Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 528 pages of information about Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and.

Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 528 pages of information about Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that there are six sorts of fire:—­(1.) Fire that eats but drinks not, i.e., common fire; (2.) fire that drinks but does not eat, i.e., a fever; (3.) fire that eats and drinks, i.e., Elijah, as it is written (1 Kings xviii. 38), “And licked up the water that was in the trench;” (4.) fire that burns up moist things as soon as dry, i.e., the fire on the altar; (5.) fire that counteracts other fire, i.e., like that of Gabriel; (6.) fire that consumes fire, for the Master has said (Sanhed., fol. 38, col. 2), “God stretched out His finger among the angels and consumed them,” i.e., by His own essential fire.

Yoma, fol. 21, col. 2.

For six months David was afflicted with leprosy; for it is said (Ps. li. 7), “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”  At that time the Shechinah departed from him; for it is said (Ps. li. 12), “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;” and the Sanhedrin kept aloof from him, for it is said (Ps. cxix. 79), “Let those that fear thee turn unto me.”  That this ailment lasted six months is proved from 1 Kings ii. 11, where it is said, “And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem;” whereas in 2 Sam. v. 5, it is said, “In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months.”  The reason why these six months are omitted in Kings is because during that period he was afflicted with leprosy.

Sanhedrin, fol. 107, col. 1.

The tables of stone were six ells long, six broad, and three thick.

Nedarim, fol. 38, col. 8.

It may help the reader to some idea of the strength of Moses if we work out arithmetically the size and probable weight of these stone slabs according to the Talmud.  Taking the cubit or ell at its lowest estimate, that is eighteen inches, each slab, being nine feet long, nine feet wide, and four and a half feet thick, would weigh upward of twenty-eight tons, reckoning thirteen cubic feet to the ton,—­the right estimate for such stone as is quarried from the Sinaitic cliff.  The figures are 9 X 9 X 9/2 = 729/2 = 364.5 X 173.5 = 63240.75 = 28 tons, 4 cwt., 2 qrs., 16 lbs. avoirdupois.

The Rabbis have taught that these six things possess medicinal virtue:—­Cabbage, lungwort, beetroot, water, and certain parts of the offal of animals, and some also say little fishes.

Avodah Zarah, fol. 29, col. 1.

Over six the Angel of Death had no dominion, and these were:—­Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.  Respecting the first three it is written, “in all” (Gen. xxiv. 1), “of all” (Gen. xxvii. 33) “all” (A.V. “enough,” Gen. xxxiii. 11).  Respecting the last three it is written, “by the mouth of Jehovah” (see Num. xxxiii. 38, and Deut. xxxiv. 5).

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Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.