Bechorot Daf 8 (בכורות דף ח׳)
Daf: 8 | Amudim: 8a – 8b | Date: Loading...
📖 Breakdown
Amud Aleph (8a)
Segment 1
TYPE: ברייתא
The baraita continues from 7b: dolphins reproduce as humans do.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
הַדּוֹלְפָנִין פָּרִין וְרָבִין כִּבְנֵי אָדָם. מַאי דּוֹלְפָנִין? אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה: בְּנֵי יַמָּא.
English Translation:
The dulfanin reproduce like people. The Gemara asks: What are dulfanin? Rav Yehuda says: They are creatures that are called sons of the sea.
קלאוד על הדף:
The catalogue begun at the end of 7b runs on without a break. Having paired live birth with nursing and egg-laying with foraging, and noted the bat as the exception, the baraita adds the דּוֹלְפָנִין, which reproduce as humans do rather than as fish. Rav Yehuda glosses the unfamiliar word as בְּנֵי יַמָּא, sons of the sea, and the daf’s first half continues in this register — observations about animals, stated as fact.
Key Terms:
- דּוֹלְפָנִין = dolphins
- בְּנֵי יַמָּא = sons of the sea
- פָּרִין וְרָבִין = they are fruitful and multiply
Segment 2
TYPE: ברייתא
A rule linking external or internal anatomy to live birth or egg-laying.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
כֹּל שֶׁבֵּיצָיו מִבַּחוּץ — מוֹלִיד, וְכֹל שֶׁבִּפְנִים — מֵטִיל בֵּיצִים.
English Translation:
The baraita continues: In the case of any male animal whose testicles are external, the female gives birth to live offspring, and in the case of any male animal whose testicles are internal, the female lays eggs.
קלאוד על הדף:
The baraita proposes a single anatomical criterion covering every species: where the male’s organs are external the female bears live young, and where they are internal she lays eggs. The attraction of such a rule is that it makes a visible feature predict an invisible one, and the next segment tests it against a case where the prediction fails.
Key Terms:
- מוֹלִיד = bears live young
- מֵטִיל בֵּיצִים = lays eggs
Segment 3
TYPE: קושיא
The rule fails on geese: Shmuel’s kilayim ruling shows both types lay eggs.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אִינִי? וְהָאָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: אֲוָוז וַאֲוָוז בָּר כִּלְאַיִם זֶה בָּזֶה, וְהָוֵינַן בָּהּ: מַאי טַעְמָא? אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: זֶה בֵּיצָיו מִבַּחוּץ, וְזֶה בֵּיצָיו מִבִּפְנִים, וְתַרְוַיְיהוּ מְטִילֵי בֵּיצִים!
English Translation:
The Gemara asks: Is that so? But doesn’t Shmuel say that a domestic goose and a wild goose are considered diverse kinds, and one may not mate them with each other. And we discussed it: What is the reason? Abaye said: In the case of this one, the male wild goose, its testicles are external, and in the case of that one, the domestic goose, its testicles are internal. The Gemara comments: And yet both geese lay eggs. Evidently, the fact that the male’s testicles are external does not prove that the female gives birth.
קלאוד על הדף:
The refutation comes from a ruling in an unrelated area. Shmuel held that a domestic and a wild goose are כִּלְאַיִם with one another, and Abaye explained the difference anatomically — one has external organs and the other internal. Yet both lay eggs, so the proposed correlation cannot stand as stated. A rule about reproduction is undone by a ruling about forbidden mixtures.
Key Terms:
- אֲוָוז וַאֲוָוז בָּר = a domestic goose and a wild goose
- כִּלְאַיִם = diverse kinds, forbidden to crossbreed
- אִינִי = is that so — introducing a challenge
Segment 4
TYPE: תירוץ
The criterion is refined from testicles to the reproductive organ itself.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֶלָּא, כֹּל שֶׁזַּכְרוּתוֹ מִבַּחוּץ — מוֹלִיד, מִבִּפְנִים — מֵטִיל בֵּיצִים.
English Translation:
Rather, the baraita must mean the following: With regard to any animal whose male reproductive organ is external, the female gives birth, and in the case of any male animal whose reproductive organ is internal, the female lays eggs. Although the testicles of the male wild goose are external, its reproductive organ is internal.
קלאוד על הדף:
The rule survives by becoming more precise. What determines live birth is not בֵּיצָיו but זַכְרוּתוֹ, the reproductive organ proper — and the wild goose, whose testicles are external, has an internal organ, so it lays eggs and the correlation holds. The move is characteristic: a generalisation refuted by a counter-example is not discarded but sharpened until the counter-example falls on the right side of it.
Key Terms:
- זַכְרוּתוֹ = its reproductive organ
- בֵּיצָיו = its testicles
Segment 5
TYPE: ברייתא
A second correlation: the time of mating predicts the time of birth.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
כֹּל שֶׁתַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ בַּיּוֹם — יוֹלֵד בַּיּוֹם, בַּלַּיְלָה — יוֹלֵד בַּלַּיְלָה, כֹּל שֶׁתַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ בֵּין בַּיּוֹם בֵּין בַּלַּיְלָה — יוֹלֵד בֵּין בַּיּוֹם בֵּין בַּלַּיְלָה.
English Translation:
§ The baraita continues to discuss matters of animal procreation: Any species whose sexual intercourse occurs only during the daytime gives birth only during the daytime; any species whose intercourse occurs only at night gives birth only at night; any species whose intercourse occurs both during the daytime and at night gives birth both during the daytime and at night.
קלאוד על הדף:
The baraita offers a parallel rule on a different axis. A species that mates only by day gives birth only by day, one that mates only at night gives birth at night, and one that does both does both. Like the anatomical rule this is a claim that one observable regularity tracks another, and unlike that rule it will shortly be shown to carry practical consequences.
Key Terms:
- תַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ = its mating
- יוֹלֵד בַּיּוֹם = it gives birth by day
Segment 6
TYPE: גמרא
The three categories illustrated: chicken, bat, and humans.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
תַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ בַּיּוֹם יוֹלֵד בַּיּוֹם — תַּרְנְגוֹל, בַּלַּיְלָה יוֹלֵד בַּלַּיְלָה — עֲטַלֵּף, תַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ בֵּין בַּיּוֹם בֵּין בַּלַּיְלָה יוֹלֵד בֵּין בַּיּוֹם בֵּין בַּלַּיְלָה — אָדָם וְכֹל דְּדָמֵי לֵיהּ.
English Translation:
The Gemara elaborates: The statement that any species whose intercourse occurs during the daytime gives birth during the daytime is referring to a chicken. The statement that any species whose intercourse occurs at night gives birth at night is referring to a bat. The statement that any species whose intercourse occurs both during the daytime and at night gives birth both during the daytime and at night is referring to a human and any creature that is similar to him.
קלאוד על הדף:
Each limb of the rule is given its example. The chicken mates and lays by day, the bat by night, and humans — with כֹּל דְּדָמֵי לֵיהּ, whatever resembles them — at either time. The bat appears here for the second time in two dapim, having closed 7b as the exception that lays eggs and nurses; here it serves as the ordinary instance of a nocturnal species.
Key Terms:
- תַּרְנְגוֹל = a chicken
- עֲטַלֵּף = a bat
- כֹּל דְּדָמֵי לֵיהּ = whatever resembles it
Segment 7
TYPE: גמרא
The practical consequence: an egg found in the nest on Yom Tov morning.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
לְמַאי נָפְקָא מִינַּהּ? לְכִדְרַב מָרִי בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב כָּהֲנָא, דְּאָמַר רַב מָרִי בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב כָּהֲנָא: בָּדַק בְּקִינָּה שֶׁל תַּרְנְגוֹלִין מֵעֶרֶב יוֹם טוֹב וְלֹא מָצָא בָּהּ בֵּיצָה, וּלְמָחָר הִשְׁכִּים וּמָצָא בָהּ בֵּיצָה — מוּתֶּרֶת בַּאֲכִילָה בְּיוֹם טוֹב, אֵימַר: לֹא בָּדַק יָפֶה.
English Translation:
The Gemara asks: What halakhic difference is there whether an animal gives birth during the daytime or at night? The Gemara answers: The difference is with regard to that which Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana, said. As Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana, said: If one examined a chicken’s nest on a Festival eve and did not find an egg in it, and the following day, on the Festival, he rose early, before dawn, and found an egg in it, consumption of the egg is permitted on the Festival. It is not considered an egg that was laid on the Festival, which is forbidden (see Beitza 2a), as chickens do not lay eggs at night. Although he examined the nest before the Festival and failed to find an egg there, one is compelled to say that he did not examine the nest carefully.
קלאוד על הדף:
The Gemara asks לְמַאי נָפְקָא מִינַּהּ, what turns on this, and the answer moves the whole discussion into operative law. An egg laid on Yom Tov may not be eaten that day; one laid earlier may. Rav Mari son of Rav Kahana rules that where the nest was checked and found empty the evening before and an egg is found at dawn, it may be eaten — since chickens do not lay at night, the egg preceded the festival and the check must simply have been careless.
Key Terms:
- לְמַאי נָפְקָא מִינַּהּ = what practical difference does it make
- קִינָּה = a nest
- מוּתֶּרֶת בַּאֲכִילָה בְּיוֹם טוֹב = permitted to be eaten on the festival
Segment 8
TYPE: תירוץ
Rabbi Yochanan’s better answer: the egg had mostly emerged and returned.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
וַהֲלֹא בָּדַק יָפֶה! אֵימַר: יָצְתָה רוּבָּהּ וְחָזְרָה הֲוָה, וְכִדְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: בֵּיצָה שֶׁיָּצְתָה רוּבָּהּ מֵעֶרֶב יוֹם טוֹב וְחוֹזֶרֶת — מְוֻתֶּרֶת לְאוֹכְלָהּ בְּיוֹם טוֹב.
English Translation:
The Gemara challenges: But he did examine the nest carefully, as the baraita states that he examined it. The Gemara explains: One must say that this was a case where most of the egg emerged on the eve of the Festival and returned inside its mother before the examination. And this ruling is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, as Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In a case where most of the egg emerged on the eve of the Festival and returned inside its mother it is permitted to eat it on the Festival, as once most of it emerged it is considered to have been laid already.
קלאוד על הדף:
The objection is that the case stipulates a careful check, so the sloppy-inspection answer is unavailable. Rabbi Yochanan supplies a mechanism instead: the egg had already mostly emerged before the festival and slipped back inside, and יָצְתָה רוּבָּהּ counts as laid. Once the greater part has emerged the act is complete, and what happens afterwards does not undo it — a principle about when a process counts as finished rather than about chickens.
Key Terms:
- יָצְתָה רוּבָּהּ וְחָזְרָה = most of it emerged and it returned
- וַהֲלֹא בָּדַק יָפֶה = but he examined carefully
Segment 9
TYPE: ברייתא
Matching gestation allows cross-rearing; and three species mate face to face.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
כֹּל שֶׁתַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ וְעִיבּוּרוֹ שָׁוֶה — יוֹלְדִים וּמְגַדְּלִים זֶה מִזֶּה. הַכֹּל מְשַׁמְּשִׁין פָּנִים כְּנֶגֶד עוֹרֶף, חוּץ מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה שֶׁמְּשַׁמְּשִׁין פָּנִים כְּנֶגֶד פָּנִים, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן: דָּג, וְאָדָם, וְנָחָשׁ.
English Translation:
§ The baraita continues: Any two animals of different species whose manner of intercourse and time of gestation are identical can have offspring together and can raise, i.e., nurse, the young of each other. With regard to the manner of intercourse, all species engage in intercourse with the face of the male opposite the back of the neck of the female, meaning that the male comes from behind the female, except for three species that engage in intercourse face-to-face, and they are these: Fish, and humans, and the snake.
קלאוד על הדף:
Two further items are joined. Species whose mating and gestation match can bear and rear one another’s young, which makes the timing rules of the preceding segments into a criterion of compatibility. Then the striking observation that all creatures mate פָּנִים כְּנֶגֶד עוֹרֶף except three — דָּג, אָדָם and נָחָשׁ, fish, human and snake — who mate face to face.
Key Terms:
- מְגַדְּלִים זֶה מִזֶּה = they rear one another’s young
- פָּנִים כְּנֶגֶד עוֹרֶף = face opposite the back of the neck
- פָּנִים כְּנֶגֶד פָּנִים = face to face
Segment 10
TYPE: אגדה
Rav Dimi reports the reason: the Divine Presence spoke with these three.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
וּמַאי שְׁנָא הָנֵי תְּלָתָא? כִּי אֲתָא רַב דִּימִי אָמְרִי בְּמַעְרְבָא: הוֹאִיל וְדִיבְּרָה עִמָּהֶם שְׁכִינָה.
English Translation:
The Gemara asks: And what is different about these three? When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he reported that they say in the West, Eretz Yisrael, the following explanation: They are different because the Divine Presence spoke with them. This occurred when the fish swallowed the prophet Jonah (see Jonah 2:11), when Adam and other prophets were spoken to by God, and when the snake caused Adam and Eve to sin (see Genesis 3:14).
קלאוד על הדף:
The explanation brought from Eretz Yisrael is theological rather than zoological: הוֹאִיל וְדִיבְּרָה עִמָּהֶם שְׁכִינָה, because the Divine Presence spoke with them. The three are identified by their encounters — the fish that swallowed Yonah, Adam, and the snake in Bereishit 3 — so that a creature addressed directly by God is marked thereafter in its very posture. Note that the snake’s inclusion is not a distinction but the beginning of its curse, which 8a will shortly quantify.
Key Terms:
- שְׁכִינָה = the Divine Presence
- בְּמַעְרְבָא = in the West — Eretz Yisrael
- רַב דִּימִי = Rav Dimi, who carried teachings from Eretz Yisrael to Bavel
Segment 11
TYPE: ברייתא
A tanna adds the camel, which mates back to back.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
תָּנָא: גָּמָל — אָחוֹר כְּנֶגֶד אָחוֹר.
English Translation:
A tanna taught: A camel engages in intercourse back to back with its mate.
קלאוד על הדף:
One species falls outside both categories. Where the rule divided creatures into those that mate from behind and the three that mate face to face, the camel does neither: אָחוֹר כְּנֶגֶד אָחוֹר, back to back. The single line is offered without explanation, completing the taxonomy before the daf turns to gestation.
Key Terms:
- אָחוֹר כְּנֶגֶד אָחוֹר = back opposite back
Segment 12
TYPE: ברייתא
The gestation table begins, pairing each animal with a tree on the same schedule.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: תַּרְנְגוֹלֶת — לְעֶשְׂרִים וְאֶחָד יוֹם, וּכְנֶגְדָּהּ בָּאִילָן — לוּז, כֶּלֶב — לַחֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם, וּכְנֶגְדּוֹ בָּאִילָן — תְּאֵינָה, חָתוּל — לַחֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם יוֹם, וּכְנֶגְדּוֹ בָּאִילָן — תּוּת, חֲזִיר — לְשִׁשִּׁים יוֹם, כְּנֶגְדּוֹ בָּאִילָן — תַּפּוּחַ, שׁוּעָל וְכׇל מִינֵי שְׁרָצִים — שִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים, וּכְנֶגְדָּם בָּאִילָן — תְּבוּאָה.
English Translation:
§ The Gemara cites a baraita that discusses the length of gestation for various animals. The Sages taught that a chicken hatches after twenty-one days, and corresponding to it in length of gestation with regard to trees is the almond, which ripens twenty-one days after the budding of the flower. A dog gives birth after fifty days, and corresponding to it with regard to trees is the fig. A cat gives birth after fifty-two days, and corresponding to it with regard to trees is the mulberry. A pig gives birth after sixty days, and corresponding to it with regard to trees is the apple. A fox and all types of creeping animals give birth after six months, and corresponding to them with regard to trees, i.e., plants, is grain.
קלאוד על הדף:
The baraita’s organising idea is that animal and plant run on matched clocks, and each gestation is given with its arboreal counterpart. A chicken and an almond take twenty-one days, a dog and a fig fifty, a cat and a mulberry fifty-two, a pig and an apple sixty, a fox and grain six months. The pairing is offered as a fact about the created order rather than as a derivation from anything.
Key Terms:
- לוּז = the almond
- תְּאֵינָה = the fig
- תּוּת = the mulberry
Segment 13
TYPE: ברייתא
The table continues through livestock and the large wild animals.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
בְּהֵמָה דַּקָּה טְהוֹרָה — לַחֲמִשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים, וּכְנֶגְדָּן בָּאִילָן — גֶּפֶן. בְּהֵמָה גַּסָּה טְמֵאָה — לִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חוֹדֶשׁ, וּכְנֶגְדּוֹ בָּאִילָן — דֶּקֶל. טְהוֹרָה — לְתִשְׁעָה חֳדָשִׁים, וּכְנֶגְדָּהּ בָּאִילָן — זַיִת. הַזְּאֵב וְהָאֲרִי וְהַדּוֹב וְהַנָּמֵר וְהַבַּרְדְּלָס וְהַפִּיל וְהַקּוֹף וְהַקִּיפוֹף — לְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים, וּכְנֶגְדָּן בָּאִילָן — בְּנוֹת שׁוּחַ.
English Translation:
Small kosher livestock, such as sheep or goats, give birth after five months, and corresponding to them with regard to trees is the grapevine. Large non-kosher livestock, such as camels or donkeys, give birth after twelve months, and corresponding to them with regard to trees is the date palm. Large kosher livestock, such as cows, give birth after nine months, and corresponding to them with regard to trees is the olive. The wolf, and the lion, and the bear, and the leopard, and the bardelas, and the elephant, and the monkey, and the long-tailed ape give birth after three years, and corresponding to them with regard to trees is the white fig.
קלאוד על הדף:
The list ascends by duration. Small kosher livestock match the vine at five months, large non-kosher livestock the date palm at twelve, large kosher livestock the olive at nine, and the great predators — with the elephant, the monkey and the long-tailed ape — the white fig at three years. Note that the sequence is not monotonic: the donkey’s twelve months exceed the cow’s nine, a detail the coming derivation will lean on.
Key Terms:
- בְּהֵמָה דַּקָּה = small livestock — sheep and goats
- בְּהֵמָה גַּסָּה = large livestock
- בְּנוֹת שׁוּחַ = white figs
Segment 14
TYPE: ברייתא
The extremes: the viper at seventy years, and the snake at seven with no counterpart.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֶפְעֶה לְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, וּכְנֶגְדּוֹ בָּאִילָן — חָרוּב. חָרוּב זֶה, מִשְּׁעַת נְטִיעָתוֹ עַד שְׁעַת גְּמַר פֵּירוֹתָיו — שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה, וִימֵי עִיבּוּרוֹ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים. נָחָשׁ לְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, וּלְאוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע לֹא מָצִינוּ חָבֵר. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: מוֹכְסָסִים.
English Translation:
The baraita continues: A viper gives birth after seventy years, and corresponding to it with regard to trees is the carob. In the case of this carob, the period from the time of its planting until the time of the ripening of its fruit is seventy years, and the length of its gestation is three years. A snake is born after seven years, and for that wicked animal we have not found a counterpart among trees. And some say that mukhsasim are the equivalent, as they ripen after seven years.
קלאוד על הדף:
The table closes on its outliers. The viper is matched with the carob, which takes seventy years from planting to fruit, and the baraita adds that the carob’s own gestation is three years. The snake at seven years has no tree at all — וּלְאוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע לֹא מָצִינוּ חָבֵר, for that wicked one we have found no companion — though some propose the מוֹכְסָסִים. The absence is itself a comment, and the next segment asks where the seven years come from.
Key Terms:
- אֶפְעֶה = a viper
- חָרוּב = the carob
- לֹא מָצִינוּ חָבֵר = we have found no companion for it
Segment 15
TYPE: דרשה
The source is sought in the curse of the snake, and the verse looks redundant.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
מְנָא הָנֵי מִילֵּי? אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב, וּמָטוּ בָּהּ מִשּׁוּם דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אָרוּר אַתָּה מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה״. אִם מִבְּהֵמָה נִתְקַלְּלָה, מֵחַיָּה לֹא כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן?
English Translation:
The Gemara asks: From where is this matter, that the gestation period of a snake is seven years, derived? Rav Yehuda says that Rav says, and some determined it to be in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: It is derived from that which is stated with regard to the punishment of the snake for causing Adam and Eve to sin: “Cursed are you from among all animals, and from among all beasts of the field” (Genesis 3:14), in that your gestation period should be longer than all of them. Now, why does the verse mention the beasts of the field, i.e., undomesticated animals? If the snake was cursed more than the domesticated animals, then all the more so is it not clear that it was cursed more than the undomesticated animals? The shortest gestation period of domesticated animals, which is five months for a goat, is longer than the shortest gestation period among undomesticated animals, which is fifty-two days for a cat.
קלאוד על הדף:
Rav Yehuda in Rav’s name, also attributed to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, derives the figure from אָרוּר אַתָּה מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה. The difficulty is that the verse names both categories where one should suffice: domesticated animals have longer gestations than wild ones, so a curse exceeding the domesticated would exceed the wild a fortiori. The apparent redundancy is what the derivation will exploit.
Key Terms:
- אָרוּר אַתָּה = cursed are you (Bereishit 3:14)
- חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה = the beasts of the field
- לֹא כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן = all the more so
Segment 16
TYPE: דרשה
The verse is read as a ratio: seven times the donkey, as the donkey is seven times the cat.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֶלָּא, לוֹמַר לָךְ: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּתְקַלְּלָה הַבְּהֵמָה מֵחַיָּה, אֶחָד לְשִׁבְעָה, וּמַאי נִיהוּ? חֲמוֹר מֵחָתוּל, כָּךְ נִתְקַלֵּל הוּא מִבְּהֵמָה, אַחַת לְשֶׁבַע, דְּהָוֵה לֵיהּ שַׁב שְׁנֵי.
English Translation:
Rather, the verse mentions the beasts of the field to tell you: Just as the domesticated animals were cursed more than the undomesticated animals by a proportion of one to seven; the Gemara interjects: And with regard to what case is that? It is with regard to a donkey, whose gestation period as mentioned is twelve months, compared to a cat, whose gestation period is fifty-two days. Seven times longer than fifty-two days is 364 days, which means that the gestation period of the donkey, which is one year, is almost exactly seven times longer than that of the cat. Rav Yehuda continues: So too, the snake was cursed more than domesticated animals, i.e., the donkey, in a proportion of one to seven, which is a total of seven years.
קלאוד על הדף:
The redundancy becomes a proportion. The verse mentions both categories in order to establish the gap between them — the donkey’s twelve months against the cat’s fifty-two days, almost exactly sevenfold — and then applies the same multiple again to the snake, yielding seven years. The reasoning converts a comparative curse into an arithmetical one, and the next segments test whether seven is the only available ratio.
Key Terms:
- אֶחָד לְשִׁבְעָה = a ratio of one to seven
- שַׁב שְׁנֵי = seven years
Segment 17
TYPE: קושיא
A rival ratio is proposed: lion to donkey as one to three, giving nine years.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֵימָא: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּתְקַלְּלָה חַיָּה מִבְּהֵמָה, אַחַת לְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים, וּמַאי נִיהוּ? אֲרִי מֵחֲמוֹר, כָּךְ נִתְקַלֵּל הוּא מֵחַיָּה אַחַת לְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים, דְּהָוֵה לֵיהּ תֵּשַׁע שָׁנִים.
English Translation:
The Gemara challenges: Say that the verse can be interpreted as follows: Just as the undomesticated animals were cursed more than the domesticated animals by a measure of one year to three years; the Gemara interjects: And in what case is that? It is in the case of a lion, whose gestation period is three years, compared to a donkey, whose gestation period is one year. The Gemara continues its challenge: So too, the snake was cursed more than the undomesticated animals, i.e., the lion, by a proportion of one year to three years, which is nine years.
קלאוד על הדף:
The objection accepts the method and changes the terms. One could equally compare the lion’s three years to the donkey’s one, a ratio of one to three, and apply that to the snake for nine years. Since the verse supplies two categories but no instruction on which pairing to use, the derivation is underdetermined, and the answer waits for the start of 8b.
Key Terms:
- אֲרִי מֵחֲמוֹר = a lion compared to a donkey
- תֵּשַׁע שָׁנִים = nine years
Amud Bet (8b)
Segment 1
TYPE: תירוץ
The rival ratio is rejected from the verse’s word order.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
מִי כְּתִיב ״מִכׇּל הַחַיָּה וּמִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה״? ״מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִכֹּל הַחַיָּה״ כְּתִיב! אָרוּר הוּא מִבְּהֵמָה שֶׁנִּתְקַלְּלָה מֵחַיָּה.
English Translation:
The Gemara responds: Is it written: Cursed are you from among all beasts, and from among all animals? No, it is written: “From among all animals, and from among all beasts,” meaning that it is cursed from among the domesticated animals, which were cursed from among the undomesticated animals.
קלאוד על הדף:
The answer turns on which category the verse names first. It does not read מִכׇּל הַחַיָּה וּמִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה but the reverse, and the sequence fixes the comparison: the snake is cursed relative to the domesticated animal, which is itself cursed relative to the wild. The lion-to-donkey pairing inverts the order the verse lays down, so nine years has no textual footing.
Key Terms:
- מִי כְּתִיב = is it written
- מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִכֹּל הַחַיָּה = from all the domesticated and from all the wild
Segment 2
TYPE: קושיא
A second rival ratio that respects the word order: goat to cat as one to three.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
וְאֵימָא: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּתְקַלְּלָה בְּהֵמָה מֵחַיָּה אֶחָד לְשָׁלֹשׁ, וּמַאי נִיהוּ? עֵז מֵחָתוּל, כָּךְ נִתְקַלֵּל הוּא מִבְּהֵמָה אֶחָד לְשָׁלֹשׁ, דְּהָוֵה לֵיהּ חֲמֵיסַר יַרְחֵי!
English Translation:
The Gemara challenges: Why must it mean that the snake was cursed more than the donkey in the same proportion that the donkey was cursed more than the cat? But say instead that just as the domesticated animals were cursed more than the undomesticated animals by a measure of one to three; the Gemara interjects: And in what case is that? It is in the case of a goat, whose gestation period is five months, compared to a cat, whose gestation period is fifty-two days. The Gemara continues its challenge: So too, the snake was cursed more than the domesticated animals, i.e., the goat, by a proportion of one to three, which is fifteen months.
קלאוד על הדף:
The objection is rebuilt to survive the previous answer. Keeping the verse’s order and comparing domesticated to wild, one may take the goat’s five months against the cat’s fifty-two days — roughly one to three rather than one to seven — and apply that multiple to the snake for fifteen months. The choice of representative animal within each category is still open, and a different choice yields a different result.
Key Terms:
- עֵז מֵחָתוּל = a goat compared to a cat
- חֲמֵיסַר יַרְחֵי = fifteen months
Segment 3
TYPE: תירוץ
Two answers: the verse says all, and a curse takes its harshest reading.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אִיבָּעֵית אֵימָא: ״מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה״ כְּתִיב. אִי בָּעֵית אֵימָא: קְלָלָה הוּא, קְלָלָה שְׁדִי עִילָּוֵיהּ.
English Translation:
The Gemara answers: If you wish, say that it is written: “Cursed are you from among all animals,” including the most accursed of them, i.e., the donkey. If you wish, say instead that since it is a curse that the snake received here, the verse imposes upon it the most extreme curse that can be derived from the text.
קלאוד על הדף:
The first answer returns to the wording: מִכׇּל הַבְּהֵמָה, from all of them, points to the extreme member of the category rather than a middling one, so the donkey and not the goat sets the ratio. The second is a principle about how a curse is construed at all — קְלָלָה הוּא, קְלָלָה שְׁדִי עִילָּוֵיהּ, it is a curse, so impose the curse upon him, taking whichever reading is heaviest. The arithmetic ends where the exegesis of a punishment must.
Key Terms:
- קְלָלָה שְׁדִי עִילָּוֵיהּ = cast the curse upon him — read it at its harshest
- אִיבָּעֵית אֵימָא = if you wish, say
Segment 4
TYPE: מעשה
The emperor challenges the seven-year figure with a report from Athens.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֲמַר לֵיהּ קֵיסָר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה: נָחָשׁ לְכַמָּה מִיעַבַּר וּמוֹלֵיד? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: לְשַׁב שְׁנֵי. וְהָא סָבֵי דְּבֵי אַתּוּנָא אַרְבְּעִינְהוּ, וְאוֹלִיד לִתְלָת! הָנְהוּ מִיעַבְּרִי הֲווֹ מֵעִיקָּרָא אַרְבַּע. וְהָא קָמְשַׁמְּשִׁי שַׁמּוֹשֵׁי! אִינְהוּ נָמֵי מְשַׁמְּשִׁי כְּאָדָם.
English Translation:
§ With regard to the gestation time of a snake, the Gemara relates that the Roman emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: In the case of a snake, after how long a period of gestation does it give birth? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to him: After seven years. The emperor said to him: But the elders, i.e., the sages, of the school of Athens bred snakes and they gave birth after three years. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya responded: Those snakes were already pregnant from beforehand for four years. The emperor asked: But they engaged in intercourse, and animals do so only in order to give birth, not when they are already pregnant. Rabbi Yehoshua responded: Snakes also engage in intercourse like people, i.e., they do not do so solely for reproduction.
קלאוד על הדף:
The Athens narrative opens as a continuation of the same question. The emperor puts the snake’s gestation to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, hears seven years, and answers that the sages of Athens bred snakes that bore young in three. Rabbi Yehoshua replies that those were already four years pregnant, and meets the objection that they were observed mating by noting that snakes, like humans, do not mate only to conceive.
Key Terms:
- קֵיסָר = the Roman emperor
- סָבֵי דְּבֵי אַתּוּנָא = the elders of the school of Athens
- מְשַׁמְּשִׁי כְּאָדָם = they mate as humans do
Segment 5
TYPE: מעשה
The wager is set: defeat the Athenian sages and bring them back.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
וְהָא חַכִּימֵי אִינְהוּ? אֲנַן חֲכִימִינַן מִינַּיְיהוּ. אִי חֲכִימַתְּ, זִיל זַכִּינְהוּ וְאַיְתִינְהוּ לִי! אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כַּמָּה הָווּ? שִׁיתִּין גַּבְרֵי.
English Translation:
The emperor said to him: But how can you disagree with the sages of Athens? Aren’t they wise? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya responded: We are wiser than they. The emperor said: If you are wiser than they, then go defeat them in debate and bring them to me. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: How many are there? The emperor answered: Sixty men.
קלאוד על הדף:
The exchange turns from natural history to a contest of reputations. Pressed on how he can contradict acknowledged experts, Rabbi Yehoshua answers אֲנַן חֲכִימִינַן מִינַּיְיהוּ, we are wiser than they — and the emperor takes him at his word, sending him to prove it and return with all sixty. What follows is one of the longest sustained narratives in the masechet.
Key Terms:
- חַכִּימֵי = wise men
- זִיל זַכִּינְהוּ = go and defeat them
- שִׁיתִּין גַּבְרֵי = sixty men
Segment 6
TYPE: מעשה
The ship of sixty rooms, and the butcher who sells his head.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: עֲבֵיד לִי סְפִינְתָּא דְּאִית בַּהּ שִׁיתִּין בָּתֵּי, וְכֹל בֵּיתָא אִית בַּהּ שִׁיתִּין בִּיסְתַּרְקֵי. עֲבַד לֵיהּ. כִּי מְטָא לְהָתָם לְבֵי טַבָּחָא, אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ לְהָהוּא גַּבְרָא דְּקָא פָשֵׁיט חֵיוְתָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: רֵישָׁךְ לְזַבּוֹנֵי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אִין. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בְּכַמָּה? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בְּפַלְגָא דְּזוּזָא. יְהַב לֵיהּ.
English Translation:
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said to him: Construct a ship that has sixty rooms for me, and each room should have sixty mattresses [bistarkei] in it. The emperor constructed it for him. Rabbi Yehoshua then set out on the ship for Athens. When he arrived there, he entered a butcher shop and found a certain man, the butcher, flaying an animal. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Is your head for sale? The butcher said to him: Yes it is. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: For how much is it being sold? The butcher said to him: For half a dinar. Rabbi Yehoshua gave him the money.
קלאוד על הדף:
Two preparations are made, one openly and one not. The ship is built with sixty rooms of sixty mattresses each, a detail that looks like extravagance and turns out at the end to be the mechanism of the whole plan. Then, on arrival, Rabbi Yehoshua asks a butcher whether his head is for sale, is told yes, pays half a dinar, and has purchased something the butcher did not intend to sell.
Key Terms:
- בִּיסְתַּרְקֵי = mattresses, coverings
- רֵישָׁךְ לְזַבּוֹנֵי = is your head for sale
- פַּלְגָא דְּזוּזָא = half a dinar
Segment 7
TYPE: מעשה
The purchase is revealed and traded for directions to the school.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
לְסוֹף, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אֲנָא רֵישָׁא דְּחֵיוְתָא אֲמַרִי לָךְ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אִי בָּעֵית דְּאֶשְׁבְּקָךְ סַגִּי אַחְוִי לִי פִּיתְחָא דְּבֵי אַתּוּנָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִסְתְּפֵינָא דְּכֹל דְּמַחְוֵי קָטְלִי לֵיהּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: דְּרִי כְּרִיכָא דִּקְנֵיא, וְכִי מָטֵית לְהָתָם זִקְפֵהּ כְּמַאן דְּקָא מִתְּפַח.
English Translation:
After Rabbi Yehoshua paid the butcher, he said to him: Did I say to you that I wanted the head of the animal? I was referring to your head, and you must now keep your word and give me your head. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If you wish for me to let you be, go and show me the entrance to the school of the sages of Athens. The butcher said to him: I am afraid, as they kill anyone who shows its location to another. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Carry a bundle of reeds, and when you arrive there, stand it up like one who is resting, to mark the location. The butcher did this, and Rabbi Yehoshua successfully found the entrance.
קלאוד על הדף:
Rabbi Yehoshua springs the ambiguity: he had not asked for the head of the animal. The debt is then converted into what he actually wanted — directions to the Athenian school, which the butcher fears to give because informers are killed. The solution keeps the butcher’s hands clean: carry a bundle of reeds and set it upright at the spot, as though pausing to rest, so that no one has been told anything.
Key Terms:
- אֲנָא רֵישָׁא דְּחֵיוְתָא אֲמַרִי לָךְ = did I say to you the head of the animal
- כְּרִיכָא דִּקְנֵיא = a bundle of reeds
- פִּיתְחָא = the entrance
Segment 8
TYPE: מעשה
The guards and the sand: footprints in either direction cost lives.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אַשְׁכַּח דַּרְבְּנָאֵי מִגַּוַּאי וְדַרְבְּנָאֵי מִבָּרַאי, דְּאִי חָזוּ כַּרְעָא דְּעָיְילָא — קָטְלִי לְהוּ לְבָרַאי, וּדְנָפְקָא — קָטְלִי לְהוּ לְגַוַּאי.
English Translation:
Rabbi Yehoshua found guards stationed on the inside and guards stationed on the outside to ensure that no one could enter or exit. They also spread sand on the ground in the entranceway so that they could detect if anyone entered or left. If they saw footsteps that were entering they would kill the outer guards for allowing people to enter, and if they saw footsteps that were exiting they would kill the inner guards for allowing people to leave.
קלאוד על הדף:
The school’s security is described as a closed system. Guards stand within and without, and sand records every footfall; prints leading in condemn the outer guards and prints leading out condemn the inner. The arrangement is designed so that no one can pass undetected, and its rigidity is precisely what the next segment exploits.
Key Terms:
- דַּרְבְּנָאֵי = guards
- מִגַּוַּאי וּמִבָּרַאי = from within and from without
- כַּרְעָא = a footprint
Segment 9
TYPE: מעשה
He reverses his sandal twice, and the guards are killed.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אַפְכֵהּ לְסַנְדָּלֵיהּ — קָטְלִי לְהוּ לְגַוָּאֵי, אַפְכֵהּ לְסַנְדָּלֵיהּ — קָטְלִי לְהוּ לְכוּלְּהוּ.
English Translation:
Rabbi Yehoshua reversed his sandal so it was facing away from the entrance, walked on the sand, and snuck away, thereby creating the appearance of someone who had left the building. When the authorities saw the footsteps, they killed the inner guards. Rabbi Yehoshua then returned, reversed his sandal, and made footsteps in the sand indicating that someone had entered the building. They then killed all the guards, including the outer ones, and Rabbi Yehoshua succeeded in entering the building.
קלאוד על הדף:
The defeat of the system is a single trick applied twice. Walking with his sandal reversed, Rabbi Yehoshua leaves prints that read as an exit, and the inner guards are executed; reversing again, he leaves prints that read as an entry, and the rest are executed too. The narrative reports the deaths flatly, as the cost of a security regime that punished its own guards for what the sand appeared to show.
Key Terms:
- אַפְכֵהּ לְסַנְדָּלֵיהּ = he reversed his sandal
- קָטְלִי לְהוּ = they killed them
Segment 10
TYPE: מעשה
A seating problem: the young above and the elders below.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אַשְׁכַּח יָנוֹקֵי מִלְּעֵיל, סָבֵי מִלְּתַחַת. אֲמַר: אִי יָהֵיבְנָא שְׁלָמָא לְהָנֵי, קָטְלִי לִי הָנֵי, סָבְרִי: אֲנַן עֲדִיפִינַן, דַּאֲנַן קַשִּׁינַן טְפֵי וְאִינְהוּ דַּרְדַּקֵּי.
English Translation:
Rabbi Yehoshua found the younger sages sitting in the upper, more prominent section, and the elder ones in the lower section. He said to himself: I must first greet the younger sages, as they are sitting in the upper section, prior to the elder sages; but if I greet these younger sages first, those elder sages will kill me, as they maintain: We are better, because we are older and they are children.
קלאוד על הדף:
Inside, the room presents a trap of etiquette. The younger sages occupy the upper places and the elders the lower, so greeting by position slights the old and greeting by age slights the seated order — and the elders, holding אֲנַן עֲדִיפִינַן, we are the better, would take the affront lethally. The hazard here is not a riddle but a convention, and it must be navigated before a word of debate is spoken.
Key Terms:
- יָנוֹקֵי מִלְּעֵיל = the young above
- סָבֵי מִלְּתַחַת = the elders below
- דַּרְדַּקֵּי = children
Segment 11
TYPE: מעשה
An undirected greeting, and the terms of the contest.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֲמַר: שְׁלָמָא לְכוּ. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: מַאי עֲבִידְתָּיךְ? אֲמַר לְהוּ: אֲנָא חַכִּימָא דִיהוּדָאֵי אֲנָא, בָּעֵינָא לְמִיגְמַר חֻכְמְתָא מִינַּיְיכוּ. אִי הָכִי, נִיבְעֵי לָךְ! אֲמַר לְהוּ: לְחַיֵּי, אִי זָכֵיתוּ — כֹּל דְּבָעֵיתוּ עֲבִידוּ בִּי, וְאִי זָכֵינָא בְּכוּ — אִיכְלוּ גַּבַּאי בִּסְפִינְתָּא.
English Translation:
Rabbi Yehoshua said: Greetings to you, but did not directly address either group. They said to him: What are you doing here? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: I am a Sage of the Jews, and I desire to learn wisdom from you. They said to him: If so, we will ask you questions and see if you are worthy of this privilege. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Very well. If you win, you may do to me anything you wish, and if I defeat you, then eat with me on my ship.
קלאוד על הדף:
The solution is to address nobody in particular: שְׁלָמָא לְכוּ, greetings to you, without turning to either group. Asked his business, he says he has come to learn wisdom, and the terms are set — if they defeat him they may do as they wish with him, and if he defeats them they must dine with him on his ship. The stake he names for himself sounds like hospitality and is in fact the trap.
Key Terms:
- שְׁלָמָא לְכוּ = greetings to you
- חַכִּימָא דִיהוּדָאֵי = a sage of the Jews
- אִיכְלוּ גַּבַּאי בִּסְפִינְתָּא = eat with me on the ship
Segment 12
TYPE: מעשה
First riddle: why court a grander family after being refused by a lesser one.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: הַהוּא גַּבְרָא דְּאָזֵיל וּבָעֵי אִתְּתָא וְלָא יָהֲבוּ לֵיהּ, מַאי חֲזֵי לֵיהּ דְּאָזֵיל הֵיכָא דְּמִדְּלוּ מִינָּיהּ? שְׁקַל סִיכְּתָא, דָּצַהּ לְתַתַּאי — לָא עָאל, לְעִילַּאי — עָאל. אֲמַר: הַאי נָמֵי מִיתְרְמֵי בַּת מַזָּלֵיהּ.
English Translation:
The sages of Athens said to him: In the case of a certain man who goes and asks to marry a woman and her family does not give her to him, why would he see fit to go to a family that is greater than the first? Rabbi Yehoshua took a peg and stuck it into the lower part of the wall, but it did not go in. He then stuck it into the upper portion of the wall where there was a hole, and it went in. He said to them: In this case too, where he goes to a more distinguished family than the first, perhaps he will find the girl destined for him.
קלאוד על הדף:
The questions begin with human conduct rather than nature. Why should a man refused one match aim higher rather than lower? Rabbi Yehoshua answers with a demonstration instead of an argument: a peg that will not enter the wall low down goes in easily where there is a hole higher up. Fit is not a matter of rank, and the match destined for a man may be in the place that looks least likely.
Key Terms:
- סִיכְּתָא = a peg
- בַּת מַזָּלֵיהּ = the one destined for him
Segment 13
TYPE: מעשה
Second riddle: why lend again after having to seize property.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
גַּבְרָא דְּאוֹזֵיף וְטָרֵיף, מַאי חֲזָא דַּהֲדַר אוֹזֵיף? אֲמַר לְהוּ: גַּבְרָא אֲזַל לְאַגְמָא, קְטַל קַמָּא טוּנָא וְלָא מָצֵי בֵּיהּ, קָטֵיל וּמַנַּח עִילָּוֵיהּ, עַד דְּמִיתְרְמֵי אִינִישׁ מַדְלֵי לֵיהּ.
English Translation:
The sages of Athens asked him another question: In the case of a man who lends money to an individual and the borrower does not repay the loan, and the lender repossesses the borrower’s property as payment instead, why would he see fit to lend to others again? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: This is what people do: If a man goes to the pond, initially cuts a bundle of reeds, but finds that he cannot lift it, he does not stop cutting wood. Instead, he cuts more wood and places it upon the first, until a person happens to pass by and helps him raise it upon his shoulders, so that he can carry it home. So too, a person continues to lend based on the assumption that he will eventually find an appropriate borrower.
קלאוד על הדף:
The second question is about persistence against experience. The answer is a scene from ordinary labour: a man cutting reeds finds his bundle too heavy to lift and does not stop cutting — he adds to it and waits until someone passes who can help him raise it. One does not abandon an activity because a single attempt ended badly; the outcome depends on who comes along next.
Key Terms:
- אוֹזֵיף וְטָרֵיף = lends and seizes in payment
- טוּנָא = a bundle, a load
- אַגְמָא = a marsh or pond
Segment 14
TYPE: מעשה
They ask for nonsense, and get a mule with a promissory note.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: אֵימָא לַן מִילֵּי דִּבְדִיאִי! אֲמַר לְהוּ: הֲוָה הַהִוא כּוּדַנְיְתָא דִּילִידָא, וַהֲוָה תְּלֵי לֵיהּ פִּיתְקָא, וּכְתַב בֵּיהּ דְּמַסֵּיק בְּבֵי אַבָּא מְאָה אַלְפָּא זוּזֵי. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: וְכוּדַנְיְתָא מִי יָלְדָה? אֲמַר לְהוּ: הָנֵי נִינְהוּ מִילֵּי דִבְדִיאִי.
English Translation:
The sages of Athens said to him: Say to us a matter of nonsense. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: There was a certain mule that gave birth, and a note was hanging on the newborn mule’s neck and on it was written that it is owed 100,000 dinars by its father’s household. They said to him: But can a mule give birth? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: This is why it is a matter of nonsense, as it is impossible for a mule to give birth.
קלאוד על הדף:
The request for מִילֵּי דִּבְדִיאִי, words of absurdity, is answered with a mule that gave birth, wearing a note recording a debt owed to it by its father’s household. When they object that a mule cannot give birth, Rabbi Yehoshua points out that this is exactly what they asked for. The exchange sets the pattern for what follows: the impossible is supplied on request and the questioner is the one who objects to it.
Key Terms:
- מִילֵּי דִּבְדִיאִי = words of nonsense
- כּוּדַנְיְתָא = a mule
- פִּיתְקָא = a note, a document
Segment 15
TYPE: מעשה
Spoiling salt is salted with a mule’s placenta.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
מִילְחָא כִּי סָרְיָא, בְּמַאי מָלְחִי לַהּ? אֲמַר לְהוּ: בְּסִילְתָּא דְכוּדַנְיְתָא. וּמִי אִיכָּא סִילְתָּא לְכוּדַנְתָּא? וּמִילְחָא מִי סְרֵי?
English Translation:
The sages of Athens then asked another question: When salt is spoiling, with what does one salt it to preserve it? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: With the placenta of a mule. They said to him: But is there a placenta of a mule? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: And does salt spoil?
קלאוד על הדף:
The question presupposes that salt spoils, which it does not. Rabbi Yehoshua answers with an equally impossible remedy, a mule’s placenta, and when they object that no such thing exists he replies with the counter-question וּמִילְחָא מִי סְרֵי, does salt spoil? The method is now explicit: a question built on a false premise is answered in kind, and the objection the questioner raises is the objection to his own question.
Key Terms:
- מִילְחָא כִּי סָרְיָא = when salt spoils
- סִילְתָּא = a placenta
- מִי סְרֵי = does it spoil
Segment 16
TYPE: מעשה
A house in mid-air, and the centre of the world.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
בְּנִי לַן בֵּיתָא בַּאֲוִירָא דְּעָלְמָא! אָמַר שֵׁם, תְּלָא בֵּין רְקִיעָא לְאַרְעָא. אֲמַר לְהוּ: אַסִּיקוּ לִי לִיבְנֵי וְטִינָא. מְצִיעֲתֵיהּ דְּעָלְמָא הֵיכָא? זַקְפַהּ לְאֶצְבַּעְתֵּיהּ, אֲמַר לְהוּ: הָכָא. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: וּמִי יֵימַר? אַיְיתוֹ אַשְׁלֵי וּמְשַׁחוּ.
English Translation:
They said to him: Build us a house in the air of the world. Rabbi Yehoshua uttered a Name of God and hovered between the sky and the earth. He said to them: Bring up to me bricks and mortar and I will build you a house here. They asked him: Where is the center of the world? Rabbi Yehoshua raised his finger and said to them: Here. They said to him: And who says that you are correct? He said to them: Bring ropes and measure.
קלאוד על הדף:
Two demands of the impossible are met by accepting them. Asked to build a house in the air, Rabbi Yehoshua utters a Name and hovers between heaven and earth, then asks them to send up bricks and mortar — the task is not refused but returned. Asked where the world’s centre lies, he raises a finger, says הָכָא, here, and when challenged invites them to bring ropes and measure. In both, the burden of proof is handed back.
Key Terms:
- בַּאֲוִירָא דְּעָלְמָא = in the air of the world
- מְצִיעֲתֵיהּ דְּעָלְמָא = the centre of the world
- אַשְׁלֵי = ropes
Segment 17
TYPE: מעשה
The pit brought to the city, and the broken mill sewn together.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אִית לַן בֵּירָא בְּדַבְרָא, עַיְילֵאּ לְמָתָא! אֲמַר לְהוּ: אַפְשִׁילוּ לִי חַבְלֵי מִפָּארֵי וַאֲעַיְּילֵיהּ. אִית לַן רִיחְיָא דִּתְבִירָא, חַיְּיטַיהּ. אֲמַר: כְּרוּכוּ לִי מִינַּיהּ גַּרְדֵי וְאִיחַיְּיטַיהּ.
English Translation:
They said to him: We have a pit in the field; bring it to the city. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Braid ropes made of bran for me and I will bring it to the city with them. They then said to him: We have a mill that broke; sew it back together. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Pull out threads from the mill for me and I will sew them together.
קלאוד על הדף:
Two more tasks are returned in their own terms. Bring the pit from the field into the city — braid me ropes out of bran and I will. Sew up our broken millstone — pull me threads from the mill and I will sew. Each answer concedes the task and requires an instrument as impossible as the task itself, so that the demand collapses without ever being refused.
Key Terms:
- בֵּירָא בְּדַבְרָא = a pit in the field
- חַבְלֵי מִפָּארֵי = ropes of bran
- רִיחְיָא דִּתְבִירָא = a broken mill
Segment 18
TYPE: מעשה
The field of knives, harvested with a donkey’s horn.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
מְשָׁרָא דְּסַכִּינֵי בְּמַאי קָטְלִי? בְּקַרְנָא דַּחֲמָרָא. וּמִי אִיכָּא קַרְנָא לַחֲמָרָא? וּמִי אִיכָּא מְשָׁרָא דְּסַכִּינֵי?
English Translation:
They asked him another question: With what does one harvest a field of knives? Rabbi Yehoshua answered: With the horn of a donkey. They said to him: But is there such an item as a horn of a donkey? He said to them: But is there such a thing as a field of knives?
קלאוד על הדף:
The pattern appears in its purest form. Asked what harvests a field of knives, Rabbi Yehoshua names a donkey’s horn; they object that donkeys have no horns; he answers וּמִי אִיכָּא מְשָׁרָא דְּסַכִּינֵי, and is there such a thing as a field of knives? The objection and the answer are the same objection, which is the point.
Key Terms:
- מְשָׁרָא דְּסַכִּינֵי = a field of knives
- קַרְנָא דַּחֲמָרָא = the horn of a donkey
Segment 19
TYPE: מעשה
Two eggs, answered with two cheeses.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אַיְיתוֹ לֵיהּ תְּרֵי בֵּיעֵי, אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: הֵי דְּזַגְתָּא אוּכַּמְתִּי וְהֵי דְּזַגְתָּא חִיוַּורְתִּי? אַיְיתִי לְהוּ אִיהוּ תְּרֵי גְּבִינֵי, אֲמַר לְהוּ: הֵי דְּעִיזָּא אוּכַּמְתִּי וְהֵי דְּעִיזָּא חִיוַּורְתִּי?
English Translation:
They brought him two eggs and said to him: Which is the egg of a black hen and which is the egg of a white hen? Rabbi Yehoshua brought them two cheeses, and said to them: Which is the cheese from the black goat and which is from the white goat?
קלאוד על הדף:
Here the impossibility is epistemic rather than physical. Asked to tell which egg came from a black hen and which from a white, Rabbi Yehoshua produces two cheeses and asks which came from the black goat and which from the white. The products of different-coloured animals are indistinguishable, and the question is answered by making the questioners face their own.
Key Terms:
- תְּרֵי בֵּיעֵי = two eggs
- גְּבִינֵי = cheeses
- אוּכַּמְתִּי / חִיוַּורְתִּי = black / white
Segment 20
TYPE: מעשה
The spirit of a chick that died in the shell, and a mat not worth its damage.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
וַרְצוּצָא דְּמִית, מֵהֵיכָא נָפֵיק רוּחֵיהּ? מֵהֵיכָא דְּעָל נְפַק. אַחְוִי לַן מָנָא דְּלָא שָׁוֵי חֲבִילֵיהּ! אַיְיתִי בּוּדְיָא, פַּשְׁטֵיהּ. לָא הֲוָה עָיֵיל בְּתַרְעָא. אֲמַר לְהוּ: אַיְיתוֹ מָרֵי סִיתְרוּהּ. הַיְינוּ מָנָא דְּלָא שָׁוֵי חֲבִילֵיהּ.
English Translation:
They asked him: And in the case of a chick that dies inside the egg, from where does its spirit exit? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: From where it enters, it departs. They said to him: Show us a utensil that is not worth the damage that it causes. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Each one of you bring a mat and spread it out. When they did so, each mat did not enter the gate due to its size. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: Bring axes and break the gate so that you can bring it inside. This is a utensil that is not worth its damage.
קלאוד על הדף:
The first answer is brief and exact: מֵהֵיכָא דְּעָל נְפַק, it leaves by the way it entered. The second is a demonstration rather than a saying — asked to show a utensil not worth the damage it causes, he has them spread mats that prove too wide for the gate, so that axes must be brought and the gate broken to admit them. The object is ordinary; what makes it not worth its damage is the situation it is put in.
Key Terms:
- וַרְצוּצָא = a chick crushed or dead in the shell
- בּוּדְיָא = a mat
- מָנָא דְּלָא שָׁוֵי חֲבִילֵיהּ = a utensil not worth its damage
Segment 21
TYPE: מעשה
The sixty rooms do their work, the ship sails, and he takes their soil.
Hebrew/Aramaic:
אַיְתִינְהוּ כֹּל חַד וְחַד, כִּי חָזֵי שִׁיתִּין בִּיסְתַּרְקֵי, אָמַר: כּוּלְּהוּ חַבְרַאי לְהָכָא אָתוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ לְסָפוֹנָא: שְׁרִי סְפִינְתָּךְ. בַּהֲדֵי דְּקָאָתוּ שְׁקַל עַפְרָא מֵעַפְרַיְיהוּ.
English Translation:
§ After Rabbi Yehoshua defeated the sages of Athens in debate, he brought them to his ship as they had agreed. He then brought each one to a different room. When each one saw the sixty mattresses in his room, he said to himself: All of my colleagues are coming here, and waited for them without attempting to leave. Rabbi Yehoshua said to the sailor: Release your ship, i.e., begin sailing. While they were coming to the emperor in Rome, he took out some dirt that he had taken from the dirt of Athens.
קלאוד על הדף:
The device built at the outset now closes. Each sage, shown into a room of sixty mattresses, concludes that all his colleagues are coming and settles down to wait, so that sixty men are held by an inference rather than a lock. The sailor is told to cast off, and as they go Rabbi Yehoshua takes עַפְרָא מֵעַפְרַיְיהוּ, soil from their soil — a detail left unexplained here, whose purpose belongs to 9a.
Key Terms:
- שְׁרִי סְפִינְתָּךְ = release your ship
- סָפוֹנָא = a sailor
- עַפְרָא מֵעַפְרַיְיהוּ = soil from their soil