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Death Makes a Mistake?

Death Makes a Mistake?

Last updated on: November 8, 2026 at 12:32 pm by Rebecca Wallace Keene

Death Makes a Mistake? 2026-11-08T12:32:18-05:00 Rebecca Wallace Keene

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Death Makes a Mistake? made by Rebecca Keene with Chat GPT

Death Makes a Mistake?

What happens when Death makes a mistake? Welcome to our final installment of Spooky Judaism for the year. We all make mistakes, but does that apply to angels too? According to The Talmud, yes. Death made a mistake and took the wrong woman. What happened?

Death Makes a Mistake and Takes the Wrong Miriam

One day the angel of Death said to his agent, “Go and bring me Miriam the braider of hair.” However, the agent returned to him with Miriam who raises children. Chagigah 4b-5a in the Babylonian Talmud tells the tale saying, “The Angel of Death said to his agent: Go and bring me, i.e., kill, Miriam the raiser, i.e., braider, of women’s hair. He went, but instead brought him Miriam, the raiser of babies.”

Death said to the agent, “You have brought me the wrong person. I told you to bring me Miriam, who braids hair, but you have brought me Miriam, who raises children.” The agent said to Death, “Then send her back.” However, Death said, “No, let her stay amongst the dead.” The Talmud explains that thus a person can die before their time.

The Rabbi Who Challenged Death

Rav Beivai challenged Death and asked him, “Do you have the right to take a person before their time?” He quoted Ecclesiastes to the angel saying, “One generation passes away and another generation comes.” By this he meant that each had a destined amount of time. Death answered by saying that he shepherds souls until the years of their generation are done, then passes them on to the Angel Duma, who oversees the dead.

The rabbi pressed Death further, asking, “What do you do with the leftover years of a life taken too early?” Death answered, “If there is a Torah scholar who disregards his personal matters, i.e., who overlooks the insults of those who wrong him, I add those years to him, and he becomes the deceased’s replacement for that time.”

Thus, Miriam, the hairdresser, lived beyond her destined number of years, Miriam, who cared for children, died early, and a Torah scholar had more years added to their life. When Death makes a mistake, it affects multiple lives.

Jesus’ Mother Given Extra Years?

This story becomes even more interesting when you realize that elsewhere in The Talmud, Jesus’ mother is called Miriam, who braids hair. Shabbat 104b reads:

“The Gemara asks: Wasn’t his mother’s husband Pappos ben Yehuda? Rather, his mother was named Stada and he was named ben Stada after her. The Gemara asks: But wasn’t his mother Miriam, who braided women’s hair? The Gemara explains: That is not a contradiction. Rather, Stada was merely a nickname, as they say in Pumbedita: This one strayed [setat da] from her husband.”

Was Mother Mary given more years than her destined time when death took another by mistake? The Talmud seems to say yes.

Stay tuned because soon we return to The Arks series, to explore whether people have seen the Ark in modern times. Also, we will start a new series next week exploring if Paul was a double agent. Sign up for the newsletter so you never miss an article.

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About Rebecca Keene

Rebecca Keene holds a B.S. in Psychology and Religion and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice. An ordained minister, Kabbalah student, and fierce advocate for the marginalized, she is the author of Faith Under the Rainbow: Reclaiming the Truth About Homosexuality and the Bible. Rebecca founded the social media community Reclaiming the Truth and lives in Kentucky, where she practices Non-Denominational Judaism. Read Rebecca's articles at Reclaiming the Truth. You can read more about the author here.

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