Series, on the occasion of this week’s parsha reading (Vayera), which includes the biblical narrative discussed in this Talmud passage. This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here, the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
Part 2 - The Sins and Punishment of Sodom
Mishnah - The people of Sodom have no share in the World-to-Come
״אנשי סדום —
אין להם חלק לעולם הבא וכו׳״.
§ The Mishnah teaches:
The people of Sodom —
have no share in the World-to-Come.
Baraita - The description of Sodom’s inhabitants as “wicked and sinners” indicates punishment in both this world and the World-to-Come - Genesis 13:13
תנו רבנן:
אנשי סדום אין להן חלק לעולם הבא,
שנאמר:
״ואנשי סדם רעים וחטאים לה׳ מאד״.
״רעים״ –
בעולם הזה,
״וחטאים״ –
לעולם הבא.
A baraita states:
The people of Sodom have no share in the World-to-Come,
as it is stated:
“And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before YHWH exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13).
“Wicked”
indicates in this world;
“and sinners”
indicates for the World-to-Come.
Rav Yehuda - Interprets Sodom’s sins: “wicked” refers to bodily sins; “sinners” to financial sins; “before YHWH” to blasphemy; and “exceedingly” to deliberate wrongdoing - Genesis 13:13, 39:9; Deuteronomy 15:9
אמר רב יהודה:
רעים
בגופן,
וחטאים
בממונם.
Rav Yehuda says:
“Wicked”
is referring to sins they committed with their bodies;
“and sinners”
is referring to sins they committed with their money.
רעים בגופן –
דכתיב: ״ואיך אעשה הרעה הגדלה הזאת, וחטאתי לאלהים״,
וחטאים בממונם –
דכתיב: ״והיה בך חטא״.
“Wicked” is referring to sins they committed with their bodies,
as it is written with regard to Joseph and the wife of Potiphar: “And how can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God” (Genesis 39:9).
“And sinners” is referring to sins they committed with their money,
as it is written: “And your eye is wicked against your poor brother, and you give him nothing…for it should be reckoned to you as a sin” (Deuteronomy 15:9).
״לה׳״ –
זו ברכת השם.
״מאד״ –
שמתכוונים וחוטאים.
“Before YHWH”;
this is referring to blessing, a euphemism for cursing, God.
“Exceedingly”
means that they had intent and sinned and did not sin unwittingly or driven by lust.
Baraita - Reverses Rav Yehuda’s first two interpretations: “wicked” refers to financial sins and “sinners” to bodily sins; “Before YHWH” indicates blasphemy, while “exceedingly” indicates murder - Genesis 13:13, 39:9; Deuteronomy 15:9; II Kings 21:16
במתניתא תנא:
״רעים״ –
בממונם,
״וחטאים״ –
בגופן.
It was taught in a baraita:
“Wicked”
is referring to sins they committed with their money;
“and sinners”
is referring to sins they committed with their bodies.
רעים בממונם,
דכתיב: ״ורעה עינך באחיך האביון״.
וחטאים בגופן,
דכתיב: ״וחטאתי לאלהים״.
“Wicked” is referring to sins they committed with their money,
as it is written: “And your eye is wicked against your poor brother and you give him nothing” (Deuteronomy 15:9).
“And sinners” is referring to sins they committed with their bodies,
as it is written with regard to Joseph and the wife of Potiphar: “And sin against God” (Genesis 39:9).
״לה׳״ –
זו ברכת השם.
״מאד״ –
זו שפיכות דמים,
שנאמר: ״וגם דם נקי שפך מנשה בירושלים הרבה מאד [וגו׳]״.
“Before YHWH”;
this is referring to blessing, a euphemism for cursing, God.
“Exceedingly [me’od ]”
is referring to murder,
as it is stated: “Moreover Manasseh shed very [me’od ] much blood” (II Kings 21:16).
Baraita - Sodom’s prosperity and natural wealth led its inhabitants to arrogance and sin
תנו רבנן:
אנשי סדום --
לא נתגאו
אלא בשביל טובה שהשפיע להם הקדוש ברוך הוא,
A baraita states:
The people of Sodom --
became haughty (נתגאו) and sinned
due only to the excessive goodness that God bestowed upon them.
Prooftext - Job 28:5–8
ומה כתיב בהם?
״ארץ ממנה יצא לחם
ותחתיה נהפך כמו אש.
מקום ספיר אבניה
ועפרת זהב לו.
נתיב לא ידעו עיט
ולא שזפתו עין איה.
לא הדריכוהו בני שחץ
לא עדה עליו שחל״.
And what is written concerning them, indicating that goodness?
“As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
and underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.
That path no bird of prey knows,
neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the lion passed thereby” (Job 28:5–8).1
Because their land supplied abundant food and wealth, Sodom’s inhabitants regarded travelers as economic burdens, and resolved to eliminate hospitality toward outsiders
אמרו:
וכי מאחר ש״ארץ ממנה יצא לחם, ועפרת זהב לו״,
למה לנו עוברי דרכים?!
שאין באים אלינו אלא לחסרינו [מממוננו].
בואו ונשכח תורת רגל מארצנו
The people of Sodom said:
Since we live in “a land from which bread comes, and has the dust of gold”, we have everything that we need.
Why do we need travelers?!2
as they come only to divest us of our property?
Come, let us cause the proper treatment of travelers (תורת רגל) to be forgotten from our land,
Prooftext - Job 28:4–5
שנאמר:
״פרץ נחל מעם גר
הנשכחים מני רגל
דלו מאנוש נעו״.
as it is stated:
“He breaks open a watercourse in a place far from inhabitants,
forgotten by pedestrians,
they are dried up, they have moved away from men” (Job 28:4).
Rava - Sodom’s inhabitants targeted wealthy individuals by seating them beside unstable walls, collapsing the walls upon them, and stealing their property - Psalms 62:4
דרש רבא:
מאי דכתיב
״עד אנה תהותתו על איש
תרצחו כלכם כקיר נטוי, גדר הדחויה״
Rava taught:
What is the meaning of that which is written:
“How long will you seek to overwhelm a man?
You will all be murdered like a leaning wall or a tottering fence” (Psalms 62:4)
מלמד שהיו נותנין עיניהן בבעלי ממון,
ומושיבין אותו אצל קיר נטוי,
ודוחין אותו עליו,
ובאים ונוטלין את ממונו.
This teaches that the people of Sodom set their sights on property owners.
They would take one and place him alongside an inclined, flimsy wall that was about to fall,
and push it upon him to kill him,
and then they would come and take his property.
Rava - The Sodomites deposited fragrant balsam with wealthy individuals, followed its scent at night to locate their treasuries, and broke in to steal their possessions - Job 24:16; Psalms 59:7
דרש רבא:
מאי דכתיב
״חתר בחשך בתים
יומם חתמו למו
לא ידעו אור״
Rava taught:
What is the meaning of that which is written:
“In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they know not the light” (Job 24:16)
מלמד שהיו נותנים עיניהם בבעלי ממון,
ומפקידים אצלו אפרסמון,
ומניחים אותו בבית גנזיהם.
This teaches that they would set their sights on property owners.
They would take one and they would give him balsam, whose smell diffuses,
and the property owner would place it in his treasury.
לערב באים ומריחין אותו ככלב,
שנאמר:
״ישובו לערב
יהמו ככלב
ויסובבו עיר״,
ובאים וחותרים שם
ונוטלין אותו ממון.
In the evening, the people of Sodom would come and sniff it out like a dog and discover the location of the property owner’s treasury,
as it is stated:
“They return at evening;
they howl like a dog,
and go round about the city” (Psalms 59:7).
And after discovering the location they would come and dig there,
and they would take that property.
Additional biblical descriptions of Sodom’s practices, including deprivation of clothing, exploitation of orphans and widows, theft of livestock, and mistreatment associated with burial - Job 24:2-7, 21:32
״ערום ילינו מבלי לבוש, ואין כסות בקרה״,
״חמור יתומים ינהגו, יחבלו שור אלמנה״,
״גבלות ישיגו, עדר גזלו וירעו״,
״והוא לקברות יובל, ועל גדיש ישקוד״.
The Talmud cites additional verses in Job that allude to the practices of the people of Sodom:3
“They lie at night naked without clothing, and they have no covering in the cold” (Job 24:7).
And likewise: “They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox as a pledge” (Job 24:3).
And likewise: “They trespass; they violently steal flocks and graze them” (Job 24:2).
And likewise: “For he is brought to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb” (Job 21:32).
Steinsaltz:
The reference is to the city of Sodom, which was later overturned, as it is stated after that: “He puts forth His hand upon the flinty rock; He overturns the mountains by the roots” (Job 28:9).
For the straightforward meaning of the intention of these verses, see Wikipedia, “Job 28“, section “The achievements of humanity (28:1–12)“:
Job 28:1-11 presents a vivid description of the ancient technology that was used in mining precious metals and gemstones.
There was no mining activity in Israel (cf. 1 Samuel 13:19-22), because its natural resources were limited, unlike in Egypt where extensive mining activity began around 2000 BCE, or other parts in the ancient Mesopotamia.
Mining requires delving deep in the dark places to produce stunning products (sapphire/lapis lazuli, gold) from rocks or dusts; a principle that can be applied to the search of wisdom, “brings hidden things to light” (verse 11).
עוברי דרכים
Literally: “those who pass along roads”. This is a biblical idiom, see search results here.
On these verses in Job 24, compare the overview in Wikipedia, “Job 24“, section “Job reflects on the oppression (24:1–17)“:
In this section, Job asks about the “times” and God’s “days” when the wicked are allowed to oppress and prosper without punishment, followed by ample evidence:
The wealthy, wicked people freely manipulate the means of wealth, such as by moving a landmark to claim possession of the land of others (Proverbs 23:10), thus depriving the oppressed of their ability to earn a living (verse 2) and by discriminating against the marginalized: the fatherless, the widow, and the poor (verses 3–4a).
The poor, oppressed people suffer existential and personal affliction (verses 4b–12), such as by being made to hide themselves, only able to glean what is left behind in the field for food (verse 6), whereas their garment was taken in pledge for a loan (verses 7, 10a; picking up the detail of Eliphaz’s speech in Job 22:6b), leaving them naked, hungry, and thirsty, but nonetheless forced to work, carrying sheaves and making olive oil and wine (verses 10–11).
In summary, people (see Job 11:3) “groan under their oppression” (see Exodus 6, as well), and “the spirit of the wounded cry out for help” (verse 12).
Next are the more serious wrongdoings in the world against the wicked (verses 13–17): murder (verse 14), adultery (verse 15), and stealing (verse 16), in the same order of appearance in the Ten Commandments.
The key image here is of darkness (verses 15, 16, 17) and light (verses 13, 14, 16), with a key implication that those who choose the paths of darkness are not caught or held to account, whereas God’s light should expose them.