1and the mother of Shealtiel conceived while standing. Alternatively, “Shealtiel” is interpreted as meaning that God [ El ] requested [ nishal ] dissolution of His oath, as it were, and allowed Jeconiah to father a child. In the continuation of that passage in Chronicles, where the verse refers to the grandson of Jeconiah, Zerubbabel [ Zerubavel ], the Gemara interprets that his name teaches that he was sown [ nizra ], i.e., conceived, in Babylonia [ Bavel ]. And what was his true name? Nehemiah, son of Hachaliah, was his true name.
2Having mentioned the sons of Rabbi Ḥiyya, the Gemara relates: Yehuda and Ḥizkiyya, sons of Rabbi Ḥiyya, were sitting at a meal before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and they were not saying anything. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to his servants: Add more wine for the young men, so that they will say something. Once they were inebriated, they loosened their tongues and said: The son of David, i.e., the Messiah, will not come until two fathers’ houses are destroyed from Israel, as those two families are preventing the redemption. And they are the head of the exile who is in Babylonia, i.e., the family of the Exilarch, and the Nasi who is in Eretz Yisrael, i.e., the family of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (see 5a), as it is stated in reference to the Messiah: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel” (Isaiah 8:14).
3Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to them: My children, do you throw thorns in my eyes? How can you say this in the presence of the Nasi himself? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: My teacher, do not view their behavior in a negative light. Wine [ yayin ] is given in letters of seventy, i.e., the numerical value of the letters in the word yayin is seventy, and secret [ sod ] is given in letters of seventy, i.e., the numerical value of the letters in the word sod is seventy. When wine enters, secrets emerge.
4Apropos the discussion of exile, Rav Ḥisda says that Mar Ukva says, and some say that Rav Ḥisda says that Mari bar Mar taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And so the Lord has hastened the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works He has done” (Daniel 9:14)? Is it because “the Lord our God is righteous” that “the Lord has hastened the evil, and brought it upon us”? He explains: Yes, because it was a righteous act that the Holy One, Blessed be He, performed for the Jewish people by hastening the exile of Zedekiah while the Jews who had been exiled in the exile of Jeconiah, which preceded it, were still alive, as the wise people among those exiled with Jeconiah were able to instruct those exiled with Zedekiah.
5This is as it is written concerning the exile of Jeconiah: “And all the men of might, seven thousand, and the craftsmen [ heḥarash ] and the smiths [ vehammasger ] one thousand” (II Kings 24:16). The Gemara interprets: The term “ ḥarash ,” which can be read as ḥeresh , deaf-mute, is referring to Torah scholars, as when they open their mouths to teach Torah, all the others become as though they were deaf-mutes, as they would listen quietly to the one teaching Torah. The term “ masger ,” which is related to saggur , meaning closed, teaches that when they close, i.e., finish, teaching the halakha , they do not reopen the discussion, as all has been clarified. And how many were these Torah scholars? One thousand.
6Ulla says: The righteous act that the Lord performed, referred to in the verse in Daniel, was that He hastened the exile by two years of venoshantem . Moses taught: “When you shall have children, and children’s children, and you shall have remained long [ venoshantem ] in the land, and shall deal corruptly, and make a carved idol, the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord your God, to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land into which you go over the Jorden to possess it; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 4:25–26). The numerical value of the letters of the word “ venoshantem ” is 852, and the Jewish people were exiled in the 850th year after entering Eretz Yisrael. Since they were exiled early, not all of the curses enumerated in the verse would be fulfilled.
7Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov says: Learn from it that for the Master of the World, the term soon is referring to 852 years, as the verse states: “You shall soon utterly perish,” and the intended time until the exile was 852 years.
8§ The mishna teaches: Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone. The Sages taught in a baraita : Adam was created alone, and for what reason? So that the heretics will not say: There are many authorities in Heaven, and each created a different person. Alternatively, Adam was created alone due to the righteous and due to the wicked. It was so that the righteous will not say: We are the children of the righteous, and righteousness is natural for us, so there is no need for us to exert ourselves to be righteous, and so that the wicked will not say: We are the children of the wicked and cannot change our ways.
9The baraita continues: Alternatively, he was created alone due to the families, so that the families will not quarrel with each other, each one boasting of the heritage of their progenitor. And if now that Adam was created alone, families still quarrel and each family claims superiority, if there were two people created initially, all the more so would they do this. Alternatively, he was created alone due to the robbers and due to those who take by force that which is not theirs, as the feeling of fraternity among all people, having descended from the same forefather, will limit crime. And if now that Adam was created alone, criminals still rob and take by force that which is not theirs, if there were two people created initially, all the more so would this be the case.
10The mishna teaches: And this serves to tell of the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as when a person stamps several coins with one seal, they are all similar to each other. But the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, stamped all people with the seal of Adam the first man, as all are his offspring, and not one of them is similar to another. The Sages taught in a baraita ( Tosefta 8:5): The fact that Adam the first man was created alone serves to declare the greatness of the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, as a person stamps several coins with one seal, and they are all similar to each other. But the Holy One, Blessed be He, stamps all people with the seal of Adam the first man, and not one of them is similar to another. As it is stated: “It is changed like clay under the seal and they stand as a garment” (Job 38:14). The verse describes people as being created “under the seal,” but their external appearance is different, just as garments can differ in appearance.
11The baraita asks: And for what reason are their faces not similar to one another? The baraita answers: It is so that a man will not see a beautiful home or a beautiful woman and say: She is mine. If all people looked the same, no one could contradict him. As it is stated in the following verse: “And from the wicked their light is withheld and the high arm shall be broken” (Job 38:15), indicating that the reason people look different from one another is to prevent the wicked from succeeding in their plans.
12It is taught in a baraita : Rabbi Meir would say: One person is different from another in three ways: In voice, in appearance, and in thought. The differences in voice and appearance are due to a woman forbidden to him, so that people will not exchange spouses one with another. And the differences in thought are due to the robbers and those who take by force that which is not theirs, as, if everyone thought in a similar way, criminals could take advantage of others because they would understand where they keep their valuables.
13The Sages taught in a baraita ( Tosefta 8:7): Adam the first man was created on Shabbat eve at the close of the six days of Creation. And for what reason was this so? So that the heretics will not be able to say that the Holy One, Blessed be He, had a partner, i.e., Adam, in the acts of Creation. Alternatively, he was created on Shabbat eve so that if a person becomes haughty, God can say to him: The mosquito preceded you in the acts of Creation, as you were created last. Alternatively, he was created on Shabbat eve in order that he enter into the mitzva of observing Shabbat immediately.
14Alternatively, he was created on Shabbat eve, after all of the other creations, in order that he enter into a feast immediately, as the whole world was prepared for him. This is comparable to a king of flesh and blood, who first built palaces [ palterin ] and improved them, and prepared a feast and afterward brought in his guests. As it is stated: “Wisdom has built her house, and she has hewn out her seven pillars. She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; she has also furnished her table. She has sent forth her maidens; she calls upon the top of the highest places of the city” (Proverbs 9:1–3).
15The baraita explains: “Wisdom has built her house”; this is referring to the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who created the entire world with wisdom. “She has hewn out her seven pillars”; these pillars are referring to the seven days of Creation, in which the world was established. “She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; she has also furnished her table”; these are referring to the seas and rivers and all the necessities of the world that were created. “She has sent forth her maidens; she calls”; this is referring to Adam and Eve, who were created at the end of Creation.
16The verses continue: “Upon the top of the highest places of the city.” Rabba bar bar Ḥana raises a contradiction: It is written: “Upon the top of the highest places,” and it is written afterward: “For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city” (Proverbs 9:14). Is she at the top or on a seat? He explains: Initially, Adam was alone upon the top of a high place, and ultimately, Adam was on a seat that is set for a bridegroom, when Eve was paired with him.
17The verse states in that passage: “Whoever is thoughtless, let him turn in here; as for him that lacks understanding, she tells him” (Proverbs 9:4). The Gemara explains: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Who lured this man to sin? The woman told him to sin. An allusion to the interpretation that one who is lured to sin by a woman is called one “that lacks understanding” is as it is written: “He who commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding” (Proverbs 6:32).
18It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: The dust that served to form Adam the first man was gathered from the entire world, as it is stated: “When I was made in secret and wrought in the lowest places of the earth, Your eyes did see my unshaped flesh” (Psalms 139:15–16), and it is written: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth” (II Chronicles 16:9), indicating that this figure was formed from the whole earth, the place within the view of the Lord’s eyes. Rav Oshaya says in the name of Rav: With regard to Adam the first man,