7 c. 160 b.c. He is said to have been the uncle of Alcimus (1 Maccabees 7*). In this and the following paragraphs (4, 6, 8, to, 12) are given the names of the ‘Pairs’ ( Zugoth; cf. Peah 2*) who according to tradition were president and vice-president (‘Father of the court’) of the Sanhedrin (Hag. 2*) during the century and a half after Jose b. Joezer.
9 For the sense of this term cf. Yeb. 16, Erub. 2*.
10 Lit. judge all men in the scale of guiltlessness.
8. Judah b. Tabbai and Simeon b. Shetah1 received [the Law] from them. Judah b. Tabbai said: Make not thyself like them that would influence the judges; and when the suitors stand before thee let them be in thine eyes as wicked men, and when they have departed from before thee let them be in thine eyes as innocent, so soon as they have accepted the judgement.
9. Simeon b. Shetah said: Examine the witnesses diligently and be cautious in thy words lest from them they learn to swear falsely.
10. Shemaiah and Abtalion2 received [the Law] from them. Shemaiah said: Love labour and hate mastery and seek not acquaintance with the ruling power.
11. Abtalion said: Ye Sages, give heed to your words lest ye incur the penalty of exile and ye be exiled to a place of evil waters, and the disciples that come after you drink [of them] and die, and the name of Heaven be profaned.
12. Hillel and Shammai3 received [the Law] from them. Hillel said: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and bringing them nigh to the Law.
13. He used to say: A name4 made great is a name destroyed, and he that increases not decreases, and he that learns not is worthy of death, and he that makes worldly use of the crown shall perish.
14. He used to say: If I am not for myself who is for me? and being for mine own self what am I? and if not now, when?
15. Shammai said: Make thy [study of the] Law a fixed habit; say little and do much, and receive all men with a cheerful countenance.
16. Rabban Gamaliel5 said: Provide thyself with a teacher and remove thyself from doubt, and tithe not overmuch by guesswork.6 17. Simeon his son said: All my days have I grown up among the Sages and I have found naught better for a man than silence; and not the ex¬ pounding [of the Law] is the chief thing but the doing [of it]; and he that multiplies words occasions sin.
18. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel said: By three things is the world sustained: by truth, by judgement, and by peace, as it is written, Execute the judgement of truth and peace.7 2. 1. Rabbi8 said: Which is the straight way that a man should choose? That which is an honour to him and gets him honour from men. And be heedful of a light precept as of a weighty one, for thou knowest not the recompense of reward of each precept; and reckon the loss through [the fulfilling of] a precept against its reward, and the reward [that comes] from transgression against its loss. Consider three things and thou wilt not fall into the hands of transgression: know what is above thee — a seeing eye and a hearing ear and all thy deeds written in a book.
2. Rabban Gamaliel9 the son of R. Judah the Patriarch said: Excellent is study of the Law together with worldly occupation, for toil in them both puts sin out of mind. But all study of the Law without [worldly] labour comes to naught at the last and brings sin in its train. And let all them that labour with the congregation labour with them for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of their fathers supports them and their righteousness endures 1 c. 80 b.c. 2 Cf. ‘Pollion the Pharisee and his disciple Sameas', Ant. XV. i. 1.
3 c. 30 b.c.-a.d. 10. 4 This saying is quoted in Aramaic.
5 Grandson (or possibly son) of Hillel. 6 Cf. Ter. 4®. r Zech. 816.
8 Judah the Patriarch, compiler of the Mishnah. 9 The Third.
FOURTH DIVISION: NEZ1KIN lor ever. And as for you, [will God say,] I count you worthy of great re¬ ward as though ye [yourselves] had wrought.
3. Be heedful of the ruling power for they bring no man nigh to them save for their own need: they seem to be friends such time as it is to their gain, but they stand not with a man in his time of stress.
4. He used to say: Do his will as if it was thy will that he may do thy will as if it was his will. Make thy will of none effect before his will that he may make the will of others of none effect before thy will.
5. Hillel said: Keep not aloof from the congregation and trust not in thyself until the day of thy death, and judge not thy fellow until thou art come to his place, and say not of a thing which cannot be understood that it will be understood in the end; and say not. When I have leisure I will study: perchance thou wilt never have leisure.
0. He used to say: A brutish man dreads not sin. and an ignorant man1 cannot be saintly, and the shamefast man cannot learn, and the impatient man cannot teach, and he that engages overmuch in trade cannot become wise; and where there are no men strive to be a man.
7. Moreover he saw a skull floating on the face of the water and he said unto it, Because thou drownedst they drowned thee and at the last they that drowned thee shall be drowned. He used to say: The more flesh thei more worms; the more possessions the more care; the more women the more witchcrafts; the more bondwomen the more lewdness; the more bondmen the more thieving; the more study of the Law the more life; the more schooling the more wisdom; the more counsel the more under¬ standing; the more righteousness the more peace. If a man has gained a good name he has gained [somewhat] for himself; if he has gained for him¬ self words of the Law he has gained for himself life in the world to come.
8. Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai2 received [the Law] from Hillel and from Shammai. He used to say: If thou hast wrought much in the Law claim not merit for thyself, for to this end wast thou created. Five disciples had Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai, and these are they: R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus,J and R. Joshua b. Hananiah,4 and R. Jose the Priest,5 and R. Simeon b. Nathaniel,6 and R. Eleazar b. Arak.7 Thus used he to recount their praise: Eliezer b. Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Joshua b. Hananiah — happy is she that bare him; Jose the Priest is a saintly man; Simeon b. Nathaniel is fearful of sin; Eleazar b. Arak is an ever-flowing spring. He used to say: If all the Sages of Israel were in the one scale of the balance and Eliezer b. Hyrcanus in the other, he would outweigh them all. Abba Saul said in his name:8 If all the Sages of Israel were in the one scale of the balance and with them Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Eleazar b. Arak was in the other, he would outweigh them all.
9. He said to them: Go forth and see which is the good way to which a man should cleave. R. Eliezer said, A good eye. R. Joshua said, A good 1 Died c. a.d. 80 at, it is suggested (R.Sh. 30b), the age of 120. It was he who reconsti¬ tuted the Sanhedrin at Jabneh soon after the destruction of the Temple.
J He is mentioned (simply as R. Eliezer; some 400 times in the Mishnah. Sot. 916 refers to him as ‘R. Eliezer the Great’.
4 He is mentioned (without patronymic) some 80 times in the Mishnah.
5 See Eduy. 8‘. Another ‘Joseph’ the Priest is mentioned. Hail. 4”; Mikw. to1.
* Only referred to in the Mishnah in the present chapter.
7 Not mentioned in the Mishnah outside this chapter.
* Variant (from the parallel work Aboth <PR. Nathan): Abba Saul said in the name of R. Akiba who said in the name of R. Johanan b. Zakkai.
companion. R. Jose said, A good neighbour. R. Simeon said, One that sees what will be. R. Eleazar said, A good heart. He said to them: I approve the words of Eleazar b. Arak more than your words, for in his words are your words included. He said to them: Go forth and see which is the evil way which a man should shun. R. Eliezer said, An evil eye. R. Joshua said, An evil companion. R. Jose said, An evil neighbour. R. Simeon said, He that borrows and does not repay. He that borrows from man is as one that borrows from God, for it is written, The wicked horroweth and payeth not again but the righteous dealeth graciously and giveth. 1 R. Eleazar said, An evil heart. He said to them: I approve the words of Eleazar b. Arak more than your words for in his words are your words included.
10. They [each] said three things. R. Eliezer said: Eet the honour of thy fellow be dear to thee as thine own, and be not easily provoked, and repent one day before thy death; and warm thyself before the fire of the Sages, but be heedful of their glowing coals lest thou be burned, for their bite is the bite of a jackal and their sting the sting of a scorpion and their hiss the hiss of a serpent, and all their wTords are like coals of fire.
11. R. Joshua said: The evil eye and the evil nature and hatred of man¬ kind put a man out of the world.
12. R. Jose said: Let the property of thy fellow be dear to thee as thine own; and fit thyself for the study of the Law, for [the knowledge of] it is not thine by inheritance; and let all thy deeds be done for the sake of Heaven.
13. R. Simeon said: Be heedful in the reciting of the Shema'z and in the Tcfillah;3 and when thou prayest make not thy prayer a fixed form, but [a plea for] mercies4 and supplications before God, for it is written, For he is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repenteth him of the evil;5 and be not wicked in thine own sight.
14. R. Eleazar said: Be alert to study the Law and know how to make answer to an unbeliever;6 and know before whom thou toilest and who is thy taskmaster who7 shall pay thee the reward of thy labour.
15. R. Tarfon8 said: The day is short and the task is great and the labourers are idle and the wage is abundant and the master of the house is urgent.
16. He used to say: It is not thy part to finish the task, yet thou art not free to desist from it. If thou hast studied much in the Law much reward will be given thee, and faithful is thy taskmaster wiio shall pay thee the reward of thy labour. And know that the recompense of the reward of the righteous is for the time to come.
3. 1. Akabya b. Mahalaleel9 said: Consider three things and thou wilt not fall into the hands of transgression. Know whence thou art come and whither thou art going10 and before whom thou art about to give account and reckoning. ‘Whence thou art come’ — from a putrid drop; ‘and whither thou art going’ — to the place of dust, worm, and maggot; ‘and before whom thou art about to give account and reckoning’ — before the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed is he.
7 Some texts omit this clause. 8 c. A.D. 130.
0 But cf. Hag. a1.
450 FOURTH DIVISION: NEZIKIN 2. R. Hanina* the Prefect2 of the Priests said: Pray for the peace of the ruling power, since but for fear of it men would have swallowed up each other alive. R. Hananiah b. Teradion3 said: If two sit together and no words of the Law [are spoken] between them, there is the seat of the scornful, as it is written, Nor sittetn in the seat of the scornful* But if two sit together and words of the Law [are spoken] between them, the Divine Presence5 rests between them, as it is written, Then they that feared the Lord spake one with another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was vmtten before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.6 Scripture speaks here of ‘two’; whence [do we learn] that if even one sits and occupies himself in the Law, the Holy One, blessed is he, appoints him a reward? Because it is written, Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him.7 3. R. Simeon8 3aid: If three have eaten at one table and have not spoken over it words of the Law, it is as though they had eaten of the sacrifices of the dead,9 for it is written, For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness without God.10 But if three have eaten at one table and have spoken over it words of the Law, it is as if they had eaten from the table of God, for it is written, And he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord.11 4. R. Hananiah b. Hakinai12 said: He that wakes in the night or that walks alone by the way and turns his heart to vanity, is guilty against his own soul.
5. R. Nehunya b. Ha-Kanah13 said: He that takes upon himself the yoke of the Law, from him shall be taken away the yoke of the kingdom14 and the yoke of worldly care; but he that throws off the yoke of the Law, upon him shall be laid the yoke of the kingdom and the yoke of worldly care.
6. R. Halafta b. Dosa15 of Kefar Hanania said: If ten men sit together and occupy themselves in the Law, the Divine Presence16 rests among them, for it is written, God standeth in the congregation of God.17 And whence [do we learn this] even of five?18 Because it is written, And hath founded his group upon the earth.10 And whence even of three? Because it is written, He judgeth among the judges.70 And whence even of two? Because it is written, Then they that feared the Lord spake one with another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard.7-1 And whence even of one? Because it is written, 1 Cf. Eduy. a1. The correct reading of the name is probably ‘Hananiah’. The two names are regularly confused.
2 Heb. Segan. The chief assistant, or deputy, of the High Priest. Cf. Yom. 71; Sot. 7’* ’.
J Cf. Taan. 2*. He was the father-in-law of R. Meir and was killed in a.d. 135 at the time of the Bar Cocheba revolt.
* Ben Yohai, c. a.d. 100-170; a teacher of R. Judah the Patriarch. * Ps. 106”.
10 Is. 28*; lit. 'without place’. ‘Place’ is a frequent designation of God.
14 i.e. the troubles suffered at the hands of those in power.
>5 Latter half of the second century; a disciple of R. Meir. Some texts omit ‘b. Dosa’.
16 The Shekinah.
17 Ps. 821. That a ‘congregation’ can be but ten in number is shown in Sanh. t*.
■! The text is here in some confusion. Some versions of the text prove the statement by the preceding proof-text, rendered ‘in the congregation of judges’, i.e. the minimum of three judges together with two suitors (Bert.), or else ‘in the midst of the congregation of God’, i.e. in half a ‘congregation’. Why aguddah (a group, or bundle) should mean ‘five’ is not certainly explained: ‘a bundle is what is grasped by the five fingers’ (Bert.).
20 Ps. 821. ‘Judges’ must be a minimum of three. Some texts prove the number ‘three’ from the Amos proof-text, aguddah, a bundle, being used of the ‘bundle’ or bunch of hyssop which (Par. u’) must be made up of three stalks.
In every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee.1 7. R. Eleazar b. Judah of Bartotha2 said: Give unto him what is his for thou and what thou hast are his; and it is written in [the Scripture con¬ cerning] D avid, For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.* 8. R. Jacob4 said: If a man was walking by the way and studying and he ceased his study and said, ‘How fine is this tree!’ or ‘How fine is this ploughed field!’ the Scripture reckons it to him as though he was guilty against his own soul.
9. R. Dosethai b. Yannai5 * said in the name of R. Meir: He that forgets one word of his study, the Scripture reckons it to him as though he was guilty against his own soul, for it is written, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the words which thine eyes saw.(> Could this be even if his study was too hard for him? Scripture says: And lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; thus he is not guilty against his own soul unless he sits and puts them away from his heart.
10. R. Hanina b. Dosa7 said: He whose fear of sin comes before his wisdom, his wisdom endures; but he whose wisdom comes before his fear of sin, his wisdom does not endure. He used to say: He whose works exceed his wisdom, his wisdom endures; but he whose wisdom exceeds his works, his wisdom does not endure.
11. He used to say: He in whom the spirit of mankind finds pleasure, in him the spirit of God finds pleasure; but he in whom the spirit of mankind finds no pleasure, in him the spirit of God finds no pleasure. R. Dosa b. Harkinas8 said: Morning sleep and midday wine and children’s talk and sitting in the meeting-houses of the ignorant people9 put a man out of the world.
12. R. Eleazar of Modiim10 said: If a man profanes the Hallowed Things 1 1 and despises the set feasts and12 puts his fellow to shame publicly and makes void the covenant13 of Abraham our father, and discloses meanings in the Law14 which are not according to the Halakah,ls even though a knowledge of the Law and good works are his, he has no share in the world to come.
13. R. Ishmael16 says: Be swift [to do service] to a superior, and kindly to the young,17 and receive all men cheerfully.
14. R. Akiba18 * said: Jesting and levity accustom a man to lewdness.
1 Ex. 2024. And ‘thee‘ can mean only one.
2 Some texts omit ‘b. Judah’. He was a contemporary of R. Akiba. He is again men¬ tioned in Teb.Y. 34f. The ‘Eleazar b. Judah’ mentioned in Ohol. 3% Zab. i1 may be of an earlier generation. 3 1 Chron. 2914.
4 The father of R. Eliezcr b. Jacob (see 411; cf. 41C), first half of the second century. Some texts here read ‘Simeon’ (i.e. b. Yohai) and others ‘Akiba’.
5 Latter half of the second century. 6 Deut. 4“. 7 See Ber. s5; Sot. 915.
10 Cf. 1 Maccabees 2l; Pes. gs; lived at the time of the Bar Cocheba revolt.
11 The laws concerning the offerings. Some texts read ‘the Sabbaths’.
12 Some texts omit this clause.
13 i.e. to render himself, by artificial device, uncircumcised. Cf. 1 Maccabees iIS, 14 The sense is, ‘those who ignore or dispute the “traditions of the elders” ’. The offence is illustrated in Meg. 4s. There is a secondary sense, ‘behave impudently against the Law’.
16 A contemporary of R. Akiba. He is mentioned some eighty times in the Mishnah.
17 Or, ‘amenable to forced service’.
18 Born c. a.d. 50 and killed 135. One of the main supporters of Bar Cocheba. Hisworkin systematizing the topics dealt with by the oral tradition served as the foundation of the Mishnah of his pupil R. Meir, and the final compilation of R. Judah the Patriarch. His name occurs nearly 300 times in the present Mishnah.
452 FOURTH DIVISION: NEZ1KIN The tradition is a fence around the Law; Tithes are a fence around riches; vows are a fence around abstinence; a fence around wisdom is silence.
15. He used to say: Beloved is man for he was created in the image [of God]; still1 greater was the love in that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God, as it is written, For in the image of God made he man.2 Beloved are Israel for they were called children of God; still greater was the love in that it was made known to them that they were called children of God, as it is written, Ye are the children of the Lord your God? Beloved are Israel, for to them was given the precious instrument; still greater was the love, in that it was made known to them that to them was given the precious instrument by which the world was created, as it is written, For I give you good doctrine; forsake ye not my Law?
16. All is foreseen, but freedom of choice is given; and the world is judged by grace, yet5 all is according to the excess of works [that be good or evil].
17. He used to say: All is given against a pledge, and the net is cast over all living; the shop stands open and the shopkeeper gives credit and the account-book lies open and the hand writes and every one that wishes to borrow let him come and borrow; but the collectors go their round con¬ tinually every day and exact payment of men with their consent or without their consent, for they have that on which6 they can rely; and the judge¬ ment is a judgement of truth; and all is made ready for the banquet.
18. R. Eleazar b. Azariah7 said: If there is no study of the Law there is no seemly behaviour, if there is no seemly behaviour there is no study of the Law; if there is no wisdom there is no fear [of God], if there is no fear [of God] there is no wisdom; if there is no knowledge there is no discernment, if there is no discernment there is no knowledge; if there is no meal there is no study of the Law', if there is no study of the Law there is no meal. He used to say: He whose -wisdom is more abundant than his works, to w'hat is he like? To a tree whose branches are abundant but w'hose roots are few; and the wind comes and uproots it and overturns it, as it is written, He shall be like a tamer isk in the desert and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the •wilderness? But he whose works are more abundant than his wisdom, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are many; so that even if all the winds in the w'orld come and blow against it, it cannot be stirred from its place, as it is w'ritten, He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out his roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, and his leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.9 19. R. Eleazar Hisma10 said: [The rules about] Bird-offerings11 and the onset of menstruation12 — these are essentials13 of the Halakoth; but the 1 Some texts omit the following sentence. 2 Gen. 96. 3 Dcut. 14*. 4 Prov. 4-.
5 Variant: And not according to works. 6 God’s record of man’s debts.
7 See Yad. 4". He lived c. a.d. 50-120. He was made president of the ‘Sanhedrin’ at Jabneh when Rabban Gamaliel II was temporarily deposed. Fie was one of the four (the others were Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, and R. Akiba), see M.Sh. 5s, Shab. 16s, Erub. 41, who made a journey to Rome on a mission, of which the purpose and result are unknown.
8 Jer. 17“. Some texts omit this and the following proof-text.
Jer. 17s.
>o Beginning of the second century. The texts frequently style him ‘the son of Hisma’.
11 As detailed in the tractate Kinnim. 12 See the tractate Niddah. Cf. Arak. 31.
13 Being difficult and complicated they must be accounted the most important subjects of study.
calculations of the equinoxes and gematria1 are but the savoury dishes2 of wisdom.
4. 1. Ben Zoma3 * said: Who is wise? He that learns from all men, as it is written, From all mx teachers have l got understanding* Who is mighty? He that subdues his [evil] nature, as it is written, He that is sicnv to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.5 Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion, as it is written, When thou eatest the labour of thy hands happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.6 Happy shalt thou be — in this world; and it shall be well with thee — in the world to come. Who is honoured? He that honours mankind, as it is written, For them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed,7 2. Ben Azzai8 said: Run to fulfil the lightest duty even as the weightiest,0 and flee from transgression; for one duty draws another duty in its train, and one transgression draws another transgression in its train; for the re¬ ward of a duty [done] is a duty [to be done], and the reward of one trans¬ gression is [another] transgression.
3. He used to say: Despise no man and deem nothing impossible, for there is not a man that has not his hour and there is not a thing that has not its place.
4. Levitas of Jabneh10 said: Be exceeding lowly of spirit, for the hope of man is but the worm.11 R. Johanan b. Baroka12 said: He that profanes the name of Heaven in secret shall be requited openly: in profaning the Name it is all one whether it be done unwittingly or wantonly.
5. R. Ishmael his son said: He that learns in order to teach is granted the means to learn and to teach; but he that learns in order to perform is granted the means to learn and to teach, to observe13 and to perform. R. Zadok14 says: Keep not aloof 15 from the congregation, and make not thyself like them that seek to influence the judges. Make them16 not a crown wherewith to magnify thyself or a spade wherewith to dig. And thus used Hillel17 to say: He that makes wordly use of the crown shall perish. Thus thou mayest learn that he that makes profit out of the words of the Law removes his life from the world.
6. R. Jose18 said: He that honours the Law is himself honoured by man¬ kind; and he that dishonours the Law shall himself be dishonoured by mankind.
7. R. Ishmael his son1’ said: He that shuns the office of judge rids 1 Astronomy and geometry are meant. Of these Eleazar Hisma is reported to have been a diligent student. ‘Gematria’ later carne to mean the device of finding esoteric meanings in words by means of the numerical values of their constituent letters. See Uktz. 3”.
1 The word is that used in Ber. 6‘, Shab. 23* of the relish or savoury which begin or end a meal but are not the essential item of the meal.
3 Simeon b. Zoma. A vounger contemporary of R. Akiba. See Sot. 9“.
8 Simeon b. Azzai. A contemporary of Ben Zoma. See Sot. 9U.
9 Most old authorities omit 'even as the weightiest’.
10 Never mentioned elsewhere. 11 Quoted from Ben Sira 7".
11 A disciple of R. Joshua. 13 The rules of the Law. Some authorities omit ‘to observe’ 14 Eduy. 7m. Belonged to the latter half of the first century.
13 Some texts omit these two clauses.
19 The words of the Law. Sec above, i'-’.
18 Ben Halafta. He is referred to, without patronymic, some 350 times in the Mishnah.
He belonged to the fourth generation of Tannaim, c. a.d. 140-65.
19 Some texts omit ‘his son’; some read ‘Bar Kappara' and others ‘R. Simeon’.
454 FOURTH DIVISION: NEZ1KIN himself of enmity and theft and false swearing; and he that is forward1 in giving a decision is foolish, wicked, and arrogant.
8. He used to say: Judge not alone, for none may judge alone save One. And say not, ‘Receive ye my opinion’, for it is for them to choose and not for thee.
9. R. Jonathan2 said: He that fulfils the Law in poverty shall in the end fulfil it in wealth; and he that neglects the Law in wealth shall in the end neglect it in poverty.
10. R. Meir3 said: Engage not overmuch in business but occupy thyself with the Law; and be lowly in spirit before all men. If thou neglectest the Law many things neglected shall rise against thee; but if thou labourest in the Law He has abundant reward to give thee.
11. R. Eliezer b. Jacob4 says: He that performs one precept gets for himself one advocate; but he that commits one transgression gets for him¬ self one accuser. Repentance and good works are as a shield against retribution. R. Johanan the Sandal-maker5 said: Any assembling together that is for the sake of Heaven shall in the end be established, but any that is not for the sake of Heaven shall not in the end be established.
12. R. Eleazar b. Shammua6 said: Let the honour of thy disciple be as dear to thee as thine own and7 as the honour of thy companion, and the honour of thy companion as the fear of thy teacher, and the fear of thy teacher as the fear of Heaven.
13. R. Judah8 said: Be heedful in study, for an unwitting error in study is accounted wanton transgression. R. Simeon said: There are three crowns — the crown of the Law, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of kingship; but the crown of a good name excels them all.
14. R. Nehorai9 said: Wander afar to a place of the Law; and say not that it will follow’ after thee or that thy companions will establish it in thy possession; and lean not upon thine own understanding.
15. R. Yannai10 said: It is not in our power to explain the well-being of the wicked or the sorrows of the righteous. R. Mattithiah b. Heresh11 said: Be first in greeting every man; and be a tail to lions and be not a head to jackals.
16. R. Jacob12 said: This world is like a vestibule before the world to come: prepare thyself in the vestibule that thou mayest enter into the banqueting hall.
17. He used to say: Better is one hour of repentance and good works in this world than the whole life of the world to come; and better is one hour of bliss in the world to come than the whole life of this world.
1 Shameless. The Hebrew term is the same as in Sot. i*.
2 Variants are ‘Johanan’ and ‘Nathan’. This Jonathan was probably Jonathan b. Joseph, a disciple of R. Akiba.
1 Referred to some 350 times in the Mishnah. He was a disciple of R. Akiba and his work in systematizing the Halakoth was the basis of the present Mishnah.