R. Samuel b. R. Nahman said: They said to the serpent: Why is it that you are found among the among the fences? It said to them: I made a breach in the fence of the world.⁵⁸ They said to it: Why is it that you move along with your tongue slavering?⁵⁹ 1:1 (16ab); cf. ‘Arakh. 15b. It said to them: That tongue caused me to make the breach. They said to it: Why is it that, when all the other animals bite, they do not kill; but when you bite, you do kill? It said to them (in Eccl. 10:11): IF A SNAKE BITES WITHOUT BEING UNDER A SPELL, THE OWNER OF THE TONGUE (i.e., one able to charm the snake) HAS NO ADVANTAGE. Is it possible for me to do anything without me being told from on high? Then why is it that, when you bite a one limb, all the limbs feel the pain? It said to them: Are you asking me? Ask a slandering informer,⁶⁰ the one who remains here and yet slays in Rome.

footnotes: ⁵⁸ I.e., brought sin into the world. ⁵⁹ See also yPe’ah ⁶⁰ Literally: “Master of the tongue.”

Why is the slandering informer named "third"?⁶¹ which came to be interpreted as “slanderer” or “informer,” with lishan telita’e (“triple tongue”). Because such a slanderer kills three people: the one who speaks it, the one who accepts it, and the one about whom it is spoken.⁶² 15b; M. Pss. 12:2. In the days of Saul it killed four: Doeg, who spoke it⁶³; Saul, who received it⁶⁴; Ahimelech, about whom it was spoken⁶⁵; [and Abner ben Ner]. Now why was Abner ben Ner slain? Joshua [b. Levi] said: He was slain because he gave precedence to his own name over the name of David. This is what is written (in II Sam. 3:12): THEN ABNER SENT MESSENGERS UNTO DAVID WHERE HE WAS, [SAYING]: TO WHOM DOES THE LAND BELONG? In the message he wrote: From Abner to David."⁶⁶ R. Simeon ben Laqish said: He was slain because he made the blood of young men a matter of amusement (rt.: SHQ), as stated (in II Sam. 2:14): PLEASE LET THE YOUNG MEN ARISE AND PLAY (rt.: SHQ) BEFORE US. Our masters have said: He was slain because he did not wait for Saul to be reconciled⁶⁷. Cf. the Gk. noun, peisis, which designates the softer feelings. with David, where it is stated (in I Sam. 24:12 [11], with David addressing Saul): SEE, MY FATHER, SEE THE CORNER OF YOUR CLOAK IN MY HAND; FOR WHEN I CUT OFF THE CORNER OF YOUR CLOAK, I DID NOT KILL YOU…. Saul said to him: Abner, what do you want to understandfrom the cloak? You said: It was caught on a thorn. When David came toward wagons around the camp, he said to him (in I Sam. 26:14): ABNER, WILL YOU NOT ANSWER? As for the corner of the cloak, you said was caught on a thorn. Were the spear and the water jar (of I Sam. 26:11) caught on a thorn? There are also some who say: Abner was slain because he had the power to protest about Nob, the city of priests, but did not protest.

footnotes: ⁶¹ See Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Lev. 19:16. The targumist translates rakhil, ⁶² Also ‘Arakh. ⁶³ I Sam 22:9-10 and II Sam. 1:15, as interpreted by Rashi on II Sam. 1:2. ⁶⁴ See Rashi on II Sam. 1:9, who knows a midrash, according to which Saul was slain for slaying the priests of Nob. ⁶⁵ In I Sam. 22:16-19. ⁶⁶ Instead of “to David from Abner.” ⁶⁷ Rt.: PYS