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Someone wrote "I have a question regarding Synagogue of satan in the Christian bible and Yevamot 16a in the Talmud. My question and concern: Is there any justification or connection for Christians to use this verse from the Talmud Yevamot 16a to justify Jesus using the "synagogue of satan" as not being derogatory? "The messianic apologist said: "It's sad that Jesus words get ripped from their context by these goofs, making Jesus out to be anti semitic is ludicrous, he was a Jew, When Jesus said to a certain group of Jewish leaders (who were corrupt) you are the “sons of Satan” or your Father is the devil...he was actually speaking the same way the sages spoke to each other in the Talmud. Yevamot 16a The insult “firstborn of Satan” in b Yevamot 16a refers to a rabbi bringing a strong argument for a wrong interpretation. Can you please help me show him why he is incorrect?" The Hebrew meaning of the word satan is not the same as the Christian misuse of it as a devil. The Christian bible is calling some Jews anti-G-d as if we were followers of their mythical devil. This is anti-semitic and indeed these passages in the Christian bible have been used as an excuse to murder us for 2000 years. The word שָׂטָן, as used in the Hebrew Scriptures means an adversary - there is no "devil" in the Hebrew Scriptures nor in Judaism. The Talmud is written in Aramaic -- a sister language to Hebrew. Again the meaning is "adversary" and not the Christian devil / lucifer / satan. Thus there is no comparison between the use of the word in the Talmud (or Hebrew Bible) to its misuse in the Christian bible -- which was written in Greek, not in Hebrew or Aramaic. (Greek: συναγωγή τοῦ Σατανᾶ, synagoge tou satana). In context the passage in Y'vamot 16 is about a disagreement between two brothers one of whom aligned with the school of Hillel and the other with the school of Shammai over an issue regarding yibbum, levirate marriage. The speaker is a follower of the school of Hillel and he is giving his opinion on the ruling regarding yibbum -- following the teachings of Hillel. But the listeners claim that they have heard he sided with the School of Shammai. In a nutshell he says "no -- that was my younger brother who follows the School of Shammai." He goes on to say of his brother that his younger brother is very smart, saying “he is a first-class adversary / satan." Adversary why? Because he follows the teachings of the School of Shammai not Hillel -- and the ruling is for the School of Hillel. Thus the younger brother is mistaken by siding with Shammai... and this has caused all kinds of problems for people with yibbum marriages -- and irritation for the speaker (the older brother) who has been tarred with the teachings of his sibling. The Schottenstein Talmud translates the phrase as “he is a first-class adversary.” Rashi says the man is actually complimenting his brother: בכור שטן הוא: חריף ועומד על שמועה ועושה מעשה ואינו שב משמועתו לעשות כרבים "The first born of the adversary: He is very sharp. He stands by what he teaches, and doesn't give in to the majority…" This has nothing to do with the Christian devil let alone the synagogue of Satan nonsense. The problem with missionaries is they not only don't read things in context but they don't understand what is actually going on. It's a combination of context and a lack of understanding Hebrew. You may find some English translations of Y'vamot 16a that say "son of satan" -- and while this is somewhat correct it leads people to error since the word satan is NOT the Christian devil when it comes to either the Talmud or the Hebrew Bible. The elder brother is saying his younger brother is a "son of Shammai - who is an adversary to the school of Hillel." BTW while the schools of Hillel and Shammai (who together ran the Sanhedrin) often disagreed on how things should be done they never disagreed on WHAT should be done. They were adversaries but not enemies. Indeed we are told that while we follow the teachings of Hillel over Shammai when the messiah comes the reverse will be true - we will then follow Shammai over Hillel. Shammai is the stricter of the two... So it isn't "son of satan" as much as it is "son (or follower) of Shammai." As R' Tovia Singer is fond of saying "translations are traitors."
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