Study Gittin folio 56B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
איברא מלכא את; דאי לאו מלכא את לא מימסרא ירושלים בידך, דכתיב: ״והלבנון באדיר יפול״ – ואין ״אדיר״ אלא מלך, דכתיב: ״והיה אדירו ממנו וגו׳״; ואין ״לבנון״ אלא בית המקדש, שנאמר: ״ההר הטוב הזה והלבנון״. ודקאמרת: אי מלכא אנא, אמאי לא קאתית לגבאי עד האידנא – בריוני דאית בן לא שבקינן.
in truth, you are a king, if not now, then in the future. As if you are not a king, Jerusalem will not be handed over into your hand, as it is written: “And the Lebanon should fall by a mighty one” (Isaiah 10:34). And “mighty one” means only a king, as it is written: “And their mighty one should be of themselves, and their ruler should proceed from the midst of them” (Jeremiah 30:21), indicating that “mighty one” parallels “ruler.” And “Lebanon” means only the Temple, as it is stated: “That good mountain and the Lebanon” (Deuteronomy 3:25). And as for what you said with your second comment: If I am a king why didn’t you come to me until now, there are zealots among us who did not allow us to do this.
אמר ליה: אילו חבית של דבש ודרקון כרוך עליה, לא היו שוברין את החבית בשביל דרקון? אישתיק. קרי עליה רב יוסף, ואיתימא רבי עקיבא: ״משיב חכמים אחור ודעתם יסכל״, איבעי ליה למימר ליה: שקלינן צבתא ושקלינן ליה לדרקון וקטלינן ליה, וחביתא שבקינן לה.
Understanding that Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was prepared to ask him not to destroy the Temple, Vespasian said to him: If there is a jug of honey and a snake [derakon] is wrapped around it, wouldn’t they break the jug in order to kill the snake? In similar fashion, I am forced to destroy the city of Jerusalem in order to kill the zealots barricaded within it. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was silent and did not answer. In light of this, Rav Yosef later read the following verse about him, and some say that it was R' Akiva who applied the verse to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: “I am YHWH…Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:25). As Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai should have said the following to Vespasian in response: In such a case, we take tongs, remove the snake, and kill it, and in this way we leave the jug intact. So too, you should kill the rebels and leave the city as it is.