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A complete set of the Babylonian Talmud.

The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology. It contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects.

The term "gentile", in this context, means "non-Jew". Some passages depict gentiles in a positive light, however, there are a great many passages that describe gentiles in derogatory way. It is always important to read the entire section of the Talmud before forming an opinion.

Quotes

Sanhedrin

  • תנו רבנן שבע מצות נצטוו בני נח דינין וברכת השם ע״ז גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים וגזל ואבר מן החי
    • Sanhedrin 56a:24
    • Translation:
      • The descendants of Noah, i.e., all of humanity, were commanded to observe seven mitzvot: The mitzva of establishing courts of judgment; and the prohibition against blessing, i.e., cursing, the name of God; and the prohibition of idol worship; and the prohibition against forbidden sexual relations; and the prohibition of bloodshed; and the prohibition of robbery; and the prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal.
    • Comments:
      • These seven laws are referred to as the Noahide Laws. They are considered to be binding on all of humanity (i.e., all the descendants of Noah).
  • והא כל היכא דאית ליה חיובא מיתנא קתני דקתני רישא על שפיכות דמים כותי בכותי וכותי בישראל חייב ישראל בכותי פטור
  • התם היכי ליתני ליתני אסור ומותר והתניא כותי ורועי בהמה דקה לא מעלין ולא מורידין
  • אלא אמר רב אחא בריה דרב איקא לא נצרכה אלא לכובש שכר שכיר כותי בכותי וכותי בישראל אסור ישראל בכותי מותר
    • Sanhedrin 57a:22
    • Translation:
      • It is necessary only to teach the halakha of one who withholds the wages of a hired laborer; for a gentile to do so to another gentile and for a gentile to do so to a Jew is prohibited, but for a Jew to do so to a gentile is permitted.
  • א"ר חנינא עובד כוכבים שהכה את ישראל חייב מיתה שנאמר (שמות ב, יב) ויפן כה וכה וירא כי אין איש [ויך את המצרי] וגו'
    • Sanhedrin 58b:17
    • Translation:
      • Rabbi Ḥanina says: A gentile who struck a Jew is liable to receive the death penalty, as it is stated when Moses saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew: “And he turned this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand” (Exodus 2:12).
  • וא"ר חנינא הסוטר לועו של ישראל כאילו סוטר לועו של שכינה שנאמר (משלי כ, כה) מוקש אדם ילע קודש:'
    • Sanhedrin 58b:18
    • Translation:
      • And Rabbi Ḥanina says: One who slaps the cheek of a Jew is considered as though he slapped the cheek of the Divine Presence; as it is stated: “It is a snare [mokesh] for a man to rashly say [yala]: Holy” (Proverbs 20:25).
  • ואמר ר׳ יוחנן עובד כוכבים שעוסק בתורה חייב מיתה שנאמר (דברים לג, ד) תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה לנו מורשה ולא להם
  • וליחשבה גבי שבע מצות מ״ד מורשה מיגזל קא גזיל לה מאן דאמר מאורסה דינו כנערה המאורסה דבסקילה
    • Sanhedrin 59a:3
    • Translation:
      • The Gemara explains: According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as an inheritance, this prohibition is included in the prohibition of robbery, as a gentile who studies Torah robs the Jewish people of it. According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as betrothed, as the spelling of the Hebrew word for betrothed [me'orasa], is similar to that of the word for inheritance [morasha], the punishment of a gentile who studies Torah is like that of one who engages in intercourse with a betrothed young woman, which is execution by stoning.
  • ר"מ אומר מניין שאפילו עובד כוכבים ועוסק בתורה שהוא ככהן גדול שנאמר (ויקרא יח, ה) אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם כהנים לוים וישראלים לא נאמר אלא האדם הא למדת שאפילו עובד כוכבים ועוסק בתורה הרי הוא ככהן גדול
    • Sanhedrin 59a:4
    • Translation:
      • Rabbi Meir would say: From where is it derived that even a gentile who engages in Torah study is considered like a High Priest? It is derived from that which is stated: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My ordinances, which if a man does he shall live by them” (Leviticus 18:5). The phrase: Which if priests, Levites, and Israelites do they shall live by them, is not stated, but rather: “A man,” which indicates mankind in general. You have therefore learned that even a gentile who engages in Torah study is considered like a High Priest.
  • התם בשבע מצות דידהו׃
  • ולא והרי יפת תואר התם משום דלאו בני כיבוש נינהו
    • Sanhedrin 59a:16
    • Translation:
      • The Gemara asks: And is there not? But isn’t there the permission for a Jew to take a married beautiful woman, who was taken as a prisoner of war, to be his wife? For a gentile to do so is forbidden. The Gemara answers: There, the reason gentiles are prohibited from doing so is because they are not authorized to conquer. It is not permitted for gentiles to wage wars of conquest, and the halakha of marrying a beautiful woman is stated only with regard to a war of conquest. Therefore the fact that a beautiful woman who is a prisoner of war is permitted only to a Jew and not to a gentile does not indicate that gentiles have a higher degree of sanctity.

Bava Kamma

  • רב אשי אמר במוכס כנעני דתניא ישראל וכנעני אנס שבאו לדין אם אתה יכול לזכהו בדיני ישראל זכהו ואמור לו כך דינינו בדיני כנענים זכהו ואמור לו כך דינכם ואם לאו באין עליו בעקיפין דברי ר׳ ישמעאל ר״ע אומר אין באין עליו בעקיפין מפני קידוש השם
    • Bava Kamma 113a:21
    • Translation:
      • In the case of a Jew and a gentile who approach the court for judgment in a legal dispute, if you can vindicate the Jew under Jewish law, vindicate him, and say to the gentile: This is our law. If he can be vindicated under gentile law, vindicate him, and say to the gentile: This is your law. And if it is not possible to vindicate him under either system of law, one approaches the case circuitously, seeking a justification to vindicate the Jew.
  • אבידתו מותרת דאמר רב חמא בר גורי׳ אמר רב מנין לאבידת הכנעני שהיא מותרת שנאמר (דברים כב, ג) לכל אבדת אחיך לאחיך אתה מחזיר ואי אתה מחזיר לכנעני
    • Bava Kamma 113b:8
    • Translation:
      • From where is it derived that it is permitted to retain the lost item of a gentile? It is derived from a verse, as it is stated with regard to the mitzva of returning a lost item: "With every lost thing of your brother's" (Deuteronomy 22:3), indicating that it is only to your brother that you return a lost item, but you do not return a lost item to a gentile.
  • אמר שמואל טעותו מותרת כי הא דשמואל זבן מכותי לקנא דדהבא במר דפרזלא בד׳ זוזי ואבלע ליה חד זוזא
    • Bava Kamma 113b:10
    • Translation:
      • Shmuel says that it is permitted to financially benefit from a business error of a gentile, i.e., it need not be returned. The Gemara notes that this is like that incident where Shmuel purchased a golden bowl [lakna] from a gentile in exchange [bemar] for the price of an iron bowl, which was four dinars, and Shmuel included one additional dinar in the payment so that the gentile would not realize his mistake.
  • רב כהנא זבן מכותי מאה ועשרים חביתא במאה ואבלע ליה חד זוזא אמר ליה חזי דעלך קא סמיכנא רבינא זבן דיקלא הוא וכותי לצלחא א״ל לשמעיה קדם ואייתי מעיקרו דכותי מניינא ידע
    • Bava Kamma 113b:11
    • Translation:
      • The Gemara relates another incident: Rav Kahana purchased one hundred and twenty barrels from a gentile for the price of one hundred barrels, and he included one additional dinar in the payment. Rav Kahana said to him: Take note that I am relying upon you to check that the transaction has been carried out properly. The Gemara records a third episode: Ravina and a gentile purchased a palm tree together in order to chop it up and split the wood between them. Ravina said to his attendant: Hurry and precede the gentile so that you can bring my share of the wood from the trunk of the tree, which is thicker than the upper part of the tree, as the gentile knows only the number of logs that he is due to receive and will not realize that you are taking thicker pieces.
  • רב אשי הוה קאזיל באורחא חזא שיבשא דגופנא בפרדיסא ותלי בה קיטופי דעינבי אמר ליה לשמעיה זיל חזי אי דכותי נינהו אייתי אי דישראל נינהו לא אייתי לי שמע ההוא כותי דהוה יתיב בפרדיסא אמר ליה דכותי שרי א״ל כותי שקיל דמי ישראל לא שקיל דמי
    • Bava Kamma 113b:12
    • Translation:
      • Rav Ashi was traveling on the road and he saw a branch of a grapevine in an orchard, and there were clusters of grapes hanging on it. He said to his attendant: Go see to whom these clusters belong. If they are owned by a gentile, bring some to me, but if they are owned by a Jew, do not bring me any. A certain gentile who was sitting in the orchard overheard Rav Ashi's instructions. The gentile said to him: Is it permitted to steal the property of a gentile? Rav Ashi said to him: A gentile takes money for his grapes, and I intended to pay for them, but a Jew does not take money for his grapes and I did not want to take them without paying for them.

Bava Batra

  • רַב הוּנָא זְבֵן אַרְעָא מִגּוֹי, אֲתָא יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֵר רָפֵיק בַּהּ פּוּרְתָּא. אֲתָא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּרַב נַחְמָן, אוֹקְמַהּ בִּידֵיהּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מַאי דַּעְתָּיךְ? דְּאָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: נִכְסֵי גּוֹי הֲרֵי הֵן כְּמִדְבָּר, וְכׇל הַמַּחְזִיק בָּהֶם זָכָה?
    • Bava Batra 54b:5
    • Translation:
      • The Gemara relates: Rav Huna purchased land from a gentile. Another Jew came and plowed it slightly. Rav Huna and that Jew came before Rav Naḥman, who established the property in the possession of the latter. Rav Huna said to Rav Naḥman: What are you thinking in issuing this ruling? Is it because Shmuel says that the property of a gentile is like a desert, and anyone who takes possession of it has acquired it?

Avodah Zarah

  • מתני׳ לפני אידיהן של עובדי כוכבים שלשה ימים אסור לשאת ולתת עמהם להשאילן ולשאול מהן להלוותן וללוות מהן לפורען ולפרוע מהן רבי יהודה אומר נפרעין מהן מפני שמיצר הוא לו אמרו לו אע״פ שמיצר הוא עכשיו שמח הוא לאחר זמן:
    • Avodah Zarah 2a:1
    • Translation:
      • On the three days before the festivals of gentiles the following actions are prohibited, as they would bring joy to the gentile, who would subsequently give thanks to his object of idol worship on his festival: It is prohibited to engage in business with them; to lend items to them or to borrow items from them; to lend money to them or to borrow money from them; and to repay debts owed to them or to collect repayment of debts from them. Rabbi Yehuda says: One may collect repayment of debts from them because this causes the gentile distress.
  • אמר ליה אביי יכול לומר לו קאי ברי אאיגרא אי נמי נקיטא לי זימנא לבי דואר
    • Avodah Zarah 26a:16
    • Translation:
      • It is prohibited to raise a gentile from a pit even in exchange for payment, because one can say an excuse to him, such as: My son is standing on the roof and I must go use this ladder to help him down from the roof. Alternatively, he can say to him: A time has been appointed for me to appear in the courthouse [bei davar] and I must attend to this matter. Since the Jew can provide a legitimate excuse for refusing to aid the gentile, there is no need to extract him from the pit.
  • אמר מר היו מורידין אבל לא מעלין השתא אחותי מחתינן אסוקי מיבעי אמר רב יוסף בר חמא אמר רב ששת לא נצרכא שאם היתה מעלה בבור מגררה דנקיט ליה עילא ואמר לא תיחות חיותא עלויה
    • Avodah Zarah 26b:6
    • Translation:
      • If there was a ledge in the pit, a Jew scrapes it off so that the one in the pit cannot ascend from it, as the Jew employs a pretext and says that he is removing the ledge so that animals do not descend upon the one in the pit while he is trapped in the pit.
  • רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרוייהו לא נצרכא שאם היתה אבן על פי הבאר מכסה אמר לעבורי חיותא עילויה רבינא אמר שאם היה סולם מסלקו אמר בעינא לאחותי ברי מאיגרא
    • Avodah Zarah 26b:7
    • Translation:
      • If there was a stone at the mouth of the well that one had fallen into, a Jew covers it and says that he is covering the opening in order to pass his animals over it. Ravina said: One can learn from here that if there was a ladder in the pit, a Jew removes it and says: I require the ladder to lower my son from the roof.
  • הואיל וראוי לביאה מטמא נמי בזיבה אמר רבינא הלכך הא תינוקת עובדת כוכבים בת ג' שנים ויום אחד הואיל וראויה לביאה מטמאה נמי בזיבה
    • Avodah Zarah 37a:1
    • Translation:
      • The Gemara explains the reason for this opinion: Since a nine-year-old boy is fit to engage in intercourse, he also imparts ritual impurity as one who experienced ziva. Ravina said: Therefore, with regard to a female gentile child who is three years and one day old, since she is fit to engage in intercourse at that age, she also imparts impurity as one who experienced ziva.

Soferim

  • הטוב שבעובדי כוכבים בשעת מלחמה הרוג הטוב שבנחשים רצוץ את מוחו הכשירה שבנשים בעלת כשפים אשרי מי שהוא עושה רצונו של המקום׃
    • Soferim 15:10
    • Translations:
      • Kill the best of the heathens in time of war; crush the brain of the best of serpents. The most worthy of women indulges in witchcraft. Happy is he who does the will of the Omnipresent.

Yevamot

  • אַפְקוֹרֵי אַפְקְרֵיהּ רַחֲמָנָא לְזַרְעֵיהּ, דִּכְתִיב׃ ״בְּשַׂר חֲמוֹרִים בְּשָׂרָם וְזִרְמַת סוּסִים זִרְמָתָם״.
    • Yevamot 98a:3
    • Translation:
      • The Merciful One dispossesses the male gentile of his offspring, as it is written with regard to Egyptians: "Whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys, and whose semen is the semen of horses" (Ezekiel 23:20), i.e., the offspring of a male gentile is considered no more related to him than the offspring of donkeys and horses.
    • Related:
      • רָשָׁע, לָאו חֲמָרֵי אִיקְּרוּ? דִּכְתִיב: ״אֲשֶׁר בְּשַׂר חֲמוֹרִים בְּשָׂרָם״.

Keritot

  • לאיי דכתיב (יחזקאל לד, לא) ואתן צאני צאן מרעיתי אדם אתם אתם קרויין אדם ואין העובדי כוכבים קרויין אדם
    • Keritot 6b:20
    • Translation:
      • As it is written: "And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are people [adam]" (Ezekiel 34:31), from which it is derived that you, the Jewish people, are called adam, but gentiles are not called adam.
    • Comments:
      • Beyond its use as the name of the first man, adam (Hebrew: אָדָם) is also used as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as "mankind".

Menachot

  • תניא היה ר"מ אומר חייב אדם לברך שלש ברכות בכל יום אלו הן שעשאני ישראל שלא עשאני אשה שלא עשאני בור
    • Menachot 43b:17
    • Translations:
      • It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: A man is obligated to recite three blessings every day praising God for His kindnesses, and these blessings are: Who did not make me a gentile; Who did not make me a woman; and Who did not make me an ignoramus.

Gittin

  • אֲמַר לֵיהּ: דִּינֵיהּ דְּהָהוּא גַּבְרָא בְּמַאי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בְּצוֹאָה רוֹתַחַת. דְּאָמַר מָר: כׇּל הַמַּלְעִיג עַל דִּבְרֵי חֲכָמִים נִידּוֹן בְּצוֹאָה רוֹתַחַת.
    • Gittin 57a:4
    • Translations:
      • Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Jesus himself, in the next world? Jesus said to him: He is punished with boiling excrement. As the Master said: Anyone who mocks the words of the Sages will be sentenced to boiling excrement. And this was his sin, as he mocked the words of the Sages.

Quotes about the Talmud

  • Once upon a time, under pressure of censorship, printers would inscribe in the flyleaves of volumes of the Talmud: "Whatever may be written herein about gentiles does not refer to the gentiles of today, but to gentiles of times past." Today, the flyleaves of our books bear a similar inscription, albeit an invisible one: "Whatever may be written herein about Jews does not refer to the Jews of today, but to Jews who lived in other times." So we are able to sit down and study Torah, Talmud, books of ethics, or books of faith without considering their relevance to our lives. Whatever is written there does not apply to us or to our generation, but only to other people, other times. We must expunge from those invisible prologues the notion that the words are written about someone else, about others, about anyone but us. Whether the book is a volume of Torah, a tractate of the Talmud, or a tract of faith, the opposite must be inscribed: "Whatever is written herein refers only to me; is written for me and obligates me. First and foremost, the content is addressed to me."

See also

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