The Funeral Honors of Hezekiah in II Chronicles 32:33 (Bava Kamma 16b-17a)

The sugya begins with a narrow legal distinction in the Mishnah and then moves into a chain of aggadic interpretations built around key biblical terms. The Mishnah distinguishes between a tam, an innocuous ox, and a mu‘ad, a forewarned ox. A tam pays only half-damages, and payment is limited to the value of the damaging animal itself. A mu‘ad pays full damages, and payment comes “from the aliya,” meaning from the owner’s higher-grade property. The Talmud opens by clarifying this phrase. R. Elazar explains that aliya refers to the “best” or “superior” portion of one’s assets. This legal clarification then becomes the point of departure for a series of interpretations based on similar language elsewhere in Scripture.

The first biblical parallel is the burial of King Hezekiah in II Chronicles 32:33. The verse says that Hezekiah was buried “in the ma‘ale of the graves of the descendants of David.” R. Elazar reads ma‘ale as a qualitative term: Hezekiah was buried near the “best” members of the Davidic dynasty. These are identified as David and Solomon.

The sugya then continues with another verse from Chronicles, this time concerning the burial of King Asa. II Chronicles 16:14 describes Asa’s bier as filled with “perfumes and zenim.” R. Elazar interprets zenim as “types,” meaning many varieties of perfumes. R. Shmuel bar Naḥmani offers a more morally charged reading, connecting zenim with zenut, sexual immorality: these were perfumes whose smell aroused licentiousness.

A similar pair of interpretations is then applied to Jeremiah 18:22, where Jeremiah complains that his enemies dug a pit and laid snares for him. R. Elazar says that Jeremiah’s enemies falsely accused him of relations with a prostitute. R. Shmuel bar Naḥmani says they accused him of relations with a married woman.

Rava then interprets Jeremiah’s continuation in verse 23: “Let them be made to stumble before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.” According to Rava, Jeremiah asked that even when his enemies give charity, God should cause them to give to unworthy recipients, so that they receive no reward. This is a severe form of curse: not merely that their sins be punished, but that even their apparently meritorious acts fail to count as merit.

The sugya then returns to Hezekiah’s burial and the phrase “they afforded him honor in his death.” One interpretation states that they established a yeshiva at his grave, with a dispute as to whether this study continued for three, seven, or thirty days.

A baraita offers another interpretation. R. Yehuda says that 36,000 men walked before Hezekiah with bared shoulders as a sign of mourning, deriving the number from the word lo, whose numerical value (gematria) is thirty-six. R. Neḥemya rejects this as insufficiently distinctive, since the same honor was shown to Ahab. He instead says that they placed a Torah scroll on Hezekiah’s bier and declared: “This one fulfilled what is written in this.”

Outline

Intro

The Passage

Mishnah

1. Difference between tam and mu‘ad: tam pays half-damages from the animal’s own value; mu‘ad pays full damages from superior property

Talmud

1. R’ Elazar - “From the ‘aliya’ ” means from the best quality of one’s property

2. R’ Elazar - “In the best of the graves of David’s descendants” means near the best members of the dynasty: David and Solomon - II Chronicles 32:33

3. R’ Elazar - “Perfumes and spices” means many types of perfumes - II Chronicles 16:14

4. R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani - “Perfumes and spices” means perfumes that arouse licentiousness

5. R’ Elazar - Jeremiah’s enemies accused him of relations with a prostitute - Jeremiah 18:22

6. R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani - Jeremiah’s enemies accused him of relations with a married woman

7. Rava - Jeremiah asked God that even when his enemies give charity, they should give to unworthy recipients, and thus receive no divine reward - Jeremiah 18:23

8. “They honored him in his death” teaches that they established a yeshiva at Hezekiah’s grave - II Chronicles 32:33

9. R’ Natan and Rabbis - The yeshiva at Hezekiah’s grave lasted 3, 7, or 30 days

10. R’ Yehuda - The honor given to Hezekiah was that 36,000 men with bared shoulders walked before him at burial - II Chronicles 32:33

11. R’ Neḥemya - Bared shoulders cannot be the special honor, since the same was done for Ahab

    1. .. rather, they placed a Torah scroll on Hezekiah’s bier, and declared that he fulfilled it

The Passage

Sefaria: Bava_Kamma.16b.15-17a.7

ChavrutAI: Bava_Kamma/16b#15 and on

Mishnah

Mishnah Bava Kamma 1:4

Difference between tam and mu‘ad: tam pays half-damages from the animal’s own value; mu‘ad pays full damages from superior property

מה בין

• תם

• למועד?

What is the difference between

• the liability incurred for damage caused by an ox that is considered innocuous (תם)

• and the liability incurred for damage caused by an ox that is forewarned (מועד)?¹

אלא ש

• התם

  • משלם חצי נזק

  • מגופו,

• ומועד

  • משלם נזק שלם

  • מן העלייה.

The only differences are that

• for damage caused by an innocuous ox,

  • the owner pays half the cost of the damage (חצי נזק)

  • exclusively from proceeds of the sale of the body of the ox,

• and for a forewarned ox

  • he pays the full cost of the damage

  • from his higher (עלייה) property.

Talmud

R’ Elazar - “From the ‘aliya’ ” means from the best quality of one’s property

מאי ״עלייה״?

אמר רבי אלעזר:

במעולה שבנכסיו.

What does the Mishnah mean by saying he pays from his higher [aliyya] property?

R’ Elazar says:

It means that he pays with the superior-quality [ba-me’ulla] items of his property.

R’ Elazar - “In the best of the graves of David’s descendants” means near the best members of the dynasty: David and Solomon - II Chronicles 32:33

וכן הוא אומר:

״וישכב חזקיהו עם אבתיו,

ויקברהו במעלה קברי בני דויד״,

And similarly, the fact that the word aliyya is referring to superior-quality property is indicated by the verse that states:

“And Hezekiah lay with his ancestors,

and they buried him in the best [be-ma’ale] of the graves of the descendants of David” (II Chronicles 32:33),

ואמר רבי אלעזר:

״במעלה״ –

אצל מעולים שבמשפחה,

ומאן נינהו?

דוד ושלמה.

and R’ Elazar says:

The term be-ma’ale

means beside the best of the (Davidic) family.

And who are they?

David and Solomon.

R’ Elazar - “Perfumes and spices” means many types of perfumes - II Chronicles 16:14

״ויקברהו בקברתיו

אשר כרה לו בעיר דויד,

וישכיבהו במשכב

אשר מלא בשמים וזנים״

The Talmud offers an interpretation of another verse about the burial of a king of Judea, King Asa:

“And they buried him in his own graves,

which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David,

and laid him in the resting place,

which was filled with perfumes and spices [zenim] prepared by the perfumers’ art” (II Chronicles 16:14).

מאי ״בשמים וזנים״?

רבי אלעזר אמר:

זיני זיני.

What is meant by “perfumes and spices”?

R’ Elazar says:

It means many different types² of perfumes.

R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani - “Perfumes and spices” means perfumes that arouse licentiousness

רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר:

בשמים שכל המריח בהן —

בא לידי זימה.

R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani says:

The word zenim sounds similar to the word zenut, licentiousness, and should therefore be understood about types of perfumes that anyone who smells them —

is led to licentiousness³

R’ Elazar - Jeremiah’s enemies accused him of relations with a prostitute - Jeremiah 18:22

״כי כרו שוחה ללכדני,

ופחים טמנו לרגלי״

The Talmud cites another dispute between R’ Elazar and R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani:

Jeremiah requested of God to punish those who hounded him:

“For they have dug a pit to trap me

and they have set snares for my feet” (Jeremiah 18:22).

רבי אלעזר אמר:

שחשדוהו מזונה.

In what way did they dig a pit to trap him?

R’ Elazar says:

They cast suspicion upon him of sex with a prostitute [zona].

R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani - Jeremiah’s enemies accused him of relations with a married woman

רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר:

שחשדוהו מאשת איש.

[...]

R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani says:

They cast suspicion upon him of having sex with a married woman.

[...]

Rava - Jeremiah asked God that even when his enemies give charity, they should give to unworthy recipients, and thus receive no divine reward - Jeremiah 18:23

דרש רבא:

מאי דכתיב:

״יהיו מכשלים לפניך,

בעת אפך עשה בהם״?

Rava interpreted a verse homiletically:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“Let them be made to stumble before You;

deal with them in the time of Your anger” (Jeremiah 18:23)?

אמר ירמיה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא:

רבונו של עולם,

אפילו בשעה שעושין צדקה –

הכשילם בבני אדם שאינן מהוגנים,

כדי שלא יקבלו עליהן שכר.

It means that Jeremiah said before God:

God!

even at a time when they try to perform acts of charity,

make them stumble by ensuring that they do so with people who are unworthy of charity

in order that they should not receive the reward for helping them.

“They honored him in his death” teaches that they established a yeshiva at Hezekiah’s grave - II Chronicles 32:33

״וכבוד עשו לו במותו״

מלמד ש

הושיבו ישיבה על קברו.

The Talmud, above, cited a verse concerning King Hezekiah’s burial.

The Talmud cites the continuation of that verse: “And they afforded him honor in his death” (II Chronicles 32:33).

This teaches that

they established a yeshiva at his grave to study Torah there.⁴

R’ Natan and Rabbis - The yeshiva at Hezekiah’s grave lasted 3, 7, or 30 days

פליגי בה רבי נתן ורבנן,

1. חד אמר

   1. שלשה,

2. וחד אמר

   1. שבעה.

3. ואמרי לה:

   1. שלשים.

R’ Natan and the Rabbis disagree with regard to this yeshiva:

1. One said:

   1. They studied there for 3 days.

2. And the other one said:

   1. They studied there for 7 days.

3. And some say

   1. they studied there for 30 days.

R’ Yehuda - The honor given to Hezekiah was that 36,000 men with bared shoulders walked before him at burial - II Chronicles 32:33

תנו רבנן:

״וכבוד עשו לו במותו״

זה חזקיה מלך יהודה,

שיצאו לפניו שלשים וששה אלף חלוצי כתף,

דברי רבי יהודה.

A baraita states

another interpretation of the verse cited: “And afforded him [lo] honor in his death” (II Chronicles 32:33).

This is referring to the honor given to Hezekiah, king of Judea,

that at his burial 36,000 men with bared (חלוצי) shoulders went out before him.⁵

This is the statement of R’ Yehuda.

R’ Neḥemya - Bared shoulders cannot be the special honor, since the same was done for Ahab

אמר לו רבי נחמיה:

והלא לפני אחאב עשו כן!

R’ Neḥemya said to him:

But didn’t they also do this before Ahab?⁶

Apparently, if they did this for the wicked king Ahab, it is an honor shown to all kings, and it is was not a unique show of honor for the righteous Hezekiah.

.. rather, they placed a Torah scroll on Hezekiah’s bier, and declared that he fulfilled it

אלא שהניחו ספר תורה על מטתו,

ואמרו:

קיים זה מה שכתוב בזה.

Rather,

the honor that was done for Hezekiah was that they laid a Torah scroll upon his bier

and they said:

This one, i.e., Hezekiah, fulfilled that which is written in this,⁷ i.e., the Torah scroll.

1. On an ox that’s tam vs mu’ad, see my parenthetical notes in “Pt1 Rabbinic Advice: Practical Guidance from the Talmud (Pesachim 112a-114a)“, in section “The Dangers of Oxen: Black oxen in Nisan are especially dangerous; stay 50 cubits from innocuous oxen and farther from goring oxen“, list item #2:

Rav Oshaya advises staying fifty cubits away from an innocuous ox (שור תם - i.e. which has little to no history of goring) and keep beyond eyeshot from a forewarned ox (שור מועד - i.e. which has a history of goring).

2. זיני זיני.

This is indeed the straightforward meaning of that verse, see BDB. On this word in general, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “זַן”:

(Biblical Hebrew זַן; Syriac זן qualitas, modus, Payne Smith, ‘Thesaurus Syriacus’ 1138, sq.; compare זֶה, and מִין and מַה)

quality, nature; kind, species.

• Onkelos Genesis 1:11 - לִזְנֵיהּ - “after its kind”

• Onkelos Leviticus 11:14 - לִזְנָהּ;

• and very frequently.

• Berakhot 32a:12 (proverb) - מלי כרסיה זנא בישא Arukh (printed edition: זְנֵי בישי) - “filled stomachs are a bad sort” (plenty is tempting).

Plural: זְנֵי, זֵינֵי.

• Onkelos Genesis 1:21;

• and frequently.

• Daniel 2:5, see זְמָרָא.

• Bava Kamma 16b:19 (explaining זנים, II Chronicles 16:14) - זני זני Manuscript Munich and Arukh (printed edition: זיני) - “various species”

3. זימה.

For another instance where the Talmud connects perfume to illicit sexual arousal, also in the context of homiletic Bible interpretation, see my “Perfume, Pleasure, and Moral Decay in Late First Temple Samaria and Jerusalem: Interpretations of Amos 6 and Isaiah 3 (Shabbat 62b-63a)“, section “R’ Yitzḥak of R’ Ami’s School - “Tinkling with their feet” = perfumes in shoes which they would kick up toward young men - Isaiah 3:16“.

And see also the passage cited in my appendix, “Appendix - The Ban on Going Out Alone at Night“, section “Going out alone at night as one of the 6/8 things that are disgraceful for a Torah scholar (Berakhot 43b)”, list item #1:

אל יצא כשהוא מבושם לשוק

[A Torah scholar] should not go out perfumed (מבושם) into the marketplace

And compare with list item #4 there, also about the correct behavior in the marketplace, which would indicate that it’s likely to prevent illicit sex:

ואל יספר עם אשה בשוק

And [a Torah scholar] should not converse with a woman in the marketplace

4. See another instance of “yeshiva” in the Talmud, in my “Appendix 2 - ‘Yeshiva’ (formal Torah study) always existed - A List of 6 major periods and personalities from the Pentateuch (Yoma 28b): the Biblical Patriarchs, and in Egypt and in the Wilderness“.

And see Jastrow (modernized), entry “יְשִׁיבָה”, sense #3:

3) scholars’ session, council, academy; court.

• Yoma 28b:8 זקן ויושב בישיבה an elder and member of council.

• Yoma 28b:7 לא פרשה ישיבה מהם they (our early ancestors) were never without council (a representative body).

• Pesachim 119a:1 - המכיר … בישיבה - “who knows his colleague’s place in meetings; … המקבל בישיבה who greets his colleague in meetings with kindness”

• Berakhot 57a:10 ראש ישיבה presiding officer.

• Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 4:1:33 - ומינו את ר”א … בישיבה they elected Rabbi El. … (president) in regular session.

• Yoma 2a:8 הושיבו … בישיבה they installed him as president.

• Bava Batra 120a:4 בישיבה הלך וכ׳ - “in court or college give the preference to learning, in social entertainment to age”

• and frequently.

ישיבה של מעלה - divine court.

• Bava Metzia 86a:9 נתבקש בישיבה של מעלה - has been summoned before divine justice (is dead);

• and frequently.

Plural: יְשִׁיבוֹת.

• Kohelet Rabbah 1:8 אפשר שהישיבות הללו טועות וכ׳ is it possible that those colleges be lost in such futile errors;

• Tosefta Chullin 2:24 שהסיבו הללו טועים (correct accordingly; see, however, סֵיבוּ).

• Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 10:5:2 - שימשתי את אבא עומדות מה שלא שמשת ישיבות I have served my father at more ‘standing meetings’ (standing up as an Amora) than you have served at college sessions;

• Jerusalem Talmud Chagigah 3:1:2;

• and frequently.

For the citation from tractate Bava Metzia, see my “Pt2 Sage on the Run: The Fleeing and Death of Rabba bar Naḥmani (Bava Metzia 86a)“, section “Announcement of Death, and Searching for his body“.

5. Steinsaltz explains:

They removed their robes from their shoulders as a sign of mourning.

The number 36,000 is alluded to by the numerical value (gematria) of the word lo, which is 36.

6. R. Neḥemya refers to an apparently known tradition that the same display of mourning—men proceeding with bared shoulders—was performed at Ahab’s funeral.

This detail is not explicit in the biblical account of Ahab’s death and burial, which merely states that he was brought to Samaria and buried there, I Kings 22:37-40:

וימת המלך

ויבוא שמרון

ויקברו את המלך בשמרון

So the king died,

and was brought to Shomeron;

and they buried the king in Shomeron.

וישטף את הרכב על ברכת שמרון

וילקו הכלבים את דמו

והזנות רחצו

כדבר יהוה אשר דבר

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Shomeron;

and the dogs licked up his blood;

and the prostitutes washed there;

according to the word of YHWH which he spoke.

ויתר דברי אחאב

וכל אשר עשה

ובית השן אשר בנה

וכל הערים אשר בנה

הלוא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי ישראל

Now the rest of the acts of Aḥ’av,

and all that he did,

and the ivory house which he made,

and all the cities that he built,

behold they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra’el

וישכב אחאב עם אבתיו

וימלך אחזיהו בנו תחתיו

So Aḥ’av slept with his fathers;

and Aḥazyahu his son reigned in his stead.

In Chronicles, the parallel account is II Chronicles 18:34, But there’s no mention there of his burial.

7. קיים זה מה שכתוב בזה.

See this same line in my “Pt1 Joseph’s Bones in Exodus 13 and Joshua 24: Honor, Completion, and Consequences (Sotah 13a-b)“, section “Two Arks in the Desert“, where I summarize:

During the Israelites’ wanderings, Joseph’s coffin traveled alongside the Ark of the Covenant.

When questioned, the people explained that Joseph’s life embodied the Torah contained in the Ark, so the pairing was fitting: “This one fulfilled everything written in that one.”