King Agrippas rose, received the scroll and read standing, and the Sages praised him: a king who waives his honour, his honour is not waived, says Rav Ashi — but a mitzvah is different. When he reached “You may not set over you a foreign man”, his eyes ran with tears. They said to him: “Fear not, Agrippas: you are our brother, you are our brother, you are our brother!” It is taught in the name of Rabbi Natan that at that hour, Israel incurred destruction, for having flattered Agrippas.
Dimensions
- he read standing
- “you are our brother”
Sources
- Sotah 7:8“אַגְרִיפָּס הַמֶּלֶךְ עָמַד וְקִבֵּל וְקָרָא עוֹמֵד, וְשִׁבְּחוּהוּ חֲכָמִים. וּכְשֶׁהִגִּיעַ לְלֹא תוּכַל לָתֵת עָלֶיךָ אִישׁ נָכְרִי, זָלְגוּ עֵינָיו דְּמָעוֹת. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אַל תִּתְיָרֵא אַגְרִיפָּס, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה”
- Sotah 41b“מֶלֶךְ שֶׁמָּחַל עַל כְּבוֹדוֹ — אֵין כְּבוֹדוֹ מָחוּל… מִצְוָה שָׁאנֵי… תָּנָא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי נָתָן: בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה נִתְחַיְּיבוּ שׂוֹנְאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּלָיָיה — שֶׁהֶחֱנִיפוּ לוֹ לְאַגְרִיפַּס”
Project decisionTour's choice: his features, his garment and his crown, like the other king's; his head bowed over the scroll. The Mishnah does not say which Agrippas it was.