Sanhedrin 21b

סנהדרין כ״א ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 21b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Decrees on יחוד, the laws of the king (horses, wealth, wives and his ספר תורה), lessons from שלמה, and the change of the Torah's script under עזרא

Overview

The amud opens by finishing רב's statement that after the story of אמנון and תמר, דוד's court made a decree. The גמרא points out that יחוד with forbidden relatives is already a Torah law, so it rereads the decree as being about יחוד with an unmarried woman. Next it brings רב's teachings about אדוניה, who tried to make himself king. A new משנה then lists limits on a מלך: he may not have too many horses or too much silver and gold, and he must keep his own ספר תורה with him. The גמרא explains how the word 'לו' shapes each of these limits. The two limits on horses and wealth allow what the army needs, and the limit on wives applies only to the king. רבי יצחק discusses פסוקים about שלמה's horses and silver, and teaches that the Torah hides its reasons because even שלמה stumbled when they were revealed. רבא teaches that every Jew must write his own ספר תורה, and a king writes two. The amud ends with how the Torah's script changed in עזרא's time, and with רבי יוסי's praise of עזרא, whose proof פסוק comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (45)

1. StatementThe decrees about seclusion and the unmarried woman
2. ChallengeBut seclusion is already forbidden by the Torah
3. ProofThe Torah hint for the prohibition of seclusion
4. ResolutionThe decree was about seclusion with an unmarried woman
5. Statementאדוניה tried to make the kingship fit him
6. QuestionWhat was special about the runners of אדוניה?
7. ResponseThe runners had their spleens removed and their feet hollowed
8. Statementמשנה: limits on a king's horses and money
9. Statementמשנה: the king's ספר תורה goes everywhere with him
10. Statementברייתא: horses for his chariots and riders are allowed
11. QuestionWhich horses does the ban cover? Idle horses
12. ProofEven one idle horse is included in the ban
13. ChallengeThen why does the פסוק say 'horses' in the plural?
14. ResolutionA separate לאו for each idle horse
15. ChallengeWould the king be banned from army horses without the word 'for himself'?
16. Resolution'For himself' lets the king add extra army horses
17. StatementThe משנה's rule on silver and gold
18. StatementA ברייתא learns the army exception from 'for himself'
19. ChallengeWould army money be banned without 'for himself'?
20. Resolution'For himself' allows a generous army budget
21. QuestionWhat does 'for himself' teach about wives?
22. Response'For himself' leaves out ordinary people
23. ChallengeTwo verses give different numbers for שלמה's horse stalls
24. ResolutionCounting buildings and rows makes both numbers true
25. ChallengeTwo verses describe silver differently in שלמה's days
26. ResolutionBefore and after שלמה married בת פרעה
27. StatementWhen שלמה married בת פרעה, the ground for רומי was formed
28. QuestionWhy doesn't the Torah tell us its reasons?
29. ResponseWhen reasons were revealed, even the greatest man stumbled
30. Proofשלמה thought many wives would not turn his heart, but they did
31. ProofSecond proof: שלמה and the horses
32. StatementThe king must write his own Torah scroll
33. StatementEvery Jew must write his own scroll, even if he inherited one
34. Challengeאביי: the rule seems to be only for a king
35. ResolutionThe king's rule is about writing two scrolls
36. ProofA ברייתא: the king's two scrolls
37. StatementThe traveling scroll is worn like an amulet
38. StatementThe scroll may not enter a bathhouse or bathroom
39. StatementThe Torah's script and language changed in עזרא's time
40. QuestionWho are the commoners?
41. QuestionWhat is כתב עברי?
42. Statementעזרא was worthy to receive the Torah
43. ProofProof from the word 'went up'
44. ProofBoth משה and עזרא taught Israel statutes and ordinances
45. StatementThe Torah's script was changed through עזרא