Study Taanit folio 15A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לבזה נפש למתעב גוי לעבד משלים מלכים יראו וקמו״. ושרים בהשתחויה, דכתיב: ״שרים וישתחוו״. מתקיף לה רבי זירא, ואיתימא רבי שמואל בר נחמני: אי הוה כתיב ״ושרים ישתחוו״ — כדקאמרת, השתא דכתיב ״שרים וישתחוו״ — הא והא עבוד.
to he who is despised of men, to he who is abhorred of nations, to a servant of rulers: Kings should see and arise” (Isaiah 49:7); and ministers by bowing, as it is written, in the same verse: “Ministers, and they should bow.” R' Zeira strongly objects to this interpretation, and some say it was R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani who objected. Had the verse written: And ministers should bow, the meaning would have been as you said. However, now that it is written: “Ministers, and they should bow,” this indicates that ministers will do this and that, i.e., they will both arise and bow.
אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק, אף אני אומר: לא הכל לאורה, ולא הכל לשמחה. צדיקים — לאורה, וישרים — לשמחה. צדיקים לאורה, דכתיב: ״אור זרע לצדיק״. ולישרים שמחה, דכתיב: ״ולישרי לב שמחה״.
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: I too say a similar idea. Not all are fit for light, and not all are fit for gladness. The righteous are fit to be rewarded with light, and the upright are fit to be rewarded with gladness. The righteous are fit to be rewarded with light, as it is written: “Light is sown for the righteous” (Psalms 97:11), and the upright are fit to be rewarded with gladness, as it is written, in the same verse: “And gladness for the upright in heart.”