Sanhedrin 102b

סנהדרין ק״ב ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 102b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Stories and דרשות about the three kings with no share in עולם הבא (ירבעם, אחאב, מנשה): רב אשי's dream, the wickedness and merits of אחאב, and the argument about מנשה.

Overview

This amud finishes the story of רבי אבהו, who went back to teaching about the sins of the three wicked kings once he got better. It then tells how רב אשי called those kings 'our colleagues,' and מנשה came to him in a dream. מנשה tested him on where to start cutting bread for המוציא and taught him the answer. He then explained that the pull of עבודה זרה in his time was overwhelming, so רב אשי began calling the kings 'our teachers.' Next the גמרא turns to אחאב: what his name hints at, how his sins went beyond ירבעם's, and the פסוק showing he has no share in עולם הבא. It also explains the merits that earned kingship for עמרי and twenty-two years for אחאב, proving that אחאב protected a ספר תורה. רב נחמן says אחאב was 'balanced,' and רבי יוסף explains that his support of תלמידי חכמים wiped away half his sins. The amud closes with מנשה: the meaning of his name, the source that he has no share in עולם הבא, and רבי יהודה's view that his תשובה earned him one. רבי יוחנן says both sides read the same פסוק, and the second reading continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (43)

1. Statementרבי אבהו recovers and teaches about the kings again
2. ChallengeThe students question why he broke his promise
3. ResolutionThey did not repent, so neither will I
4. Statementרב אשי calls the kings 'our colleagues'
5. Challengeמנשה objects in a dream
6. Questionמנשה tests רב אשי about ברכת המוציא
7. Responseרב אשי admits he does not know
8. Challengeמנשה's rebuke
9. Questionרב אשי asks to be taught
10. ResponseBegin cutting where the bread is best baked
11. ChallengeWhy did someone so wise worship idols?
12. ResolutionYou would have run after me
13. Conclusionרב אשי now calls them 'our teachers'
14. StatementThe meaning of the name אחאב
15. Statementאחאב's light sins equal ירבעם's severe sins
16. QuestionWhy does the verse blame ירבעם?
17. Responseירבעם started the corruption
18. Statementאחאב placed idols on every furrow
19. QuestionSource that אחאב has no share in עולם הבא
20. ResponseShut up in this world, abandoned in the next
21. StatementWhy עמרי merited kingship
22. Statementאחאב ruled 22 years for honoring the תורה
23. ProofThe 'delight of your eyes' is a ספר תורה
24. ChallengeMaybe the treasured item was an idol
25. ResolutionThe elders told him to refuse, so it was not an idol
26. ChallengeMaybe they were wicked elders, like אבשלום's
27. ResolutionAll the people agreed, and some of them were surely righteous
28. Statementאחאב was balanced between merits and sins
29. ChallengeHow can the most wicked king be called balanced?
30. ResolutionHis generosity to Torah scholars wiped away half his sins
31. QuestionWhich spirit volunteered to mislead אחאב?
32. ResponseIt was the spirit of נבות
33. QuestionWhat does 'go out' mean?
34. ResponseGo out from My presence, because liars cannot stand before ה׳
35. StatementOne who takes revenge destroys his own house
36. StatementWhat אחאב wrote on the doors of שומרון
37. StatementWhat אחזיה did while hiding in שומרון
38. StatementTwo explanations of the name מנשה
39. QuestionWhere do we learn that מנשה has no share in עולם הבא?
40. Responseמנשה is compared to אחאב
41. Statementרבי יהודה: מנשה does have a share
42. StatementBoth sides learn from the same פסוק
43. Statementרבי יהודה's reading: מנשה did תשובה and they did not