Scepter vs. Mechokeik

In yesterday’s daf, Sanhedrin 5, the gemara invoked this verse from Yaakov’s blessings in Vaychi:

לֹֽא־יָס֥וּר שֵׁ֙בֶט֙ מִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וּמְחֹקֵ֖ק מִבֵּ֣ין רַגְלָ֑יו עַ֚ד כִּֽי־יָבֹ֣א שִׁילֹ֔ה וְל֖וֹ יִקְּהַ֥ת עַמִּֽים׃

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet;
So that tribute shall come to him
And the homage of peoples be his.

I like this translation, from the Contemporary JPS. Others translate similarly. The idea being that a שֵׁ֙בֶט֙, scepter, is a physical stick that represents rule. Similarly, וּמְחֹקֵ֖ק should refer to a physical utensil used for rule. If you want, it could be a ruler’s staff which may not be as fancy as a scepter; or it could be a writing / carving implement used to write down legislation. There is a physical mashal and nimshal, where these signify Yehuda’s continued authority. And, parallelism in Biblical poetry is at play, where the word in the first phrase should echo the word in the second phrase. A physical staff makes sense as being placed between his feet.

However, other translations, and many meforshim, take this as referring to a human being who is a Mechokeik. Maybe there is something about the verb / noun pattern, connoting “one who does X”. Thus, we see law-enforcer, law-giver, scribe, and scholar.

We see this divide in the Koren (Steinsaltz) translation vs. that of Artscroll. Koren has:

פְּשִׁיטָא: מֵהָכָא לְהָכָא, וּמֵהָתָם לְהָתָם – מַהֲנֵי. וּמֵהָכָא לְהָתָם נָמֵי מַהֲנֵי, דְּהָכָא שֵׁבֶט וְהָתָם מְחוֹקֵק.

Since the Gemara mentioned the importance of a judge receiving authorization from the Exilarch, it now discusses the scope of this authority. It is obvious that from here to here, meaning relying on permission granted by the Exilarch in Babylonia in order to adjudicate cases within Babylonia, and from there to there, relying on permission granted by the Nasi in Eretz Yisrael in order to adjudicate cases within Eretz Yisrael, the authorization is effective. And it is also obvious that from here to there, relying on permission granted by the Exilarch to adjudicate cases within Eretz Yisrael, it is also effective, as the authority of the Exilarch is greater than that of the Nasi. This is so since the Exilarch here in Babylonia may be termed a scepter, i.e., a ruler with actual power of governance, and the Nasi there in Eretz Yisrael is only a staff, i.e., a legislator with limited power.

כִּדְתַנְיָא: ״לֹא יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִיהוּדָה״ – אֵלּוּ רָאשֵׁי גָלִיּוֹת שֶׁבְּבָבֶל, שֶׁרוֹדִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשֵׁבֶט. ״וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו״ – אֵלּוּ בְּנֵי בָּנָיו שֶׁל הִלֵּל, שֶׁמְּלַמְּדִין תּוֹרָה בָּרַבִּים.

This is as it is taught in a baraita: The verse states: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes” (Genesis 49:10). The term “Shiloh” is understood as a reference to the Messiah, and therefore the verse is interpreted as delineating the authority of Jewish rulers during the exile, before the Messiah comes. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah”; these are the Exilarchs in Babylonia, who are empowered by the government and consequently subjugate the Jewish people as with a scepter. “Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet”; These are the grandchildren of Hillel the Elder who hold the position of Nasi and teach Torah in public, but do not have authority to actually enforce their judgments.

So the comparison in the Talmudic Narrator’s words are between “a scepter” and “a staff”. And similarly, in the source brayta, the verse is translated as “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” compared with “Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet”. The brayta contains the nimshal, which is to specific human beings, namely the Rosh Gola vs. the Nasi. But it starts with the mashal, the allegory, which is non-human.

Contrast with Artscroll, which treats the first statement as:

“for the leader here in Babylonia is called a scepter while the leader there in Eretz Yisrael is called merely a legislator.”

And then, for the brayta, invoking the verse, has it:

“The verse states: THE SCEPTER SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH — this refers to THE REISH GELUSAS OF BABYLONIA WHO RULE OVER the people of ISRAEL WITH A ROD. the verse continues: NOR A SCHOLARS FROM AMONG HIS DESCENDANTS — THIS REFERS TO THE GRANDCHILDREDN OF HILLEL, WHO TEACH TORAH IN PUBLIC.”

There is an awkward disparity here, in that only the first, about scepter, is mashal and nimshal, while the second, which they chose to render SCHOLARS, is nimshal and nimshal, or no allegory at all.

Given the possibility that Mechokeik is an instrument of rule, I think the gemara which contrasts the two as a difference of degree adopts that interpretation. So, Rav Steinsaltz is right, IMHO.

On our gemara on the verse, Rashi renders:

שבט - לשון שררה ויש להן רשות להפקיר דהפקר ב"ד הפקר דכתיב (עזרא י) וכל אשר לא יבא וגו' ביבמות בהאשה רבה (יבמות דף פט:):

מחוקק - שררה מועטת:

So it is big serara (dominion) and little dominion. But this might still stem from physical items. It is like metonymy, where “crown” stands in for king or queen, “hand” refers to assistance, and “dish” can refer to food.

Among meforshim on the pasuk (rather than the gemara), who advance this idea, we might have thought that it is hard to clearly identify those who don’t say what I am looking for. Since this is poetic allegory, how do we know if Rashi, if he says it means nesiim, is talking about the mashal or the nimshal. But it is actually fairly clear. For instance, Rashi says

לא יסור שבט מיהודה. מִדָּוִד וָאֵילָךְ, אֵלּוּ רָאשֵׁי גָּלֻיּוֹת שֶׁבְּבָבֶל, שֶׁרוֹדִים אֶת הָעָם בַּשֵּׁבֶט שֶׁמְּמֻנִּים עַל פִּי הַמַּלְכוּת (בראשית רבה):
ומחקק מבין רגליו. הַתַּלְמִידִים, אֵלּוּ נְשִׂיאֵי אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל:

So, there are two items; The talmidim is the peshat rendition, and the nesiim are the target of the allegory.

There are others who are explicit that it refers to human beings. For instance, Radak: והמושל נקרא מחוקק לפי שנותן החוקים. Or Ibn Ezra, ופי' מחוקק. סופר, שיחוק על הספר:

Even more modern meforshim, like Yashar, take it as a human being: ומחקק, הוא הנותן החקים בארצו, ויקרא כן גם המושל והעוצר בעמו על פי החקים הקבועים להם:

Two who say like me are: not-surprisingly, Rav Steinsaltz:

מעבר לכך שיהודה יהיה שבט גיבור כל ימיו – לֹא יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט, שרביט השלטון מִיהוּדָה. וּמְחֹקֵק, מכשיר כתיבה שבו נכתבים גם חוקים, מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו, מזרעו. המושלים שיצאו ממנו יקבעו את החוק וימשיכו להנהיג את העם על פיו, עַד כִּי יָבֹא שִׁילוֹ, הגואל, המלך שהכול שלו, ו מסביב לוֹ יִקְּהַת, יתקבצו עַמִּים. שבט יהודה ינהיג את העם עד ביאת המשיח.

Thus, an implement of writing legislation.

and also Shadal:

"Befehl-stab" is a “Command-staff”, and he points to Bemidbar 21:18, which is also Biblical poetry:

בְּאֵ֞ר חֲפָר֣וּהָ שָׂרִ֗ים כָּר֙וּהָ֙ נְדִיבֵ֣י הָעָ֔ם בִּמְחֹקֵ֖ק בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָ֑ם וּמִמִּדְבָּ֖ר מַתָּנָֽה׃

Shadal doesn’t have commentary there, but does have an Italian translation.

Here is how ChatGPT handles the translation task:

(17) Then Israel sang this song: Rise, O well! Sing to it in chorus.
(18) A well, made by the princes, dug by the leaders of the people, with the staff of command, with their rods of support.
[Here is how the people, instead of celebrating God, who made water flow from the rock, celebrated only Moses and Aaron.]
— Then from that region they moved to Mattanah.
(19) And from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth.
(20) And from Bamoth in the valley located in the (so-called) field of Moab [that is, in the territory of the Moabites], below the peak of Pisgah, which looks out over the desert.
(21) And Israel sent...

So there is Biblical parallelism between mechokeik / staff of command and mishanotam / rod of support. And note that it talking about the leaders, the princes and nedivei am.

So indeed, this is evidence that we are dealing with a physical long stick, something comparable to a scepter.