We Do Not Bury a Rasha Next to a Tzadik (Sanhedrin 47a)
‫הָ ִאיׁש‬-‫הַ גְ דּוד ַוי ְַׁשלִ יכּו אֶ ת‬-‫ וַיְ הִ י הֵ ם קֹ בְ ִרים ִאיׁש וְ הִ נֵה ָראּו אֶ ת‬:‫ כא‬,‫מלכים ב יג‬
:‫ ַרגְ לָיו‬-‫בְ קֶ בֶ ר אֱלִ יׁשָ ע ַו ֵילְֶך וַיִ גַע הָ ִאיׁש בְ עַצְ מֹות אֱלִ יׁשָ ע וַיְ חִ י ַויָקָ ם עַל‬
R. Acha bar Chanina: We learn from the concept of not to bury a Rasha next to a Tzadik from this
verse in Kings II 13,21. (As some people were taking a dead person to be buried they saw Moabite
troops and fled throwing the body towards a nearby catacomb. The body rolled until it touched the
body of Elisha. Miraculously, the dead person revived and walked out.)
Question (Rav Papa): You assume that he was revived because a Rasha may not be buried near a
Tzadik and the miracle occurred to allow the body of the Rasha to leave). Perhaps he was revived to
fulfill "vi'Hi Na Pi Shenayim b'Ruchacha Alai"! (Elisha requested to have twice the Ru'ach
ha'Kodesh that Eliyahu had, and Eliyahu agreed. Eliyahu revived one dead person, and this man was
Elisha's second.)
Answer (Rav Acha): If so, he should have lived longer; (Beraisa): He stood on his legs, but he did not
even reach his house.
Question: If so, when did Elisha revive another person, to fulfill Eliyahu's blessing?
Answer (R. Yochanan): He cured Na'aman's Tzara'as (a person with Tzara’as is considered as if dead)
Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 362,3) declares that we do not bury a Rasha next to a Tzadik.
Gilyon haMaharsha writes that this implies optimally l’chathila this is not done, but b’dieved, if it happens
we let it be (we do not remove the buried body).
R’ Moshe from Pano disagrees and says that it is still praiseworthy to remove the Rasha’s buried body to
another grave.
Sefer haChassidim brings two stories which might seem to contradict each other. In the first story a Rasha
was buried in a graveyard among the righteous. He came in a dream of one of the town’s people, stating
that his body needed to be removed since it caused much difficulty to souls of the others buried there.
This implies that even b’dieved the body of a Rasha needs to be removed after burial. The second story
says that a Talmid Chacham Tzadik was buried next to a not-proper individual. The Tzadik came in a
dream to all the people of the town that they seemed to have buried him next to a urinal with an extremely
bad smell. The people built a mechitzah of stones and from then onwards the Tzadik did not appear in
their dreams. Why was a mechitzah sufficient in the second story, whereas in the first story they had to
move the buried body? Evidently, the first story involved a complete Rasha that denied the Torah to the
point of idol worship and thus, needed removal. The second story involved a not-proper individual but
who was not a denier, and thus, a mechitzah was sufficient.
Maharil explains the reason that a Rasha is not to be buried next to a Tzadik. A Tzadik after death has
information revealed to him regarding the decrees in this world, as mentioned in Gemara Berachos (18b).
The proximately of the Rasha would prevent the Tzadik from obtaining this information since it would not
be proper to have the Rasha also hear this information.
The Gemara (Chulin 7b) learns from this story (of the bones being revived after touching the bones of
Elisha) that Tzadikim are even greater after their death more than in their lifetime. (In Elisha’s
lifetime, he revived the child of the Shunamite woman after prayer and a procedure which brought the
child slowly back to life. In his death, the revival was immediate.) Aruch L’ner questions that this miracle
seems to only enforce the concept that a Rasha should not be buried next to a Tzadik. And he answers that
it would have only been necessary for Elisha to expel the body from his grave. However, since Elisha
revived the man this teaches the concept that a Tzadik is greater after their death than in their lifetime.
This Gemara in Sanhedrin (47a) implies that the man who might have been thrown into Elisha’s
grave was wicked and was revived for a short time to allow him to move to another spot to be
buried. Thus, the Gemara proves that a Tzadik should not be buried next to a Rasha.
So who was this man that was revived from the dead?
Rashi (on the Gemara) explains that the man was a Rasha, a false prophet mentioned earlier in the
chapter. The earlier story was that Edo, a true prophet, had been sent to Bais El to warn Yeravam
ben Nevat not to sacrifice to Avodah Zarah on the altar that he had built in Bais El. Yeravam
started to raise his hand to grab Edo but a miracle occurred to damage his hand. Afterwards
Yeravam invited Edo to share a meal, but Edo refused saying HaShem had commanded him not to
eat or drink while in Bais El (only entered the city of idol worshippers to deliver a warning and
not to appear as if he was benefitting while there). After Edo left, one elderly false prophet ran
after Edo and reached him resting under a tree. The false prophet invited Edo to come eat with
him at his house. Edo said he was not able to do so due to the command from HaShem. The false
prophet said I am also a prophet and HaShem said that Edo should come eat at this house. Edo
believed him and went and ate with the false prophet. After eating, Edo left and continued on his
way. Since he did not obey the command of HaShem, he was punished. A lion came and killed
him. The false prophet, upon hearing what happened, went and buried Edo. Then, the false
prophet commanded his children upon his death to bury him next to Edo’s grave, thinking perhaps
that would spare his bones from being burnt. After many years the false prophet died and his
children went to bury him next to Edo. On the way, they were scared by a troop of enemy soldiers
and fled, throwing the body of the false prophet onto the grave of Elisha.
Yalkut Shimoni mentions that the false prophet was Yonasan ben Gershon ben Moshe, and he did
teshuvah on the day that Edo died. Ein Yaakov explains that even though he did teshuvah he had
too much “baggage” to be buried with Elisha. However, since Edo facilitated his teshuvah he was
allowed to be buried next to that Tzadik. (In addition, Edo was not on the same level of
righteousness as Elisha since he failed to fully obey the command of HaShem.)
Maharitz Chayos (in the name of the Yerushalmi) says this false prophet was Michah, who was
saved from Moshe and later built an idol as mentioned in Shoftim. Thus, he would have lived at
least 700 years from the time of the Exodus until after the death of Elisha.
Medrash on Shir HaShirim states the false prophet was Amaeziah was served as “Cohen” at the altar
established for idol worship in Bais El.
Medrash Shor states that he was not a Rasha, but was the son of the Shunamite woman that Elisha
has already revived from the dead. On the way to his burial, they threw his body into the grave of
Elisha and again he was revived and walked away to be buried near by.
Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer states that this person was not a false prophet or even a Rasha; rather he was a
Tzadik. Elisha revived him to life and he went back to his home and fathered a son. Rabbi
Azaryah says one needs to know the power of Tzedakah from this story. This man’s name was
Meshulam ben Tikvah and he was one of the great people of his generation. Every day he would
take barrels of water and food to the gates of the city and provide for the travelers that came to the
city. And as a reward for these acts of Tzedakah, he merited for ruach hakodesh to came to his
wife, Chuldah. (In the story with Elisha’s bones, he was referred to as a man, implying a man who
had a famous wife that eclipsed him and only Chuldah is such a woman in the book of Kings).
And after his revival Meshulam fathered a child whom he named ‫( חנמאל‬which is an acrostic for
‫)חי נפשו ממגע אלישע לקברו‬