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Sanhedrin 39a

סנהדרין ל״ט ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 39a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 39a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

A series of debates in which חכמים answer an emperor, priests and heretics who mock God, creation, the שכינה and ישראל.

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a list of three פסוקים connected to רבי מאיר's parables. Then comes a long series of debates in which a Roman emperor, Persian priests and heretics mock God or the Torah, and חכמים answer them, often with a clever demonstration. The emperor's daughter defends the creation of חוה, and רבן גמליאל shows the emperor that he cannot know what is in heaven, cannot count the stars, and cannot explain away one Creator. אמימר and רבי תנחום answer other challenges, and a miracle saves רבי תנחום from wild animals. רבן גמליאל uses the sun to explain how the שכינה rests on every group of ten. רבי אבהו explains יחזקאל's strange commands through the sin of not keeping שמיטה, and shows that God 'immerses' in fire. The amud ends as רבי אבינא begins answering a heretic who denies that ישראל is special, and the פסוק he quotes continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

״אָבוֹת יֹאכְלוּ בֹסֶר

"The fathers eat sour grapes

וְשִׁנֵּי בָנִים תִּקְהֶינָה״,

and the children's teeth are set on edge";

״מֹאזְנֵי צֶדֶק אַבְנֵי צֶדֶק״,

"Just balances, just weights";

״צַדִּיק מִצָּרָה נֶחֱלָץ

"The righteous is delivered out of trouble,

The steps (41)

  1. StatementThe three verses behind the parables
  2. ChallengeThe emperor calls God a thief
  3. StatementThe daughter tells of 'robbers' who left gold
  4. ResolutionAdam got something better than a rib
  5. ChallengeThen why not take it openly?
  6. StatementThe raw meat demonstration
  7. ResolutionWhy אדם had to be asleep
  8. StatementThe emperor claims to know God
  9. QuestionThe emperor cannot find his own son
  10. RejectionIf not on earth, surely not in heaven
  11. ChallengeThe emperor mocks the verse about counting stars
  12. ResolutionThe spinning quinces in a sieve
  13. StatementAnother version: the emperor claims he counted the stars
  14. QuestionHow many teeth do you have?
  15. RejectionYou don't know your mouth but you know the sky?
  16. StatementThe emperor claims mountains and wind had different creators
  17. RejectionThen man would also have two creators
  18. ChallengeEven the small face would need several creators
  19. ResponseThe emperor accepts it
  20. RejectionDo all the creators agree when a person dies?
  21. StatementA Persian priest splits the body between two gods
  22. Rejectionאמימר: then why does one god let the other pass water through his land?
  23. StatementThe emperor invites רבי תנחום to make everyone one people
  24. Responseרבי תנחום: fine, but you become circumcised like us
  25. StatementThe emperor admits he lost and throws רבי תנחום to the beasts
  26. RejectionA heretic says the animals weren't hungry, and is eaten himself
  27. ChallengeThe emperor mocks: how many Divine Presences are there?
  28. Challengeרבן גמליאל scolds the servant for letting the sun in
  29. ResponseThe emperor: the sun shines on the whole world
  30. ConclusionIf one of God's servants fills the world, surely His שכינה does
  31. ChallengeA heretic calls God a jester over Ezekiel's commands
  32. QuestionA student asks the reason for שמיטה
  33. Statementרבי אבהו prepares one answer for both questions
  34. ResponseWhy there is שמיטה: the land belongs to God
  35. ResolutionThe merciful king: יחזקאל suffers to cleanse ישראל
  36. ChallengeA heretic mocks: where did God immerse after burying משה?
  37. ResolutionGod immerses in fire
  38. ChallengeDoes immersing in fire even work?
  39. ResolutionFire is the main way of purifying
  40. ChallengeA heretic asks what makes ישראל special
  41. Resolutionרבי אבינא: one of your own testified for us