah 13a.

SEDER OLAM

253

The title "scribe" given here to Ezra seems to have been an official Persian t i t l e of a

EZRA AND ESTHER

judge learned in the law, to distinguish him from lay judges,

Chart I Comparison of Lists in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7

Parosh Shefatiah Arab. Pahat Moab Elam Zatu Zakkai Bani Bebai Azgad Adonikatn Bigwai Adin Ater Betsai Yora Hashum Gibbar Bethlehem Netofa Anatot Azmawet Qiryat Yearim Haramah Mikhmas Bethel Nebo Magbish Elam II Harim Lod Senaa

Ezra

Nehemia

2172 372 752 2812 1254 945 760 642 623 1222 666 2056 454 98 323 112 223 95 123 56 128 42 743 621 122 223 52 156 1254 320 725 3630

2172 372 652 2818 1254 845 760 628 628 2322 667 2067 655 98 324

Binnui

Husham Gibeon

328 95 188

-

Jericho

128 42 743 621 122 123 52 345 1254 320 721 3930

SEDER O L A M

Yeshua Immer Pashhur Harim Levites Asaf Shoarim Netinim Belaiah Sum Sum given in text Difference

254

EZRA A N D ESTHER

973 1052 1247 1017 74 128 139 392 652

9731 1052 1247 1017 74 148 138 392 642

29450 42360 12910

39715 42360 2645

30 Nehemiah to End of Second Temple

(Neh. 1:1) "The words of Nehemiah ben Hakhaliah . . ." Twelve years he was in the land of Israel, repairing the wall and returning every man to his town and his inherited land. And so it says (Neh. 13:6): "When all this happened, I was not in Jerusalem because in the year 32 of Artaxerxes I came to the king and after one year I took leave from the king," From year 20 to year 32 are 12 years. Behold, it says (Ezra 6:14): "The elders of the Jews did build and were successful, following the prophecy of the prophet Haggai, and Zachariah ben Iddo; they built and perfected by the order of the God of Israel and by the order of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. You find only two Persian kings, Cyrus and Darius, and for Media Darius and Ahasuerus. But Cyrus is Darius is Artaxerxes, since the kingdom was called Artaxerxes. The kings of Media and Persia ruled for a total of 210 years.

Commentary Nehemia obtained permission to go to Jerusalem in year 20 of A r t a x e r x e s (Neh. 2:1), he

returned in year 32. Hence, he was absent from the court for 12 years, which may not be t h e 255

SEDER QLAM

same as staying 12 y e a r s in Jerusalem. The details of Persian rule according to outside sources is discussed at the beginning of the previous chapter. It seems that Ahasuerus, whose Biblical title is that of "king of Media and Persia," is counted as king of Media. Most European manuscripts have three kings of Media in their list, including Ahasuerus. Our text here seems to be shortened. The passage about the identification of the three kings is more complete in the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 3b: "Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes are one and the same person. He was called Cyrus (Kores) because he was a good (leaser) king, Artaxerxes was the name of his kingdom, Darius his proper name." The reason for the identification is Ezra 6:14:".. . by the o r d e r of Cyrus and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Babylon." The singular is taken to apply to all three names even

256

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

though by our masoretic dividing accents it applies only to the last name. Tosafot ad loc. (s.v. nnoummxi) point out that the argument would impliy the existence of at least two kings of the name C y r u s - A r t a x e r x e s . T h e r e is a p r o b l e m w i t h A r t a x e r x e s anyhow s i n c e in Chapter 4, he sends an o r d e r suspending the building of the Temple, and in Chapter 6, he is mentioned in the list of kings who ordered the Temple to be built. All French manuscripts of Seder Olam have "52 years" for the duration of the Persian empire. T h i s is t h e o n l y acceptable date according to the method of the Tanna, as will be seen l a t e r . Some o r i e n t a l manuscripts have "250 years." (That would put the start of the fifth Millenium after Creation 27 years before the destruction of the Second temple; cf. footnote of the Introduction.) 6

SEDER QLAM

257

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

(iVe/i. 7:73-8:1) "The priest, Levites (gate keepers and singers), from the people, and Temple servants, and all of Israel lived in their towns; there arrived the Seventh Month and all of Israel were in their towns. Then all the people assembled spontaneously on the plaza that was before the water gate; they told Ezra the sopher to bring the book of the Torah of Moses that the Eternal had commanded to Israel." And it says (Neh. 8:17): "All the congregation that had returned from captivity made tabernacles. They lived in tabernacles, because the children of Israel had not done so since the days of Joshua bin Nun until that day." It is impossible to say so; but he brackets their coming in the time of Ezra with the coming in the time of Joshua. Just as in the time of Joshua they became obligated for tithes, Sabbatical and Jubilee years and they sanctified walled cities and were happy b e f o r e the Omnipresent, [similarly at their coming in the time of Ezra] as it is said (Neh. 8:17): "The joy was exceedingly great." And so it says (Deut. 30:5): "The Eternal, your God, will bring you to the land that your father had inherited and you shall inherit it." He brackets your inheritance with that of your forefathers. Just as the inheritance of your forefathers implies the renewal of all these things so also your inheritance implies the renewal of all these things. I could think that you will have a third inheritance, the verse says "you shall inherit it," a first and second you have, you do not have a third inheritance.

Commentary The problem discussed in this section is dealt with repeatedly in b o t h T a l m u d i m . In t h e Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 32b, the two sons of R. Yose ben Halaphta, R. Ismael ben R. Yose and R. Eleazar ben R. Yose,

disagree whether the conquest under Joshua placed an eternal obligation on the Jewish people to observe the particular mizwot placed on the Land or whether this obligation was eliminated with the exile. [The mention of

SEDER QLAM

Jubilee years in our text is a scribal e r r o r induced by the common pair "Sabbatical and J u b i l e e y e a r s , " s i n c e it is generally agreed that the Jubilee year is o p e r a t i v e only if all twelve tribes are living on their original tribal lands.] In Yebamot 82b, and Niddah 46b, we find R. Yohanan who quotes Seder Vlam in the name of R. Yose, and interprets "a first and second you have, you do not have a third inheritance" to mean that the o b l i g a t i o n under the second inheritance is also Biblical. The discussion in the Jerusalem Talmud [Sevi'it 6:1 (fol. 36b), also Qiddusin fol. 61c] is between R. Yose bar Hanina (who often is quoted as author of traditions that in the Babylonian Talmud are attributed to R. Yose bar H a l a p h t a ) and his contemporary R. Eleazar (ben Pedat), Amoraim of the second generation. R. Eleazar takes the verse from Deuteronomy to refer to messianic times when there will be no outside interference and Israel will extend to the Euphrates and the Taurus mountains. According to him, the acceptance of the obligations that come with the possession of the Land were incurred voluntarily be the returnees in t h e c o v e n a n t r e p o r t e d in Nehemiah 10. It is not altogether clear whether, in his opinion, the obligation to give tithes has the status of a Biblical p r e c e p t

258

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

because of the vow taken by the returnees or it has Rabbinical status like other enactments of Ezra. [Tosafot (Rosh Hashanah 3b, Yebamot 82b) declare that the obligation of tithes is Biblical, also according to R. Eleazar for those regions exclusively settled by J e w s ( t h e r e g i o n of Jerusalem), but that the returnees voluntarily extended the obligation to all parts of the Holy Land settled by returnees or by Jews that were never exiled. According to all sources, the Rabbinical Eretz Israel excludes Samaria and the Gaza strip.] The Jerusalem Talmud (Sebi'it 9:9, fol. 39a, last three lines) reports that, in the popular opinion Sabbatical years were observed after the destruction of the Temple "by the order of Rabban Gamliel and his colleagues." R. Yose bar Hanina is quoted in the Jerusalem Talmud as stating that the v e r s e in Deuteronomy implies that the o b l i g a t i o n of t i t h e s a n d Sabbatical years was a Biblical commandment on the returnees. The parallel discussion in the Babylonian Talmud, in particular Niddah 47a, makes it clear that in the opinion of the Tanna of Seder Vlam that, at least for tithes the obligation is of Biblical nature. The Talmudim declare that the obligations imposed by the Torah on the Land refer to the territories "conquered by

SEDER QLAM

those that left Egypt" and "held by those who r e t u r n e d from Babylonia." Maimonides (Hilkhot Bet Habehirah 6:16) wants to i n f e r from t h e r e t h a t t h e obligations incurred by conquest were dissolved when the Land was lost but the obligations incurred by holding the Land ( npin) a r e p e r m a n e n t a n d , therefore, there neither can nor will be any third inheritance. However, he himself seems to adopt another interpretation in Hilkhot Terumot 1:26, the one given by Rabbenu Hananel to the quotes from Seder Vlam, that the first inheritance was that given to Joshua and the second will be in the times of the Messiah. In the meantime, all obligations from the time of Joshua are in force. However, since both Sabbatical years and Terumah are introduced in Scripture by the condition "when you come into the Land," it follows that they are obligatory only if all of

259

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

Israel are living in the Land. Since only a minority of Jews returned from the Babylonian exile, these obligations w e r e moot had not the returnees taken them on voluntarily. Concerning the text, all manuscripts quote Neh. 8:17 with a defective name y w for yurin* "Joshua." The defective writing is explained (Babli Arakhin 32b, Yerushalmi ShevVit 6:1) that "the verse slighted the just one in the grave for the honor of the just one living." The "impossibility" referred to here is that it seems to presuppose that neither David nor Solomon e v e r k e p t t h e h o l i d a y of Sukkot. The interpretation given here states that nobody had occasion to m a k e s u c h a h o l i d a y of acceptance of the Torah except Joshua and Ezra. The absence of a third i n h e r i t a n c e is again implied by the r e f e r e n c e to inheritance in the singular in Deut. 30:5.

(Dan. 8:21) 'The horned ram, that is the king of Greece; the mighty horn that is between his eyes, that is the first king." (Dan. 11:3-4) "A valiant king will arise . . . and when he arises,

260

SEDER QLAM

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

his kingdom will be broken and separated in the four directions of the sky." That is Alexander the Macedonian who ruled for 12 years. Until that time there were prophets prophecying by the Holy Spirit; from there on (Prov. 22:10) "bend your ear and listen to the words of the wise," as it is said (Prov. 22:18-19): "How pleasant if you will preserve them in your body . . . that your trust shall be in the Eternal." And it is said (Prov. 22:20-21): "Behold, I wrote for you triple . . . to tell you the trustworthiness of true teachings." And so it says (Deut. 32:7): "Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will inform you." I could think of old men from the market place, the verse says "they will inform you." From this you learn that an elder is a man who has acquired wisdom.

Commentary Alexander began his war against Persia in 335 and died 12 years later, in 323. The last prophets were those of the rebuilding of the Temple. Only because R. Yose reduces the duration of the

Persian empire can he push down the beginning of the time of sages to the time of Alexander. It would be more correct to date the period of sages to Ezra.

R. Yose says: The Persian empire existed during the time of the Temple for 24 years. The kingdom of the Greeks 180 years. The kingdom of the Hasmoneans 103 years. The kingdom of Herod 103 years. After that start counting after

SEDER QLAM

26j

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

the destruction of the Temple. And in Babylonia one writes in the Seleucide era one thousand. The following are the eight kings of the Greeks: Alexander the Macedonian, Antipatros, Ptolemy, Seleukos, Sntrvq, Antonius, A n t i o c h o s , Gaius Caligula. From the war of Varus to the war of Vespasian 80 years. These were during the time of the Temple. From the war of Vespasian to the war of Quietus 24 years. From the war of Quietus to the war of Ben Koziba 16 years. The war of ben Koziba two and one half years; that was 22 years after the destruction of the Temple.

Commentary The text of this section is badly preserved in all manuscripts. The sum of the years of t h e Second Temple given here is 420 years. (Non-Jewish sources date the Second Temple from 520 B.CE. to 69 C.E., a total of 589 years.) The missing 169 years of Jewish history a r e difficult to r e t r i e v e . In t h e Babylonian Talmud Avodah zarah 9a-b, Rav Pappa determines the relation between the Seleucid era (used by Jewish communities in Asia as "the count of documents," p » n n o v , through all the Middle Ages and part of modern times) as 380 years from the beginning of the Seleucide era (311 B.C.E.) to the destruction of the Temple, which then would fall in 69 C.E. Since it is k n o w n t h a t t h e medieval clerics who introduced the common era were no great historical authorities, that number of 69 is better than the u s u a l 71 o b t a i n e d f r o m a

translation of Roman r e g n a l years into common era years. The Gaon of Wilna, in his commentary to Seder 'Olam, explains the cryptic "one thousand" that is appended to the mention of the Seleucide era that the start of the Seleucide era was exactly 1000 years a f t e r t h e giving of t h e T o r a h . Since a c c o r d i n g t o Seder 'Olam Abraham was born in 1948, and the Exodus was exactly 500 years later (70 years until the Covenant between the pieces and 430 years from there to the Exodus), the Exodus was in 2448 and t h e Seleucide era started in 3449 which puts the destruction of the Second Temple at 3829 Anno Mundi, in accordance with Rav Pappa's determination. However, in manuscripts we find o t h e r n u m b e r s , e.g., in a F r e n c h manuscript from the Oppenheimer library the year 1117 Sel. = 606 C.E. is given,

SEDER OLAM

which could be the date of the writing of a manuscript. Hence it is more likely that either our text contains a scribal error or that the basis of the printed edition was prepared from a manuscript written in the year 1000 Seleucid = 688 C.E. T h e d u r a t i o n of t h e Maccabean dynasty is given in the manuscripts variously as 101, 103, 107 years. In manuscripts of Seder 'Olam zuta, as well as m a n u s c r i p t s of the quote of Seder Vlam in Sefer Yuhasin, one finds 76, 95, 99, 103 years. There is no need to change the number given in the printed text. T h e list of k i n g s is almost impossible to establish. A l e x a n d e r was the first, he presents no problem. The next n a m e , p-ioia, a p p e a r s in m a n u s c r i p t s and old p r i n t e d editions also as ,ptrv»a . p o m s oionia ,oiot»& This name has been conjectured by N. Briill to b e ( A n t i ) p a t r o s , k i n g of Macedonia after Alexander. Some others want to see in the name that of Perdikkas, ruler of Alexander's e m p i r e after the latter's death. appears in an Italian manuscript as p a ^ o and can be identified as Ptolemy, name of all Hellenistic kings of Egypt [in Hebrew sources usually identified with Biblical *&Vn]. Seleukos is the first ruler of most of t h e A s i a t i c p a r t s of Alexander's empire and founder of the Seleucid dynasty, prime

262

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

appears in manuscripts of the Gaonic Seder Vlam zuta as ^noac or p n t u p . These names a r e unexplainable. I. Low wants to read this name together with the preceding as Seleukos Nikator, "Seleukos the victorious," official title of Seleukos I. However, that would leave only 7 kings and, therefore, is unacceptable. *]ro3K appears also as thmk ,|ro3K, the last spelling can be r e a d as A n t o n i u s , t h e h u s b a n d of Cleopatra. He is counted with the Greek kings in Avodah zarah Babylonian Talmud 8b, Jerusalem T a l m u d 1:2, f o l . 3 9 c , in connection with the G e n t i l e festival of Cratesis, "the day on which Rome acquired the rule over the world," which is the day of O c t a v i a n ' s v i c t o r y o v e r Antony at Actium. It is implied that Antony ruled over the East before that. Antiochos was the name of four Seleucid kings. oaVpoa appears in Sota (Josefta 13:6 DaVnoa oHVpo% Bavli 33a DiVpoa, Yerushalmi 24b op*Vu in connection with his attempt to put his statue in the Temple) and is Gaius C a l i g u l a , a Roman emperor. The story also appears in Me gill at Taanit (22 Shevat), Shir rabba 9(11) (pprtoin). The Talmudic tradition identifies the high priest Simeon the just who was in office at t h e time of Caligula's murder with the high priest Simeon t h e Just w h o headed the Jewish commonwealth in the time of y

SEDER QLAM

263

Alexander. The

war

ofoiviDK

(o*rmoK) is that of Quintilius V a r u s ( l a t e r k i l l e d by t h e Germans), who suppressed the Jewish revolt instigated by the Roman Sabinus after Herod's death (4 B.C.E.). Roman sources give 70 years between the war of Varus and the Jewish revolt, the start of the war of Vespasian that lead to the destruction of the Temple. The descendants of Herod were princes in parts of the latter's kingdom until the destruction of the Temple; hence, before the destruction, it was n e v e r n e c e s s a r y to w r i t e d o c u m e n t s by Roman d a t e s . However, R. Ismael ben R. Yose (ben Halaphta) is quoted in the Babylonian Talmud (Sabbat ISa, 'Avodah zarah 8b) stating that Rome asserted its overlordship over Judea 180 years before the destruction of the Temple, i.e., I l l y e a r s B.C.E. This is a reasonable date for the treaty of affiliation of t h e Hasmonean state with Rome under Johanan Hyrkanos, the son of the first

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

Hasmonean ruler Simon. The war of Quietus was the war of Trajan in 116 C.E. against the Jews of Cyrenaica, Alexandria, and Babylonia. All European manuscripts give 52 years as the time d i f f e r e n c e between the destruction of the Temple and the revolt against Trajan. This proves that t h e manuscript t r a d i t i o n h e r e is unsafe and the original number given by the Tanna cannot be reconstructed. By R o m a n sources, the war of Bar Kossiba (that is his true name revealed by his letters found in the Judean desert) started in 132 C.E., 61 years after the destruction of the Temple, 16 years after the war of Quietus. The number of 22 years of the time between the destruction of the Temple and the war of Bar Kossiba is clearly an old scribal error (by its own numbers it should be 24 + 16 + 2.5 = 42.5) and s h o u l d b e c o r r e c t e d ( 4 2 by O r i e n t a l sources, 64 by Roman sources, 70 by European manuscripts.)

264

SEDER OLAM

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

R. Yose says: A day of rewards attracts rewards and a day of guilt attracts guilt. You find it said that the destruction of the first Temple was at the end of Sabbath, at the end of a Sabbatical year, when the priests of the family of Yehoiariv was officiating, on the Ninth of Ab, and the same happened the second time. Both times the Levites were standing on their podium and sang. Which song did they sing? (Ps. 94:23) "He repaid them for their evil deeds . . . ." The city wall was breached on the Ninth of the Fourth month the first time and on the Seventeenth the second time.

Commentary This statement is quoted in the name of R. Yose in the Jerusalem Talmud (Tadniot 4:8, fol. 68d), it is anonymous in the Babylonian Talmud (Taanit 22a, Arakhin l i b ) . In the Jerusalem Talmud, R. Yohanan takes the statement to mean that it is permissible for

the Levites to sing in the Temple even without a s i m u l t a n e o u s offering of wine. The l a t e r p r e a c h e r R. B e r e k h i a h s e e s symbolism in the officiating of Yehoiariv, whose name means "the Eternal will fight" not our enemies, but the sinning Jews.

SEDER OLAM

265

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

(Ps. 106:48) "Praised be the Eternal, the God of Israel, from one world to the next world; the entire people said: Amen, Halleluiah!" (Ps. 72:18-19) "Praised be the Eternal, God, the God of Israel, Who alone creates wonders. Praised be His glorious name forever; may His glory be filling all the earth, Amen, Amen." (Dan. 2:21) "He changes seasons and times," seasons that is the season of Sodom, times is the time of Jerusalem, may be soon rebuilt, Amen. "He deposes kings,", that refers to Joiakim, "and appoints kings," that refers to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia. "He gives wisdom to the wise," that refers to our teacher Moses, the greatest sage with the greatest understanding. "And understanding to those who know understanding," that refers to Joshua bin Nun as it is said (Deut. 34:9): "And Joshua bin Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom . . . . " Another explanation: "He gives wisdom to the wise," that refers to Joseph, the just, as it is said (Gen. 41:39): "There is nobody insightful and wise as you are." "And understanding to those who know understanding," that refers to Daniel and his companions as it is said (Dan. 2:19): "Now the secret was unveiled to Daniel in a nightly vision." (Dan. 2:22) "He unveils the deep and mysterious"; deep refers to the depth of the Heavenly Chariot, mysterious that is Creation. "He knows what is in darkness," that is the punishment of sinners in hell; "but light dwells with him," that is the rewarding of just people in the future world. Another explanation: "He gives wisdom to the wise," that refers to Joshua bin Nun as it is said (Deut. 34:9): "And Joshua bin Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom " "And understanding to those who know understanding", that refers to Jeremiah, as

SEDER O L A M

266

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

it is said (Jer. 1:5): "Before I created you in the womb I did know you." I could think that this was just in his time, but Scripture says (Gen. 5:1): "This is the book of the descent of man." This teaches us that the Holy One, praise to Him, showed Adam every generation and its leaders, every generation and its prophets, every generation and its seekers, every generation and its judges; the sages of every generation, the prophets of every generation, the just of every generation, the number of their years, the count of their days, the computation of their hours, the sum of their steps, as it is said (Job 34:16) "Certainly, now You are counting my steps . . ." and it says (2Sam. 7:19): "And that was a little thing in the eyes of the Eternal, God; You decreed about the dynasty of Your servant from far away." And it says (Ps. 139:15-17): "My unformed body was seen by Your eyes; in your ledger they are all written down, their days bundled before one of them was. Regarding me, how dear are Your friends, o Powerful; how many are their heads! If I would count them, they would be more than sand!"

Commentary This is the aggadic conclusion of Seder 'Olam. The quote from Daniel p r o b a b l y m e a n s t h a t inspired Scripture gives one the possibility to compute times, as done in the text. T h e G a o n of W i l n a wants to emend the last "Another explanation: 'He gives wisdom to the wise', that refers to Joshua bin Nun as it is said (Deut. 34:9): 'And Joshua bin Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom . . . " ' to "Another explanation: 'He gives wisdom to the wise', that refers to Isaiah . . . " However, there is no manuscript evidence for any

change in the text at this place. Ratner considers the "another explanation" as the addition of a later scribe from the Psiqta litterature. That interpretation also is unacceptable since the reference to J e r e m i a h is the essential starting point for the introduction of Adam's book. The a s s e r t i o n of t h e book of Adam is found in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 38b, Avodah zarah 5a, in the name of R. Simon ben Laqish, an Amora of the second generation, who claims only that Adam saw all future generations but not

SEDER OLAM

267

that he had a book. However, it is asserted in Baba mezi'a that the Amora and scientist Samuel saw in Adam's book his own entry, that he would attain the status of sage but not of rabbi. In Yerushalmi sources, Adam's book is mentioned in Avot deR. Nathan I Chapter 31 (by the Tanna R. Joshua ben Qorha), and in Midrash rabba Gen. Bereshit 24(2,7), Ex. Ki Tissa 40(2), Lev. Emor 26(7); Tanhuma Ki Tissa 12, Emor 20, Tanhuma Bobr Bereshit 28, 29, 32, Emor 4, Midrash Tehillim 139(6). In most of t h e s e s o u r c e s , A d a m is connected with Psalm 139, in

TO END OF SECOND TEMPLE

particular the reference to v. 15 that was a d d e d h e r e in t h e translation and somehow must h a v e f a l l e n o u t in t h e manuscripts or it was understood that everybody would immediately connect verses 16, 17 to v. 15 that must talk of Adam since only he was an unformed b o d y b e f o r e God implanted the spirit of life into him. The rest of mankind is already alive in the womb. This final section seems to hint that Seder 'Olam is a glimpse of Adam's book.

obw m m Kin -)Vv p i n We shall return to you, Tanna of Seder 'Olam!

Appendix The Jewish Calendar

Introduction

The Gregorian year in general use is a solar year; it tries to keep the winter solstice at the 21st of December and the summer solstice at the 21st of June. The Gregorian year is a Renaissance reform of the old Julianic calendar instituted by Julius Caesar. The Julianic year was exactly 365.25 days, every year whose number is divisible by 4 was a leap year. Since the astronomical year (also called tropical year, from one spring aequinox to the next) is approximately 365.2422 days, the Julianic year is too long and in the course of centuries the accumulated error amounted to several days. In the Gregorian reform, the year was shortened in that every year of a full century for which the century is not divisible by 4 is not a leap year. So the years 1900 and 2100 are not leap years but 2000 will be a leap year. This means that 400 Gregorian years contain 400x365 + 97 = 146'097 days, and the mean length of the year is 146*097/400 = 365.2425 days. The true tropical year was 365.24219879 days (365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 54.1546 seconds) in 1900 and was computed to be 365.24219265 days (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 39.7296 seconds) in the year 2000, losing about a second a year. However, with modern atomic clocks it was discovered that on their level of accuracy the motion of the earth is in fits and the decrease of the length of the tropical year is not smooth. By international agreement, in some years the last second of the year is omitted but these years cannot be computed in advance. The problem of the Jewish calendar is that the Bible requires the observation of the New Moon and at the same time decrees that 268

SEDER OLAM

269

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Passover must be observed "in the Spring month." This means that the Jewish calendar must be both lunar and solar, a task that is almost impossible to accomplish. We have no information on the calendar computations in early times. The calendar of Mishnaic times, the one referred to in Seder 'Olam, is discussed in the Babylonian Talmud (Arakhin 8b-10a). It is based on a fixed month of 29 days (d), 12 hours (h), 44 1/18 minutes (m). It postulates a regular succession of months of 29 and 30 days respectively, with the addition of an extra day every 36 months (since 36X40m = 1440m = 24h) and another one every 360 months (since 360x4m = 24h). The remaining 1/18th of a minute accrue to a full day after 18x60X24 = 25'920 months or 2'160 years. [In that time, 793 days were added in all; hence a full week will be gained only after 7X2160 = 15*120 years when the calendar may repeat.] In addition, from time to time (7 times in 19 years), a month was added to the year by the Synhedrion to equalize lunar and solar years. One may assume that the Synhedrion also manipulated the lengths of months to assure that Yom Kippur would not fall on Friday or Sunday. To this effect, the Synhedrion had authority to modify years under the condition that the number of months of 30 days was between 4 and 8 and that the overall count of months should reflect the rules given above. In times of war and crisis, a member of the Synhedrion could decree the year from outside the Land of Israel. When the Roman empire became Christian and, therefore, the end of the Synhedrion as an institution was to be expected, a permanent calendar was needed. This calendar was worked out by the Amoraim of the Galilean academies early in the third century C.E. It is reported in the Jerusalem Talmud (Erubin 3:11, fol. 21c) that the calendar was published by the academy of R. Yose (possibly, ben Zabida). The earliest extant complete description of the calendar is due to R. Abraham bar Hiyya, head of the Jewish community of Barcelona in the eleventh century. Maimonides declared R. Abraham bar Hiyya's text as superior; hence, earlier Eastern and Western texts have perished. The Amoraic calendar accounts directly for the additional days after 36 months and about half of the days to be added after 360 days. The rest is taken care of by a built-in bias in favor of "full" as against "deficient" years (to be defined later.) The calendar is

SEDER OLAM

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

270

remarkably accurate in following both mean motions of moon and sun over an extended period of time. In a d d i t i o n , the c a l e n d a r computations were simplified so that only additions are necessary. The complicated Jewish calendar is very easy to compute and is accessible to every Jew everywhere in the world.

Calendar Data

The visible motion of the moon is very complicated and cannot be computed down to the last detail. The actual motion of the moon is influenced not only by the attraction of earth and sun but also by the tides on earth, by the unequal distribution of mountains and seas on the earth, and by over 400 other minor influences. The real length of the month is therefore very variable and can deviate from the mean by ± 6 hours. Therefore, one is interested only in the average, or mean, length of the month. In order to simplify computations, the Jewish calendar is based on days (d), hours (h), and parts (p). One hour contains 1080 parts; that makes one minute equal to 18 parts. The basis for the calendar is the mean month of: 29 d 12 h 793 p or, in minutes and seconds 2 9 12 4 4 3.33 . In the main computation, one always throws out full weeks. For that computation, the length of the mean month is: 4 weeks + 1 d 12 h 793 p. This compares to an astronomical value of 2 9 1 2 4 4 2.8 . This value probably changes not more than about 6 s per century. In all, the Jewish calendar provides a very good approximation to the natural phenomena for the last 1650 to 1800 years, much superior to the Julianic calendar used in the Gentile world for most of this time. d

h

m

s

d

h

m

s

Now it is clear that the time of new (or full) moon depends on the point of observation on earth. It is not clear at which point on earth the exact date of the new moon is computed in the Jewish calendar. It differs from the actual mean new moon observed at Jerusalem by several hours. The Jerusalem Gaon Eviatar haKohen ben Eliahu in his epistle (written probably in 1094) seems to place the time of the New Moon at the terrestrial place of the Garden of Eden. The

SEDER OLAM

271

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

commentators of Maimonides seem to agree with that determination. By convention, the calendar is taken to start at Creation (year 1) at 2d 5h 204p. The calendar has to fulfill two main functions. It has to determine the Jewish holidays in a convenient way and it should keep close to the solar year over extended periods of time. Now, it was discovered in Antiquity that 235 lunar months equal approximately 19 solar years. This is called the Metonic cycle in astronomy and the period of Rav Ada bar Ahava in Jewish tradition. For the mean Jewish year, this gives 235x(29d 12h 793p)/19 = 365d 5h 997.6315789 p = 365.2468222 days. The deviation from the current year is about 6 minutes, but, because of the decrease of the length of the solar year discussed in the first paragraph, it was much less in Antiquity; originally, the Jewish year was even shorter than the solar year. The period of 19 years is the basis of the adaptation of the Jewish calendar to the solar year. 235 months are 19 years of 12 months each plus an additional 7 months. These months are added as extra months (Adar I) to those years whose numbers in division by 19 give remainders: 0, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17. A year of 12 months is called simple (S), one of 13 month is intercalary (I), in Hebrew rn?y» njtp, "a pregnant year." The length of the simple year is 12x(29d 12h 793p) or 50 weeks + 4d 8h 876p and that of the intercalary is 13x(29d 12h 793p), or 54 weeks + 5d 21h 589p. This should be the difference between the appearance of the New Moon for Rosh Hashanah one year to the next. Now, these are not full days. Therefore, the Jewish year has months that alternate between 29 and 30 days. The months of 29 days are: Tevet, Adar (Adar II in intercalary year), Iyyar, Tammuz, Ellul. The months of 30 days are: Tishre, Shevat, Adar I in intercalary year, Nisan, Siwan, Aw. In addition, there are two variable months, Heshwan and Kislcv, that can be either 29 or 30 days. The year is deficient (nnpri, D) if both months are of 29 days, regular (n*np3, R) if Heshwan is 29 days, Kislev 30 days, and full (nwtyp, F) if both months are of 30 days. Hence, we have six types of Jewish years: Simple years: Deficient (SD) 353 days, Regular (SR) 354 days, Full (SR) 355 days. Intercalary years: Deficient (ID) 383 days, Regular (IR) 384 days, Full

SEDER OLAM

272

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

(IF) 385 days. There are no simple rules for the succession of these years; they have to be computed by the rules given below. Because of the complications introduced by the rules that fix the holidays, there is no repetition of days after a cycle of 19 years. The differences are somewhat smaller after 247 years, 13 such cycles, but a true repetition of the entire calendar is achieved only after 689*472 y e a r s . For practical purposes, therefore, the calendar does not repeat. (For example, it can be seen from Table III, that the periods of 19 years each from 5*662 to 5*794 contain, respectively, 6*940, 6*941, 6*941, 6'938, 6*941, 6*939, 6*940 days each. Hence, from one 19 year cycle to the next there can be as much as 3 days difference. The total, 48'580 days, compares to 48'579 days of the civil calendar.) 1

Computation of the Year

One starts out by defining the intercalary years. For example, 5757 is intercalary since 5757 = 33X19, the remainder of the division of 5757 by 19 is 0. The intercalary years of the next cycle are, therefore, 5757, 5760, 5763, 5765, 5768, 5771, 5774, corresponding to remainders of 0, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17. The computation of the year is done disregarding full weeks. A year is determined by the moment of New

1 The difference in the molad of Rosh Hashanah for any period of 19 years is: 19x(4d 8h 876p) -»- 7x(5d 21h 589p) = 2d 6h 595p + full weeks. For a repetition of the calendar after n periods of 19 years, we must have /.x(2d 6h 595p) = Od Oh Op + full weeks. Now the greatest common divisor of 595 and 1080 is 5, 216x595 = 119x1080. We put n = 216m and gel mX216x(2d 16h 595p) = /nx(432d 3575h Op) = mx(6d 23h Op) full weeks = mX( Od - l h Op). For m = 7X24, we get 7X24X(0d - l h Op) = 7x(-ld Oh Op) = (Od Oh Op) + full weeks and, since 7 and 24 are relatively prime numbers, this is the smallest number m with the desired property. Hence, the minimal period of r e p e t i t i o n of molad of Rosh Hashanah, i. e., the minimal period of repetition of the calendar, is 19/z = 19X216X7X24 = 689'472 years.

SEDER OLAM

273

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Moon (molad) of Rosh Hashanah the given year and the next. When we talk here of Rosh Hashanah, we always mean the first day of Rosh Hashanah. For the purpose of computation, Sabbath is day 0, Sunday day 1 , . . . , Friday day 6. One may compute that time starting from 2d 5h 204p and adding the lengths of 5756 years. However, for all practical purposes one looks up a molad of Rosh Hashanah and computes from there. The day is defined from 6 p.m. one day to 6 p.m. the next day. Therefore, noon will be 18h. Given the molad, one adds the length of the year (S or I) and throws out full weeks. We take from a table that Molad Tishre 51'57: Intercalary year Sum Hence, Molad Tishre 5758:

6d 6h 620p 5d 21h 589p l i d 27h 1209p. 5d 4h 129p

since 1209 p = l h + 129p, 29h = 1 d + 5 h, 12 d = 7 d + 5 d and the full seven days are discarded. The next year is simple: Molad Tishre 5758: Simple year Sum or Molad Tishre 5759

5d 4h 129p 4d 8h 876 p 9d 12h 1005p 2d 12h 1005p.

Next year is simple, 4d 8h 876p Sum 6d21hl081p or, changing 1080 p into an hour, Molad Tishre 5760 6d 22h 801p. Next year is intercalary, 5d 21h 589p Sum l i d 43h 1390p or, changing 1080 p into an hour, 24 hours into a day, Molad Tishre 5161 5d 20h 310p, and so on. It was stated in the introduction that one of the aims of the Jewish calendar is to accommodate the Jewish holidays. For that, the times of molad of one year and the next determine the year through the determination of the days of Rosh Hashanah of the given year and

SEDER OLAM

274

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

the next following five rules. Rule 1: The day of Rosh Hashanah is the day of the molad or later (1 or 2 days), never earlier. The next rule is to make sure that Yom Kippur does not fall on either Friday (Rosh Hashanah on Wednesday) or Sunday (Rosh Hashanah on Friday) since that would interfere with the preparation of meals either after or before the fast. In addition, because of the custom to strike the floor with willow branches on Hoshana rabba, one does not want to have that holiday fall on a Sabbath; this excludes Rosh Hashanah on Sunday. The main rule therefore is: Rule 2: Sunday (1), Wednesday (4), Friday (6) cannot be days of Rosh Hashanah (u?nn viK Kb). The next rule is to remind us that the calendar was instituted for the Diaspora because there was no more any Synhedrion to observe the New Moon. Since the new moon is not visible for the first six hours, the Synhedrion could not have observed it and, therefore, could not have declared that day as a holiday. This gives us, in addition to rule 1: Rule 3: If the molad is at noon (18h) or later, Rosh Hashanah is the next day (or, by rule 2, the day after the next, winn )ur» ibi».) The next two rules can be called debugging rules for the calendar. Since we have only six different years, there are certain combinations of Rosh Hashanah of two years that we could not accommodate. Rule 4: If the molad of a simple year is on Tuesday, 3d 9h 204p or later, then Rosh Hashanah is on Thursday. In fact, since (3d 9h 204p) + (4d 8h 876p) = (7d 18h Op), Hashanah the next year, by rules 3 and 2, must be Monday. But does not exist any regular year that is 50 weeks and 6 days; Hashanah on Tuesday would lead to an impossible situation. reader is invited to find the year to which this rule applies in the of determination of years.

Rosh there Rosh The table

Rule 5: If the molad of a year following an intercalary is on Monday,

SEDER OLAM

275

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

2d 15h 589p or later, move to Tuesday. By adding 7 days, the molad can be written 9d 15h 589p = 8d 39h 589p. Here, the preceding year's molad was at (8d 39h 589p) - (5d 21 h 589p) as 3d 18h Op and, by rules 3 and 2, Rosh Hashanah was on Thursday. As we shall see in a moment, there is no intercalary year to accommodate one Rosh Hashanah on Thursday and the next on Monday. This case also is found in Table III of determination of years. On the basis of our computations at the beginning of this chapter, we may now fix the days of Rosh Hashanah: 5757 Sabbath day of week: 0 or 7 5758 day of week: 5 Thursday 5759 day of week: 2 Monday Sabbath 5760 day of week: 0 or 7 5761 Sabbath day of week: 0 or 7 Now a regular simple year has six months of 29 days and six months of 30 days for a total of 354 days. A deficient year has one day less, a full year one day more. Since 354 = 7 X 5 0 +4, it follows that For a simple year, the difference between the day of Rosh Hashanah of the next year and the day of Rosh Hashanah of the given year is 3 for a deficient year (SD) 4 for a regular year (SR) 5 for a full year (SF). In order to make the difference positive, one adds 7 if the day of the molad of next year is less than the one with which one starts. An intercalary year is 30 = 28 + 2 days longer than a simple one. Hence, For an intercalary year, the difference between the day of Rosh Hashanah of the next year and the day of Rosh Hashanah of the given year is 5 for a deficient year (ID) 6 for a regular year (IR) 7 or 0 for a full year (IF). The moladim and the symbols of the years from 1900 to 2050 are given in the table of determination of years. The reader is invited to extend the table to the year 2100.

276

SEDER OLAM

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

In our examples, the final results are: 5757: 5758: 5759: 5760:

ID, intercalary deficient since 5 - 0 = 5. SR, simple regular since 2 - 5 + 7 = 4. SF, simple full since 7 - 2 = 5. IF, intercalary full since 0 - 0 = 0.

Once the symbol of a year is d e t e r m i n e d , t h e year is completely given. In particular, the weekdays for all holidays (excluding Hanukkah) are determined by the day of next year's Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah, Sukkoth, and Shemini Atzeret all fall on the same day of the week. The other days are given by the rule known as ia ttfa nx in which one writes the Hebrew alphabet in ascending and descending order. The first letter always refers to the days of Passover, the other letters refer to the other holidays: First day of Passover x : same weekday as Tish'a Be'aw axa nyipn. Second day of Passover a: same weekday as Shavuot niy*atf. Third day of Passover > : same weekday as the following Rosh Hashanah mm uftn. T T

*

Forth day of Passover i: same weekday as the following Simhat Torah

n*}inn nxnj?. Fifth day of Passover n : same weekday as the following Yom Kippur TO? O I K . Sixth day of Passover n: same weekday as the preceding Purim o n t o . Seventh day of Passover T : same weekday as Israel Independence day (unless moved) roxa*?.

Conversion of Jewish and Gregorian Dates

For the conversion of dates from Gregorian to Jewish and vice versa, we need three tables. Table I gives the day of the Jewish year for day 0 of a given month for the six types of Jewish months. In order to find the day of year, one simply adds the day of month to the number given in the appropriate column.

SEDER OLAM

277

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Table I: Jewish Months

Tishre Heshwan Kislev Tevet Shevat Adar I Adar (II) Nisan Iyyar Siwan Tammuz Av Elul

SD

SR

SF

ID

IR

IF

0 30 59 88 117

0 30 59 89 118

0 30 60 90 119

147 176 206 235 265 294 324

148 177 207 236 266 295 325

149 178 208 237 267 296 326

0 30 59 88 117 147 177 206 236 265 295 324 354

0 30 59 89 118 148 178 207 237 266 296 325 355

0 30 60 90 119 149 179 208 238 267 297 326 356

For example, the 16th of Iyyar is day 222 = 206 + 16 in a year whose symbol is SD, day 223 in a year whose symbol is SR, day 224 in a year SF, 252 in a year ID, 253 in a year IR, and 254 in a year IF. Table II gives the day of the common year for day 0 of a given month. Here also, one adds the day of the month to the number given in the appropriate column to obtain the day of year. Table II: Civil Months Regular Year January February March April May June July August September October November December

0 31 59 90 120 151 181 212 243 273 304 334

Leap Year 0 31 60 91 121 152 182 213 244 274 305 335

SEDER OLAM

278

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

For example, the 21st of July is either day 202 = 181+21 in a regular year or day 203 in a leap year. The third table is that of determination of years given at the end. The first column contains the date of the Gregorian year, the second column the corresponding Jewish year. The next three columns give day, hour, and parts of the molad of that Jewish year. This is then followed by the day of the week of the first day of Rosh Hashanah and the symbol of the year as explained in the previous section. The last column, indicated by #, gives the day of the regular Gregorian year corresponding to 0 Tishre of the Jewish year. This column is computed, starting from the first number that was taken from a calendar, simply by adding the length of the year (obtained from the symbol) and subtracting 365 (or 366 for a leap year). For example, #(5661) = #(5660) + length(IR) - 365 = 247 + 384 - 365 = 266, #(5662) = #(5661) + length(SF) - 365 = 266 + 355 - 365 = 256, and so on. The reader will be able to extend the table forward and backward if needed. (The Gregorian Calendar was adopted by Catholic countries in 1582 C.E. and by other countries sometime between the 17th and 20th centuries. Hence, care must be taken in extrapolating backwards.) To Change a Civil Date into a Jewish One A Gregorian date appears two times in the table for Jewish years. The first appearance is as second year, the second as first year. "First" and "Second" shall refer to the order of appearance, not the place. For example, the "first" Jewish year corresponding to 1925 is 5685, the "second" is 5686. To convert a Gregorian date into a Jewish one, use Table II to turn day and month into day of year. Then there are two cases: a) If day of year is greater than #(first year) then Day of Jewish year = Day of Gregorian year - #(second year). The Jewish year is the second year, the month is given by the largest

SEDER OLAM

279

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

number in the appropriate column that is smaller than the day of Jewish year and the day is given by the difference between the day of Jewish year and the table entry. b) If day of year is not greater than #(first year) then Day of Jewish year = Day of Gregorian year + 365 - #(first year). The year is the first year; month and day are determined from the column referred to by the symbol of the first year as difference between the Day of Jewish year and the largest table entry that still gives a positive difference. Examples 1. December 5, 1921. Day of year is 5 + 334 = 339 > 255. Hence, Day of Jewish year = 339 - 275 = 64. The year is 5682, its symbol is SF. Hence, 64 = 60 + 4 refers to the Fourth of Kislev. The corresponding Jewish date is Kislev 4, 5682. 2. March 21, 1932. Day of year is 60 + 21 = 81 < 254. Hence, Day of Jewish year = 81 + 365 - 254 = 192. The year is 5692, its symbol is IF. Hence, 192 = 179 + 13 refers to Adar II 13, 5692. 3. June 5, 1947. Day of year is 151 + 5 = 156 < 268. Hence, Day of Jewish year = 156 + 365 - 268 = 253. The year is 5707, its symbol is SR. Hence, 253 = 236 + 17; the date is Siwan 17, 5707.

To Change a Jewish Date into Gregorian From Table III, find the symbol of the year and use Table I to convert day and month into Day of Jewish year. a) If Day of Jewish year + #(year) < 366 (367 in leap year) then the Gregorian year is the first one of the two indicated on the line of the Jewish year and Day of Gregorian year = Day of Jewish year + #(year). b) If Day of Jewish year + #(year) > 365 then the Gregorian year is the second one on the line and

SEDER OLAM

280

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Day of Gregorian year = Day of Jewish year + #(year) - 365. In both cases, month and day are found from Table II. Examples 1. 19 Tammuz 5684. Symbol IR, #(5684) = 253. Day of Jewish year = 296 + 19 = 315. Since 315 + 253 > 365, the year is 1924. Day of year is 315 + 253 - 365 = 203. From Table II (leap year), the month is July and the date is 203 - 182 = 21. 19 Tammuz 5684 is 21 July 1924. 2. 15 Nisan 5702. Symbol SF, #(5702) = 264. Day of Jewish year = 178 + 15 = 193. Since 193 + 264 > 365, the year is 1942. Day of year is 193 + 264 - 365 = 92. From Table II (regular year), 92 = 90 + 2 refers to April 2, 1942. 3. 25 Kislev 5710. Symbol SD, #(5710) = 266. Day of Jewish year = 59 + 25 = 84. Since 84 + 266 = 350 < 365, the year is 1949, the day of year is 350 = 334 + 16, corresponding to December 16, 1947.

Table III

Civil Year Jewish Rosh Ha- Shanah Year Day Hour Parts 1899-1900 5660 3 13 500 1900-1901 5661 9 2 11 1901-1902 5662 6 19 885 1902-1903 5663 5 17 394 1903-1904 5664 3 2 190 1904-1905 5665 0 10 1066 1905-1906 5666 6 8 575 1906-1907 5667 3 17 371 1907-1908 5668 1 2 167 1908-1909 5669 6 23 756 1909-1910 5670 4 8 552 1910-1911 5671 3 6 61 1911-1912 5672 0 937 14 1912-1913 5673 4 23 733 21 1913-1914 5674 3 242 1914-1915 5675 1 6 38 1915-1916 5676 5 14 914 1916-1917 5677 4 12 423 1917-1918 5678 1 21 219 1918-1919 5679 6 6 15 1919-1920 5680 5 3 604 1920-1921 5681 12 2 400 1921-1922 5682 1 9 989 1922-1923 5683 5 18 785 1923-1924 5684 3 3 581 1924-1925 5685 2 1 90 1925-1926 5686 6 9 966 1926-1927 5687 3 18 762 1927-1928 5688 2 16 271 1928-1929 5689 0 1 67 1929-1930 5690 5 22 656 1930-1931 5691 3 7 452 1931-1932 5692 0 16 248 1932-1933 5693 6 837 13 1933-1934 5694 22 3 633 1934-1935 5695 1 7 429

281

Day !Jymbc,1 # R.H. IR 247 Tu Mo SF 266 Sa ID 256 Th SF 274 Tu SR 264 Sa IF 252 Sa SF 272 Th SR 262 Mo ID 251 Sa SF 269 Th ID 258 Tu SR 276 Sa SF 265 Th IF 254 Th SR 274 Mo SR 263 Th IF 251 Th SR 270 Mo SF 259 Sa ID 249 Th SR 267 Mo IF 255 Mo SF 275 Sa SD 265 IR 253 Tu Mo SF 271 Sa SF 261 Th ID 251 Tu SR 269 Sa IF 257 Sa SD 277 Tu SF 265 Sa IF 254 Sa SF 274 SR 263 Th Mo ID 252

Table III

Civil Year Jewish Rosh Ha- Shanah Year Day Hour Parts 0 4 1018 1935-1936 5696 1936-1937 5697 4 13 814 1937-1938 5698 1 22 610 229 1938-1939 5699 0 20 1939-1940 5700 5 4 995 1940-1941 5701 4 2 504 1941-1942 5702 1 11 300 5 20 96 1942-1943 5703 17 685 1943-1944 5704 4 2 2 481 1944-1945 5705 277 1945-1946 5706 6 11 1946-1947 5707 5 8 866 2 17 662 1947-1948 5708 1 171 1948-1949 5709 15 1047 1949-1950 5710 5 23 3 843 1950-1951 5711 8 352 1951-1952 5712 2 6 148 1952-1953 5713 6 15 3 1024 1953-1954 5714 23 2 21 533 1954-1955 5715 329 5716 0 1955-1956 6 1956-1957 5717 4 15 125 1957-1958 5718 12 714 3 510 1958-1059 5719 0 21 1959-1960 5720 6 19 19 4 895 1960-1961 5721 3 1 12 691 1961-1962 5722 0 200 1962-1963 5723 10 5724 4 1076 1963-1964 18 872 1964-1965 5725 2 3 1965-1967 5726 1 1 381 1966-1967 5727 177 5 10 7 766 1967-1968 5728 4 1968-1969 5729 1 16 562 1969-1970 5730 6 1 358 4 22 947 1970-1971 5731

282

Day Symbol # R.H. Sa SF 270 SR 259 Th Mo IF 248 Mo SD 268 Th EF 256 Th SR 275 Mo SF 264 Sa ED 254 Th SR 272 Mo SF 260 Sa ED 250 Th SR 268 Mo EF 257 Mo SF 258 SD 266 Sa Tu ER 254 SF 273 Mo Sa SF 262 Th ED 252 Tu SR 270 Sa SF 259 Th EF 248 Th SR 268 Mo ED 257 SF 275 Sa Th SR 264 Mo ED 253 Sa SF 271 Th SR 261 Mo EF 249 SD 269 Mo Th EF 257 Th SR 277 SF 265 Mo Sa ED 255 SR 273 Th

Table III

Civil Year Jewish Rosh Ha- Shanah Year Day Hour Parts 1971-1972 5732 2 7 743 1972-1973 5733 6 16 539 1973-1974 5734 5 14 48 1974-1975 5735 2 22 924 1975-1976 5736 0 7 720 1976-1977 5737 6 5 229 1977-1978 5738 3 14 25 1978-1979 5739 2 11 614 1979-1980 5740 6 20 410 1980-1981 5741 4 5 206 1981-1982 5742 3 2 795 1982-1983 5743 0 11 591 1983-1984 5744 4 20 387 1984-1985 5745 3 17 976 1985-1986 5746 1 2 772 1986-1987 5747 0 0 281 1987-1988 5748 4 9 77 1988-1989 5749 1 17 953 1989-1990 5750 0 15 462 1990-1991 5751 5 0 258 1991-1992 5752 2 9 54 1992-1993 5753 1 6 643 1993-1994 5754 5 15 439 1994-1995 5755 3 0 235 1995-1996 5756 1 21 824 1996-1997 5757 6 6 620 1997-1998 5758 5 4 129 1998-1999 5759 2 12 1005 1999-2000 5760 6 21 801 2000-2001 5761 5 19 310 2001-2002 5762 3 4 106 2002-2003 5763 0 12 982 2003-2004 5764 6 10 491 2004-2005 5765 19 3 287 2005-2006 5766 2 16 876 2006-2007 5767 0 1 672

283

Day Symbol1 # R.H. Mo SF 262 Sa ED 251 Th SF 269 Tu SR 259 Sa EF 248 Sa SD 267 Tu ER 255 Mo SF 274 Sa SF 264 Th ED 253 Tu SR 271 Sa SF 260 Th EF 250 Th SR 269 Mo ED 258 Sa SF 276 Th SR 266 Mo ED 254 Sa SF 272 Th SR 262 Mo EF 251 Mo SD 270 Th SF 258 Tu ER 248 Mo SF 267 Sa ED 256 Th SR 274 Mo SF 263 Sa EF 253 Sa SD 272 Tu SR 260 Sa EF 249 Sa SF 269 Th ED 258 Tu SR 276 Sa SF 265

Table III

Civil Year Jewish Rosh Ha- Shanah Year Day Hour Parts 2007-2008 5768 4 10 468 7 2008-2009 5769 3 1057 2009-2010 5770 0 16 853 2010-2011 5771 5 1 649 2011-2012 5772 3 23 158 2012-2013 5773 1 7 1034 2013-2014 5774 5 830 16 339 2014-2015 5775 4 14 2015-2016 5776 1 23 135 2016-2017 5777 0 20 724 2017-2018 5778 5 5 520 2018-2019 5779 2 316 14 1 2019-2020 5780 11 905 2020-2021 5781 5 701 20 2021-2022 5782 497 3 5 2022-2023 5783 2 3 6 6 2023-2024 5784 11 882 5 9 2024-2025 5785 391 2025-2026 5786 2 287 18 2026-2027 5787 0 2 1063 2027-2028 5788 6 0 572 2028-2029 5789 3 9 368 2029-2030 5790 0 18 164 2030-2031 5791 6 15 753 2031-2032 5792 4 0 549 2032-2033 5793 1 9 345 2033-2034 5794 0 6 934 4 2034-2035 5795 15 730 2035-2036 5796 3 13 239 2036-2037 5797 0 22 35 911 2037-2038 5798 5 6 2038-2039 5799 4 4 420 2039-2040 5800 1 13 216 2040-2041 5801 5 22 12 2041-2042 5802 4 19 601 2042-2043 5803 2 4 397

284

Day 5Symbol1 # R.H. Th ID 255 Tu SR 272 Sa SF 261 Th EF 251 Th SR 271 Mo SD 259 Th EF 247 Th SR 267 Mo EF 256 Mo SD 275 Th SR 263 Mo EF 252 Mo SF 272 Sa SD 261 Tu ER 249 Mo SF 268 Sa ED 258 SF 275 Th Tu SR 265 Sa EF 254 Sa SF 274 Th SR 263 Mo ED 252 Sa SF 270 Th SR 260 Mo ED 248 Sa SF 266 Th EF 256 Th SR 276 SD 264 Mo Th EF 252 Th SR 272 SF 261 Mo Sa ED 250 Th SR 268 Mo EF 257

Table III

Civil Year Jewish Rosh Ha- Shanah Day Symbol # Year Day Hour Parts R.H. 2043-2044 5804 1 1 986 Mo SD 277 2044-2045 5805 5 10 782 Th SF 264 2045-2046 5806 2 19 578 Tu m 254 2046-2047 5807 1 17 87 Mo SF 273 2047-2048 5808 6 1 963 Sa SD 263 2048-2049 5809 3 10 759 Tu ER 250 2049-2050 5810 2 8 268 Mo SF 269 2050-2051 5811 6 11 64 Sa SF 259 4 1 940 Th I

285

Index of Biblical Verses

Gen. 2:16-17 2:21 5:1 6:3 6:9 6:24 7:3 7:6 7:11 7:12 8:3,5 8:4 8:5-12 8:13 8:14 9:4 9:6 9:26-27 10:25 11:10-24 11:27 11:29 12:4 12:15 14:4-5 15:13 16:3,16 17:17,24 18:14 18:19 20:7 21:12 21:34 23:21 25:26 28:6-9 33:17 37:2 38:1-2,11-12 39:5 41:39 41:46 46:11 46:17 47:9

61 189 266 46,242 189 50 242 3 46 50 50 51 52 53 54 62 61 189 3,189 13 33 183 8 33 8 37,39 11 33 58 61 183 33,37 13 33 37 22 23 28 32 30 265 30 39 96 37

47:24

33

Ex. 1:6-8 4:10 5:12 6:18-20 12:37 12:41 14:5-9,20 15:1 15:20 15:23-25 16:1 16:30 16:35 19:11 20:3 29:32,45 33:16 34:10 40:1-8

8 57 42 39 60 8,58 60 60 184 61 67 68 104 142 61 82 190 190 79

Lev. 5:24 8:24 8:35,36 9:1 9:5,25 24:16

62 83 82 82 142 61

Num. 1:1-3 4:1 4:22,29,49 7:12 9:6-11 10:11 11:19,20 12:15 13:20,25 16:14 20:1-2,14 21:10-13,24 21:14 21:16 21:34-35 22:1

88 88 89 82 89 89 89 89 89 89 92 95 218 93 96 96

287

25:19 26:46,53,59,65 33:2 33:3-4 33:9 33:38-40 Deul. 1:3-5 1:46 2:14 5:26 10:6-7 11:30 27:7-8 29:22 30:5 31:1,2,14 31:21,27,29 32:7 34:4-5

96 96 89 60 67 92 100 89 89 184 93 109 109 235 257 100 234 259 101

Jos. 1:1-2,10-11 4:3,20 4:19 5:2-11 5:12 6:3-15 10:12-13 14:7-10 18:1 22:1-2 24:29-33 34:9

101 109 101,109 112 104 112 112 116 116 117 120 265

Jud. 2:10,15 4:4 6:1 6:6 9:22 10:1-2 10:6-8 10:26 13:1 18:30

123 184 125 173 125 125 126 127,141 127 121,209

SEDER OLAM ISam. 1:9-10 2:1 2:27 4:18 6:1-2 6:11 7:1-2 10:8 13:1,13 16:1,13,14 19:8 25:33 27:7

288 132 184 173 132 129 131 129,130 132 132 132 132 184 132

2Sam. 2:1 5:3 6:17,19 7:19 12:25 13:1,23,39 15:7-8 21:1,8

133 133 136 266 138 138 138 138

IKings 2:11 3:1-3 6:1 6:12-13 6:37-38 7:1 8:1-2 10:27-29 11:1,21 11:11 11:38-39 11:42 13:2 14:24 15:9 16:16,21,22,29 20:13,22,28,35 22:1 22:20 22:32 22:48

141 144 141 175 142 142 142 144 144 175 146 148 175 148 148 153 175 154 175 156 172

2Kings 1:17 2:2-7 8:16 8:17,26 10:30-32 11:1-3 11:12-20

154 184 156 158 163 160 161

INDEX

12:1-2 13:1,10,14 13:13 14:1,2,7 14:22 15:1,8,12 15:14,17,23,27 15:29,32,33 15:30 16:1-2,9-10 17:1,2,4,6 17:3 17:24 18:9,10 18:13,17,18 19:5-7 19:17,18,20-24,35 21:1,19,20 22:1,3 23:25,29 23:30-35 24:1,7 24:12 24:14 24:15 24:8,17,18 25:8 25:27 Is. 1:1 6:1 7:1-6 7:8 7:18 8:23 10:28-32 14:19 16:14 18:6 19:9 19:18,19 20:1 21:8-12 22:22 37:30 38:8 45:14 66:23 66:24 Jer. 1:1

161 163 167 165 167 167 191 192 194 192 197 194 197 197 200 200 201 209 210 210 213 214 216 217 218 220 233 237

170 170 192 241 175 200 201 237 200 42 200 202 200 240 218 202 202 201,202 42 43 178

1:5 3:1 6:4 9:9 22:19: 24:5 25:2,5 26:1,6,22 27:1-8 28:1-3,17 29:1-10 29:10 32:31 34:5 34:8-11 34:18 37:5 46:1-2 49:35 51:46 52:4-12 52:27 52:28 52:29 52:31

266 62 234 234 216 218 214 214 214 220 222 251 144 237 225 225 226 214 220 241 233 235 216,218,235 225,235 237

Ezech. 1:1-3 1:3 3:15 4:4-6 8:1 10:19 11:23 20:1-4 23:31 24:1-2 29:1-2 29:15 30:16,18 30:20-21 31:1-2 33:21 32:17-18 40:1

223 178 223 223 224 224 224 225 226 228 228 172 240 229 229 229 229 116,230

Hosea 1:1,2 5:3 10:6

170 197 194

Amos 1:1 3:12 7:11

170 194 243

SEDER OLAM

Obadiah 1:1 Mic. 1:1

INDEX

289

172 170.171

Zeph. 1:1

178

Zach. 1:12 11:8 14:5

252 102 170

Mai. 3:21

42

Psalm 27:5 49:15 78:60-67 94:23 103:20 105:18,19 106:48 110:4 121 139:15-17

161 43 129 264 218 30 265 189 240 266

Prov. 22:10,18-21

259

Job 7:3 34:16 42:10,16

42 266 37

Song 3:11 4:10-11 4:16-5:1

142 185 83

Ruth: 1,2,13

123

Lament. 4:20

210

Esther 1:3 2:16 3:7,13

250 250 250

9:5,11,12 9:29

250 184,251

Daniel 1:1,2 1:21 2:1 2:19,21,22 5:1-6 5:30 6:1 7:1 8:1 8:21 9:1 9:2 9:23-27 11:1-2 11:3-4

216 242 237 265 239 240 241 239 239 259 241 242 242 242 259

Ezra 1:1-3,5 2:64-65 3:3,7 4:6,24 4:9-10 6:15 7:6-10

247 247 247 247 197 252 252

Neh. 1:1 7:73-8:1 8:17 13:6

255 257 257 255

IChr. 2:6 5:17 5:26 8:13 9:22 15:25 16:1-4 16:20,22

173 167 194 43 173 136 136 184

26:31 2Chr. 7:1-3 11:4 12:1,13 12:2,9 12:7 13:8,19,20 13:23 15:1-2 16:1 16:2-9 16:7 19:20 20:14,37 21:2-4 21:12 22:2,7 22:8-9 24:1 24:7 24:15-16 24:19,20 25:7,16 25:14-16 25:17-24 25:25,27 26:2-5,21 28:5-8,20,21 28:9 29:1 32:3,30 33:1,12,21,23 33:10,11 34:1 34:22 35:3,21-24 36:6 36:9,10 36:13:21

139 142 175 148 149 175 149 150 175 150 151 175 175 175 156 156,175 158 160 161 210 161 175 175 165 165 166 167 192 175 202 202 209 175 210 184 210 216 220 234

SEDER OLAM

290

INDEX

Index of Talmudic References Babylonian Talmud Berakhoi 63b Sabbath 10b 15a 19a 86b 87b 105b 108b 154b

26,131 12 254 113 65,69 65,70,72,87 40 121 226

Eruvin 13b

139

Pesahim 87a

171

Yoma 4b 22b 52b 54a 73b

69 133 211 235 137

Rosh Hashanah 2a 7 3a 95,97 3b 251,256 4b 6 lOa-lla 53 11a 10 lib/12a 47,49 17a 44 18b 230 31a 225 32b 59 Sukkah25a Taanit 5b 9a 22a 29a 30b Megillah 3a

81 134 95,103 264 90,235 197 197

10b lib 14a

177 235,236,238,249 185

Moed qatan 7b 28a 16b 17a Yevamot 12b 61b Sota 35b 48b Nedarim 32a

168 134 23,179 23 16 16 110 137

57b 58a 69b 89a 94a 95b 103b 107a 108b

65 21 34,35,185 221 195 25 211 51 5

Avodah zarah 3a 84 5a 266 8b 262,263 9a/b 261 25a 115

5 Zevahim 101b/102a

Nazir 5a Gittin 68a 88a Qiddushin 38a

Baba qama 100a

139 197 117 101, 105,111 38

Baba mezia' 8a

6

Baba batra 14b 15a/b 91a 110a 117a/b 121b 123a 123b

171 38 124 211 97 19,98,197 29 98

Sanhedrin 38a 38b 39a 56b

117 266 172 62

116a 118b/119a

86 85 118, 119

Menahot 109b/110a 207 Arakhin 8b lib 12a 12b 13a 32b

87 264 236 143 118 259

Meilah 13a

252

Temurah 14b

139

Hullin 91b

25

Niddah 38b 46b 47a

134 66 34

SEDER OLAM

INDEX

291

Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 6:1 9:9

66, 258,259 258,259

Bikkurim 2:1 3:3

134 133

Shabbai 1 9:3

113 69

Eruvin3:ll

269

Yoma 1:1

80,94

Rosh Hashanah 1:1

48,53

Sheqalim6:l

211

Sukkah 5:8

173

Bezah 2:1

65

Megillah 1:6 1:13 1:14 3:6

235 85 118,119 87

Sola 1:8 1:10 5:8 6:3 7:3 Nedarim6:ll

Moed qatan 2:4 5:5

113 5

Taaniot 1:3 4:2 4:8 155,225,230, 4:9 6:7

47 173 235 235 197

Yevamot 4:11 10:14 11:12 16:3

26,131 34 26 149

Qiddushin 1:1 1:2 1:9

127,139 94 38 211 110 218 26 34,143 111

Baba batra 8:3

97

Sanhedrin 1:2 10:3 11:7

218 44 221

Avodah zarah 1:2 3:1

48,262 51

Mishnah and Tosephta idiut 2:10 Sanhedrin 10:3 Avot 3:15 Miqwaot 8:3 Yadaim 4:4

45 47 7 69 204

T. Eruvin 3

113

T. Taaniot 4 197 T. Sotah 8 110 10 4 11 94,101,103,105, 158 12 151,157,187 13 211,262 T. Bava batra 7 97

T. Sanhedrin 13 Avot deR. Natan (A)32 (A)34 Soferim 21:7 Megillat Taanit 5

44

5,258 225 27 93,198

Midrashim and Targumim Mekhilta R. lsmael

65,70,101,103,104, 105 Mekhilta R. Simeon bar iohai 57,70,105 Sifra 79,80,84,144,168 Sifri 41,80,97,110 Sifri Devarim 16,101,103,122 Bereshit rabba

4,5,11,12,13,14,16,

17,27,28,31,48,5 3,62,113,149,189 Shemot rabba 31,38,55,59,267 Wayiqra rabba 57,146,149,221,267 Bemidbar rabba 57,96,114,157 Devarim rabba 101 Midrash Shemuel 18,148 Midrash Tehillim 5,57,267 Midrash Shir Hashirim 38,39,41, 85,143,145,146,262 Ruth rabba 124,187,188

SEDER QLAM Ekha rabbati Qohelet rabba Esther rabba Midrash Sefer Hayashar Pesiqta deR. Cahana Pesiqta rabbati Pirqe Rebbi Eliezer

INDEX

292

155,197 17,98,119 177

25,26 17,62,80 16,38 16,25,26, 27,39,56,114,122 Seder Eliahu rabba 155 Tanhuma 17,31,38,57,96,101,113,114, 124,157,267

Tanhuma Buber

17,26,57,96,101, 113,114,124,267

Yalqut Shim'oni 21,96,125,171,172,178,203,238 Targum Targum Targum Targum Targum Targum

1 Chr. Jonathan Onkelos Proverbs Ruth Yerushalmi

198 171,105,224 111 197 198 21,25,27, 93

About the Author Heinrich W. Guggenheimer is Professor Emeritus of Polytechnic University (for­ merly Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn) where he taught mathematics and also Jewish studies in the Department of Humanities. He received his M.S. and Sc.D. degrees from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and his Jewish training at the Bet Hamidrash of Basel Switzerland. He has also taught at Hebrew University, Bar Ilan University, Washington State University, and the University of Minnesota. He has published over 150 research papers on Mathematics and the Talmud, and is the author of Differential Geometry (1963, 1977), Plane Geometry and its Groups (1967), Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers (1976), Applicable Geometry (1977), BASIC Mathematical Programs for Engineers and Scientists (1987), The Scholar's Haggadah (1996) and, togeth­ er with his wife, Dr. Eva H. Guggenheimer, Jewish Family Names & Their Origins: An Etymological Dictionary (1992, German edition 1996). He current­ ly teaches daily classes in Talmud and a weekly class in Zohar at Congregation Anshei Shalom, West Hempstead, NY.