Righteous Gentiles

In t. Sanhedrin 13:2, two early authorities debate the possibility that a gentile can be righteous. While some rulings in m. Avodah Zarah assume that gentiles are bloodthirsty and violent idolaters, the talmudic commentary to this tractate contains stories of righteous gentiles that challenge this view. For example, in b. Avodah Zarah 10b, a man named Keti’a bar Shalom is sent to his death by the emperor for daring to defend the Jews, but not without first circumcising himself. In y. Kiddushin, a gentile named Dama ben Netinah is praised as a model of filial piety. (A similar story about Dama ben Netinah can be found in “To Honor One’s Parents.”) A tannaitic tradition from Sifra Aḥare Mot expands on the idea that the righteous are not confined to Israel.