Study Zevachim folio 119B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שילה ״נחלה״ זו ירושלים, אי נמי איפכא – היינו דכתיב: ״אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה״. אלא למאן דאמר זו וזו שילה, או זו וזו ירושלים – ״מנוחה נחלה״ מיבעי ליה! קשיא.
a reference to Shiloh, and with regard to “inheritance,” this is a reference to Jerusalem, or the reverse, i.e., that “rest” is a reference to Jerusalem and “inheritance” is a reference to Shiloh, this is as it is written: “To the rest and to the inheritance [el hamenuḥa ve’el hanaḥala],” utilizing two different phrases. But according to the one, i.e., the school of R' Yishmael, who says that this and that are both references to Shiloh, or according to the opinion of R' Shimon ben Yoḥai that both this and that are references to Jerusalem, the verse should have stated: For you have not as yet come to the rest and inheritance [menuḥa naḥala]. The Talmud concedes that this is difficult.
בשלמא למאן דאמר זו וזו שילה; ״מנוחה״ – דנחו מכיבוש, ״נחלה (זו)״ – דפלגו התם נחלות, דכתיב: ״ויחלק להם יהושע ויפל להם גורל בשילה על פי ה׳״.
The Talmud comments: Granted, according to the one, i.e., R' Shimon ben Yoḥai, who says this and that are references to Shiloh, each of the designations may be explained: It is called “rest” because during the period of Shiloh they rested from the conquest in the time of Joshua, and it is called “inheritance” because they divided the portions of land among the tribes there, as it is written: “And Joshua divided the land for them, and he cast a lot for them in Shiloh according to YHWH” (Joshua 18:10).
אלא למאן דאמר זו וזו ירושלים; בשלמא ״נחלה״ – נחלת עולמים. אלא ״מנוחה״ – מאי מנוחה? מנוחת ארון, דכתיב: ״ויהי כנוח הארון״.
But according to the one, i.e., the school of R' Yishmael, who says this and that are references to Jerusalem, granted that “inheritance” is a reference to Jerusalem, since it is an eternal inheritance. But with regard to “rest,” what rest was there in the Temple in Jerusalem? The Talmud answers: The rest of the Ark, as it is written: And when the ark rested. In other words, verses occasionally refer to the Temple in Jerusalem as the resting place of the Ark.