Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 20a

סנהדרין כ׳ ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 20a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 20a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Praise of פלטי בן ליש; the mourning king in the משנה; why אבנר was punished; what a דרגש is

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ranking of three men who held back from sin: יוסף, בועז, and פלטי בן ליש, with פלטי at the top. רבי יוחנן and רבי יונתן read פסוקים from משלי 31 as hints to this ranking. Two more readings of 'Grace is deceitful, beauty is vain' apply it to generations instead. One of them ends with the generation of רבי יהודה בר אילעאי, whose poor students shared one cloak and still learned תורה. Then a new משנה teaches that a mourning king does not leave his palace. רבי יהודה says he may follow the bier, as דוד did for אבנר, and the חכמים answer that דוד only did it to calm the people. The גמרא brings a ברייתא with the same argument about where women walk at a funeral. It then discusses why אבנר was punished: either he failed to protest to שאול, or he delayed דוד's kingdom. Finally, the גמרא asks what a דרגש is. עולא's 'bed of fortune' is rejected, רבין says it is a leather bed, and רבי יוחנן's explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

תּוֹקְפּוֹ שֶׁל בּוֹעַז –

The strength of Boaz

עִנְוְותָנוּתוֹ שֶׁל פַּלְטִי בֶּן לַיִשׁ,

is the humility of Palti son of Laish,

כְּדַאֲמַרַן.

as we said.

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן:

Rabbi Yochanan said:

The steps (29)

  1. Statementבועז's strength looks small next to פלטי
  2. Statementרבי יוחנן reads 'you excel above them all' as פלטי
  3. StatementGrace and beauty versus fear of ה׳: יוסף, בועז, פלטי
  4. StatementSecond reading: the generations of משה, יהושע, and חזקיה
  5. StatementA third reading: the generation of רבי יהודה בר אילעאי is praised most
  6. StatementNew משנה: a king does not leave his palace for a funeral
  7. Proofרבי יהודה: the king may follow the bier, as דוד did for אבנר
  8. RejectionThe חכמים: דוד only did it to calm the people
  9. StatementAt the comforting meal, the king sits on a special couch
  10. Statementברייתא: women walk where local custom puts them
  11. Proofרבי יהודה: women always walk in front, as the דוד story shows
  12. RejectionThe חכמים: דוד moved between men and women to calm everyone
  13. StatementAt first the people wanted to destroy דוד, then they comforted him
  14. Statementרב says אבנר was punished for not protesting to שאול
  15. Statementרבי יצחק says אבנר did protest, but no one listened
  16. StatementBoth opinions come from the same פסוק
  17. StatementHow רב reads the פסוק: you were free, so why didn't you protest?
  18. StatementHow רבי יצחק reads the פסוק: you protested, so why did you fall?
  19. QuestionIf אבנר protested, why was he punished?
  20. Responseאבנר delayed דוד's kingdom by two and a half years
  21. QuestionWhat is a דרגש?
  22. Responseעולא: a bed of fortune
  23. ChallengeThe רבנן: why seat him now on a bed he never sat on?
  24. Rejectionרבא: it is just like being fed by others
  25. Challengeרבא's better question: why doesn't a דרגש get overturned?
  26. RejectionPushback: maybe it is like a bed used for storage
  27. ChallengeThe real problem: a דרגש has straps
  28. Responseרבין: a דרגש is a leather bed
  29. Statementרבי יוחנן begins to explain the דרגש