Study Sukkah folio 53B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אחספא, ונשדיה בתהומא ומנח! ליכא דקאמר ליה מידי. אמר דוד: כל דידע למימר ואינו אומר, יחנק בגרונו. נשא אחיתופל קל וחומר בעצמו: ומה לעשות שלום בין איש לאשתו, אמרה תורה: שמי שנכתב בקדושה ימחה על המים, לעשות שלום לכל העולם כולו — על אחת כמה וכמה. אמר ליה: שרי.
on an earthenware shard? If it is permitted, we will write it and throw it into the depths, and they will subside. There was no one who said anything to him. David said: Anyone who knows what to say and does not say anything may he be strangled in his throat. Then Ahithophel raised an a fortiori argument on his own and said: And just as in order to make peace between a man and his wife in the case of sota, when the husband suspects his wife of having committed adultery, the Torah said: My Name that was written in sanctity will be erased on the water to establish peace for the whole world in its entirety, all the more so it is permitted. He said to David: It is permitted.
כתב שם אחספא ושדי לתהומא, ונחית תהומא שיתסר אלפי גרמידי. כי חזי דנחית טובא, אמר: כמה דמידלי — טפי מירטב עלמא. אמר חמש עשרה מעלות, ואסקיה חמיסר אלפי גרמידי, ואוקמיה באלפא גרמידי. אמר עולא: שמע מינה סומכא דארעא אלפא גרמידי. והא חזינן דכרינן פורתא ונפקי מיא! אמר רב משרשיא: ההוא מסולמא דפרת.
He wrote the sacred name on an earthenware shard and cast it into the depths, and the waters in the depths subsided 16,000 cubits. When he saw that they subsided excessively, he said: The higher the waters in the aquifers, the moister and more fertile the soil of the world. He recited the 15 Songs of the Ascents and elevated them 15,000 cubits, and established them at a depth of 1,000 cubits. Ulla said: Learn from here that the thickness of the earth above the waters of the depths is 1,000 cubits. The Talmud asks: But don’t we see that when we dig a little, significantly less than 1,000 cubits, water emerges? Rav Mesharshiyya said: That is from the ascent of the Euphrates River, which flows at a higher altitude than do other rivers. The water flows up through underground passages to reach the river. That is why water emerges when one digs in the hills of Babylonia.