Pt1 Interpreting Eschatological Biblical Prophecies: Resurrection, the Messianic Future, and the World-to-Come (Pesachim 68a)

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

Part 1

This sugya begins with a technical sacrificial question and then moves into a broad aggadic discussion of resurrection, the messianic future, and the World-to-Come. The starting point is the Mishnah’s statement that cleaning the intestines of the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat. The Talmud asks what “cleaning” (מיחוי קרביו) means. Rav Huna explains it as puncturing the intestines with a knife so that the excrement exits. Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav explains it differently: the term refers to removing the secretions that are pressed out by the knife and that would otherwise spoil the sacrificial meat. R’ Eliezer supports Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav’s reading from Isaiah 5:17, treating the word מחים as a degraded or repulsive term. Rav Yosef’s Aramaic rendering of the verse confirms this sense by translating “the ruins of the fat ones” as the property of the wicked that the righteous will inherit. Thus, a narrow halakhic clarification about preparing the Paschal lamb becomes linked to a prophetic verse about the downfall of the wicked and the inheritance of the righteous.

The sugya then continues interpreting the same verse in Isaiah: “Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the ruins of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.” Menashya bar Yirmeya, citing Rav, interprets כדברם as “as was spoken concerning them,” meaning that the verse alludes to a prior prophetic promise. Abaye identifies the promise with the continuation of the verse itself: “and the ruins of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.” Rava rejects this because the conjunction “and” in וחרבות indicates a second, separate clause, not an explanation of the first clause. Rava therefore connects the verse to another teaching of Rav, transmitted by Rav Ḥananel: in the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead. This is derived through a verbal and thematic link between Isaiah’s “the lambs shall feed” and Micah’s “let them feed in Bashan and Gilad as in the days of old.” Bashan is read as an allusion to Elisha, by linking Shafat in Bashan with Elisha ben Shafat. Gilad is read as an allusion to Elijah, who is described elsewhere as from the inhabitants of Gilad. Since Elijah and Elisha both revived the dead, the verse is taken to mean that the righteous in the messianic future will possess a similar power.

Part 2

A parallel teaching is then cited in the name of R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani citing R’ Yonatan: in the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead. This version derives the idea from Zechariah’s image of elderly men and women sitting in Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand. The “staff” is linked to Elisha’s staff, which was sent with Gehazi to revive the Shunamite woman’s son. The future Jerusalem of Zechariah is therefore read as a world in which the righteous possess life-restoring power.

The sugya then broadens into a series of apparent contradictions between biblical verses about the end-time. Ulla contrasts Isaiah 25:8, “He will destroy death forever,” with Isaiah 65:20, which speaks of someone dying at one hundred years old. The resolution distinguishes between Israel and the non-Jewish nations: Israel will no longer die, while the non-Jewish nations will live extremely long lives but eventually die. The Talmud then asks why non-Jews are present in the future world at all, and answers from Isaiah 61:5: “Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vineyard workers.” In this reading, the future world includes non-Jews, but in a subordinate economic role serving Israel.

Rav Ḥisda then raises another contradiction. One verse says that the moon will be ashamed and the sun embarrassed before God’s glory, while another says that the moon’s light will be like the sun and the sun’s light will be sevenfold. The first answer distinguishes between the World-to-Come and the messianic era: the celestial lights are shamed before the divine presence in the World-to-Come, but intensified during the days of the Messiah. The Talmud then adjusts this answer according to Shmuel, who holds that the messianic era differs from the present only in the end of political subjugation. According to that view, both verses must refer to the World-to-Come: one describes the camp of the Shekhina, where divine glory overwhelms the sun and moon, and the other describes the camp of the righteous, where cosmic light is magnified.

The sugya concludes with a proof from the Pentateuch for the principle of the future messianic resurrection of Jews. Rava analyzes Deuteronomy 32:39: “I put to death and I make live; I wound and I heal.” If God can revive the dead, healing the wounded seems obvious. Rava therefore reads the second clause as clarifying the first: the same people whom God kills, He will revive, just as the same people whom He wounds, He will heal. A baraita makes the same point explicitly. One might have read “I put to death and I make live” as referring to ordinary mortality and birth: one person dies, another is born. But the parallel clause, “I wound and I heal,” clearly concerns one and the same person. Therefore, “I put to death and I make live” also refers to the same person. This becomes a refutation of those who deny that resurrection is sourced in the Pentateuch. A final interpretation adds a sequence: first God revives the dead with the wounds they had at death, and only afterward heals them.

Isaiah 5:17

Isaiah 5:17:

ורעו כבשים כדברם

וחרבות מחים גרים יאכלו

And (in the messianic future) shall the lambs feed (רעו) as in their pasture (דברם),

and fat ones (מחים) and strangers (גרים) shall feed in the ruins (חרבות).

Outline

Intro

Isaiah 5:17

The Passage

1. Rav Huna - “Cleaning the intestines” means puncturing them with a knife so the excrement exits

2. Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav - “Cleaning the intestines” means removing intestinal secretions that come out under knife-pressure and would otherwise spoil the sacrifice

3. R’ Eliezer - Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav’s interpretation is supported by the word מוחים/מיחוי (understood as something degraded or repulsive) - Isaiah 5:17

4. Rav Yosef’s targum - “The ruins of the fat ones/wicked” means that the righteous will inherit the possessions of the wicked - Isaiah 5:17

5. Menashya bar Yirmeya citing Rav - “The lambs shall feed כדברם” means “as was said about them,” referring to a prior prophecy - Isaiah 5:17

6. Abaye - The prophecy referred to by כדברם is the continuation of the same verse, “and the ruins of the fat ones shall wanderers eat” - Isaiah 5:17

7. Rava - Abaye’s reading is incorrect because the conjunctive “and” indicates that the second clause is a separate matter - Isaiah 5:17

8. Rav Ḥananel citing Rav - In the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead

   1. Prooftexts - like Elijah and Elisha, derived by linking “feed” in Isaiah with “feed” in Micah, - Isaiah 5:17; Micah 7:14

   2. ... where Bashan alludes to Elisha, and Gilad to Elijah - I Chronicles 5:12; II Kings 3:11; I Kings 17:1

Part 2

1. R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani citing R’ Yonatan - In the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead

   1. Prooftexts - the “staff” of the aged in Jerusalem is linked to Elisha’s staff used in the attempted revival of the Shunamite’s son - Zechariah 8:4; II Kings 4:29

2. Ulla - Apparent contradiction, re the messianic future: one verse says death will be destroyed forever, while another says the youngest will die at age 100

   1. Resolution: no death for Israel, long life but eventual death for non-Jews - Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 65:20

3. Non-Jews are present in the future messianic era as servants of Israel - Isaiah 61:5

4. Rav Ḥisda - Apparent contradiction re the future messianic era: one verse says the moon and sun will be ashamed, while another says their light will be greatly increased

   1. Resolution: the first refers to the World-to-Come; the second to the messianic era - Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 30:26

5. Since Shmuel holds that the messianic era differs from the present only in political subjugation, both verses must refer to the World-to-Come: one to the camp of the Shekhina, the other to the camp of the righteous

6. Rava - “I put to death and I make live” means God revives the very same people He killed, just as He heals the very same people He wounded - Deuteronomy 32:39

7. Baraita - “I put to death and I make live” cannot mean death for one person and life/birth for another, because “I wounded and I heal” clearly refers to the same person; This proves resurrection from the Torah - Deuteronomy 32:39

   1. Alternative interpretation - At resurrection, God first revives the dead with their wounds, and only afterward heals them - Deuteronomy 32:39

The Passage

ChavrutAI: Pesachim/68a#9 thru #19

Rav Huna - “Cleaning the intestines” means puncturing them with a knife so the excrement exits

ומיחוי קרביו וכו׳.

מאי מיחוי קרביו?

רב הונא אמר:

שמנקבן בסכין.

We learned in the Mishnah that cleaning (מיחוי) the intestines of the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat.

The Talmud asks: What is meant by cleaning the intestines?

Rav Huna said:

It means that he punctures them with a knife allowing the excrement to exit.

Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav - “Cleaning the intestines” means removing intestinal secretions that come out under knife-pressure and would otherwise spoil the sacrifice

(רב) חייא בר רב אמר:

שירקא דמעייא

דנפקא אגב דוחקא דסכינא.

Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav said:

It refers to the removal of the secretions (שירקא) of the intestine,

which come out through the pressure¹ of the knife

and would ruin the entire sacrifice and cause it to become putrid were they allowed to remain in the intestines.

R’ Eliezer - Rav Ḥiyya bar Rav’s interpretation is supported by the word מוחים/מיחוי (understood as something degraded or repulsive) - Isaiah 5:17

אמר רבי (אליעזר):

מאי טעמא דחייא בר רב?

דכתיב:

״וחרבות מחים --

גרים יאכלו״,

R’ Eliezer said:

What is Ḥiyya bar Rav’s reason for explaining the term in this manner?

As it is written:

“Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the ruins of the fat ones [meḥim] --

shall wanderers (גרים) eat” (Isaiah 5:17).

Rav Yosef’s targum - “The ruins of the fat ones/wicked” means that the righteous will inherit the possessions of the wicked - Isaiah 5:17

מאי משמע?

כדמתרגם רב יוסף:

״ונכסיהן דרשיעיא --

צדיקיא יחסנון״.

From where may it be inferred that this verse is in any way connected to our discussion?

As Rav Yosef translates this verse:

“And the possessions of the wicked --

the righteous shall inherit.”

This indicates that the Hebrew word meḥim, understood by Rav Yosef as referring to “the wicked”, is a term of degradation. This led Ḥiyya bar Rav to interpret the Mishnah’s clause with regard to “cleaning [miḥui] the intestines” as referring to removing the repulsive matter inside.

Menashya bar Yirmeya citing Rav - “The lambs shall feed כדברם” means “as was said about them,” referring to a prior prophecy - Isaiah 5:17

״ורעו כבשים כדברם״,

אמר מנשיא בר ירמיה, אמר רב:

כמדובר בם.

Having explained the latter part of the verse in Isaiah, the Talmud turns to the beginning of that same verse.

“Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture [ke-davram].”

Menashya bar Yirmeya said that Rav said:

As was said about them [ka-medubar bam],

i.e., as the prophet promised.

Abaye - The prophecy referred to by כדברם is the continuation of the same verse, “and the ruins of the fat ones shall wanderers eat” - Isaiah 5:17

מאי כמדובר בם?

אמר אביי:

״וחרבות מחים --

גרים יאכלו״.

To what prophecy does the verse refer with the expression “as was said about them”?

Abaye said:

It is referring to the continuation of the verse: “And the ruins of the fat ones --

shall wanderers eat.”

Rava - Abaye’s reading is incorrect because the conjunctive “and” indicates that the second clause is a separate matter - Isaiah 5:17

אמר ליה רבא:

בשלמא אי כתיב ״חרבות״ —

כדקאמרת,

השתא דכתיב ״וחרבות״,

מילתא אחריתי קאמר.

Rava said to him that this cannot be:

Granted, were it written only “the ruins of the fat ones” --

it would be possible to explain as you said.

Now that it is written “and the ruins,” with the addition of the word “and,”

this indicates that it states something else,

and the verse contains two separate prophecies.

Rav Ḥananel citing Rav - In the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead

אלא אמר רבא:

כדרב חננאל, אמר רב.

דאמר רב חננאל, אמר רב:

עתידין צדיקים שיחיו את המתים.

Rather,

Rava said:

This verse should be understood in accordance with what Rav Ḥananel said that Rav said.

For Rav Ḥananel said that Rav said:

In the messianic future, the righteous will resurrect the dead.

Prooftexts - like Elijah and Elisha, derived by linking the shared word “feed” (רעו) - Isaiah 5:17; Micah 7:14

• כתיב הכא:

  • ״ורעו כבשים כדברם״,

• וכתיב התם:

  • ״ירעו בשן וגלעד כימי עולם״.

• It is written here:

  • “Then shall the lambs feed [ve-ra’u] as in their pasture,” the lambs serving as an allusion to the righteous,

• and it is written there:

  • “Tend your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell alone in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed [yiru] in Bashan and Gilad as in the days of old” (Micah 7:14).

... where Bashan alludes to Elisha, and Gilad to Elijah - I Chronicles 5:12; II Kings 3:11; I Kings 17:1

• בשן —

  • זה אלישע, הבא מן הבשן,

  • שנאמר: ״ויעני ושפט בבשן״,

  • וכתיב: ״פה אלישע בן שפט, אשר יצק מים על ידי אליהו״.

• גלעד —

  • זה אליהו,

  • שנאמר: ״ויאמר אליהו התשבי, מתושבי גלעד וגו׳״.

• “Bashan”

  • is an allusion to the prophet Elisha, who came from the Bashan.

  • How do we know that Elisha came from Bashan? As it is stated: “Joel the chief, and Shafam the next, and Yanai and Shafat in the Bashan” (I Chronicles 5:12),

  • and it is written: “Here is Elisha ben Shafat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah” (II Kings 3:11).

• “Gilad”

  • is an allusion to Elijah,

  • as it is stated: “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilad, said” (I Kings 17:1).

Based on the similarity of the verses and the verbal analogy between the two instances of the Hebrew verb for “feed [pasture]” (רעו), we learn that in the future the righteous will be like Elijah and Elisha, who resurrected the dead.

1. דוחקא - literally: “pushing”.