Sanhedrin

Before he died, he said: Take the thirteen ma'ahs  that are tied in my sheets and return them to so and so, for I took them from him [by way of tax] and have had no need for them. R. SIMEON SAID, AT FIRST … GATHERERS OF THE PRODUCE OF THE SABBATICAL YEAR. What does he mean? — Rab Judah said: This; at first they [the Rabbis] ruled that gatherers of the Sabbatical produce  are eligible, but traders in it are not. But when they saw that large numbers offered money to the poor,  who then went, gathered the produce and brought it to them, they revised the law and enacted that both [gatherers and traders] are ineligible. The sons of Rehabah  objected to this: Does this mean, WHEN THE OPPRESSORS GREW IN NUMBER? It should then have been worded: When the traders grew in number! But we may explain it thus: At first they ruled that both [even gatherers] were ineligible. But when THE OPPRESSORS GREW IN NUMBER, viz., the [collectors of] Arnona  (judging by R. Jannai's proclamation, 'Go and sow your seed [even] in the Sabbatical year, because of the [collectors of] Arnona,')  they revised the law and enacted that only traders were disqualified but not gatherers. R. Hiyya b. Zarnuki and R. Simeon b. Jehozadak once went to Assia  to intercalate the year.  They were met by Resh Lakish, who joined them, saying, 'I will come and see their procedure.'  On the way, he saw a man ploughing, and remarked to them, 'That man who is ploughing is a priest.'  But they replied, 'Can he not say: I am an imperial servant  on the estate?' Further on he saw a man pruning his vineyard, and again observed, 'That pruner is a priest.' 'But', they demurred, 'he might say: I need [the twigs] to make a bale  ['akkel] for the wine-press, [a legitimate purpose].' 'The heart knows whether it is for 'akkel' or 'akalkaloth [perverseness]', he retorted.  — Now, which remark did he make first? Shall we say, his first remark was the one first recorded: then for the other too they could have suggested [the same excuse], 'I am an imperial servant on the estate.' Hence the latter remark must have come first: and only subsequently did he make the other observation. Why was each assumed to be a priest? — Because they [the priests] are suspected of breaking the Sabbatical laws, as it has been taught; If a se'ah of Terumah  [accidentally] fall into a hundred se'ahs of Sabbatical produce, it [the Terumah] is neutralised.  In case of a lesser quantity [of Sabbatical produce], the whole must be left to rot.  Now, we raised the question, Why must it be left to rot? Why not let it be sold to a priest at a price of Terumah  less the value of the one se'ah!  To which R. Hiyya replied on the authority of 'Ulla: This fact  proves that the priests were suspected of violating the laws of the Sabbatical year. [To resume the narrative.] They said:  He is a troublesome person, and so, on reaching their destination, they ascended to the upper chamber,  and removed the ladder.  Thereupon he [Resh Lakish] went before R. Johanan and asked: Are people suspected of trespassing Sabbatical laws  qualified to intercalate the year? But on second thoughts he said: This presents no difficulty, for there is a similar case of three cowherds,  upon whose calculations the Rabbis relied. Subsequently, however, he said: There is no comparison between the two cases; there it was the Rabbis who eventually decided  and declared the year intercalated,  whereas here, it is a confederacy of wicked men,  such as may not be counted [on the intercalary board]. R. Johanan replied: That is a misfortune. When they  came before R. Johanan, they complained: He described us as cowherds, and you made no objection whatever.  R. Johanan answered: Even had he called you shepherds,  what could I have said? What is [the reference to] 'a confederacy of wicked men'? — [It is as follows:] Shebna  expounded [the law] before thirteen myriads,  whereas Hezekiah expounded it only before eleven. When Sennacherib  came and besieged Jerusalem, Shebna wrote a note, which he shot on an arrow [into the enemy's camp, declaring]: Shebna and his followers are willing to conclude peace; Hezekiah and his followers are not. Thus it is written, For lo, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string.  So Hezekiah was afraid, and said: Perhaps, Heaven forfend, the mind of the Holy One, blessed be He, is with the majority; and since they wish to surrender, we must do likewise! Thereupon the Prophet came and reassured him: Say ye not a confederacy, concerning all of whom this people do say, A confederacy;  it is a confederacy of the wicked, and as such cannot be counted [for the purpose of a decision]. [Later, when] Shebna went to hew out for himself a sepulchre among the sepulchres of the house of David, the Prophet came and said to him: What hast thou here and whom hast thou here that thou hast hewn here a sepulchre? Behold, the Lord will hurl thee down as a man is hurled.  Rab observed: Exile is a greater hardship for men than for women. Yea, He will surely cover thee  R. Jose son of R. Hanina said: This teaches that he was stricken with leprosy: here it is written, surely cover; and elsewhere [in reference to a leper] it is said, And he shall cover his upper lip. He will violently roll and toss thee like a ball into a large country.  It has been taught: He [Shebna] sought the shame of his master's house: therefore his own glory was turned to shame.  [For] when he went out [on his way to surrender to Sennacherib], Gabriel came and shut the city gate in the face of his servants