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Blaspheming
Human Ethics
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There came out among the Israelites a man whose mother was Israelite and whose father was Egyptian. And a fight broke out in the camp between that half-Israelite and a certain Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name in blasphemy, and he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan— and he was placed in custody, until the decision of יהוה should be made clear to them. And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: Take the blasphemer outside the camp…
Leviticus 24:10-16
“The son of an Israelite woman…went out” – from where did he go out? Rabbi Levi said: He went out of his world, just as it says: “The champion went out” (I Samuel 17:4).
Rabbi Berekhya said: He went out of the previous portion and said: It is written: “You shall take fine flour and you shall bake it” (Leviticus 24:5). It is the way of a king to eat hot bread. Is it perhaps to eat cold? It is as we learned there: The showbread is eaten no fewer than nine days and no more than eleven days [after it is baked]…
Vayikra Rabbah 32:3
“And he was the son of an Egyptian man” – the Rabbis and Rabbi Levi: The Rabbis say: Even though there were no
mamzerim
at that time, he was a
mamzer
. Rabbi Levi said: He was a full-fledged
mamzer
.
How [did it come to pass]? The taskmasters were Egyptian, and the foremen were Israelites. A taskmaster was appointed over ten foremen, and a foreman was appointed over ten men. The result is that a taskmaster was appointed over one hundred men. One time, a taskmaster went early to a foreman; he said to him: ‘Go and gather your group…
Vayikra Rabbah 32:4
The Sages taught
that it is written:
“Each and every man who shall curse his God shall bear his sin”
(Leviticus 24:15).
Why
must
the verse state
this?
Wasn’t it already stated: “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death”
(Leviticus 24:16)? One
might
have thought that
one would be liable only for
cursing
the ineffable name
of God
alone. From where
is it derived
to include
liability for one who curses
the appellations
of God? It is derived as
the verse states: “Each and every man who shall…
Shevuot 36a:16
ויצא בן אשה ישראלית AND THE SON OF THE ISRAELITISH WOMAN WENT OUT — Whence did he go out? Surely not from the camp, since Scripture states “and they strove in the camp”! Rabbi Levi said, “He went out from (by his blasphemous utterance he lost) his eternal life (עולמו; R. Levi evidently connects ויצא with the last word of v. 8; “the everlasting covenant, ברית עולם”). R. Berachya said, “He set forth (יצא) (started his argument) from the above section. He said sneeringly: “Every Sabbath he shall set it in order!? Surely it is the way of a king to eat fresh (lit…
Rashi on Leviticus 24:10:1-5
The Sages taught
in a
baraita
(
Tosefta
1:1): One who unwittingly
blasphemes brings an offering, since
karet
is stated with regard to it.
This is
the statement of Rabbi Akiva. And
the verse
states:
“Whoever curses his God
shall bear his sin”
(Leviticus 24:15), as the Gemara will explain. The Gemara asks:
And is it
an established
principle
that
wherever it is written
karet
with regard to
a mitzva, one who violates it unwittingly
brings an offering? But there
is the case of the mitzva of the
Paschal…
Keritot 7a:25
The Gemara asks:
And from where
do we know
that this
phrase:
Shall bear his sin,
refers to
karet
and not to some other punishment?
He holds
that with regard to the case of the
blasphemer
mentioned in the verse: “That person blasphemes the Lord and that soul shall be cut off [
karet
] from among his people” (Numbers 15:30),
this is
identical to the case of
one who blesses the name
of God, a euphemism for cursing God’s name.
And it is written with regard to one who blesses the name
of God: “Whoever curses his God
shall…
Pesachim 93a:13-93b:4
את השם ויקלל, he also used the tetragram when cursing. Rabbi Yossi is on record as saying that the Egyptians who were ritually contaminated, also conferred their ritual contamination on the Israelites. His colleagues claimed that the wife of Neriah, a grandson of Dan, was Shlomit, daughter of Divri, and that during the night following the day when Moses slew the Egyptian who was one of the supervisors checking the number of bricks delivered by the Jewish slaves, raped her. History has a way of repeating itself…
Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:3
AND THE SON OF AN ISRAELITE WOMAN, WHOSE FATHER WAS AN EGYPTIAN, WENT OUT, etc. This means that he went out
among the children of Israel
, similar to the expression:
and he went out into the midst of the city
, meaning that he [Mordecai] went out from his house or from where he was abiding into the city. Similarly, this [son of an Israelite woman] went out from his tent or from his place, and came into the midst of the people, and they strove there. The meaning of the word
bamachaneh
[“in the camp” —
and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together…
Ramban on Leviticus 24:10:1
Some are mentioned for praise, and others are referred to in scorn. One person mentioned in praise is found in the verse
And with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan
(Exod. 38:23). It praises him, his mother, his family, and the tribe of Dan, from which he descended. One referred to in scorn is found in the verse
And his mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan
(Lev. 24:11). He was a disgrace to himself and is a disgrace to his mother, his family, and the tribe from which he descended…
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayakhel 4:5
(Lev. 5:1:) “And if a soul sins in that it hears a voice swearing […, if he does not speak out, he shall bear his iniquity].” This text is related (to Eccl. 5:1), “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart hasten to bring forth a word before God.” These [words refer to] people who vilify the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Come and see, when the celestial beings were created, those below were created with half of the [divine] name, as stated (in Is. 26:4), “for through
Yh
, the Lord formed the worlds…
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayikra 7:1
ויניחהו AND THEY PLACED HIM [IN WARD] — him by himself — and they did not place the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath day with him (Numbers 15:34), because both of whom happened to be (i. e. to commit an offense) at the same period, but they knew that the stick-gatherer was to be punished with the death-penalty, only it had not been explained to them by what kind of death he was to be punished — it is for this reason that it is stated in his case (Numbers 15:33) “[and they placed him in ward] because it was not explained what should be done to him”…
Rashi on Leviticus 24:12:1
If any party kills any human being, that person shall be put to death. One who kills a beast shall make restitution for it: life for life. If any party maims another [person]: what was done shall be done in return— fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The injury inflicted on a human being shall be inflicted in return. One who kills a beast shall make restitution for it; but one who kills a human being shall be put to death. You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike: for I יהוה am your God…
Leviticus 24:17-23
"and you shall hang him": I might think that all who are stoned are hanged (i.e., suspended thereafter); it is, therefore, written (
Ibid
. 21:23) "for (the penalty for) the cursing of G-d is hanging" (after stoning). After Scripture
in
cluded (all capital offenses) and then
ex
cluded (i.e., limited it to the cursing of G-d [
megadef
]), we derive it (the exclusion) from
megadef
, viz.: Just as
megadef
is distinct in that it constitutes rebellion against G-d, and it is subject to hanging, so,
all
who rebel against G-d are hanged. R…
Sifrei Devarim 221:3
Does not the blasphemer have to bring a sacrifice? The colleagues in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: They answered him according to his argument. Following your argument, since you say that the blasphemer does not act, where do we find that somebody talks and brings a sacrifice that this one talks and brings a sacrifice? Rebbi Abba from Carthage asked, is not Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish’s argument inverted? There he said, for Rebbi Aqiba the blasphemer does not act. But here he says, the blasphemer is acting in the opinion of Rebbi Aqiba…
Jerusalem Talmud Shevuot 3:1:4
R. Abba said: ‘When Israel were in Egypt, they were acquainted with the Chieftains who are appointed over the various nations of the world, and each of them feared one or other of them. When they were linked with the bond of faith and God brought them near to His service, they abandoned those powers for the higher faith. Therefore they were commanded, “Whoever curseth his god”, etc., as much as to say: Although the service of these is strange worship, yet I have appointed them to control the world, and therefore whoever curses or insults them must bear his iniquity…
Zohar, Emor 49:326
MISHNA:
The corpses of all those
who are stoned are hung
after their death; this is
the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. And the Rabbis say: Only
the corpse of
the blasphemer,
who has cursed God,
and
the corpse of
the idol worshipper are hung.
The corpse of
a man is hung facing the people, but
the corpse of
a woman,
out of modesty, is hung
facing the tree;
this is
the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. And the Rabbis say:
the corpse of
a man is hung, but
the corpse of
a woman is not hung…
Sanhedrin 45b:20-23
The Gemara asks:
And
as for
Rabbi Yoḥanan,
who holds that according to the Rabbis one is liable for bowing to an idol but not for blaspheming,
what is different
between these cases, leading to the conclusion
that the bending of one’s height
while bowing
is
considered
an action according to the Rabbis, but
a blasphemer’s
twisting of his lips
to speak
is not
considered
an action?
Rava says:
The case of
a blasphemer is different, since
this transgression
is in the heart
as well…
Sanhedrin 65a:23-24
Rebbi Ḥiyya said that Rebbi Yasa asked: We have stated: “The herald goes before him: ‘X ben Y is led to be stoned because he committed crime Z; U and V testified against him. Anybody who knows of his innocence shall come and argue.’ ” We inferred that he who hears from one who heard has to rend. Does he who hears from one who heard from one who heard have to rend? Does one have to rend one’s garments for blasphemy? Let us hear from the following:
When king Hezekias heard
the words of Rab Šake,
he rent his garment
…
Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 7:8:6-8
The negative commandment of “blessing” the Name:
And it is from the roots of the commandment of “blessing” the Name that it empties out the man from any good, through this bad speech. And all the glory of his soul becomes something destructive, and he is considered like the animals. As it is with this exact thing through which God separated him for the good and with it man was created — and that is speech — [and] through which he is separated from the animals, that he is separating himself to evil…
Sefer HaChinukh 70:1
Related
ראו גם
Curses
Disgracing (נאץ)
Cursing (ארר)
Cursing
Stoning
Parashat Emor
Words
Sheets
דפי מקורות
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