Sanhedrin 69

With some disturbing content and implications, today’s daf explores which women are qualified to marry into the priesthood and which are disqualified due to having had forbidden intercourse, for instance with their minor sons. The Gemara defines minor, for this purpose, as a child under the age of eight because, the rabbis assert, that is the youngest age at which it is possible for a man (or, boy, really) to father a child. They prove this by showing that there were biblical personalities who became fathers at that tender age:

How many years did Ahitophel live? Thirty-three. Subtract seven years, Solomon’s age at the time of Ahithophel’s death, which leaves Ahitophel 26 years old at the time of Solomon’s birth. Subtract two more years for three pregnancies, one preceding the birth of Eliam the son of Ahithophel, one preceding the birth of Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, and one preceding the birth of Solomon, son of Bathsheba. It turns out that three generations were born in 24 years, and that each and every parent begot a child at the age of eight.

We have a lot to unpack here. As the Gemara lays out, Ahitophel — one of King David’s chief advisors — lived only 33 years. (Some time after he deserted King David to help the latter’s son seize the throne, Ahitophel realized the coup would fail and took his own life.) We know from II Samuel that Ahitophel was Bathsheba’s grandfather and therefore King Solomon’s great-grandfather. But Solomon was seven years old at the time of Ahithophel’s untimely death, meaning Ahitophel would have been a mere 26 years old when Solomon, his great-grandson, was born. Three generations are therefore incredibly compressed. The Gemara calculates that if we subtract two years for three gestational periods of nine months each (one for Solomon, one for Bathsheba and one for Eliam), then divide the remaining 24 years in three, this means Ahithophel, Eliam and Bathsheva all became parents at the age of eight — at least, on average.

This assertion is challenging from a variety of perspectives, but let’s keep our eye on the main argument for a moment: Does this calculation credibly establish that Ahitophel (and, presumably, Eliam) were only eight when they fathered children? No, says the Gemara:

From where do you prove this? Perhaps both Ahithophel and his son Eliam fathered children when they were each nine years old, and Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon when she was six, because a woman is stronger and can conceive at an earlier age. Know that women conceive at an earlier age, as Bathsheba had already given birth to a child from David before giving birth to Solomon (see II Samuel 11:27). 

The Gemara posits that Bathsheba was only six when she bore Solomon. If that’s the case, both Ahitophel and Eliam could have been nine years old when they fathered their children, so we are left with insufficient evidence for the claim that a boy as young as eight can sire a child.

As it turns out, a similar argument can be applied to a different family. Instead of quoting the Gemara, let’s summarize: Bezalel was the great-grandson of Joshua who was 40 when Bezalel was (it is determined through certain textual proofs) at least 14, which means Joshua would have been no more than 26 when his great-grandson was born. Doing the same math as above (subtracting two years for three pregnancies, and dividing the remaining 24 years by three) we have proof that Joshua, his son and his grandson were all eight years old at the time their children were conceived.

This content is certainly disturbing to contemplate. It’s perhaps helpful to remember that the rabbis were not saying that third graders are equipped for sexual relationships and parenthood or that any of these behaviors are appropriate (let alone recommended); rather, they were musing on the outer limits of what they thought was hypothetically physically possible — something we’ve seen repeatedly in earlier tractates. If we view this as being of a piece with the rabbinic propensity to test absurd boundaries and their devoted attempts to draw closer to God by better understanding what’s commanded of us, that may help soften our revulsion at their apparently detached and objective examination of this question.

Read all of Sanhedrin 69 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on February 24, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.