Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 97a

סנהדרין צ״ז ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 97a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 97a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Signs of the generation of משיח, the dangers of calculating his arrival, and the six-thousand-year timeline of the world

Overview

This amud continues the גמרא's discussion of when משיח comes. רבי יצחק quotes רבי יוחנן: the generation of בן דוד will have few scholars, deep sorrow, and troubles that come one after another. A ברייתא lays out the seven-year cycle before משיח, and אביי answers רב יוסף's challenge by pointing out that the full signs, in order, never happened. Several תנאים (רבי יהודה, רבי נהוראי, רבי נחמיה) describe a generation with no shame, no respect, and no truth, and רבא tells the story of a town called קושטא where even one white lie brought death. A ברייתא learns from a פסוק in דברים that משיח comes only at a low point: informers, few students, poverty, or despair. רבי זירא warns against calculating the date, since משיח comes when no one expects him. The amud ends with teachings about the world's timeline: six thousand years, a period of ruin, and three eras of תוהו, תורה, and ימות המשיח.

Opening lines

אֶת סֻכַּת דָּוִיד הַנֹּפֶלֶת״.

the Tabernacle of David that is fallen.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הָכִי אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן:

He said to him: This is what Rabbi Yochanan says:

דּוֹר שֶׁבֶּן דָּוִד בָּא בּוֹ,

The generation in which the son of David comes,

תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים מִתְמַעֲטִים,

Torah scholars become fewer,

The steps (25)

  1. ProofFinishing the verse behind the name בר נפלי
  2. Responseרבי יוחנן: the generation of משיח is full of troubles
  3. StatementThe seven-year cycle in which משיח comes
  4. Challengeרב יוסף: we have already seen such cycles
  5. Resolutionאביי: the full signs, in order, never happened
  6. Statementרבי יהודה: the shameful state of the generation of משיח
  7. StatementThe last sign: truth will be missing
  8. QuestionWhat does 'truth is missing' mean?
  9. ResponseTruth splits into flocks and walks away
  10. QuestionWhat does 'he who turns from evil is made a fool' mean?
  11. ResponsePeople call the honest man crazy
  12. Statementרבא hears about a town called Truth
  13. StatementOne white lie, and the cost
  14. Statementרבי נהוראי: no respect in the generation of משיח
  15. Statementרבי נחמיה's list of signs before משיח
  16. ProofThe ברייתא supports רבי יצחק
  17. Statementרבא gives the פסוק behind רבי יצחק's idea
  18. StatementA ברייתא: משיח comes when informers increase
  19. StatementOther readings: fewer students, no money left
  20. StatementLast reading: when people give up hope
  21. Statementרבי זירא: do not push משיח away by calculating
  22. Statementרב קטינא: the world lasts 6,000 years, one in ruins
  23. Statementאביי: the world will be in ruins for two thousand years
  24. ProofA ברייתא supports רב קטינא: the world rests like שמיטה
  25. Statementתנא דבי אליהו: six thousand years in three periods