Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 22a

סנהדרין כ״ב ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 22a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 22a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The history of the Torah's script, honoring the king, and teachings about marriage and the first wife

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about the history of the script the תורה is written in. One view says the script was changed in the days of עזרא and is called אשורי because it came from אשור. רבי says it was the original script, taken away for sin and returned after תשובה. רבי שמעון בן אלעזר says it never changed at all. The גמרא then defends his view: משנה התורה means the king's two ספרי תורה, and the writing on the wall in דניאל was hard to read because of a code or a scrambled order, not a new script. Next comes a new משנה: no one may use the king's horse, throne or scepter, or see him in undignified moments. The גמרא applies this to אבישג, who was permitted to שלמה but not to אדניה, and tells her story with דוד. That story leads to a series of teachings about how serious divorce is, how painful it is to lose a first wife, and how hard it is to make a match.

Opening lines

״וּכְתָב הַנִּשְׁתְּוָן

"And the writing of the letter

כָּתוּב אֲרָמִית

was written in Aramaic

וּמְתֻרְגָּם אֲרַמִּית״.

and translated into Aramaic."

וּכְתִיב: ״לָא כָהֲלִין כְּתָבָא לְמִקְרֵא

And it is written: "They could not read the writing

The steps (37)

  1. ProofThree verses showing the script was changed
  2. StatementWhy the script is called אשורי: it came from אשור
  3. Statementרבי: The Torah was always in this script
  4. ProofProof from זכריה: 'I will return the משנה to you'
  5. Conclusionרבי's reason for the name אשורי: it is upright and beautiful
  6. StatementA third view: the script never changed
  7. ProofProof from the hooks of the poles
  8. ProofSecond proof from מגילת אסתר
  9. ChallengeWhat about 'משנה התורה'?
  10. Resolutionמשנה means two ספרי תורה for the king
  11. ProofSource for wearing the Torah: 'שויתי'
  12. QuestionHow does the other opinion use 'שויתי'?
  13. Response'שויתי' teaches how to stand in תפילה
  14. ChallengeThen why couldn't they read the writing?
  15. ResolutionIt was written in a code
  16. QuestionWhat did דניאל explain to them?
  17. Responseדניאל reads and explains the words
  18. StatementThree other views of how the letters were scrambled
  19. Statementמשנה: do not use the king's things or see him undignified
  20. Statementאבישג was permitted to שלמה but forbidden to אדניה
  21. QuestionWhat is the story of אבישג?
  22. ResponseThe verses about אבישג coming to serve דוד
  23. Statementאבישג asks דוד to marry her, and he calls בת שבע
  24. Statementרב shows that דוד still had his strength
  25. StatementHow serious divorce is
  26. StatementThe altar cries over one who divorces his first wife
  27. StatementA wife may die because of unpaid debts
  28. StatementLosing a first wife is like losing the בית המקדש
  29. StatementFor a widower, the world goes dark
  30. StatementA widower's steps become shorter
  31. StatementA widower's plans fall apart
  32. StatementMatching a couple is as hard as splitting the sea
  33. ProofReading the פסוק to find the sea
  34. ChallengeIf matches are announced from Heaven, why are they so hard?
  35. ResolutionFirst marriage versus second marriage
  36. StatementNothing can replace the wife of one's youth
  37. StatementTrue calm comes only from one's first wife