Pt3 The Absurd and Brutal Practices of Biblical Sodom: A Talmudic Exploration (Sanhedrin 109a-b)

Sodom's depraved attitude towards charity

This is the third and final part of a three-part series. Pt1 was about their absurd laws. Pt2 was about their absurd judgments; this part is about their depraved attitude towards charity. Outline can be found in Pt1.

The guest beds of Sodom

The Talmud recounts the cruel practices of the people of Sodom, who had beds for their guests. If a guest was longer than the bed, they would cut (גייזי) him to fit; if shorter, they would stretch (מתחין) him.¹

When Eliezer, Abraham's servant, arrived,² they told him to lie on the bed. He cleverly avoided their trap by claiming he had vowed (נדרא - neder) not to lie on a bed since his mother's death.

הויא להו פורייתא דהוו מגני עלה אורחין 

כי מאריך-- גייזי ליה 

כי גוץ -- מתחין ליה 

אליעזר עבד אברהם אקלע להתם 

אמרו ליה: קום גני אפוריא 

אמר להון: נדרא נדרי מן יומא דמיתת אמא, לא גנינא אפוריא

The Gemara continues to discuss the sins of the people of Sodom: They had beds on which they would lay their guests; 

when a guest was longer than the bed they would cut him, 

and when a guest was shorter than the bed they would stretch him. 

Eliezer, servant of Abraham, happened to come there. 

They said to him: Come lie on the bed. 

He said to them: I took a vow that since the day my mother died I do not lie on a bed.

Charity in Sodom

In Sodom, when a poor person arrived, each resident gave him a dinar with their name written on it but did not provide or sell him bread, ensuring he would die of hunger. Upon his death, the residents would reclaim their dinars. 

כי הוה מתרמי להו עניא, 

יהבו ליה כל חד וחד דינרא 

וכתיב שמיה עליה 

וריפתא לא הוו ממטי ליה 

כי הוה מית 

אתי כל חד וחד שקיל דידיה

When a poor person would happen to come to Sodom, 

each and every person would give him a dinar, 

and the name of the giver was written on each dinar. 

And they would not give or sell him bread, so that he could not spend the money and would die of hunger. 

When he would die, 

each and every person would come and take his dinar.

Inviting to Weddings in Sodom; Story of Eliezer at a Sodom Wedding

The Sodomites had a rule that anyone inviting someone to a wedding would lose their cloak. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, attended a wedding and was denied bread. He claimed the person next to him invited him, causing fear of cloak loss, leading to a chain reaction where attendees fled, leaving Eliezer to eat the meal alone.

הכי אתני בינייהו: כל מאן דמזמין גברא לבי הילולא, לשלח גלימא 

הוי האי הילולא, אקלע אליעזר להתם, ולא יהבו ליה נהמא 

כי בעי למסעד, אתא אליעזר, ויתיב לסיפא דכולהו 

אמרו ליה: מאן אזמנך להכא? 

א"ל לההוא [דיתיב]: אתה זמנתן 

[אמר: דילמא שמעי בי דאנא אזמינתיה, ומשלחי ליה מאניה דהאי גברא] 

שקל גלימיה ההוא דיתיב גביה, ורהט לברא 

וכן עבד לכולהו 

עד דנפקי כולהו, ואכלא איהו לסעודתא

This is what the people of Sodom stipulated among themselves: Whoever invites a man to a wedding, his cloak will be removed. 

There was this wedding, and Eliezer, servant of Abraham, arrived there and they did not give him bread. 

When he sought to dine, Eliezer came and sat at the end, behind everyone. 

They said to him: Who invited you to here? 

He said to the one sitting next to him: You invited me. 

That man said to himself: Perhaps they will hear that I invited him and they will remove the garment of that man, referring to himself. 

The one who sat next to him took his cloak and ran outside. 

And likewise, Eliezer did the same for all of them 

until they all left, and he ate the meal.

Story: Punishment for giving to charity - covering with honey, so bees would attack

A young woman secretly provided bread to the poor in Sodom by hiding it in a pitcher (חצבא).

When her actions were discovered, the people of Sodom punished her by covering her with honey and placing her on the city wall, where hornets attacked and consumed her.³

הויא ההיא רביתא, דהות קא מפקא ריפתא לעניא בחצבא 

איגלאי מלתא, שפיוה דובשא, ואוקמוה על איגר שורא 

אתא זיבורי, ואכלוה 

There was a young woman who would take bread out to the poor people in a pitcher so the people of Sodom would not see it. 

The matter was revealed, and they smeared her with honey and positioned her on the wall of the city, 

and the hornets came and consumed her. 

1. Compare the “Procrustean bed” of Greek mythology, Procrustes - Wikipedia > “Mythology”:

“[I]f the guest proved too tall, Procrustes would amputate the excess length; if the guest was too short Procrustes would stretch them until they died”.

2. Refer to the earlier section for another account of Eliezer's visit to Sodom. A third story involving Eliezer in Sodom will be presented later.

3. For another talmudic story of someone being stung to death by a bee/wasp/hornet (זיבורא), see my previous piece here.

The Aramaic word for bee — zibora (זיבורא) — is cognate with Hebrew d’vora (דבורה). See Wiktionary:

From Proto-Semitic *dVbr- (“bee”). Cognate with Classical Syriac ܕܒܘܪܐ (debbōrā), Amharic ዲቧራ (dibʷara), Arabic دَبُّور (dabbūr), زُنْبُور (zunbūr), Classical Mandaic ࡆࡉࡌࡁࡅࡓࡀ (zimbura), Aramaic דְּבוֹרְתָא, זִיבּוֹרָא.