CHAPTER II R. ELIEZER AND HIS BRETHREN [2A. i.] THE sons of Hyrḳanos said to their father: Get thee up to Jerusalem and vow that thy son Eliezer should not enjoy any of thy possessions. [ Lit. “and ban thy son Eliezer from thy possessions.” The Geniẓah Fragment reads: “to put him in the ban.” The brothers claimed that Eliezer should be disinherited because he had left his old father without permission. For a parallel text see Gen. Rab. 42 (ed. Theodor, p. 398), Aboth d. R. Nathan (a) 6Was it the custom to resort to the Synhedrion in order to disinherit one’s son?] He went up to Jerusalem to disinherit him, and it happened that a festival was being celebrated there by R. Jochanan ben Ẓakkai. All the magnates of the district were dining with him; (such as) Ben Zizith Hakkeseth, [ See Lam. Rab. 1:5 (31), Eccles. Rab. to Eccles. 7:11, and T.B. Giṭṭin, 56a. According to the Talmud (loc. cit.) the name Ben Zizith Hakkeseth was due to his intercourse (Kisê, i.e. seat) with the great men of Rome.] Nicodemus ben Gorion, [ See J.E. ix. 300, where the reference to T.B. Ta‘anith should be emended to 20a.] and Ben Kalba S'bu'a. [ Ben Kalba S’bu‘a, this name is the result of a pun. According to T.B. Giṭṭin, loc. cit., anyone who came to him even as hungry as a dog (keleb) was dismissed fully satisfied (sab‘a).] ||
Why was his name called Ben Zizith Hakkeseth? Because he reclined at table in a higher position than the other magnates of Jerusalem. [ T.B. Giṭṭin, loc. cit., gives another explanation of this name, due to the tradition that the fringes (Zizith) of the man’s garments were hanging over the cushions of his seat. The Arukh (ed. Kohut, vii. 40a, s.v.) appears to have had a text of our passage in accordance with the Talmudic reading, but unlike our text.] Concerning Nicodemus ben Gorion, people said that he had (stored) provisions containing 3 S'ah [ S’ah, a dry measure, the size of which is held to equal 12 148 litres or 10 696 qts. The Geniẓah Fragment reads “three years” instead of “three S’ah.”] of fine flour for every inhabitant of Jerusalem. When the zealots [ On the Zealots or Sicarii see Josephus, Wars, iv. 3. 9 ff.] arose and burnt all the storehouses, they measured and found that he had had provisions for three years for every inhabitant in Jerusalem. [ This passage is missing in the printed editions, but it occurs in the Geniẓah Fragment.] Concerning Ben Kalba S'bua it was told that he had a house measuring 4 Kors [ The Kor is assumed by Gesenius (Oxford ed. p. 499) to be the same as the Chomer, which was thirty times the S’ah. On these measures see Enc. Bib. iv. 5294 ff.] with roofs covered with gold. [ The first printed editions read: “gardens crushed with gold.” Luria reads: “he had a palace with an area covering 4 Kors, all the beams were overlaid with gold.” He thinks that the text should read: “he had a palace covering 4 Kors with treasuries containing gold.” The MS. seems to have preserved the true reading, which is also the reading in the Geniẓah Fragment.] The people said (to R. Jochanan): Behold, the father of R. Eliezer has arrived. He bade them saying: Prepare a place for him, and seat him next to us. [ The 1st and 2nd eds. read: “They prepared a place for him and seated him next to him” (i.e. R. Jochanan). The Geniẓah Fragment reads: “and seat him next to yourselves; they prepared a place for him and placed him next to him” (R. Jochanan). In the MS. the first paragraph ends here.] (R. Jochanan) fixed his gaze [ For this expression see T.B. Synhedrin, 11a: “the sages fixed their gaze upon Hillel the Elder.”] on R. Eliezer, saying to him, [ The Geniẓah Fragment adds: “O my son!”] Tell us some words [ Lit. “One word.”] of the Torah. (R. Eliezer) answered him saying: Rabbi! [ Perhaps “Rabban” would be more correct. The MS. uses an abbreviation.] I will tell thee a parable. To what is the matter like? To this well which cannot yield more water than the amount which it has drawn (from the earth); likewise am I unable to speak words of the Torah in excess of what I have received from thee. [ See Aboth 2:10, where Eliezer is described as a “plastered cistern which loses not a drop,” and cf. Taylor’s note on p. 34 of his (2nd) edition of Aboth. The second paragraph ends here in the MS.]
(R. Jochanan) said to him, I will (also) tell thee a parable. To what is the matter like? To this fountain which is bubbling and sending forth its water, and it is able to effect a discharge more powerful || than what it secretes; in like manner art thou able to speak words of the Torah in excess of what Moses [ The 1st and 2nd eds. read, “they received.”] received at Sinai. (R. Jochanan) continued: Lest thou shouldst feel ashamed on my account, behold I will arise and go away from thee. Rabban Jochanan ben Ẓakkai arose and went outside. (Thereupon) R. Eliezer sat down and expounded. [ According to Gen. Rab. XLII. i., the text of Eliezer’s exposition was Ps. 37:14, “The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow; to cast down the poor and needy, to slay such as be upright in the way.” The brothers of Eliezer might possibly be described in the terms of this text.] His face shone like the light of the sun and his effulgence beamed forth like that of Moses, [ The reference is to Ex. 34:35, “And the skin of Moses’ face shone.” See also Eccles. 8:1.] so that no one knew whether it was day or night. [ The third paragraph ends here.] They went and said to Rabban Jochanan ben Ẓakkai: Come and see R. Eliezer sitting and expounding, his face shining like the light of the sun and his effulgence beaming like that of Moses, so that no one knows whether it be day or night. [ This sentence is wanting in the printed editions. There seems to be some confusion in the text. The MS. concludes here the fourth paragraph.] He came from (his place) behind him [ According to Aboth d. R. Nathan (b) xiii. R. Jochanan had gone forth from the assembly so as not to embarrass R. Eliezer. While Eliezer is expounding. R. Joshua and R. Simeon ben Nathaniel leave the assembly to find R. Jochanan, to whom they say, “Come and see! R. Eliezer is sitting and expounding things more profoundly than (the things) told to Moses at Sinai.” For another instance of kissing by the same teacher see T.B. Chagigah, 14b.] and kissed him on his head, saying to him: Happy are ye, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because this one has come forth from your loins.
Hyrḳanos his father said: To whom does (R. Jochanan) speak thus? The people answered: To Eliezer thy son. He said to them: (R. Jochanan) should not have spoken in that manner, but (in this wise), "Happy am I because he has come forth from my loins." Whilst R. Eliezer was sitting and expounding, his father was standing upon his feet. When || (Eliezer) saw his father standing upon his feet, he became agitated and said to him: My father! be seated, for I cannot utter the words of the Torah when thou art standing on thy feet. [ It would be disrespectful for a son to sit in the presence of his parent, who would be standing; cf. T.B. Ẓiddushin, 33b, where this theme is discussed.] (Hyrḳanos) replied to him: My son, it was not for this reason that I came, but my intention was to disinherit thee. Now that I have come and I have witnessed all this praise; behold thy brothers are disinherited and their portion is given to thee as a gift. [ The fifth paragraph ends here in the MS.]
(Eliezer) replied: Verily I am not equal to one of them. [ This section to the end of the chapter is to be found in Jalḳuṭ Makhiri to Psalms (Ps. 119), § 77, with slight variations in the reading. The last sentence reads: “But I prayed to Him only that I might be found worthy, as it is said, ‘Therefore I esteem all precepts,’” etc.] If I had asked the Holy One, blessed be He, for land, it would be possible for Him to give this to me, as it is said, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof" (Ps. 24:1). Had I asked the Holy One, blessed be He, for silver and gold, He could have given them to me, as it is said, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine" [ The 1st ed. and subsequent editions continue the rest of the verse, but a strange error has crept into their texts; they read “amar” instead of “n’um,” which is the actual reading in Haggai. This error is also in the Talmud (B.) Ḳiddushin, 82b.] (Hag. 2:8). But I asked the Holy One, blessed be He, that I might be worthy (to learn the) Torah only, as it is said, "Therefore I esteem all precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way" (Ps. 119:128).