Study Avodah Zarah folio 19A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
is referring to our forefather Abraham, who did not walk in the counsel of the members of the Generation of the Dispersion, who were wicked, as it is stated that they said to each other: “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven” (Genesis 11:4), a project with a wicked aim.
“Nor sat in the seat of the scornful” (Psalms 1:1); this means that Abraham did not sit in the seat of the Philistines, because they were scorners who engaged in jest and buffoonery. As it is stated with regard to the Philistines in a later period: “And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry,
The Talmud cites an interpretation of a similar verse: “Happy is the man that fears YHWH, that delights greatly in His mitzvot” (Psalms 112:1). The Talmud asks: Is that to say happy is the man, but not happy is the woman? Why is it necessary for the verse to emphasize that it is speaking of a man?
The verse continues: “He delights greatly in His mitzvot.” R' Elazar says: The person delights in His mitzvot themselves and not in the reward for performing His mitzvot. And this is the same as we learned in a Mishnah (Avot 1:3): Antigonus of Sokho would say: Do not be like the servants who serve
§ The Talmud returns to its interpretation of the verse that was discussed previously: “But his delight is in the Torah of YHWH” (Psalms 1:2). R' Yehuda HaNasi says: A person can learn Torah only from a place in the Torah that his heart desires, as it is stated: But his delight is in the Torah of YH