Pt2 ‘When a King Sins’: Sin, Reward, and Responsibility in Talmudic Theology (Horayot 10a-b)
This is the second part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
R’ Yoḥanan ben Zakkai - happy is the generation whose king brings a sin-offering for an unwitting sin - Leviticus 4:22
תנו רבנן:
״אשר נשיא יחטא״,
אמר רבי יוחנן בן זכאי:
אשרי הדור שהנשיא שלו מביא קרבן על שגגתו.
§ A baraita states:
The verse states concerning a king: “When [asher] a king sins” (Leviticus 4:22).
R' Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said:
Happy [ashrei] is the generation whose king (נשיא) feels the need to bring an offering for his unwitting (שגגתו) transgression.
.. all the more so a commoner will bring, and all the more so for intentional sin (repentance)
אם נשיא שלו מביא קרבן,
צריך אתה לומר מהו הדיוט!
ואם על שגגתו מביא קרבן,
צריך אתה לומר מהו זדונו!
If the generation’s king brings an offering,
you must say all the more so what a commoner (הדיוט) will do to atone for his sin, i.e., he will certainly bring an offering.
And if the king brings an offering for his unwitting transgression,
you must say all the more so what he will do to atone for his intentional (זדונו) transgression, i.e., he will certainly repent.
Rava bar Rabba (objection) - If “asher” always implies “happy,” then Lev 5:16 and Jeroboam’s “asher” would also imply praise (an untenable result) - Leviticus 5:16; 1 Kings 14:16
מתקיף לה רבא בריה דרבה:
אלא מעתה,
דכתיב:
״ואת אשר חטא מן הקדש ישלם״,
ובירבעם בן נבט, דכתיב ביה:
״אשר חטא ואשר החטיא״,
הכי נמי דאשרי הדור הוא?!
Rava, son of Rabba, objects to this:
If that is so, and the term asher is interpreted in that manner,
then concerning that which is written:
“And he shall pay for that which [asher] he has sinned from the sacred item” (Leviticus 5:16),
and with regard to Jeroboam, son of Nevat, about whom it is written:
“Who [asher] sinned and caused others to sin” (I Kings 14:16),
so too is the interpretation that this generation is happy?!
שאני הכא,
דשני קרא בדבוריה.
The Talmud answers: Here, in the case of a king who brings an offering, it is different,
as the verse altered its formulation; in parallel verses, the term “if” is utilized, e.g., in the verse: “If the anointed priest shall sin” (Leviticus 4:3).
In the other instances, asher is the standard formulation.
Rav Naḥman bar Ḥisda - Happy are the righteous who suffer in this world; woe to the wicked who enjoy this world - Ecclesiastes 8:14
דרש רב נחמן בר רב חסדא,
מאי דכתיב: ״יש הבל אשר נעשה על הארץ וגו׳״?
אשריהם לצדיקים,
שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים של עולם הבא בעולם הזה.
אוי להם לרשעים,
שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הצדיקים של עולם הבא בעולם הזה.
Apropos the homiletic interpretation of the term asher, Rav Naḥman bar Ḥisda interpreted a verse homiletically:
What is the meaning of that which is written: “There is a vanity that is [asher] performed upon the earth;
that there are [asher] righteous men to whom it happens according to [asher] the action of the wicked, and there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the action of the righteous” (Ecclesiastes 8:14)?
Happy [ashrei] are the righteous,
to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the wicked in the World-to-Come, i.e., they suffer in this world.
Woe unto the wicked,
to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the righteous in the World-to-Come, i.e., they enjoy this world.
Rava - Happy are the righteous who enjoy the good of this world; woe to the wicked who suffer like many righteous do in this world - Ecclesiastes 8:14
אמר רבא: אטו צדיקי אי אכלי תרי עלמי מי סני להו?
אלא אמר רבא:
אשריהם לצדיקים
שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים של עולם הזה בעולם הזה,
אוי להם לרשעים
שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הצדיקים של עולם הזה בעולם הזה.
Rava said: Is that to say that if the righteous enjoyed two worlds it would be awful for them?! Why must the righteous suffer in this world?
Rather, Rava said as follows:
Happy are the righteous
to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the wicked in this world, i.e., happy are the righteous who enjoy this world as well.
Woe to the wicked,
to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the righteous in this world, i.e., like the many righteous people who suffer in this world.
Anecdote: Rava upon hearing Rav Pappa and Rav Huna bar Yehoshua mastered tractates and gained some wealth, he applied “happy are the righteous” to them - Ecclesiastes 8:14
רב פפא
ורב הונא בריה דרב יהושע
אתו לקמיה דרבא,
אמר להו: אוקימתון מסכתא פלן ומסכתא פלן?
אמרו ליה: אין.
איעתריתו פורתא?
אמרו ליה: אין, דזבנן קטינא דארעא.
קרי עלייהו:
אשריהם לצדיקים
שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים שבעולם הזה בעולם הזה.
The Talmud relates:
Rav Pappa
and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua,
came before Rava.
Rava said to them: Have you mastered so-and-so tractate (מסכתא פלן) and so-and-so tractate?
They said to him: Yes.
Rava said to them: Have you become somewhat (פורתא) wealthy?
They said to him: Yes, as each of us bought a parcel of land from which we earn our livelihoods.
Rava proclaimed about them:
Happy are the righteous,
to whom it happens in this world according to the goodness resulting from the actions of the wicked in this world.
The same act can be “walk” or “stumble” depending on intent - Hosea 14:10
Rabba bar bar Ḥana citing R’ Yoḥanan - two eat the Pesach—one for the mitzva, one gluttonously; the same act can be “walk” or “stumble” depending on intent - Hosea 14:10
אמר רבה בר בר חנה, אמר רבי יוחנן,
מאי דכתיב:
״כי ישרים דרכי ה׳
וצדקים ילכו בם
ופשעים יכשלו בם״?
§ Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that R' Yoḥanan said:
What is the meaning of that which is written:
“For the ways of YHWH are right,
and the righteous will walk in them
and transgressors will stumble in them” (Hosea 14:10)?
משל ל
שני בני אדם שצלו פסחיהם,
אחד
אכלו לשום מצוה,
ואחד
אכלו לשום אכילה גסה.
זה שאכלו לשום מצוה –
״צדקים ילכו בם״,
זה שאכלו לשום אכילה גסה –
״ופשעים יכשלו בם״.
It is comparable to an incident involving
two people who roasted their Paschal offerings.
One
ate it for the sake of the mitzva,
and the other one
ate it with gusto, for the sake of excessive eating.1
With regard to that person who ate it for the sake of the mitzva,
it is written: “The righteous will walk in them.”
With regard to that person who ate it for the sake of excessive eating,
it is written: “And transgressors will stumble in them.”
Reish Lakish - challenge: The glutton still fulfilled Pesach
אמר ליה ריש לקיש:
רשע קרית ליה?!
נהי דלא עביד מצוה מן המובחר,
פסח מי לא קאכיל?!
Reish Lakish said to Rabba bar bar Ḥana:
Did you call the one who ate the Paschal offering for the sake of excessive eating wicked?!
Although he did not perform the mitzva in the ideal manner,
didn’t he eat the Paschal offering?!
Since he fulfilled the mitzva, how can he be characterized as a transgressor?
... better parable: two men in one house—one has sex with his wife (permitted), one with his sister (prohibited); same “way,” divergent outcomes
אלא:
משל ל
שני בני אדם,
זה
אשתו ואחותו עמו בבית,
וזה
אשתו ואחותו עמו בבית,
אחד
נזדמנה לו אשתו,
ואחד
נזדמנה לו אחותו,
זה שנזדמנה לו אשתו –
״צדקים ילכו בם״,
וזה שנזדמנה לו אחותו –
״ופשעים יכשלו בם״.
Rather,
it is analogous to an incident involving
two people;
this one
has his wife and his sister with him in a dark house
and that one
has his wife and his sister with him in a dark house.
One of them,
his wife happened to come to him and he had sex with her,
and the other one,
his sister happened to come to him and he had sex with her.
With regard to that one, to whom his wife happened to come,
it is written: “The righteous will walk in them.”
With regard to that one, to whom his sister happened to come,
it is written: “And transgressors will stumble in them.”
Alternative parable - A single “way” is better modeled by Lot and his daughters: the daughters intended a mitzva; Lot intended a transgression - Genesis 19:30–38
מי דמי?!
אנן קאמרינן חדא דרך,
והכא שני דרכים!
The Talmud asks: Are these matters comparable?!
In the verse, we are speaking of one path upon which both the righteous and the wicked walk,
and here, in the incident mentioned by Reish Lakish, there are two paths, as the two people are not performing the same action.
אלא
משל ל
לוט ושתי בנותיו,
הן
שנתכוונו לשם מצוה –
״צדקים ילכו בם״,
הוא
שנתכוון לשם עבירה –
״ופשעים יכשלו בם״.
Rather,
it is analogous to the incident involving
Lot and his two daughters (see Genesis 19:30–38):
With regard to them [=Lot’s daughters],
who, when having sex with their father, intended their action for the sake of a mitzva, as they believed that the world had been destroyed and that only they remained alive,
it is written: “The righteous will walk in them.”
With regard to him [=Lot],
who intended his action for the sake of a transgression,
it is written: “And transgressors will stumble in them.”
אכילה גסה - “gross eating, overeating, binge eating”.
On this common technical term in the Talmud, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “אכילה גסה“, my translation:
Akhlilah gasah (“gross eating” or “overeating”) is an expression that describes gluttony, ravenousness, eating not driven by hunger, eating that involves an excess of foods, and swallowing food without chewing it […]
In the Talmud, akhilah gasah is mentioned in connection with eating matzah, eating sacrificial offerings, eating on Yom Kippur, and eating terumah (priestly portions).
The Talmud even defines akhilah gasah as “harmful”, since the human body does not derive benefit from such eating and is even damaged by it, and likewise the food itself is [eaten] in vain.