Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 64a

סנהדרין ס״ד ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 64a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 64a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Stories of the urge for idolatry and its capture, worship of פעור and מרקוליס even when meant as an insult, and the משנה and dispute about מולך.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing two challenges to the idea that the Jewish people served idols only to permit עריות: a child who dies hugging his idol, and the great cry in the days of נחמיה against the urge for idolatry. Both get the same answer: that happened only after they had become attached to idolatry. The story of the prayer goes on. A note reading 'אמת' falls from heaven, and רבי חנינא learns that ה׳'s seal is truth. The urge for idol worship comes out as a fiery lion cub and is sealed in lead. The urge for sin is also captured, but locking it up stops all reproduction, so they blind it instead. Next come stories about the disgusting worship of פעור, and the rule that doing an idol's normal worship counts even if you mean to insult it, as רב מנשה learns with מרקוליס. Finally a new משנה teaches that one is liable for מולך only if he both hands his child over and passes him through fire. The גמרא then discusses whether מולך is a separate category from ordinary עבודה זרה, with אביי and רבא disagreeing about how two תנאים relate.

Opening lines

הַס, שֶׁלֹּא לְהַזְכִּיר בְּשֵׁם ה׳,

Hush, so as not to mention the name of the Lord,

שֶׁלֹּא לִימְּדוֹ אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ.

which his father and his mother had not taught him.

מִיָּד הוֹצִיא יִרְאָתוֹ מֵחֵיקוֹ,

Immediately he took his god out of his bosom,

וּמְחַבְּקָהּ וּמְנַשְּׁקָהּ,

and was hugging it and kissing it,

The steps (32)

  1. ChallengeThe captive child hugs his idol until he dies
  2. ResolutionThat happened only after they became attached
  3. QuestionA new source: the loud cry in the days of נחמיה
  4. ResponseThe prayer: 'We want neither it nor its reward'
  5. ResolutionSame answer: after they became attached
  6. StatementThree days of fasting and a note saying 'אמת'
  7. Statementה׳'s seal is truth
  8. StatementThe fiery lion cub comes out and is caught
  9. QuestionHow can they get rid of it?
  10. ResponseTrap it in lead
  11. StatementPraying about the urge for sin too
  12. StatementLocking up the urge stops life itself
  13. QuestionWhat should we do? Half is not an option
  14. ResponseThey blind it, weakening the urge for close relatives
  15. StatementThe woman who would not serve פעור
  16. Statementישראל clung tightly to פעור but only lightly to ה׳
  17. StatementA ברייתא reads the same פסוקים the opposite way
  18. Statementסבטא בן אלס tries to insult פעור
  19. StatementNormal worship counts even when meant as an insult
  20. Statementרב מנשה throws a stone at an idol
  21. ChallengeThe people warn him it is מרקוליס
  22. Resolutionרב מנשה defends himself with the wording of the משנה
  23. RejectionThe בית מדרש rejects רב מנשה's reading
  24. QuestionCan רב מנשה take the stone back?
  25. ConclusionTaking a stone off מרקוליס is also worship
  26. StatementThe משנה: two actions are needed for מולך
  27. QuestionWhy is מולך taught separately from idol worship?
  28. Resolutionרבי אבין: the משנה follows the view that מולך is separate
  29. ProofThe ברייתא showing the dispute about מולך
  30. Statementאביי: two תנאים hold the same view
  31. Proofרבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס: why the תורה says מולך
  32. Rejectionרבא: they differ about a temporary מולך