Avodah Zarah, Daf Bet, Part 3

 

Introduction

This section begins a long aggadah in which the nations come in front of God at the end of days and God judges them for their failings. In a sense, the aggadah s purpose is to explain why the Torah was given to Israel and not to the other nations.

 

דרש ר’ חנינא בר פפא ואיתימא ר’ שמלאי לעתיד לבא מביא הקדוש ברוך הוא ס"ת [ומניחו] בחיקו ואומר למי שעסק בה יבא ויטול שכרו.

 

R. Hanina b. Papa and some say R. Simlai expounded: In the time to come, the Holy Blessed One will take a Torah scroll and place it in His embrace and proclaim: Let him who has occupied himself with it, come and take his reward.

 

At the end of days God will invite all of the nations to come forward and justify themselves in front of Him for having observed the Torah.

 

מיד מתקבצין ובאין עובדי כוכבים בערבוביא שנאמר (ישעיהו מג, ט) כל הגוים נקבצו יחדו [וגו’] אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא אל תכנסו לפני בערבוביא אלא תכנס כל אומה ואומה וסופריה שנאמר (ישעיהו מג, ט) ויאספו לאומים ואין לאום אלא מלכות שנאמר (בראשית כה, כג) ולאום מלאום יאמץ.

 

Thereupon all the nations will come and gather in confusion, as it is said, All the nations are gathered together etc. (Isaiah 43:9). The Holy Blessed One will then say to them: Do not come before Me in confusion, but let each nation come in with its scribes; as it is said, And let the peoples (le umim) be gathered together, (ibid.) and the word peoples means a kingdom, as it is written, And one kingdom [u-leom] shall be stronger than the other kingdom (Genesis 25:23).

 

At first all of the nations come in front of God all mixed in together. But then they separate such that each comes one at a time. As we shall see, each kingdom will come in front of God, one at a time.

 

ומי איכא ערבוביא קמי הקב"ה אלא כי היכי דלא ליערבבו אינהו [בהדי הדדי] דלישמעו מאי דאמר להו

 

But can there be confusion in the presence of the Holy Blessed One? Rather it is only that they be not confused, and so hear what He says to them.

 

The Talmud corrects a small misunderstanding in the previous text. God could not have been confused as to which nation is which. God is, after all, all-knowing. Rather, God separated them out for their own good. This would make it easier for them to understand God s words, which as we shall see, were directed at individual nations.