Study Sanhedrin folio 110B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אמר ליה: כל תלתין יומין מהדרא להו גיהנם כבשר בתוך קלחת, ואמרי הכי: ״משה ותורתו אמת, והן בדאים״.
The Arab said to him: Every 30 days Gehenna returns them to this place like meat cooking in a cauldron, and they say this: Moses and his Torah are truth, and they are liars.
דור המדבר אין להם חלק לעולם הבא וכו׳. תנו רבנן: דור המדבר אין להם חלק לעולם הבא, שנאמר: ״במדבר הזה יתמו ושם ימתו״. ״יתמו״ – בעולם הזה, ״ושם ימתו״ – בעולם הבא. ואמר: ״אשר נשבעתי באפי אם יבאון אל מנוחתי״. דברי רבי עקיבא.
§ The Mishnah teaches: The members of the generation of the wilderness have no share in the World-to-Come. A baraita states: The members of the generation of the wilderness have no share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “In this wilderness they should be consumed, and there they should die” (Numbers 14:35). “They should be consumed” indicates in this world; “and there they should die” indicates for the World-to-Come. And the verse states with regard to the generation of the wilderness: “Wherefore I took an oath in My anger that they should not enter into My rest” (Psalms 95:11), indicating that they will not be privileged to gain eternal rest; this is the statement of R' Akiva.
רבי אליעזר אומר: הן באין לעולם הבא, שנאמר: ״אספו לי חסידי כרתי בריתי עלי זבח״. אלא מה אני מקיים ״אשר נשבעתי באפי״? באפי נשבעתי, וחוזרני בי.
R' Eliezer says: They come to the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “Gather My pious together to Me, those that have entered into My covenant by offering” (Psalms 50:5). Those who left Egypt entered into an eternal covenant with God at Mount Sinai. But how do I realize the meaning of the phrase “Wherefore I took an oath in My anger”? It must be understood: In My anger I took an oath, and I reconsidered and dissolved the oath when My anger subsided.
רבי יהושע בן קרחה אומר: לא נאמר פסוק זה אלא כנגד דורות הבאים. ״אספו לי חסידי״ – אלו צדיקים שבכל דור ודור. ״כרתי בריתי עלי זבח״ – אלו חנניה, מישאל ועזריה שמסרו עצמן לתוך כבשן האש. ״עלי זבח״ – [אלו] רבי עקיבא וחביריו שמסרו עצמן לשחיטה על דברי תורה.
R' Yehoshua ben Korḥa says: This verse was stated to the generation of the wilderness only with regard to future generations, and should be understood in this manner: “Gather My pious together to Me”; these are the righteous that are in each and every generation. “Those that have entered into My covenant by offering”; these are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who submitted themselves to the fiery furnace to sanctify God’s name. “By offering”; this is a reference to R' Akiva and his colleagues, who gave themselves up to slaughter over matters of Torah.