King Shapur II and Rav Ḥama Debate Jewish Burial Practices
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In this passage, King Shapur II asks Rav Ḥama about the biblical prooftext for Jewish burial practices. (For more on Jewish burial practices, see Burial and Mourning.) The sage’s silence here can perhaps be understood as hesitation to engage the Zoroastrian king on a matter over which Jews and Zoroastrians disagree: while Judaism mandates burial of the dead, Zoroastrian law decrees that the corpse be exposed to vultures. The text goes on to suggest possible prooftexts Rav Ḥama could have cited but then rejects each one as insufficiently convincing, perhaps at least in part due to King Shapur’s unfamiliarity with the logic of rabbinic exegesis.
King Shapur [once] said to R. Ḥama: From where in the Torah is there a hint to [the commandment of] burial? [What proof is there that the dead must be buried and not treated in some other manner? R. Ḥama] was silent and said nothing to him, [as he could not find a suitable source]. R. Aḥa bar Jacob said: The world has been handed over to the foolish, as [R. Ḥama] should have said [to King Shapur that the commandment of burial is derived from the verse]: But you shall bury [him (Deuteronomy 21:23). In that case, King Shapur could have replied that the verse merely proves] that a coffin should be made for [the deceased so that he can be placed in it, not that the deceased should be buried in the ground, as the verse could be understood as instructing that the corpse be placed in some sort of receptacle, not in the ground].
[R. Ḥama could still have claimed that the commandment of burial is derived from the doubled verb “you shall] bury him.” [In that case, King Shapur could have replied that] he does not learn [anything from a doubled verb, which seems to be merely a stylistic choice and not the source of a new halakhah]. But let [R. Ḥama] say [that the commandment to bury the dead is derived] from [the fact] that the righteous [forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,] were [all] buried. [King Shapur could have said that this was] merely a custom [of the time, but not a commandment. R. Ḥama could have derived the commandment] from [the fact] that the Holy One buried Moses, [which proves that this is the proper way to handle the dead. King Shapur could still have said that God acted in this manner] in order not to deviate from the [general] custom, [but this does not prove that burying the dead is a commandment].
Notes
Words in brackets appear in the original translation.
Credits
From Koren Talmud Bavli, Noé Edition, trans. Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2019). Accessed via the William Davidson digital edition, sefaria.org. Adapted with permission of Koren Publishers Ltd.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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In this passage, King Shapur II asks Rav Ḥama about the biblical prooftext for Jewish burial practices. (For more on Jewish burial practices, see Burial and Mourning.) The sage’s silence here can perhaps be understood as hesitation to engage the Zoroastrian king on a matter over which Jews and Zoroastrians disagree: while Judaism mandates burial of the dead, Zoroastrian law decrees that the corpse be exposed to vultures. The text goes on to suggest possible prooftexts Rav Ḥama could have cited but then rejects each one as insufficiently convincing, perhaps at least in part due to King Shapur’s unfamiliarity with the logic of rabbinic exegesis.
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b. Ta‘anit 24b
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In y. Bikkurim 3:3, 65c–d and y. Horayot 3:9, 48c, the rabbis reshape Roman customs of honor, redirecting respect from rulers to Torah and the sages who embody its wisdom.