Study Yoma folio 87A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
בצבו נפשיה לקטלא נפיק, וצבו ביתיה לית הוא עביד, וריקן לביתיה אזיל, ולואי שתהא ביאה כיציאה. וכי הוי חזי אמבוהא אבתריה, אמר: ״אם יעלה לשמים שיאו וראשו לעב יגיע. כגללו לנצח יאבד רואיו יאמרו איו״. רב זוטרא, כי הוו מכתפי ליה בשבתא דריגלא, הוה אמר: ״כי לא לעולם חסן ואם נזר לדור ודור״.
Of his own will, he goes to die; and he does not fulfill the will of his household, and he goes empty-handed to his household; and if only his entrance would be like his exit. And when he saw a line of people [ambuha] following after him out of respect for him, he said: “Though his excellency ascends to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, yet he should perish forever like his own dung; they who have seen him will say: Where is he?” (Job 20:6–7). This teaches that when one achieves power, it can lead to his downfall. When they would carry Rav Zutra on their shoulders during the Shabbat of the Festival when he taught, he would recite the following to avoid becoming arrogant: “For power is not forever, and does the crown endure for all generations?” (Proverbs 27:24).
״שאת פני רשע לא טוב״ — לא טוב להם לרשעים שנושאין להם פנים בעולם הזה. לא טוב לו לאחאב שנשאו לו פנים בעולם הזה, שנאמר: ״יען כי נכנע (אחאב מלפני) לא אביא הרעה בימיו״.
§ It was further taught: “It is not good to respect the person of the wicked” (Proverbs 18:5), meaning, it is not good for wicked people when they are respected in this world and are not punished for their sins. For example: it was not good for Ahab to be respected in this world, as it is stated: “Because he humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days” (I Kings 21:29), and Ahab thereby lost his share in the World-to-Come.
״להטות צדיק במשפט״ — טוב להם לצדיקים שאין נושאין להם פנים בעולם הזה. טוב לו למשה שלא נשאו לו פנים בעולם הזה, שנאמר: ״יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני״, הא אילו האמנתם בי — עדיין לא הגיע זמנם ליפטר מן העולם.
The opposite is also true. The complete verse states: “It is not good to respect the person of the wicked, to turn aside the righteous in judgment” (Proverbs 18:5), meaning: It is good for the righteous when they are not respected in this world and are punished in this world for their sins. For example: it was good for Moses that he was not respected in this world, as it is stated: “Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me” (Numbers 20:12). The Talmud analyzes this: Had you believed in Me, your time still would not have come to depart the world.