Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 105b

סנהדרין ק״ה ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 105b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 105b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

בלעם's empty boast, ה׳'s daily moment of anger, and how בלעם's blessings hid curses

Overview

This amud is all about בלעם and the people around his story. בלעם boasted that he 'knows the knowledge of the Most High,' but the גמרא shows he could not even out-argue his own donkey. So the boast is explained differently: he only knew how to pinpoint the one short moment each day when ה׳ is angry. The sign of that moment is a rooster's comb that turns fully white. ה׳ held back His anger in בלעם's days, so the curses failed. רבי יהושע בן לוי tried to use that moment to curse a heretic, fell asleep, and learned that a צדיק should not curse anyone. The גמרא then teaches that love and hatred both make a great person drop his dignity, as with אברהם and בלעם. It also teaches that doing מצוות שלא לשמה leads to לשמה, since בלק's קרבנות earned him the descendant רות. This leads to a side discussion about wishing that a son or student be greater than oneself. Finally, רבי יוחנן shows that each of בלעם's blessings hid a curse, and רבי אבא בר כהנא says all of those curses later came true except the one about בתי כנסיות and בתי מדרשות. The amud ends by beginning to explain why the curse of אחיה השילוני was better than בלעם's blessing, and this continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

כָּרַע נָפַל שָׁכָב וְגוֹ׳״.

"He sank, he fell, he lay, etc."

״וְיֹדֵעַ דַּעַת עֶלְיוֹן״.

"And he knows the knowledge of the Most High."

הַשְׁתָּא דַּעַת בְּהֶמְתּוֹ לָא הֲוָה יָדַע,

Now, the mind of his animal he did not know,

דַּעַת עֶלְיוֹן הֲוָה יָדַע?

and the mind of the Most High he knew?

The steps (31)

  1. ProofEnd of the verse about סיסרא and יעל
  2. ChallengeHow could בלעם know God's mind if he didn't know his donkey's?
  3. ResponseThe princes ask why בלעם is riding a donkey
  4. ProofThe donkey knocks down בלעם's excuses
  5. ProofThe donkey's final point, learned from the word הַהַסְכֵּן
  6. ResolutionWhat בלעם really knew: the moment of anger
  7. ProofThe prophet מיכה‎: ה׳ held back His anger in בלעם's days
  8. Proofבלעם himself admits ה׳ was not angry
  9. Responseה׳'s anger comes daily but lasts only a moment
  10. ProofAnother פסוק for the moment of anger
  11. ResponseWhen the anger comes: the rooster's white comb
  12. ChallengeBut the comb turns white every hour
  13. ResolutionThe difference: red streaks
  14. StatementThe heretic, the rooster, and the plan to curse
  15. ConclusionCursing even a heretic is not proper
  16. StatementWhat triggers ה׳'s anger each morning
  17. StatementLove and hatred both break a great person's normal conduct
  18. StatementDo Torah and מצוות even שלא לשמה, as seen from בלק
  19. StatementHow רות came from בלק
  20. ChallengeHow could the servants wish that שלמה be greater than דוד?
  21. ResolutionThe wish meant 'like your throne', not 'greater'
  22. ProofProof from the blessing of יעל
  23. Statementרב יוסי בר חוני: no jealousy of a son, proven from שלמה
  24. ProofNo jealousy of a student: from אלישע or from משה
  25. StatementWhat ה׳ put in בלעם's mouth: an angel or a hook
  26. Statementבלעם's blessings show the curses he wanted to say
  27. StatementThe kingship curses turned into blessings
  28. StatementAll the curses came back except shuls and study halls
  29. ProofProof from 'the curse' in the singular
  30. StatementA friend's curse is better than an enemy's blessing
  31. Proofאחיה cursed ישראל with a reed that stands by water