Elisha b. ’Abuya said: 1This chapter is devoted entirely to the teachings of Elisha b. ’Abuyah, a great scholar of the second century C.E. and teacher of R. Meir, who entered too deeply into theosophical speculations and eventually abandoned Judaism. Thereafter he was always referred to as ’Aḥer, ‘That other one’; cf. Ḥag. 15a (Sonc. ed., pp. 93ff). For a recent and learned study of this ‘outcast’ scholar, cf. Travers Herford in Essays Presented to J. H. Hertz, 1944, pp. 215-225.A man who has good deeds to his credit and has also studied much Torah, to what is he like? To one who builds [a structure and lays] stones below [for the foundation] and bricks above, so that however much water may collect at the side it will not wash it away.

But a man who has no good deeds to his credit, though he has studied Torah, to what is he like? To one who builds [a structure and lays] bricks first [for the foundation] and then stones above, so that even if only a little water collects it at once undermines it.2The study of the Torah can become a permanent blessing only if it is founded on the good life. This is the theme of all the illustrations quoted.

He used to say: A man who has good deeds to his credit and has also studied Torah, to what is he like? To a coating of lime spread on stone,3So according to the MSS. and GRA. V. reads ‘bricks’, an obvious error since the contrast is between lime spread on stone and lime spread on bricks, the former enduring whilst the latter flakes off quickly. so that however much rain falls on it, it will not wash it away. But a man who has no good deeds to his credit, though he has studied much Torah, is like a coating of lime spread on bricks, so that even if the lightest rain falls on it, it will immediately dissolve and fall away.

He used to say: A man who has good deeds to his credit and has also studied much Torah is like a cup which has a square base4The Heb. noun is the Greek for ‘a stone’, here a solid base with four polished sides (cf. below XXVIII, 9, p. 137). Since the cup has a wide four-square base, even if it be shaken and pushed, it will retain its balance and not lose its contents. to it, so that when it is set down, though it is turned on its side, all its contents will not be split. But a man who has no good deeds to his credit, though he has studied much Torah, is like a cup which has not a square base, so that when it is set down it will at once turn on its side and all its contents will be spilt.He used to say: A man who has good deeds to his credit and has also studied much Torah is like a horse with a bridle;5Reading כלינוס, as found in the MSS. and ‘Aruk. V. reads ‘fine trappings’. but he who has no good deeds to his credit, though he has studied much Torah, is like a horse without a bridle,6Here, too, reading kalinos in accordance with the authorities quoted in the preceding note. V. has ‘a bridle to curb it’. and as soon as a man attempts to mount it he is thrown headlong.He used to say: He who learns Torah in his youth, its words are absorbed in his blood and issue from his mouth with clarity; but he who learns Torah only in his old age, its words are not absorbed in his blood and do not issue from his mouth with clarity. Accordingly the proverb runs, ‘If thou hadst no delight in them in thy youth, how canst thou attain them in thy old age?’

He used to say: The words of the Torah are hard to acquire as vessels of gold, and are easily destroyed as glassware; as it is stated, Gold and glass cannot equal it.7Job 28, 17. A comparison is drawn between gold and glass: a golden vessel can be repaired when it is broken, but vessels of glass cannot be repaired when broken unless they are reduced to their original element.8i.e. melted by fire and then reshaped. And how am I to interpret, Neither shall the exchange thereof be vessels of fine gold?9ibid. It teaches that he who toils in [the words of the Torah] and fulfils them, his face shines like fine gold; but he who toils in them and does not fulfil them, his face is dark like glass.10The meaning is either opaque glass which is dull, or glass which quickly darkens.

He used to say: A man may study the Torah for twenty years and forget it in two years. How can this be? If he sits idle for six months and does not revise his studies, he will in consequence pronounce the unclean to be clean and the clean to be unclean. [If he continues idle for] twelve months without revision, he will then confuse [the names of] the Sages;11Attributing a teaching to the wrong authority. if for eighteen months without revision, he will forget the opening words of the chapters; and if twenty-four months without revision, he will forget even the titles [27a] of the Tractates.12This is the more logical order and is supported by MSS., cf. Schechter ad loc. V. reverses the order, putting ‘the titles of the Tractates’ before ‘the opening words of the chapters’. And so, having pronounced the unclean to be clean and the clean to be unclean, having also confused [the names of] the Sages, and forgotten the chapter headings and even the titles of the Tractates, he will eventually sit in silence. Of him Solomon said, I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thistles, the face thereof was covered with nettles, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.13Prov. 24, 30f. When the wall of a vineyard collapses the entire vineyard is soon destroyed.

He used to say: He who causes another to perform a commandment is regarded by Scripture as if he had performed it himself…. 14There seems to be a lacuna here, because the parable which follows has no relation to the preceding statement. GRA inserts here the teaching of R. Dostai b. Yannai in Aboth 3:10 (Sonc. ed., III, 8, p. 32): ‘Whosoever forgets one word of his study, him Scripture regards as though he was guilty against his soul.’ This dictum is well illustrated by the parable. Cf. Men. 99b (Sonc. ed., p. 607)This may be illustrated by a parable. To what can it be compared? To a human king who caught a bird and gave it to one of his servants saying, ‘Be careful with the bird. If you guard it, well and good; but if not I will take your life for it’. So, too, did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Israel, ‘I have entrusted the words of the Torah to you. If you guard them, well and good; but if not I will take your lives for them’. For it is stated, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw.15Deut. 4, 9. In Aboth loc. cit. this verse is quoted in support of R. Dostai’s teaching mentioned in the preceding note. [And it is also stated,] For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life.16ibid. XXXII, 47.