Sanhedrin - Daf 17
- The story of אלדד and מידד “remaining in the camp”
The passuk says that when Moshe selected judges for the seventy members of Sanhedrin, “two men (אלדד and מידד) remained in the camp.” In a Baraisa, some say: בקלפי נשתיירו – they remained in the box. Because Moshe was told to gather seventy people, which did not allow for an equal number of members from each shevet, Moshe chose six potential members from each shevet, and wrote "זקן" on seventy lots, and left two blank. אלדד and מידד were afraid to draw blank lots, and their lots (which said "זקן") remained in the box. Rebbe Shimon says they literally remained in the camp, because they said: אין אנו ראויין לאותה גדולה – we are not worth for this greatness. Hashem said: הואיל ומיעטתם עצמכם – since you humbled yourselves, הריני מוסיף גדולה על גדולתכם – I will add greatness to your greatness: the other seventy elders prophesied and stopped, והם נתנבאו ולא פסקו – and they prophesied and did not stop.
- The נבואה of אלדד and מידד
Three opinions are given as to what נבואה was prophesied by אלדד and מידד. (1) They said: משה מת – Moshe will die; יהושע מכניס את ישראל לארץ – Yehoshua will bring Yisroel into Eretz Yisroel. (2) Rebbe Eliezer says their prophecy was about the quails, and they said: עלי שליו עלי שליו – Arise, quails, arise, quails! (3) Rav Nachman says their prophecy was about גוג ומגוג, based on a passuk.
The Gemara asks, according to the last two opinions, why did Yehoshua say to Moshe: אדני משה כלאם – “My master, Moshe, destroy them!” It answers: דלאו אורח ארעא – it was not appropriate for them to prophesy in Moshe’s presence, דהוה ליה כתלמיד המורה הלכה לפני רבו – because it was like a student ruling on halachah in his teacher’s presence. The Gemara then asks, according to the first opinion, why did Moshe say: מי יתן – “Would that all of Hashem’s nation were prophets,” since their נבואה was about his passing!? It answers that he was not told the content of their נבואה. The Gemara explains how Yehoshua intended that Moshe should “destroy” them: הטל עליהן צרכי ציבור – place upon them the needs of the community, והן כלין מאיליהן – and they will be destroyed on their own (Tosafos explains that this will cause their נבואה to cease).
- Qualifications for members of a sanhedrin of twenty -three
Rebbe Yochanan listed qualifications for members of a sanhedrin of twenty-three judges. They must be: בעלי קומה ובעלי חכמה ובעלי מראה ובעלי זקנה ובעלי כשפים – men of height, men of wisdom, men of impressive appearance, men of age, men learned in witchcraft (to prevent them from escaping), ויודעים בשבעים לשון – and they must know the seventy languages, to avoid hearing testimony through an interpreter. Rav says an appointee must be מי שיודע לטהר את השרץ מן התורה – one who knows how to purify a sheretz according to Biblical law through his academic abilities. Rav himself advanced such an argument: ומה נחש שממית ומרבה טומאה – if a snake, which kills and thereby increases tumah, yet is itself tahor, than a שרץ, which does not kill, should certainly be tahor!? The Gemara rejects his argument: מידי דהוה אקוץ בעלמא – it is like a mere thorn, which can also kill, but is tahor.
Rav says a sanhedrin is only appointed in a city in which there are two people who can speak the seventy languages, and one more who understands them. Although a Baraisa requires three judges to know the seventy languages, and adds that if there are four, אין למעלה הימנה – there is no better sanhedrin than it, another Baraisa supports Rav’s position.
