Elisha ben Abuyah, section 2

Introduction to Elisha ben Abuyah
1. Elisha's sin and damnation (Babylonian version)
2. Elisha and Rabbi Meir discuss the Bible (Palestinian version, with Babylonian variant)
3. An ominous episode (Babylonian version)
4. Speculations: how did it happen? (Palestinian version)
5. Elisha's death (Palestinian version)
6. Elisha's death (Babylonian version)
7. Epilogue (Palestinian version)

2. Elisha and Rabbi Meir discuss the Bible (Palestinian version; with a variant, in the last of the three dialogues, from the Babylonian version)

a. Job 42:12

Rabbi Meir was studying in the schoolhouse at Tiberias when his teacher Elisha passed by, riding a horse on the Sabbath. [1] He was told that his teacher was outside, so he stopped his study and went out to meet him.

"What were you studying today?" Elisha asked.

He replied: "The Lord blessed Job's later days more than his earlier ones [Job 42:12]."

"And how did you interpret the verse?"

"I understood it as referring to the preceding verse, The Lord doubled all that Job had [42:10], meaning that he doubled his wealth."

"Woe to those who cannot find what they have lost! Your teacher Akiba did not interpret it that way. What he said was this: The Lord blessed Job's later days on account of his earlier ones; [2] in other words, the blessing Job enjoyed in his later days was through the merit of the good deeds he had done and the commandments he had obeyed in his earlier ones."

b. Ecclesiastes 7:8

He went on: "What else were you studying?"

"The end of an affair is better than its beginning [Ecclesiastes 7:8]."

"And how did you interpret the verse?"

"Imagine a man," said Rabbi Meir, "who had children in his youth and they died; then he had children in his old age, and they survived. That is a case of the end of an affair being better than its beginning. Imagine, again, a man who did business in his youth, and he lost his money; he did business in his old age, and he got rich. That is another case of the end of an affair being better than its beginning. Or imagine a man who learned Torah in his youth and forgot it, then learned Torah in his old age and practiced it. Once again, the end of an affair is better than its beginning."

Elisha responded: "Woe to those who cannot find what they have lost! Your teacher Akiba did not interpret it that way. What he said was this: The end of an affair is good on account of its beginning: [3] it can end soundly only if it began soundly. And my own life bears out his interpretation.

"My father, Abuyah, was one of the notables of Jerusalem. When I was circumcised [at the age of eight days], he invited all the notables to the celebration. They sat in one room, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua in another.

"After the people had finished eating and drinking, they began to clap their hands and to dance. Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Joshua: 'While they're busying themselves in their way, let's busy ourselves in ours.' So they sat studying the Torah, linking the Torah to the Prophets and the Prophets to the Writings. Fire came down from heaven and surrounded them.

"'Gentlemen!' said Abuyah. 'Are you trying to burn my house down?'

"'God forbid,' they answered. 'But we were sitting and going over words of Torah, linking the Torah to the Prophets and the Prophets to the Writings. Those words of Torah were as happy as the day they were revealed at Sinai, and fire licked them, just as it licked them at Sinai. For fire was the essence of their revelation at Sinai: The mountain was ablaze with fire, to the heart of heaven [Deuteronomy 4:11].'

"'Gentlemen,' said Abuyah, 'if Torah has that kind of power, I vow that if this son of mine lives I am going to dedicate him to the Torah.'

"Because his intention [in dedicating me to the Torah] was not purely for the sake of God, therefore it was not fulfilled in me."

c. Job 28:17

Elisha went on: "What else were you studying?"

"Gold and glass cannot equal it [Job 28:17]." [4]

"And how did you interpret the verse?"


Palestinian version	Babylonian version

"I took it to mean that words of Torah are as hard to acquire as golden vessels, yet as easy to break as glass vessels. Yet, just as golden or glass vessels can be repaired if they are broken, so a scholar who has forgotten his learning can learn it all over again."	He said, "The verse teaches that words of Torah are as hard to acquire as golden vessels, yet as easy to break as glass vessels." "That was not what your teacher Akiba said! He explained the verse to mean that, just as golden and glass vessels can be repaired if they are broken, so a scholar who has gone bad is able to reform himself." "So then, repent!" "I have already heard," he said, "God's voice declare from behind the Veil: [5] 'Repent, you backsliding children [Jeremiah 3:14] -- except for "the Other One."'" Our rabbis taught: It once happened that "the Other One" was riding his horse on the Sabbath, while Rabbi Meir walked after him to learn Torah from him.
"That's enough, Meir," he said. "We have now reached the Sabbath limit." [6] "How do you know?" "I calculated from the paces of my horse that we have gone 2000 cubits."	"Meir," he said, "turn back. I calculate from my horse's paces that we have reached the Sabbath limit."
"You have all this wisdom," said Meir, "and yet you do not repent?"	Meir said: "You too -- turn back!" [7]
"I can't." "Why not?" "Once I was riding my horse in front of the Holy of Holies, on the Day of Atonement, which happened to fall on a Sabbath. [8] I heard the divine voice issue from the Holy of Holies: 'Repent, you backsliding children [Jeremiah 3:14] -- except for Elisha ben Abuyah, who knew my power and rebelled against me.'"	"Haven't I already told you?"" he said. "I have already heard from behind the Veil: 'Repent, you backsliding children [Jeremiah 3:14] -- except for "the Other One."'"

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Introduction to Elisha ben Abuyah
1. Elisha's sin and damnation (Babylonian version)
2. Elisha and Rabbi Meir discuss the Bible (go back to top)
3. An ominous episode (Babylonian version)
4. Speculations: how did it happen? (Palestinian version)
5. Elisha's death (Palestinian version)
6. Elisha's death (Babylonian version)
7. Epilogue (Palestinian version)

[1] Strictly forbidden.

[2]

The Hebrew preposition min, used in this verse, can mean either "more than" or "on account of." Meir understands it the first way, Elisha the second.

[3]

See the preceding note.

[4]

"It" in this passage refers to wisdom, which the rabbis take to be the Torah.

[5]

Which, according to rabbinic tradition, separates God from his angels. Elisha refers to the tradition translated above, section 1.

[6]

In rabbinic law, there is a limit to how far one is permitted to walk on the Sabbath. Elisha himself has no scruples about riding on the Sabbath, but is careful to remind his still-pious student not to inadvertently break the rule against walking too far.

[7]

The same Hebrew word means "turn back" and "repent."

[8]

Rather like eating a ham and cheese sandwich in a synagogue on Passover. -- The Palestinian storytellers, who do not seem to have shared the belief that Elisha experienced a mystical ascension to heaven, locate the incident outside God's earthly dwelling. The reference is anachronistic: Elisha could hardly have been born before the Temple was destroyed.