Sanhedrin 38a

סנהדרין ל״ח ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 38a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Exile as kindness, and why אדם הראשון was created alone, last, and from dust of the whole world

Overview

This amud finishes the drashos on the names of יכניה's descendants: שאלתיאל's miraculous birth, God undoing His oath, and זרובבל, who was really נחמיה בן חכליה. Next comes a story. After some wine at רבי's table, רבי חייא's sons say that משיח will not come until the houses of the ראש גולה and the נשיא come to an end. רבי חייא defends them with the line 'wine goes in, a secret comes out.' The גמרא then explains that God hurried the exile as a kindness. The exile of צדקיהו came while the Torah scholars of יכניה's exile were still alive, and according to עולא it came two years before ונושנתם. The גמרא then returns to the משנה and brings ברייתות about why אדם was created alone, why every face is different, and why people differ in voice, looks and mind. It also explains why אדם was created on ערב שבת, using the feast in משלי 9. The amud ends with רבי מאיר teaching that אדם's dust was gathered from the whole world. A new statement of רב אושעיא begins at the very end and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (38)

1. Statementשאלתיאל's mother conceived while standing
2. StatementA second meaning of the name שאלתיאל
3. Statementזרובבל means sown in בבל
4. QuestionWhat was his real name
5. ResponseHis real name was נחמיה בן חכליה
6. Statementרבי gives רבי חייא's silent sons wine
7. Statementמשיח will not come until two leading houses end
8. Challengeרבי objects: thorns in my eyes
9. Resolutionרבי חייא: when wine goes in, secrets come out
10. QuestionHow can God's righteousness explain bringing evil
11. ResponseHastening צדקיהו's exile was a kindness
12. ProofThe exiles of יכניה were a thousand great Torah scholars
13. Responseעולא: God brought the exile two years early
14. ConclusionGod's 'soon' means 852 years
15. QuestionWhy was אדם created alone?
16. ResponseSo heretics cannot claim there are many powers in heaven
17. ResponseSo nobody can blame or credit their ancestry
18. ResponseThird reason: so families will not fight over whose ancestor was greater
19. ResponseFourth reason: to reduce robbery
20. StatementGod's greatness: many people from one seal, yet none are alike
21. QuestionWhy do faces differ from one another?
22. ResponseSo no one can falsely claim another's house or wife
23. Statementרבי מאיר: people differ in voice, looks, and mind
24. Statementאדם was created on ערב שבת
25. QuestionWhy was אדם created then?
26. ResponseSo no one can say man helped create the world
27. ResponseEven a mosquito came before you
28. ResponseTo go straight into a מצוה
29. ResponseLike guests invited to a ready feast
30. ProofThe פסוק about Wisdom's house and feast
31. StatementReading the פסוק as the story of creation
32. ChallengeTwo פסוקים: on the heights or on a seat?
33. ResolutionFirst on the heights, later on a seat
34. StatementWho lured him? The woman told him
35. ProofProof that one led by a woman lacks understanding
36. Statementאדם הראשון was formed from dust of the whole world
37. ProofTwo פסוקים prove the dust came from everywhere
38. Statementרב אושעיא begins a new teaching about אדם הראשון