On today’s daf, we learn that if a group of immoral people calculate the year to keep the lunar and solar calendars from going too far out of phase with one another (a process known as intercalation), they are not to be trusted. The Talmud then brings us a story set in biblical times to illustrate this point.
Shebna the scribe was one of King Hezekiah’s trusted advisors, part of a trio of advisors who were sent to liaise with the Assyrians after Hezekiah refused to recognize their authority (2 Kings 18). We meet Shebna again in Isaiah 22, where the prophet calls out “the royal steward” for building himself a gravesite in a place where he was not supposed to. What happened that turned Shebna from a trusted advisor to the subject of a prophetic diss track? Today’s daf fills in the blanks.
What (is the source of the law about) a conspiracy of wicked people? Shebna. He would teach Torah to 130,000, (and King Hezekiah) would teach Torah to 110,000.
When Sennacherib came and besieged Jerusalem, Shebna wrote a note and shot it (over the wall) with an arrow. It read: Shebna and his camp have appeased Sennacherib; Hezekiah and his camp have not appeased. As it is stated: “For behold, the wicked bend the bow, they have made ready their arrow upon the string.” (Psalms 11:2).
While both the king and his advisor were popular teachers of Torah, Shebna taught 20,000 more students than King Hezekiah. So when Shebna decided to surrender to the Assyrian King Sennacherib, and to communicate that by sending a message over the walls during the siege, he represented a larger faction of the city than the king did.
Hezekiah was afraid. He said: Perhaps, God forbid, the opinion of the Holy One, Blessed be He, will follow the majority; and since the majority have submitted, those (who have not submitted) will also be submitted. The prophet came and said to him: “Say not: A conspiracy, concerning all of which this people say: A conspiracy” (Isaiah 8:12). Meaning, it is a conspiracy of wicked people, and a conspiracy of wicked people is not counted.
Isaiah reassures Hezekiah that even though a majority of people support Shebna, God does not listen to the majority if they are wicked and working against God’s intentions. The idea of majority rule can turn into a mob working toward evil — and mob justice is not true justice. Hezekiah is comforted, but what happens to Shebna?
Shebna went to carve out a grave for himself among the graves of the house of David. The prophet came and said to him: “What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have carved out a grave for yourself here? Behold, the Lord will make you wander like the wandering of a man” (Isaiah 22:16–17).
Having convinced himself that he was authorized to surrender on behalf of the city of Jerusalem, Shebna has visions of being as important as the Davidic kings, so he prepares for his eventual burial among the royal graves. But with his prophetic words, Isaiah quickly dispels those visions.
He, Shebna, desired shame for his master’s house; therefore his glory turned to shame: When he was going out (of Jerusalem), Gabriel came and held the gate in front of his camp. They said to him: Where is your camp? He said: They backed out on me. They said to him: If so, you are mocking us. They punched holes in his heels and hung him by the tails of their horses, and dragged him on the thorns and on the bristles.
With a little help from the angel Gabriel, Shebna ends up without his supporters, tortured by the Assyrians and likely dying as a result of it.
There is both comfort and power in numbers. But today’s discussion is a powerful reminder that sometimes, the majority can be very wrong. Rather than simply following the majority, we need to think carefully about our values and what we believe God wants in the world.
Read all of Sanhedrin 26 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on January 12, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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