Pt1 Herod, the Hasmonean Princess, and Bava ben Buta: Illegitimate Power, Rabbinic Prudence, and the Renovation of the Second Temple (Bava Batra 3b-4a)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series can be found below.

Chanukah Sameach! Unrelated to this post, see my post two years ago related to Chanukah: “Notes on Some Historical Aspects Relating to Chanukah and the Hasmoneans in the Second Temple Period: Popularization of the Torah; Rise of Mikvaot and Bathouses in Eretz Yisrael; Quietism in Josephus and the Talmud; Chanukah and the Book of Daniel“ (Dec 09, 2023)

This sugya recounts its view of the rise of Herod (Hordus), a slave of the Hasmonean dynasty (according to the Talmud) who seized power through murder, deceit, and ambition, and his fateful encounter with the sage Bava ben Buta.¹

Herod, once a servant in the Hasmonean household, became consumed with desire for a young Hasmonean princess. When a bat kol proclaimed that any slave who rebelled at that moment would succeed, Herod slaughtered the entire Hasmonean family, sparing only the girl he coveted. Facing forced marriage to her family’s murderer, she ascended a rooftop, declared that any future claimant to Hasmonean lineage was a fraud—“for none remain but me”—and leapt to her death. Herod preserved her body in honey for seven years. Some say he had sex with it; others say he did not—either way, he kept it to claim royal legitimacy by “marrying a king’s daughter.”²

To secure his power, Herod turned on the rabbis, who taught that “one from among your brothers you shall set as king” (Deuteronomy 17:15), excluding slaves and converts from the throne. He massacred them all except one: Bava ben Buta, whom he blinded with a spiked garland to keep as his advisor.

Disguised, Herod later tested Bava ben Buta, urging the sage to curse “that wicked slave Herod.” But Bava ben Buta refused, citing the scriptural bans against cursing a king, a rich man, or even a leader—“for a bird of the sky shall carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20). When Herod revealed himself, remorseful for his crimes, he asked how to atone. The sage replied: “You have extinguished the light of the world—the rabbis, for ‘Torah is light’—now go and engage with the light of the world—the Temple of God.” Others record the phrasing: “You have blinded the eye of the world; rebuild the eye of the world.”

Fearing Rome, Herod hesitated, but Bava ben Buta counseled him to delay permission by sending messengers for three years, rebuilding in the interim. Herod did so, reconstructing the Temple in magnificent splendor—“One who has not seen Herod’s Temple,” the rabbis said, “has never seen a beautiful building in his life.” Built of alternating rows of blue, white, and green marble, its waves of stone gleamed like the sea. Yet Rome scorned him nonetheless: “Even if armed, your book is here—you are no king, nor son of a king, but Herod the freed slave.”

The sugya then closes with the fact that Daniel was punished for counseling Nebuchadnezzar.

Outline

Intro

The Passage - Herod, the Hasmonean Princess, and Bava ben Buta: Illegitimate Power, Rabbinic Prudence, and the Renovation of the Second Temple (Bava Batra 3b-4a)

1. Herod, once a servant in the Hasmonean household, became consumed with desire for a young Hasmonean princess; When a bat kol proclaimed that any slave who rebelled at that moment would succeed, Herod slaughtered the entire Hasmonean family, sparing only the girl he coveted

2. Facing forced marriage to her family’s murderer, she ascended a rooftop, declared that any future claimant to Hasmonean lineage was a fraud—“for none remain but me”—and leapt to her death

3. Herod preserved her body in honey for seven years. Some say he had sex with it; others say he did not—either way, he kept it to claim royal legitimacy by “marrying a king’s daughter”

4. To secure his power, Herod turned on the rabbis, who taught that “one from among your brothers you shall set as king” (Deuteronomy 17:15), excluding slaves and converts from the throne; He massacred them all except one (to keep as his advisor): Bava ben Buta, whom he blinded with a spiked garland

5. Disguised, Herod later tested Bava ben Buta, urging the sage to curse “that wicked slave Herod”; But Bava ben Buta refused, citing the scriptural bans against cursing a king, a rich man, or even a leader (Exodus 22:27)—“for a bird of the sky shall carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20)

6. Herod objects that the verse applies only to one “who does the deeds of your people,” which Herod does not - Exodus 22:27; Bava ben Buta - Replies that even so, he fears retribution - “a bird of the sky shall carry the sound” - Ecclesiastes 10:20

Part 2

1. When Herod revealed himself, remorseful for his crimes, he asked how to atone

2. Bava ben Buta advises that Herod, who extinguished or blinded the “light” or “eye” of the world (the rabbis), should now occupy himself with the “light” or “eye” of the world (the Temple) - Proverbs 6:23; Isaiah 2:2; Numbers 15:24; Ezekiel 24:21

3. Fearing Rome, Herod hesitated, but Bava ben Buta counseled him to delay permission by sending messengers for three years, rebuilding in the interim; Herod followed the advice

4. Rome rebukes Herod for rebuilding the Temple without permission

   1. ... calls him “Herod the slave who made himself a freeman”

   2. ‘Reikha’ [=’rex’] = “monarchy” - II Samuel 3:39; Genesis 41:43

5. Herod’s Temple was beautiful

6. The materials and appearance of Herod’s Temple: Built of alternating rows of blue, white, and green marble

   1. ... its waves of stone gleamed like the sea

7. Rav Yehuda citing Rav / R’ Yehoshua ben Levi - Daniel was punished for advising Nebuchadnezzar

   1. Prooftext - Daniel 4:24–26

The Passage

Bava_Batra.3b.14-4a.9

Herod, once a servant in the Hasmonean household, became consumed with desire for a young Hasmonean princess; When a bat kol proclaimed that any slave who rebelled at that moment would succeed, Herod slaughtered the entire Hasmonean family, sparing only the girl he coveted

הורדוס עבדא דבית חשמונאי הוה.

נתן עיניו באותה תינוקת.

יומא חד,

שמע ההוא גברא בת קלא דאמר:

כל עבדא דמריד השתא, מצלח.

קם קטלינהו לכולהו מרותיה,

ושיירה לההיא ינוקתא.

§ The Talmud elaborates on the episode involving Bava ben Buta.

Herod was a slave in the house of the Hasmoneans.

He set his eyes upon a certain young girl from the house of the Hasmoneans.

One day that man, Herod, heard a bat kol that said:

Any slave who rebels now will succeed.

He rose up and killed all his masters,

but spared that girl.

Facing forced marriage to her family’s murderer, she ascended a rooftop, declared that any future claimant to Hasmonean lineage was a fraud—“for none remain but me”—and leapt to her death

כי חזת ההיא ינוקתא דקא בעי למינסבה,

סליקא לאיגרא,

ורמא קלא אמרה:

״כל מאן דאתי ואמר: מבית חשמונאי קאתינא –

עבדא הוא,

דלא אישתיירא מינייהו אלא ההיא ינוקתא,

וההיא ינוקתא נפלה מאיגרא לארעא״.

When that girl saw that he wanted to marry her,

she went up to the roof

and raised her voice, and said:

Whoever comes and says: I come from the house of the Hasmoneans,

is a slave,

since only that girl, i.e., I, remained from them.

And that girl fell from the roof to the ground and died.

Herod preserved her body in honey for seven years. Some say he had sex with it; others say he did not—either way, he kept it to claim royal legitimacy by “marrying a king’s daughter”

טמנה שבע שנין בדובשא.

• איכא דאמרי:

  • בא עליה,

• איכא דאמרי:

  • לא בא עליה.

• דאמרי לה בא עליה,

  • הא דטמנה – ליתוביה ליצריה.

• ודאמרי לה לא בא עליה,

  • האי דטמנה – כי היכי דנאמרו: בת מלך נסב.

It is related that Herod preserved the girl’s body in honey for 7 years to prevent it from decaying.

• There are those who say that

  • he engaged in necrophilia with her³ corpse

• and there are those who say

  • he did not engage in necrophilia with her corpse.

• According to those who say he engaged in necrophilia with her corpse,

  • the reason that he preserved her body was to gratify his carnal desires.

• And according to those who say he did not engage in necrophilia with her corpse,

  • the reason that he preserved her body was so that people would say he married a king’s daughter.

To secure his power, Herod turned on the rabbis, who taught that “one from among your brothers you shall set as king” (Deuteronomy 17:15), excluding slaves and converts from the throne; He massacred them all except one (to keep as his advisor): Bava ben Buta, whom he blinded with a spiked garland

אמר:

מאן דריש ״מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך״?

רבנן.

קם קטלינהו לכולהו רבנן,

שבקיה לבבא בן בוטא למשקל עצה מניה.

אהדר ליה כלילא דיילי,

נקרינהו לעיניה.

Herod said to himself:

Who expounds the verse: “One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you” (Deuteronomy 17:15) as meaning that he who is appointed as king must come from a Jewish family and cannot be an emancipated slave or a convert?

It is the rabbis who expound the verse in this manner, insisting that a king must have Jewish roots.

He then rose up and killed all the rabbis,

but spared Bava ben Buta in order to take counsel with him.

Herod placed a garland⁴ made of porcupine (יילי) hide on Bava ben Buta’s head,

which pricked (נקרינהו) his eyes out.

Disguised, Herod later tested Bava ben Buta, urging the sage to curse “that wicked slave Herod”; But Bava ben Buta refused, citing the scriptural bans against cursing a king, a rich man, or even a leader (Exodus 22:27)—“for a bird of the sky shall carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20)

יומא חד

אתא ויתיב קמיה,

1. אמר: חזי מר, האי עבדא בישא מאי קא עביד!

   1. אמר ליה: מאי אעביד ליה?

2. אמר ליה: נלטייה מר!

   1. אמר ליה: כתיב ״גם במדעך, מלך אל תקלל״.

3. אמר ליה: האי לאו מלך הוא!

אמר ליה:

• וליהוי עשיר בעלמא,

  • וכתיב: ״ובחדרי משכבך אל תקלל עשיר״;

• ולא יהא אלא נשיא,

  • וכתיב: ״ונשיא בעמך לא תאר״.

One day Herod came and sat before him [=Bava ben Buta] without identifying himself in order to test him.

1. He, Herod, said: See, Master, what this evil slave Herod is doing.

   1. Bava ben Buta said to him: What should I do to him?

2. Herod said to him: The Master should curse him.

   1. Bava ben Buta said to him: But it is written: “Do not curse the king, not even in your thoughts” (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

3. Herod said to him: He is not a king, since he rules illegally.

Bava ben Buta said to him:

• And even if he were merely a rich man I would not curse him,

  • as it is written: “And do not curse a rich person in your bedchamber” (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

• And even were he only a leader I would not curse him,

  • as it is written: “And you shall not curse a leader among your people” (Exodus 22:27).

Herod objects that the verse applies only to one “who does the deeds of your people,” which Herod does not - Exodus 22:27; Bava ben Buta - Replies that even so, he fears retribution - “a bird of the sky shall carry the sound” - Ecclesiastes 10:20

אמר ליה:

בעושה מעשה עמך,

והאי לאו עושה מעשה עמך!

אמר ליה: מסתפינא מיניה.

אמר ליה:

ליכא איניש דאזיל דלימא ליה,

דאנא ואת יתיבנא.

אמר ליה,

כתיב:

״כי עוף השמים יוליך את הקול

ובעל כנפים יגיד דבר״.

Herod said to him:

That halakha stated with regard to “a leader among your people,” that is, to a fit Jew who acts as a member of your people, i.e., in accordance with Torah law,

and this one does not do the deeds of your people.

Bava ben Buta said to him: Nevertheless, I am afraid of him.

Herod said to him:

There is nobody who will go and tell him,

since you and I are sitting here alone.

Bava ben Buta said to him:

Nevertheless, it is written:

“For a bird of the sky shall carry the sound,

and that which has wings shall tell the matter” (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

1. Compare other stories relating to the wisdom of a figure named Bava ben Buta, in these pieces of mine:

• “Ugly Wives and Spiteful Husbands: Talmudic Farce in a Misogynistic Key (Nedarim 66a-b)“, section “Dialectical differences in Aramaic between Babylonia and Eretz Yisrael: A (Comic) Tale of Marital Miscommunication - 4 Misunderstandings“

• “Three Talmudic Stories about the Righteous Community of Kefar Sekhanya of Egypt (Gittin 57a)“, section “Story #3 - Deception and Justice“

2. Understood by scholarly to be a reference to Herod’s marriage to Mariamne.

3. בא עליה - literally: “had sex with her”.

4. כלילא - “wreath”.