Study Sotah folio 11A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דכתיב: ״הנני מקים עליך רעה מביתך״. כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר: ״וישלחהו מעמק חברון״, אמר רבי חנינא בר פפא: בעצה עמוקה של אותו צדיק שקבור בחברון, דכתיב: ״ידע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך״.
This is as it is written there: “Thus said YHWH: Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (II Samuel 12:11), and this prophecy was fulfilled through Absalom. Similarly, you can say about Joseph, who was sent by his father to inquire as to the well-being of his brothers, where the verse states: “And he sent him from the valley [emek] of Hebron” (Genesis 37:14). R' Ḥanina bar Pappa says: From the deep [amukka] counsel of that righteous individual who is interred in Hebron, i.e., Abraham, as it is written: “And He said to Abram: Know that your seed should be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and should serve them; and they should afflict them 400 years” (Genesis 15:13). The journey Joseph took to his brothers set in motion the descent of the Jewish people to Egypt.
״כי אמר אין לי בן״. ולא הוו ליה בני? והכתיב: ״ויולדו לאבשלום שלשה בנים ובת אחת״! אמר רב יצחק בר אבדימי: שלא היה לו בן הגון למלכות. רב חסדא אמר, גמירי: כל השורף תבואתו של חבירו, אינו מניח בן ליורשו. ואיהו קלייה לדיואב, דכתיב: ״ויאמר אל עבדיו ראו חלקת יואב אל ידי ולו שם שערים לכו והציתוה באש ויציתו עבדי אבשלום את החלקה באש״.
The Talmud continues its discussion of Absalom. The verse states concerning Absalom: “For he said: I have no son to keep my name in remembrance; and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called Absalom’s monument to this day” (II Samuel 18:18). The Talmud asks: And did Absalom not have sons? But isn’t it written: “And to Absalom there were born 3 sons, and one daughter” (II Samuel 14:27)? Rav Yitzḥak bar Avdimi says: He meant that he did not have a son worthy for royalty. Rav Ḥisda said: It is learned as a tradition: Anyone who burns the produce of another does not leave a son to inherit from him, and he, Absalom, burned the produce of Joab, as it is written: “Therefore he said to his servants: See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire” (II Samuel 14:30).