Pt1 Joshua’s Ban on Jericho, Hiel’s Losses, and Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab in 1 Kings 16-18 (Sanhedrin 113a-b)
This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series is below.
This sugya brings together halakhic, exegetical, and narrative-midrashic units centered on the laws of an ir ha-nidachat (idolatrous city; Deuteronomy 13) and the biblical accounts involving Jericho, Joshua, Ahab, and Elijah. It begins with a baraita addressing which objects in an idolatrous city must be destroyed and transitions to a broader exploration of Jericho’s unique status as a city placed under ḥerem (ban). The sugyah then expands into a sustained narrative about Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab, the rain-drought, the keys withheld or granted by Heaven, and a series of teachings about righteous and wicked individuals.
Baraita: Trees in an Idolatrous City
The baraita distinguishes between detached and attached trees found within an idolatrous city: detached trees are forbidden and must be destroyed; attached trees are permitted. But for trees in “another city,” both attached and detached trees are prohibited. The passage clarifies what “another city” means.
Rav Ḥisda: “Another City” = Jericho
Rav Ḥisda identifies the “other city” as Jericho, designated as banned due to Joshua’s curse following Jericho’s capture (Joshua 6:17, 26). The biblical curse declares that anyone who rebuilds the city will lose his children during the construction. This establishes Jericho as uniquely subject to destruction and prohibition beyond the standard laws of an idolatrous city.
Baraita: Prohibitions on Naming and Rebuilding
A further baraita teaches that one may not rebuild Jericho under a different name nor name another city “Jericho.” As proof, the narrative cites Hiel the Bethelite (1 Kings 16:34), who rebuilt Jericho and suffered the deaths of his sons according to Joshua’s curse.
Baraita: Hiel’s Failure to Learn
Another baraita analyzes Hiel’s experience: after the death of his firstborn Abiram he might attribute the event to chance; but after the death of his youngest son Segub, he ought to have recognized the fulfillment of Joshua’s curse.
Ahab, Elijah, and the Validation of the Curse
A narrative follows in which the wicked King Ahab, who was Hiel’s close associate, visits the house of mourning with Elijah. Hiel suggests that Joshua’s curse may have included prohibitions on renaming cities to avoid the curse. Elijah affirms this. Ahab then challenges Elijah, arguing that if Moses’ curse of withheld rain (Deuteronomy 11:16–17) is not being fulfilled despite rampant idolatry, then Joshua’s curse should not be expected to hold either. This prompts Elijah to declare the onset of a drought (1 Kings 17:1), receiving the “key of rain” from Heaven.
Elijah’s Sustenance and Divine Response
Elijah hides at Wadi Cherith, where ravens bring him bread and meat—identified in the sugya as provisions from Ahab’s slaughterhouse. When the wadi dries and widespread suffering increases due to the drought, God instructs Elijah to go to Zarephath (1 Kings 17:7–9).
The Three Keys
When the widow’s son dies (1 Kings 17:17), Elijah prays for the key of resurrection. A heavenly voice responds that three keys are normally not given to agents: childbirth, rain, and resurrection. Elijah has the key of rain already and cannot hold another while God retains only one. He must therefore return the rain key, and God will send the rain (1 Kings 18:1).
Parable: The Galilean Before Rav Ḥisda
A Galilean sage compares Elijah to a man who locked his door and lost his key; Elijah halted the rain but no longer possessed the means to reverse the drought until he relinquished the key.
Anecdote of R. Yosei and Elijah
R. Yosei remarks that Elijah is a ‘kapdan’.1 Elijah, who normally appears to him daily, stays away for three days until R. Yosei retracts or clarifies. Elijah’s absence itself illustrates the described characteristic.
Rav Yosef: Identification of “the Wicked”
Returning to the laws of the idolatrous city, Rav Yosef identifies the “wicked” whose existence brings divine wrath (Deut 13:18) as thieves.
Baraita on Righteous and Wicked Individuals
A concluding baraita surveys biblical verses describing cosmic or societal consequences associated with the arrival or departure of wicked and righteous individuals:
When a wicked person comes → wrath (Prov 18:3).
When a wicked person perishes → joy (Prov 11:10).
When a righteous person dies → misfortune (Isa 57:1).
When a righteous person is born → goodness (Gen 5:29).
Outline
Intro
Baraita: Trees in an Idolatrous City
Rav Ḥisda: “Another City” = Jericho
Baraita: Prohibitions on Naming and Rebuilding
Baraita: Hiel’s Failure to Learn
Ahab, Elijah, and the Validation of the Curse
Elijah’s Sustenance and Divine Response
The Three Keys
Parable: The Galilean Before Rav Ḥisda
Anecdote of R. Yosei and Elijah
Rav Yosef: Identification of “the Wicked”
Baraita on Righteous and Wicked Individuals
The Passage - Joshua’s Ban on Jericho, Hiel’s Losses, and Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab in 1 Kings 16-18 (Sanhedrin 113a-b)
Baraita - Detached trees in an idolatrous city are forbidden; attached trees are permitted; In a different city (“another city”), all trees are forbidden
Rav Ḥisda - “Another city” refers to Jericho
… due to its ban and Joshua’s curse - Joshua 6:17, 26
Baraita - One may not rebuild Jericho under a different name, nor build a different city and call it Jericho
Prooftext - 1 Kings 16:34
Baraita - Hiel couldn’t have learned the meaning of Joshua’s curse after the death of his firstborn, but after the death of his youngest - 1 Kings 16:34
Elijah confirms Joshua’s curse (in the scenario of the Baraita - One may not rebuild Jericho under a different name, nor build a different city and call it Jericho)
Ahab challenges its validity by pointing to the apparent non-fulfillment of Moses’ rain-curse despite Israel’s idolatry - Deuteronomy 11:16–17
Elijah responds by declaring a drought He is given the “key of rain” - 1 Kings 17:1
Part 2
R’ Yehuda citing Rav - Elijah’s food during the drought came from Ahab’s slaughterhouse - 1 Kings 17:6
Because of suffering caused by the drought, God sends Elijah to Zarephath - 1 Kings 17:7–9
Three “keys” are not normally given to an agent: childbirth, rain, resurrection; Elijah cannot hold two while God holds one; he must return the key of rain - I Kings 18:1
A Galilean before Rav Ḥisda - Parable: Elijah is like someone who slammed his door and lost his key (he caused the drought but then lacked the means to reverse it)
Anecdote - R’ Yosei calls Elijah difficult; his absence for 3 days after being called so demonstrates this trait
Rav Yosef - “Wicked” = presence brings wrath refers to thieves - Deuteronomy 13:18
Baraita - When a wicked person arrives, wrath comes (Prov 18:3); When he dies, good comes (Prov 11:10); When a righteous person dies, evil comes (Isa 57:1); When a righteous person arrives, good comes (Gen 5:29)
Appendix - the interpretations in the sugya on 1 Kings, organized in the order of Biblical verses
I Kings 16:34 – The rebuilding of Jericho by Hiel
I Kings 17:1 – Elijah declares drought
I Kings 17:2–3, 6 – Elijah at Wadi Cherith; ravens bring food
I Kings 17:7–9 – The drying of the wadi; God sends Elijah to Zarephath
I Kings 17:17 – The illness of the widow’s son
I Kings 18:1 – God sends Elijah back to Ahab with rain
The Passage
Baraita - Detached trees in an idolatrous city are forbidden; attached trees are permitted; In a different city (“another city”), all trees are forbidden
תנו רבנן:
היו בה אילנות
תלושין –
אסורין,
מחוברין –
מותרין.
של עיר אחרת,
בין תלושין בין מחוברין –
אסורין.
§ A baraita states:
In a case where there were trees in the city,
if they are detached from the ground,
they are forbidden and must be burned as the spoils of an idolatrous city;
if they are attached to the ground
they are permitted, i.e., they are not destroyed.
By contrast, trees of another city,
whether detached or attached --
are forbidden.
Rav Ḥisda - “Another city” refers to Jericho
מאי ״עיר אחרת״?
אמר רב חסדא:
יריחו,
The Talmud asks: To what is the baraita referring with the phrase: Another city?
Rav Ḥisda says:
The reference is to Jericho
… due to its ban and Joshua’s curse - Joshua 6:17, 26
דכתיב:
״והיתה העיר חרם לה׳...
וישבע יהושע בעת ההיא לאמר:
ארור האיש לפני ה׳
אשר יקום ובנה את העיר הזאת את יריחו
בבכרו ייסדנה
ובצעירו יציב דלתיה״.
as it is written:
“And the city shall be devoted, it and all that is in it, to YHWH…
And Joshua charged them at that time by oath, saying:
Cursed be the man before YHWH,
that rises up to build this city Jericho;
he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn,
and with his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it” (Joshua 6:17, 26).
Baraita - One may not rebuild Jericho under a different name, nor build a different city and call it Jericho
תניא:
לא יריחו
על שם עיר אחרת,
ולא עיר אחרת
על שם יריחו,
It is taught in a baraita that
this includes a prohibition
not to build Jericho
even after changing its name to the name of another city,
and not to build another city
after giving it the name of Jericho2
Prooftext - 1 Kings 16:34
דכתיב:
״בנה חיאל בית האלי את יריחה
באבירם בכרו
יסדה
ובשגוב צעירו
הציב דלתיה״.
as it is written:
“Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho;
with Abiram, his firstborn,
he laid its foundation,
and with his young son Segub
set up its gates” (I Kings 16:34).
Baraita - Hiel couldn’t have learned the meaning of Joshua’s curse after the death of his firstborn, but after the death of his youngest - 1 Kings 16:34
תניא:
באבירם בכורו,
רשע, לא היה לו ללמוד.
בשגוב צעירו,
היה לו ללמוד.
[...]
It is taught in a baraita:
From the death of Abiram, his firstborn,
the wicked Hiel, it was not incumbent upon him to learn not to build Jericho, as Abiram’s death could be attributed to chance.
But with the death of Segub his young son,
it was incumbent upon him to learn that it was due to Joshua’s curse that they died.
[...]
Elijah confirms Joshua’s curse (in the scenario of the Baraita - One may not rebuild Jericho under a different name, nor build a different city and call it Jericho)
אחאב שושביניה הוה.
אתא איהו ואליהו למשאל בשלמא בי טמיא.
יתיב וקאמר:
דילמא כי לט יהושע
הכי לט –
לא יריחו על שם עיר אחרת,
ולא עיר אחרת על שם יריחו?
אמר ליה אליהו: אין.
Ahab was Hiel’s close friend3
He and Elijah came to inquire about Hiel’s welfare in the house of mourning [bei tamya].
Hiel sat and said:
Perhaps when Joshua cursed,
this is what he cursed:
Not to build Jericho even after changing its name to the name of another city,
and not to build another city after giving it the name of Jericho.
Elijah said to him: Yes, that is the curse.
Ahab challenges its validity by pointing to the apparent non-fulfillment of Moses’ rain-curse despite Israel’s idolatry - Deuteronomy 11:16–17
אמר ליה:
השתא לווטתא דמשה לא קא מקיימא,
דכתיב ״וסרתם ועבדתם וגו׳״
וכתיב
״וחרה אף ה׳ בכם
ועצר את השמים וגו׳״,
Ahab said to Elijah:
Now the curse of Moses is not fulfilled,
as it is written: “And you go astray and worship other gods,”
and it is written:
“Then YHWH’s anger will flare against you,
and He will close the heavens, and there will be no rain” (Deuteronomy 11:16–17).
וההוא גברא אוקים ליה עבודה זרה על כל תלם ותלם
ולא שביק ליה מיטרא למיזל מיסגד ליה.
לווטתא דיהושע תלמידיה מקיימא?!
And that man, referring to himself, established an object of idol worship on each and every furrow in the kingdom of Israel,
and the rain is so plentiful that it does not allow him to go and worship it;
will the curse of his student, Joshua, be fulfilled?!
Elijah responds by declaring a drought He is given the “key of rain” - 1 Kings 17:1
מיד:
״ויאמר אליהו התשבי
מתשבי גלעד:
חי ה׳ אלהי ישראל
אם יהיה טל ומטר וגו׳״.
בעי רחמי,
ויהבו ליה אקלידא דמטרא,
וקם ואזל.
The verse relates Elijah’s reaction: Immediately:
“And said to Ahab Elijah the Tishbite —
who was of the inhabitants of Gilead:
As YHWH God of Israel lives,
before whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years, but according to my word” (I Kings 17:1).
Elijah prayed for mercy4
and they gave him the key to rainfall enabling him to dictate when it would rain,
and he arose and went.
“Impatient, short-tempered, strict”.
Compare this same descriptor used elsewhere in the Talmud for Shammai, as opposed to Hillel, in my “Hillel vs. the Heckler: A Friday Afternoon Challenge to Hillel’s Composure and Physical Anthropology in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a)“, section “Strive for Hillel’s Humility and Patience, Not Shammai’s Strictness“, and see my notes there.
And see also my extended note in “Tannaitic Aphorisms (Avot 3:2-12)“, on section “R’ Yishmael - Be deferential to superiors, submissive under obligation, and greet every person cheerfully (3:12)“.
Note the chiastic literary structure of this baraita (ABBA):
A: לא יריחו
B: על שם עיר אחרת
B′: ולא עיר אחרת
A′: על שם יריחו
The structure reverses the terms in symmetrical order; both directions are prohibited: renaming Jericho as something else, and renaming something else as Jericho.
שושביניה.
Steinsatlz translates: “[close friend and] groomsman”. While “groomsman” is the rough connotation in many contexts, in this context, it clearly simply means close friend.
On this word, see my extended note here, on section “R’ Yirmeya ben Elazar - God as Best Man at Adam’s Marriage: Social Deference and Initiative - Genesis 2:22 (Berakhot 61a)“.