Study Avodah Zarah folio 46A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
אמר לו רבי עקיבא, והלא כבר נאמר: ״אבד תאבדון״, אם כן מה תלמוד לומר: ״ואבדתם את שמם מן המקום ההוא״? לכנות לה שם.
R' Akiva said to him: But isn’t it already stated: “You should destroy” (Deuteronomy 12:2)? This obviously includes rooting out all traces of idols. If so, what is the meaning when the verse states: “And you should destroy their name out of that place”? This means that it is a mitzva to give it a nickname.
יכול לשבח? לשבח סלקא דעתך?! אלא יכול לא לשבח ולא לגנאי? תלמוד לומר: ״שקץ תשקצנו ותעב תתעבנו כי חרם הוא״.
One might have thought that one may give it a positive nickname. The Talmud interjects: Would it enter your mind that one may give a positive nickname to an idol? Rather, the baraita means that one might have thought that the reference is to a nickname that is neither positive nor negative. Therefore, the verse states: “And you should not bring an abomination into your house, and be accursed like it; you should detest it, and you should abhor it; for it is a proscribed item” (Deuteronomy 7:26). This verse clearly indicates that the nickname should be a negative one.
הא כיצד? היו קורין אותה בית גליא — קורין אותה ״בית כריא״, פני מלך — ״פני כלב״, עין כל — ״עין קוץ״.
How so? To what type of nickname is this referring? If the idol worshippers would call their house of worship the house of elevation [beit galya], one should call it the house of digging [beit karya]. If they call it the all-seeing eye [ein kol], one should call it the eye of a thorn [ein kotz].
תני תנא קמיה דרב ששת: הגוים העובדים את ההרים ואת הגבעות — הן מותרין, ועובדיהן בסייף, ואת הזרעים ואת הירקות — הן אסורין, ועובדיהן בסייף.
The tanna who recited mishnayot and baraitot in the study hall taught a baraita before Rav Sheshet: With regard to the halakha in the case of the non-Jews who worship the mountains and the hills, the mountains and hills are permitted, but their worshippers are punished with decapitation by the sword. But with regard to non-Jews who worship plants and vegetables, the plants and vegetables are forbidden and their worshippers are punished with decapitation by the sword.
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.