The Euphrates Above All Rivers and the Four Kingdoms of Exile

The Perat is the masculine principle of waters. For Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: one who vows away water that comes from the Perat is forbidden all the water in the world, for Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: all rivers are beneath three rivers, and the three rivers are beneath the Perat. But are there not springs that rise up? Those are the ladders of the Perat. Rabbi Meir says: its name is Yuval, as it says, "and by a stream (yuval) it sends out its roots" (Jeremiah 17:8). And the Sages say: its name is Perat, because its waters are fruitful and multiply. Shmuel supports this, who said: a river is blessed from its banks. And this differs with Rav, who said: rain in the west is a great witness for the Perat. Rav Huna said: "Perat" stands on its own, "Kevar" stands on its own. They say to the Perat: why is your sound not heard? It answers them: my deeds make me known. A man plants a planting in me and it rises in thirty days; they sow a sowing in me and it rises in three days. They say to the Tigris: why is your sound heard? It says: would that I might make my sound heard and be seen. They say to the fruit trees: why is your sound not heard? They say: we have no need, our fruits make us known. They say to the barren trees: why is your sound heard? They say: would that our sound were heard and we were seen. Rav Huna said: that is not the reason; rather, fruit trees, because they are heavy with fruit, their sound does not travel; barren trees, because they are light of fruit, therefore their sound travels, as it is written, "and his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble" (Isaiah 7:2). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to make the nations drink a cup of poison from the place where judgment goes out. What is the reason? "And a river goes out from Eden" (Genesis 2:10): these are the four kingdoms corresponding to the four heads. "The name of the first is Pishon": this is Babylon, by reason of "and their horsemen spread (pashu) themselves" (Habakkuk 1:8); "it is the one that surrounds the whole land of Havilah," it rose up and encircled the whole land of Israel, of which is written, "Hope (hochili) in God" and "for I shall yet praise Him" (Psalms 42:6). "Where there is gold": these are the words of Torah, which are more desirable than gold; "and the gold of that land is good," teaching that there is no Torah like the Torah of the land of Israel, and no wisdom like the wisdom of the land of Israel. "There is the bdellium and the onyx stone": Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, Tosefta, and Aggadah. "And the name of the second river is Gihon": this is Media, where Haman glided like a serpent, by reason of "upon your belly (gehoncha) you shall go" (Genesis 3:14); "it is the one that surrounds the whole land of Cush," by reason of "who reigned from India to Cush" (Esther 1:1). "And the name of the third river is Tigris (Hiddekel)": this is Greece, which was sharp and swift (hadah ve-kalah) in decree, for it would say to Israel, "Write on the horn of the ox that you have no portion in the God of Israel." "It is the one that goes east of Asshur": all the kings are called by the name Asshur because they enrich themselves (mit'ashrot) from Israel; all the kingdoms are called by the name Nineveh because they beautify themselves (mitna'ot) from Israel; all the kingdoms are called by the name Egypt because they oppress (metzerot) Israel. "And the fourth river is the Perat": this is the fourth kingdom, which crushed and oppressed (hefirah ve-hetzerah) His children, which crushed and oppressed the world. "Perat," because it was fruitful and multiplied from the blessing of the old man. "Perat," because I am destined to exact payment from it in the end. "Perat," by reason of its end, "a winepress (purah) I have trodden alone" (Isaiah 63:3).