Study Sanhedrin folio 98B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שאין כל דקל ודקל שבבבל, שאין סוס של פרסיים נקשר בו, ואין לך כל ארון וארון שבארץ ישראל, שאין סוס מדי אוכל בו תבן.
as there is no palm tree that is in Babylonia to which a horse of the Persians will not be tethered when the Persians and Medes go to conquer other lands. And there is no coffin buried in Eretz Yisrael from which a Median horse will not eat straw. During wars, all the coffins will be removed from the ground and used as animal troughs. I do not want my coffin to be used for that purpose.
אמר רב: אין בן דוד בא עד שתתפשט מלכות הרשעה על ישראל תשעה חדשים, שנאמר: ״לכן יתנם עד עת יולדה ילדה ויתר אחיו ישובון על בני ישראל״.
Rav says: The son of David will not come until the evil Roman kingdom will disperse throughout Eretz Yisrael for 9 months, as it is stated: “Therefore will He give them up, until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of his brothers should return with the children of Israel” (Micah 5:2). Once a period equivalent to a term of pregnancy passes, the redemption will come.
אמר עולא: ייתי ולא איחמיניה. וכן אמר [רבה]: ייתי ולא איחמיניה. רב יוסף אמר: ייתי ואזכי דאיתיב בטולא דכופיתא דחמריה.
§ Ulla says: Let the Messiah come, but after my death, so that I will not see him, as I fear the suffering that will precede his coming. Likewise, Rabba says: Let the Messiah come, but after my death, so that I will not see him. Rav Yosef says: Let the Messiah come, and I will be privileged to sit in the shadow of his donkey’s excrement. I am willing to undergo all the pain and disgrace associated with his arrival.
אמר ליה אביי לרבה: מאי טעמא? אילימא משום חבלו של משיח? והתניא: שאלו תלמידיו את רבי אלעזר: מה יעשה אדם וינצל מחבלו של משיח? יעסוק בתורה ובגמילות חסדים. ומר – הא תורה והא גמילות חסדים!
Abaye said to Rabba: What is the reason that you are so concerned? If we say it is due to the pains preceding and accompanying the coming of the Messiah, but isn’t it taught in a baraita that R' Elazar’s students asked R' Elazar: What should a person do to be spared from the pains preceding the coming of the Messiah? R' Elazar said to them: They should engage in Torah study and acts of kindness. Abaye continued: And as far as the Master is concerned, isn’t there the Torah and aren’t there the acts of kindness that you performed?