Guémara
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : And that is the background for the following exchange, as a certain heretic said to Rabbi Abbahu: When will the Messiah come? Rabbi Abbahu said to him: He will come when the darkness will enshroud these people, i.e., you. The heretic said to him: Are you cursing me for no reason? Rabbi Abbahu said to him, I am merely relating to you a verse that is written: “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and fog the peoples; but the Lord shall shine upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you” (Isaiah 60:2).
וְהַיְינוּ דַּאֲמַר לֵיהּ הָהוּא מִינָא לְרַבִּי אֲבָהוּ: אֵימָתַי אָתֵי מָשִׁיחַ? אָמַר לֵיהּ: לְכִי חָפֵי לְהוּ חֲשׁוֹכָא לְהָנְהוּ אִינָשֵׁי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מֵילָט קָא לָיְיטַתְּ לִי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: קְרָא כְּתִיב, ״כִּי הִנֵּה הַחֹשֶׁךְ יְכַסֶּה אֶרֶץ וַעֲרָפֶל לְאֻמִּים וְעָלַיִךְ יִזְרַח ה׳ וּכְבוֹדוֹ עָלַיִךְ יֵרָאֶה״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : § It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: The messianic era will be forty years long, as it is stated: “Forty years will I strive with the generation” (Psalms 95:10). The forty years of strife with the gentiles will be followed by the glory days of the Messiah. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: The messianic era will last seventy years, as it is stated: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king” (Isaiah 23:15). In this context, one [eḥad], means unique [meyuḥad]. Which is the unique king? You must say that this is a reference to the Messiah.
תַּנְיָא: רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה אָקוּט בְּדוֹר״. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה אוֹמֵר, שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְנִשְׁכַּחַת צֹר שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה כִּימֵי מֶלֶךְ אֶחָד״. אֵיזֶהוּ מֶלֶךְ מְיוּחָד? הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר: זֶה מָשִׁיחַ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The messianic era will last three generations, as it is stated: “May they fear You as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout the generations [dor dorim]” (Psalms 72:5). Dor is singular and dorim is plural, for a total of three generations. Rabbi Hillel says: There is no Messiah coming for the Jewish people, as they already ate from him, as all the prophecies relating to the Messiah were already fulfilled, during the days of Hezekiah.
רַבִּי אוֹמֵר: שְׁלֹשָׁה דּוֹרוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יִירָאוּךָ עִם שָׁמֶשׁ וְלִפְנֵי יָרֵחַ דּוֹר דּוֹרִים״. רַבִּי הִילֵּל אוֹמֵר: אֵין לָהֶם מָשִׁיחַ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁכְּבָר אֲכָלוּהוּ בִּימֵי חִזְקִיָּה.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rav Yosef says: May the Master forgive Rabbi Hillel for stating matters with no basis. With regard to Hezekiah, when was his reign? It was during the First Temple period. Whereas Zechariah ben Berechiah, the prophet, prophesied during the Second Temple period and said: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king will come to you; he is just and victorious; lowly and riding upon a donkey and upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). In the generations after Hezekiah, there are prophecies about both redemption and the coming of the Messiah.
אָמַר רַב יוֹסֵף: שְׁרָא לֵיהּ מָרֵיהּ לְרַבִּי הִילֵּל. חִזְקִיָּה אֵימַת הֲוָה? בְּבַיִת רִאשׁוֹן! וְאִילּוּ זְכַרְיָה קָא מִתְנַבֵּי בְּבַיִת שֵׁנִי, וְאָמַר: ״גִּילִי מְאֹד בַּת צִיּוֹן הָרִיעִי בַּת יְרוּשָׁלִַים הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשָׁע הוּא עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר וְעַל עַיִר בֶּן אֲתֹנוֹת״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : It is taught in another baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: The messianic era will be forty years long. It is written here with regard to the forty-year sojourn of the children of Israel in the wilderness: “And He afflicted you, and suffered you to hunger and fed you with manna” (Deuteronomy 8:3); and it is written there: “Make us glad according to the days that You afflicted us, the years that we saw evil” (Psalms 90:15).
תַּנְיָא אִידַּךְ: רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה. כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״וַיְעַנְּךָ וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ וַיַּאֲכִלְךָ״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״שַׂמְּחֵנוּ כִּימוֹת עִנִּיתָנוּ שְׁנוֹת רָאִינוּ רָעָה״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rabbi Dosa says: The messianic era will last four hundred years. It is written here with regard to the Covenant of the Pieces: “And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13); and it is written there: “Make us glad according to the days that You afflicted us.”
רַבִּי דּוֹסָא אוֹמֵר: אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה. כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״שַׂמְּחֵנוּ כִּימוֹת עִנִּיתָנוּ״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The messianic era will last 365 years, corresponding to the number of days of the solar year, as it is stated: “For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come” (Isaiah 63:4).
רַבִּי אוֹמֵר: שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וְשִׁשִּׁים וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה, כְּמִנְיַן יְמוֹת הַחַמָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי יוֹם נָקָם בְּלִבִּי וּשְׁנַת גְּאוּלַי בָּאָה״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: “For the day of vengeance is in My heart”? Rabbi Yoḥanan says that it means that God said: I revealed the day of vengeance to My heart, but I did not reveal it to My limbs, as it were, as I never stated it explicitly. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says that it means that God said: I revealed this secret to My heart, but I did not reveal it to the ministering angels.
מַאי ״יוֹם נָקָם בְּלִבִּי״? אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: לְלִבִּי גִּלִּיתִי, לְאֵבָרַיי לֹא גִּלִּיתִי. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אָמַר: לְלִבִּי גִּלִּיתִי, לְמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לֹא גִּלִּיתִי.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Avimi, son of Rabbi Abbahu, taught: The messianic era for the Jewish people will last seven thousand years, as it is stated: “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5). The bridegroom rejoices over the bride for seven days, and the day of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is one thousand years.
תָּנֵי אֲבִימִי בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי אֲבָהוּ: יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים שָׁנָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמְשׂוֹשׂ חָתָן עַל כַּלָּה כֵּן יָשִׂישׂ עָלַיִךְ אֱלֹהֶיךָ״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: The duration of the messianic era is like the duration of the period that runs from the day the world was created until now, i.e., the day when the Messiah will come, as it is stated: “That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21).
אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ כְּמִיּוֹם שֶׁנִּבְרָא הָעוֹלָם וְעַד עַכְשָׁיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּימֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: The duration of the messianic era is like the duration of the period that runs from the days of Noah until now, i.e., the day when the Messiah will come, as it is stated with regard to redemption: “For this is as the seas of [ki mei] Noah to me; as I have sworn that the seas of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you nor rebuke you” (Isaiah 54:9). The words ki mei can be understood as one word, kimei, meaning: Like the days of.
רַב נַחְמָן בַּר יִצְחָק אָמַר: כִּימֵי נֹחַ עַד עַכְשָׁיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי מֵי נֹחַ זֹאת לִי אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי״.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : § Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In their prophecies with regard to redemption and the end of days, all the prophets prophesied only about the messianic era, but with regard to the World-to-Come the reward is not quantifiable, as it states: “No eye has seen it, God, aside from You, Who will do for those who await Him” (Isaiah 64:3). The Gemara notes: And this statement disagrees with the opinion of Shmuel, as Shmuel says: The difference between this world and the messianic era is only with regard to servitude to foreign kingdoms alone, as they will leave Eretz Yisrael.
אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: כׇּל הַנְּבִיאִים כּוּלָּן לֹא נִתְנַבְּאוּ אֶלָּא לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ, אֲבָל לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא – ״עַיִן לֹא רָאָתָה אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתְךָ אֱלֹהִים יַעֲשֶׂה לִמְחַכֵּה לוֹ״. וּפְלִיגָא דִּשְׁמוּאֵל, דְּאָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: אֵין בֵּין הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ אֶלָּא שִׁעְבּוּד מַלְכִיּוֹת בִּלְבַד.