Study Avodah Zarah folio 55A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
“Shall I utterly consume all things from off the face of the earth? says YHWH. Shall I consume man and beast? Shall I consume the fowls of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks of the wicked, and shall I cut off man from off the face of the earth? says YHWH” (Zephaniah 1:2–3
§ Agrippas the general asked Rabban Gamliel: It is written in your Torah with regard to idol worship: “For YHWH your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). Doesn’t jealousy arise only in the following cases: A wise man might be jealous of another wise man, and a mighty man might
Rabban Gamliel said to Agrippas: I will relate a parable to you. To what is this matter comparable? It can be compared to a person who married a second wife in addition to his first wife. If the second wife is more distinguished than the first wife, the first wife is not jealous of her, and she d
Zunin said to R' Akiva: Both my heart and your heart know that there is no substance to idol worship. Nevertheless, don’t we see people who go with broken limbs to worship idols and come back when they are whole? What is the reason for this?
R' Akiva said to Zunin: I will relate a parable to you. To what is this matter comparable? It can be compared to a trusted person who was in a certain city, and all the residents of his city would deposit items and money with him, even not in the presence of witnesses. And there was one man who di