## Avot DeRabbi Natan Chapter 23

###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:1
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/23:1)

בן זומא אומר איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם שנא׳ (תהילים קי״ט:צ״ט) מכל מלמדי השכלתי איזו עלוב שבעלובים זה שהוא עלוב כמשה רבינו שנאמר (במדבר י״ב:ג׳) והאיש משה עניו מאד. איזו עשיר שבעשירים זה ששמח בחלקו שנאמר (תהילים קכ״ח:ב׳) יגיע כפיך כי תאכל אשריך וטוב לך. איזו גבור שבגבורים זהו שכובש את יצרו שנאמר (משלי ט״ז:ל״ב) טוב ארך אפים מגבור ומושל ברוחו מלוכד עיר. וכל הכובש את יצרו מעלין עליו כאילו כבש עיר מלאה גבורים שנאמר (שם כא) עיר גבורים עלה חכם ואין גבורים אלא גבורי תורה שנא׳ (תהילים ק״ג:כ׳) גבורי כח עושי דברו. וי״א מלאכי השרת שנאמר (שם) ברכו ה׳ מלאכיו [גבורי כח וגו'] ויש אומרים מי שעושה שונא אוהבו:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
BEN ZOMA SAID: WHO IS WISE? HE THAT LEARNS FROM ALL MEN, AS IT IS STATED, FROM ALL MY TEACHERS HAVE I GOT UNDERSTANDING.¹. Who is the humblest among the humble? He who is humble like Moses our teacher, as it is stated, *The man Moses was very meek*.² WHO IS THE RICHEST AMONG THE RICH? HE WHO REJOICES IN HIS PORTION, AS IT IS STATED, WHEN THOU EATEST THE LABOUR OF THY HANDS, HAPPY SHALT THOU BE, AND IT SHALL BE WELL WITH THEE.³ WHO IS THE MIGHTIEST AMONG THE MIGHTY? HE WHO SUBDUES HIS PASSIONS, AS IT IS WRITTEN, HE THAT IS SLOW TO ANGER IS BETTER THAN THE MIGHTY; AND HE THAT RULETH HIS SPIRIT THAN HE THAT TAKETH A CITY.⁴ the question reads, ‘Who is mighty?’ Whosoever subdues his passions is accounted as though he conquered a city filled with mighty men, as it is stated, *A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty;*⁵ XXI, 22. and⁶ *the mighty* are none other than those who are strong in [the performance of the] Torah, as it is stated, *Ye mighty in strength, that fulfil His word*.⁷ Some say: They are the ministering angels, as it is stated, *Bless the Lord, ye angels of His, ye mighty in strength*.⁸ The verse is thereby interpreted to mean that the wise man is raised above the level of the angels. Others say: [Who is mighty?] Who turns an enemy into his friend.

footnotes:
¹ Ps. 119, 99, E.V., I have more understanding than all my teachers
² Num. 12, 3.
³ Ps. 128, 2. In Aboth 4:1 (Sonc. ed., p. 43) the question reads, ‘Who is rich?’.
⁴ Prov. 16, 32. In Aboth loc. cit.
⁵ ibid.
⁶ GRA inserts here ‘Another interpretation’ which is to be preferred, because what follows is an exposition substantially different from the preceding.
⁷ Ps. 103, 20. The verse therefore means: the wise man is raised to the category of ‘the mighty’ who fulfil God’s word.
⁸ ibid.


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:2
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/23:2)

(רבי נהוראי אומר הוי גולה למקום תורה וכו׳) הוא היה אומר אל תהי בז לכל אדם ([ואל תהי מפליג לכל דבר]) שנאמר (משלי י״ג:י״ג) בז לדבר יחבל לו וירא מצוה הוא ישלם הוא היה אומר הלומד תורה בילדותו למה הוא דומה לעגלה שכבשוה כשהיא קטנה שנאמר (הושע י׳:י״א) ואפרים עגלה מלומדה אוהבתי לדוש. והלומד תורה בזקנותו דומה לפרה שלא כבשוה אלא בזקנותה שנא׳ (שם ד) כי כפרה סוררה סרר ישראל. הוא היה אומר הלומד תורה בילדותו דומה לאשה שהיא לשה בחמין והלומד תורה בזקנותו למה הוא דומה לאשה שהיא לשה בצונן:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
R. NEHORAI SAID: WANDER FORTH TO A PLACE OF THE TORAH,⁹ etc. ¹⁰ 3 (Sonc. ed., pp. 44f.). [Cf. Bacher, *Ag. d. Tannaiten* I, p. 410, n. 1.]He used to say: Despise no man and consider nothing impossible, as it is stated, *Whoso despiseth the word shal suffer thereby; but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded*.¹¹
¹²He used to say: He who learns Torah in his youth, to what is he like? To a heifer which has been broken in while young, as it is stated, *Ephraim is a heifer well broken, that loveth to thresh*.¹³ But he who learns Torah in his old age is like a heifer which was broken in only in its late years, as it is stated, *For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer*.¹⁴ IV, 16.
He used to say: He who learns Torah in his youth is like dough which a woman kneads with warm water;¹⁵ but he who learns Torah in his old age is like dough which a woman kneads with cold water.

footnotes:
⁹ From Aboth 4:18 (Sonc. ed., IV, 14, p. 51).
¹⁰ A saying of Ben ‘Azzai, ibid.
¹¹ Prov. 13, 13.
¹² GRA inserts here: ‘Elisha b. ’Abuyah used to say: If one learns as a child, what is it like? Like ink written on clean paper, etc. (Aboth 4 25, Sonc. ed., IV, 20, p. 55). Cf. §3 below.
¹³ Hos. 10, 11. Trained from its early days to thresh, the animal welcomes the task. So, too, the scholar, initiated in his youth to Torah-study, finds it a welcome duty.
¹⁴ ibid.
¹⁵ Following the emendation of GRA.


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:3
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/23:3)

ר׳ אליעזר בן יעקב אומר הלומד תורה בילדותו דומה לכתב שנכתב על נייר חדש והלומד תורה בזקנותו דומה לכתב שנכתב על נייר ישן:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
R. Eliezer b. Jacob said: He who learns Torah in his youth is like writing which is written on new paper; but he who learns Torah in his old age is like writing which is written on old paper.¹⁶

footnotes:
¹⁶ i.e. paper which has once been written on and rubbed out, so that any further writing would be blurred and indistinct.


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:4
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/23:4)

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל מוסיף על דבריו הלומד תורה בילדותו דומה לבחור שנשא בתולה שהיא הוגנת לו והוא הגון לה והיא מתנפלת עליו והוא מתנפל עליה הלומד תורה בזקנותו למה הוא דומה לזקן שנשא בתולה היא הוגנת לו והוא אינו הגון לה היא מתנפלת עליו והוא מתרחק ממנה שנא׳ (תהלים קכז) כחצים ביד גבור כן בני הנעורים וכתיב בתריה אשרי הגבר אשר מלא את אשפתו מהם. שונה ומשכח דומה לאשה שיולדת בנים וקוברת שנאמר (הושע ט) כי אם יגדלו את בניהם ושכלתים מאדם אל תקרי ושכלתים אלא ושכחתים (רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר הלומד תורה בילדותו דומה לרופא שהביאו לפניו מכה ויש לו איזמל לחתוך וסמני רפואות לרפאות הלומד תורה בזקנותו דומה לרופא שהביאו לפניו מכה ויש לו איזמל לחתוך ואין לו סמנין לרפאות. אף כך דברי תורה יהיו) מצויינין לך זה מזה ויהיו מצויינין לך זה בצד זה שנא׳ (משלי ז) קשרם על אצבעותיך כתבם על לוח לבך ואומר (שם ו) קשרם על לבך תמיד ענדם על גרגרותיך:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel added to the former’s saying: He who learns Torah in his youth is like a young man who married a virgin: they suit one another and desire one another. But he who learns Torah in his old age is like an old man who married a virgin: she suits him but he does not suit her; she desires him but he withdraws from her, as it is stated, *As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of one’s youth*,¹⁷ and in the following verse it is written, *Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them*.
He who learns [Torah] and forgets it is like a woman who bears children and buries them, as it is stated, *Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them till none is left*.¹⁸. Read not *I will bereave them* but ‘I will make them forget’.¹⁹
R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: He who learns Torah in his youth is like a surgeon who, even when confronted with a growth, possesses a knife for the operation and remedial drugs to cure; but he who learns Torah in his old age is like a surgeon who, when confronted with a growth, possesses a knife for the operation but has no drugs to cure.
Therefore²⁰ let the words of the Torah be distinguished so that one thing [may be derived] from another and one thing [may be equated] with another, as it is stated, *Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart;*²¹ and Scripture also states, *Bind them continually upon thy heart, tie them about thy neck*.²² VI, 21.

footnotes:
¹⁷ Ps. 127, 4.
¹⁸ Hos. 9, 12, E.V., that there be not a man left
¹⁹ The two verbs differ in only one letter, ושכלתים, ‘and I will bereave them’, and ושכחתים, ‘and I will make them forget’. The lesson is derived by drawing upon both verbs: bereavement is the result of forgetting the Torah.
²⁰ This paragraph follows logically on the last but one, and suggests means whereby the words of the Torah shall not be forgotten; cf. ‘Erub. 54b (Sonc. ed., pp. 381ff). The preceding paragraph, the maxim of R. Simeon b. Eleazar, is manifestly out of place where it stands, and is transferred by GRA to the end of chap. XXII. It could very well be inserted between §§3 and 4 of this chapter.
²¹ Prov. 7, 3.
²² ibid.