If he is a sage, he expounds [on halachah the entire night of Yom Kippur so that he not fall asleep and see keri (an emission)], and if not [i.e., if he is a disciple, but not a sage, able to comprehend halachic discourse, but unable to expound], then Torah scholars expound before him. If he is accustomed to read in Scripture, he does so; if not, they read before him. What do they read? Sections from Job, Ezra, and Chronicles, [which hold one's interest and ward off sleep]. Zecharyah b. Kevutal said: Many times I read before him in the Book of Daniel.
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
If he was clever he would explain. The issue of halacha all night of Yom Kippur, so that he wouldn't fall asleep. And if he wasn't so clever, and wasn't able to understand and explain an issue of halacha, then they would explain it to him.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
Introduction
The mishnah has now reached the night before Yom Kippur is to begin. As we learned in mishnah four, he had to stay up all night. Our mishnah teaches that in order to keep himself awake he would study Torah all night (this never seems to work for me, but I’m not a high priest, not even a priest).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
From Job and Ezra. These are things which depress the heart and make it hard to sleep.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
If he was a sage he would expound, and if not, the disciples of the sages would expound before him. If the high priest was a sage, then he would expound upon the Torah all night. But if he didn’t know how to interpret the Torah, then disciples of the sages would do this in front of him, thereby helping to keep him awake.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
If he was familiar with reading [the Scriptures] he would read, if not they would read before him. If he could read the Tanakh, then he himself would read. But again, if he couldn’t even read, then the disciples of the sages would read in front of him. Note again how the mishnah takes into consideration the possibility that the high priest would not even know how to read from the Bible. The Talmud again reminds us that in the Second Temple period high priests were often positions appointed by the king based on political considerations and were not given to the most knowledgeable of the priests.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
From what would they read before him? From Job, Ezra and Chronicles. Zechariah ben Kv’utal says: I have often read before him from Daniel. The sections that they would read to him from were sections that were considered particularly interesting and that would help keep him awake. Job and Daniel are compelling stories. Daniel and Ezra are partly in Aramaic, which may have made them easier to comprehend for a high priest who didn’t even understand Hebrew. I am not sure what the attraction of Chronicles is. Note that all four books are from “K’tuvim”, the last portion of the Hebrew Bible.
