Megillah, Daf Daled, Part 1
Introduction
Today’s section continues with other statements made by R. Joshua b. Levi concerning the laws of the Megillah.
ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: לוד ואונו וגיא החרשים מוקפות חומה מימות יהושע בן נון הוו. –
והני יהושע בננהי? והא אלפעל בננהי, דכתיב +דברי הימים א’ ח’+ (בני) [ובני] אלפעל עבר ומשעם ושמר הוא בנה את אונו ואת לד ובנתיה. –
R. Joshua b. Levi further said: Lod and Ono and Ge’ Haharashim were walled in the days of Joshua son of Nun.
But was it Joshua who built these? Was it not Elpaal who built them, as it is written, "And the sons of Elpaal Ever and Misham and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with the towns there of?" (I Chronicles 8:12).
R. Joshua b. Levi cites certain cities that were walled during the time of Joshua and therefore read on the fifteenth.
The problem is that I Chronicles states that there were men from the tribe of Benjamin who built these cities, led by Elpaal, who lived long after the land was conquered by Joshua. This would mean that they were not walled at the time of Joshua and that they should therefore read on the 14th.
ולטעמיך, אסא בננהי, דכתיב +דברי הימים ב’ י"ד+ ויבן (אסא את ערי הבצורות אשר ליהודה) +[מסורת הש"ס: ערי מצורה ביהודה]+! – אמר רבי אלעזר: הני מוקפות חומה מימות יהושע בן נון הוו, חרוב בימי פילגש בגבעה ואתא אלפעל בננהי, הדור אינפול – אתא אסא שפצינהו. דיקא נמי, דכתיב +דברי הימים ב’ י"ד+ ויאמר ליהודה נבנה את הערים האלה – מכלל דערים הוו מעיקרא, שמע מינה.
But according to your reading Asa built them, as it is written, "And he built fenced cities in Judah?" (II Chronicles 14:5).
R. Elazar said: These places were walled in the days of Joshua son of Nun. They were laid waste in the days of the concubine of Gibea, and Elpaal came and rebuilt them. They again fell, and Asa came and repaired them.
There is an indication of this in a precise reading of the text, as it is written, "For he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities" (II Chronicles 14:6). From this we can infer that they had already been towns beforehand; learn from this.
The response from R. Joshua b. Levi is that there is yet another verse that seems to claim that Asa built them, not Elpaal or Joshua. King Asa was the third king of Judah. There is some confusion as to where these cities are, for the first tradition implies that they were in the tribe of Benjamin, whereas King Asa built cities in Judah. Rashi answers that by Asa’s time Judah was ruling in Benjamin.
In any case, who built these cities and were they walled at the time of Joshua?
R. Elazar answers that they were walled at the time of Joshua. They were then laid waste at the time of the brutal murder of the concubine in Gibea, an incident which set off a civil war, and in which the cities of the tribe of Benjamin were destroyed (see Judges 20). They were rebuilt later by Elpaal and his comrades, but then again fell. Finally, the walls and city were rebuilt at the time of Asa.
The fact that these cities were already built before King Asa built them is alluded to in the verse itself, for Asa seems to refer to cities that already exist.