Pt1 Public Covenant and Collective Responsibility: The Ceremony of Blessings and Curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in Deuteronomy 27 (Sotah 37a-b)
This is the first part of a two-part series. For the series outline, see below.1
Part 1
This sugya analyzes the covenantal ceremony of blessings and curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
The biblical passages in Deuteronomy and Joshua appear, at first, to give different accounts of where the Levites stood. Deuteronomy states that Levi stood “on Mount Gerizim” for the blessing, while Joshua describes Israel standing below, around the Ark, before “the priests, the Levites.” The sugya opens by resolving this tension through several tannaitic interpretations. R’ Eliezer b. Yaakov distinguishes between the elders of the priests and Levites, who stood below, and the remaining Levites, who stood above. R’ Yoshiya gives a functional distinction: Levites fit for Temple service stood below, while the others stood above. R’ Yehuda HaNasi rejects the assumption that anyone stood on the mountain itself; in his view, both Levites and Israelites stood below, turning toward Mount Gerizim for the blessing and toward Mount Ebal for the curse.
This interpretation depends on a broader reading of the Hebrew word al ( עַל). Although al typically means “on,” R’ Yehuda HaNasi argues that it can also mean “adjacent to.” He supports this from two Temple-related verses: the frankincense placed al the rows of showbread, and the curtain placed al the Ark. In the latter case, the curtain was not literally on top of the Ark, but positioned near it. The same usage is then applied to Gerizim and Ebal: the people stood beside the mountains, not necessarily upon them.
The sugya then shifts from the physical arrangement of the ceremony to its covenantal structure. A baraita explains that every mitzva was accompanied by blessing and curse, each in both general and specific form. These were further linked to four obligations: to learn, to teach, to keep, and to perform. The result is a numerical system: four aspects in general form and four in specific form make eight; blessing and curse double this to sixteen; and these sixteen covenants are counted at three covenantal moments—Sinai, Gerizim/Ebal, and the Plains of Moab—yielding forty-eight covenants for each mitzva. R’ Shimon modifies the count by excluding Gerizim and Ebal and including the Tent of Meeting instead, in line with the broader dispute between R’ Yishmael and R’ Akiva over whether only general principles were given at Sinai, or whether both general principles and details were given at Sinai and later repeated.
Part 2
The covenantal arithmetic is then intensified. R’ Shimon b. Yehuda of Kefar Akko, citing R’ Shimon, teaches that each mitzva carried forty-eight covenants multiplied by the 603,550 Israelites in the wilderness, since each Israelite became a guarantor for the others. R’ Yehuda HaNasi formulates the result as a massive multiplication of individual responsibility: covenant is not merely personal obligation, but mutual responsibility across the entire people.
The final section returns to the content and order of the blessings and curses. R’ Yehuda b. Naḥmani, speaking as the interpreter of R’ Shimon b. Lakish, reads the whole passage as fundamentally about sexual transgression, especially adultery and forbidden unions. Even the curse against idolatry is interpreted through this lens: a child born from forbidden relations may be socially alienated, leave Israel, and become an idolater, making the parents responsible for the outcome. The sugya also establishes procedural rules for the ceremony: each blessing precedes its corresponding curse, rather than all blessings being recited before all curses. Blessing and curse are closely compared: both are recited by Levites, aloud, in Hebrew, in general and specific form, and both receive an “Amen” response from the assembled groups.
Overall, the sugya turns the ceremony at Gerizim and Ebal into a dense model of covenantal responsibility. It combines biblical harmonization, semantic interpretation, ritual reconstruction, numerical expansion, and moral theology. The central concern is how the Torah’s obligations were publicly accepted, multiplied, and distributed across the entire collective of Israel.
Outline
Intro
The Passage
Part 1
R’ Eliezer b. Yaakov - the elders of the priests and Levites stood below, while the rest stood above - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
R’ Yoshiya - Levites fit for Temple service stood below; the rest stood above - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
R’ Yehuda HaNasi - Both Levites and Israelites stood below; they faced Gerizim for the blessing and Ebal for the curse; “On” means “adjacent to” - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
R’ Yehuda HaNasi - The word “al” can mean “adjacent to,” as with frankincense placed near the showbread rows and the curtain screening the Ark - Leviticus 24:7; Exodus 40:3
Baraita - Each mitzva involved general/specific blessing/curse (4), and obligations to learn, teach, keep, and perform (4), across Sinai, Gerizim/Ebal, and Moab (3), yielding 48 covenants per mitzva
Obligations to learn, teach, keep, and perform - list of 4 obligations
Also at Mount Sinai and Plains of Moab - so total of 3 places - Deuteronomy 28:69, 29:8
R’ Shimon - Excludes Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal from the covenant count and includes the Tent of Meeting in the wilderness instead - Deuteronomy 28:69; Deuteronomy 29:8
R’ Yishmael - General principles were given at Sinai; details were given in the Tent of Meeting
R’ Akiva - Both general principles and details were given at Sinai, repeated in the Tent of Meeting, and stated a third time in the Plains of Moab
Every mitzva in the Torah had 48 covenants established for it
Part 2
R’ Shimon b. Yehuda of Kefar Akko citing R’ Shimon - Every mitzva had 48 covenants multiplied by 603,550 Israelites (since each Jew became guarantor for the others)
R’ Yehuda HaNasi - According to R’ Shimon b. Yehuda citing R’ Shimon, each individual Israelite had 603,550 covenantal responsibilities
R’ Yehuda b. Naḥmani, interpreter of R’ Shimon b. Lakish - The whole blessings-and-curses passage concerns adultery: even idolatry is interpreted as resulting from forbidden relations that produce a child alienated from Israel - Deuteronomy 27:15
Baraita - The verse requiring blessing on Gerizim and curse on Ebal teaches that each blessing precedes its paired curse, not that all blessings precede all curses - Deuteronomy 11:29, 27:12–13
Blessing is compared to curse - List of 5 similarities: both are said by Levites, aloud, in Hebrew, in general and specific form, and answered “Amen” by both groups
Appendix - Who Entered the Red Sea First? Judah, Benjamin, and the Rewards of Temple and Kingship (Sotah 36b-37a)
R’ Meir - At the Red Sea, the tribes competed to enter
Benjamin jumped in first - Psalms 68:28
Judah’s princes pelted Benjamin
Benjamin was rewarded by “hosting God” (=the Temple) in its territory - Deuteronomy 33:12
R’ Yehuda - The tribes actually avoided entering first
Nahshon b. Amminadab of Judah jumped in first - Hosea 12:1
Psalms 69:2–3, 16
Exodus 14:15–16
Judah therefore merited kingship over Israel - Psalms 114:2–3
The Passage
Sotah/37a#7 thru 37b#12
https://chavrutai.com/sugya-viewer?Sotah.36b.23-37b.12
R’ Eliezer b. Yaakov - the elders of the priests and Levites stood below, while the rest stood above - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
תניא,
רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר:
אי אפשר לומר לוי למטה,
שכבר נאמר למעלה.
ואי אפשר לומר למעלה,
שכבר נאמר למטה.
§ The Talmud returns to discussing the blessing and curses.
It is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 8:9) that
R’ Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:
It is impossible to say that the tribe of Levi stood below, between the two mountains,
as it is already stated that they were above, in the verse: “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have passed over the Jordan: Shimon and Levi and Judah” (Deuteronomy 27:12).
And it is impossible to say that they stood above on the mountain
because it is already stated: “And all of Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the Ark and on that side before the priests the Levites” (Joshua 8:33). This shows that the Levites stood below, between the mountains, with the Ark.
הא כיצד?
זקני כהונה ולויה
למטה,
והשאר
למעלה.
How is this possible?
Only the Elders of the priesthood and the Levites
stood below,
and the rest of the Levites
stood above on the mountain.
R’ Yoshiya - Levites fit for Temple service stood below; the rest stood above - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
רבי יאשיה אומר:
כל הראוי לשרת
למטה,
והשאר
למעלה.
R’ Yoshiya says:
Any Levite who was fit to serve (לשרת) in the Temple
stood below, between the mountains,
and the rest of the tribe, who were too young or too old to serve in the Temple,
stood above on the mountain.
R’ Yehuda HaNasi - Both Levites and Israelites stood below; they faced Gerizim for the blessing and Ebal for the curse; “On” means “adjacent to” - Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33
רבי אומר:
אלו ואלו למטה הן עומדים,
הפכו פניהם כלפי הר גריזים
ופתחו בברכה,
כלפי הר עיבל
ופתחו בקללה.
מאי ״על״?
על בסמוך.
R’ Yehuda HaNasi says:
Both the Levites and the Israelites were standing below.
They turned to face Mount Gerizim
and opened with a blessing,
and then they turned toward Mount Ebal
and opened with a curse.
Therefore, what is the meaning of the verse: “These shall stand on [al] Mount Gerizim to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12)?
“Al” means adjacent to the mountain but not actually on the mountain itself.
R’ Yehuda HaNasi - The word “al” can mean “adjacent to,” as with frankincense placed near the showbread rows and the curtain screening the Ark - Leviticus 24:7; Exodus 40:3
כדתניא:
״ונתת על המערכת לבונה זכה״,
רבי אומר:
״על״ — בסמוך.
אתה אומר ״על״ בסמוך,
או אינו אלא על ממש?
כשהוא אומר ״וסכת על הארן״,
הוי אומר ״על״ בסמוך.
As it is taught in a baraita that discusses the shewbread:
“And you shall put pure frankincense on [al] each row” (Leviticus 24:7).
R’ Yehuda HaNasi says:
“Al” in this instance means adjacent to.
Do you say that “al” means adjacent to,
or perhaps it carries only its literal meaning of “on”?
When it says in the verse: “And you shall screen the Ark [al ha-Aron] with the curtain” (Exodus 40:3), the word “al” cannot mean on, as the curtain that separated the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies was not placed on top of the Ark, but near it.
Therefore, you must say that “al” means adjacent to.
Baraita - Each mitzva involved general/specific blessing/curse (4), and obligations to learn, teach, keep, and perform (4), across Sinai, Gerizim/Ebal, and Moab (3), yielding 48 covenants per mitzva
The overall calculation is as follows:
4 duties × 2 scopes × 2 sanction-types × 3 ceremonies = 48 covenants per mitzvah.
Table summarizing:
הפכו פניהם כלפי הר גריזים ופתחו בברכה כו׳,
§ It is stated in the Mishnah: They turned to face Mount Gerizim and opened with a blessing: Blessed be the man who does not make a graven or molten image (see Deuteronomy 27:15), and these people and those people, i.e., the two groups standing on either mountain, answered: Amen. Then they turned to face Mount Ebal and opened with the curse: “Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image” (Deuteronomy 27:15), and these people and those people answered: Amen.
Obligations to learn, teach, keep, and perform - list of 4 obligations
תנו רבנן:
״ברוך״ בכלל,
״ברוך״ בפרט.
״ארור״ בכלל,
״ארור״ בפרט,
ללמוד
וללמד
לשמור
ולעשות,
הרי ארבע,
ארבע וארבע
הרי שמונה,
שמונה ושמונה
הרי שש עשרה.
A baraita states (Tosefta 8:10):
The blessings and curses include
a general (בכלל) blessing for one who fulfills the entire Torah,
and a particular (בפרט) blessing for each individual statement mentioned in the blessings and curses.
Likewise,
there is a general curse for one who does not fulfill the entire Torah
and a particular curse for each individual statement.
And for each of the blessings and curses there is a mitzva
to learn
and to teach,
and to keep
and to perform.
Thus,
every mitzva contains 4 aspects.
4 general aspects and 4 specific aspects
add up to 8.
8 blessings and 8 curses
add up to 16.
Also at Mount Sinai and Plains of Moab - so total of 3 places - Deuteronomy 28:69, 29:8
וכן בסיני,
וכן בערבות מואב,
שנאמר:
״אלה דברי הברית אשר צוה ה׳ את משה וגו׳,
וכתיב:
״ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת וגו׳״.
נמצא ארבעים ושמונה בריתות על כל מצוה ומצוה.
And so too at Mount Sinai,
and so too at the Plains of Moab,
as it is stated:
“These are the words of the covenant that YHWH commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that He made with them in Horeb” (Deuteronomy 28:69).
And it is written:
“Observe therefore the words of this covenant” (Deuteronomy 29:8).
We thus find that between the 3 events where 16 covenants were made, God established 48 covenants (בריתות) for each and every mitzva.
R’ Shimon - Excludes Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal from the covenant count and includes the Tent of Meeting in the wilderness instead - Deuteronomy 28:69; Deuteronomy 29:8
רבי שמעון --
מוציא הר גריזים והר עיבל,
ומכניס אהל מועד שבמדבר.
[...]
R’ Shimon --
excludes Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal from this list because only some of the mitzvot were mentioned there,
and he includes instead the covenant at the Tent of Meeting in the desert.
[...]
R’ Yishmael - General principles were given at Sinai; details were given in the Tent of Meeting
תניא,
רבי ישמעאל אומר:
כללות
נאמרו בסיני
ופרטות
באהל מועד.
it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 8:11):
R’ Yishmael says:
General statements (כללות)
were said at Sinai, i.e., Moses received general mitzvot at Sinai, including the 10 Commandments.
And the details (פרטות) of the mitzvot
were explained to Moses at a later time in the Tent of Meeting.
R’ Akiva - Both general principles and details were given at Sinai, repeated in the Tent of Meeting, and stated a third time in the Plains of Moab
רבי עקיבא אומר:
כללות ופרטות
נאמרו בסיני,
ונשנו באהל מועד,
ונשתלשו בערבות מואב.
R’ Akiva says:
Both general statements and the details of mitzvot
were said at Sinai,
and later repeated (נשנו) in the Tent of Meeting,
and reiterated a third time (נשתלשו) by Moses to the Jewish people in the Plains of Moab.
Every mitzva in the Torah had 48 covenants established for it
ואין לך כל דבר מצוה ומצוה שכתובה בתורה שלא נכרתו עליה ארבעים ושמנה בריתות.
The baraita concludes:
And there is no mitzva written in the Torah for which 48 covenants were not established.
For the Mishnah that this sugya is going off of, see my “Sacred Speech: The Languages of Ritual Recitations and the Historical Blessings and Curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8 (Mishnah Sotah 7:1-5)”, section “The Historical Blessings and Curses at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8”.
For the previous sugya in this larger macro-sugya, see my “The Temptation and Trial of Joseph in Genesis 39: From Potiphar’s House to the High Priest’s Ephod (Sotah 36a-b)”, final part: Pt3.