Murder He wrote TB Yevamot 49

 To understand today’s daf TB Yevamot 49 we have to know who King Manasseh (Hebrew-Menasha) was. Rabbi Alex is writes:

“In the entire book of Melakhim, the period of King Menashe and his son Amon is singled out for particular ignominy and divine denunciation. During these years the country becomes awash with idolatry and an assortment of deviant religious worship, divination and magic. This is the religious low point of the First Temple era. The manifestations of Menashe's idolatry overwhelm in brazenness and scope:

 

‘… altars for Baal … Ashera … he bowed to all the hosts of the heaven and worshipped them and he built altars for them in the House of God … in both courts of the House of God. He passed his son in fire, he practiced soothsaying and divination and consulted the Ov and spirits… and placed the image of the Ashera in the House [of God]. (21:3-7)’

 

"…We should not imagine that Menashe's religious and political reforms were adopted without opposition. Our chapter informs us that “Menashe put so many innocent people to death that he filled Jerusalem with blood from end to end” (21:16). His victims were probably not only political opponents, but also religious insurgents who challenged the king's odious spiritual orientation and fought to uphold the national monotheistic tradition” (https://torah.etzion.org.il/en/shiur-25-chapter-21-king-menashe-idolatrous-kingdom)

Today’s daf indicates that the prophet Isaiah was one of his victims. Although the Gemara is not clear whether these are trumped up charges or not; however, based on his record I would tend to believe this was a show trial to get rid of a thorn in his side.

“The Gemara expands on the events surrounding Isaiah’s death: Rava said: Manasseh judged him as a false witness for issuing statements contradicting the Torah and only then killed him. Manasseh said to Isaiah: Moses your master said in the Torah: “And He said: You cannot see My face, for man cannot see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20), and yet you said: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne” (Isaiah 6:1). Moses your master said: “For which great nation is there, that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is, whenever we call upon Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7), and yet you said: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6), which implies that God is not always near. Moses your master said: “I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26), which implies that each individual has a preordained allotted lifespan that he cannot outlive, and yet you said in a prophecy to King Hezekiah: “And I will add to your days, fifteen years” (II Kings 20:6).

“Isaiah said to himself: I know him, i.e., Manasseh, that he will not accept whatever explanation that I will say to him to resolve my prophecies with the words of the Torah. And even if I say it to him, I will make him into an intentional transgressor since he will kill me anyway. Therefore, in order to escape, he uttered a divine name and was swallowed within a cedar tree. Manasseh’s servants brought the cedar tree and sawed through it in order to kill him. When the saw reached to where his mouth was, Isaiah died. He died specifically as this point due to that which he said: “In the midst of a people of unclean lips, I dwell” (Isaiah 6:5). He was punished for referring to the Jewish people in a derogatory manner.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The rest of the daf reconciles the seemingly contradiction between what Moses and Isaiah said.

“The Gemara resolves the first contradiction: “I saw the Lord” is to be understood as it is taught in a baraita: All of the prophets observed their prophecies through an obscure looking glass [aspaklaria], i.e., their prophecies were given as metaphoric visions but were not a direct perception of the matter. However, Moses our master observed his prophecies through a clear looking glass, i.e., he gained a direct and accurate perception of the matter.

“The Gemara resolves the second contradiction: Isaiah’s prophecy: “Seek the Lord while He may be found,” does not contradict the verse in the Torah that God is near to His nation “whenever we call upon Him,” because this prophecy of Isaiah was made with regard to the individual and this verse in the Torah is stated with regard to a community, as the prayer of the community is always accepted. The Gemara asks: And when is the time that God is to be found near the individual? Rav Naḥman said Rabba bar Avuh said: These are the ten days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.

״The resolution of the third contradiction from the verse: “I will fulfill the number of your days,” is subject to a dispute between tanna’im, as it is taught in a baraita: The verse states: “I will fulfill the number of your days”; these are the years of the generations, i.e., the allotted lifespan that is preordained for each individual before birth. If he is deserving, God completes his allotted lifespan. If he is not deserving, God reduces his lifespan; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva assumes one cannot outlive one’s preordained allotted lifespan. The Rabbis say: If he is deserving, God adds years to his lifespan. If he is not deserving, God reduces his lifespan. According to the Rabbis, Isaiah’s prophecy is referring to one who deserved to have extra years added to his allotted lifespan, and the verse in the Torah is referring to one who deserved to merely complete his lifespan.” (Sefaria.org translation)