Bava Batra 119b — the Talmud in English

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that merit is brought about through one who is meritorious,

that is, the law of inheritance, that sons and relatives inherit their relatives, is learned

through one who is meritorious,

namely, the daughters of Zelophehad.

And obligation,

that is, the law of stoning for one who desecrates Shabbat, is learned

through one who is liable.

That is, the wood-gatherer. Thus far are the words of Simeon the Shikmonite.

And the Gemara objects:

If it enters your mind that the Land of Israel was an established possession, what was he uncertain about

for Moses? Surely they were to take a portion of their father’s birthright?

And the Gemara answers:

The matter itself,

whether the Land of Israel was an established possession,

was he uncertain about.

And the sides of the uncertainty are:

For it is written: “And I shall give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord”—it is an inheritance for you from your fathers.

And from the fact that it is written “heritage,” and not “inheritance,” it comes to say that even the generation of the wilderness would have some inheritance in the Land; that is, it should be considered an established possession for them with regard to the birthright portion.

Or perhaps

we learn from this verse only

that they bequeath

their inheritance to their sons

, but they do not inherit

it themselves, since they would die in the wilderness.

And they resolved it for him

from Heaven, that this verse has

both meanings: “It is an inheritance for you from your fathers,”

and it is considered an established possession with regard to the birthright,

and

nevertheless,

they bequeath but do not inherit,

for they would die in the wilderness.

And

now, the verse, “And I shall give it to you as a heritage,” was said before the sin of the calf, and it follows that Moses prophesied that they would not enter the Land, but he did not know what he had prophesied.

And likewise,

this is what is written

in the Song of the Sea:

“You shall bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance”; “You shall bring him” was not said, but rather “You shall bring them”—it teaches that they prophesied

that they would not enter the Land,

but they did not know what they were prophesying.

It is stated in the section of the daughters of Zelophehad:

“And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the princes and all the assembly .”

It implies that they first came before Moses, and afterward, Eleazar, and so on.

And the Gemara objects:

Is it possible that they stood before Moses

and he did not know, and they went before Eleazar

and they did not tell them anything, and

afterward

stood before the princes and all the assembly?!

Rather, invert the verse and expound it,

as though it were written in reverse: they first came before the assembly, the princes, and Eleazar, and finally before Moses.

The words of Rabbi Josiah.

Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: They were sitting in the house of study and went and stood before them all,

and asked their question before them all.

In what do they disagree?

One

[Abba Hanan in the name of Rabbi Eliezer]

holds: Honor is accorded to a student in the presence of the teacher.

And it is permitted to ask the student in the presence of the teacher, for this too is from the teacher’s importance, and it is agreeable to him.

And one

[Rabbi Josiah]

holds: Honor is not accorded.

And the halakha is: honor is accorded; and the halakha is: honor is not accorded.

Is the halakha contrary to the halakha?

And the Gemara answers:

The halakha is not contrary to the halakha: this refers to a case in which his teacher accords him honor

[honor] to the student, and in this case it is certainly agreeable to the teacher that they ask the student.

And

this

where we rule, “Honor is not accorded,” refers to a case in which

his teacher does not accord him honor.

A tanna taught: The daughters of Zelophehad were wise women,

that is, well versed in proper conduct.

They were expounders; they were righteous.

The beraita explains:

They were wise women, for they spoke at the proper time.

That is, when they found an opening for their words, as follows, they then came to the court.

For Rav Samuel bar Rav Isaac said: This teaches that Moses our teacher was sitting and expounding the section of levirate marriage, as it is stated: “When brothers dwell together,”

They said to him: If we are considered like a son,

to exempt our mother from levirate marriage, for she has offspring,

give us an inheritance like a son,

and

if not, let our mother enter levirate marriage.

Immediately, “And Moses brought their case before the Lord.”

They were expounders, for

they knew how to expound that a daughter does not inherit in the place of a son, as we expounded above: “And if he has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter”—if he has a son, he precedes her. And

they were saying: If he had had a son, we would not have spoken .

And the Gemara objects:

But

in the version of the beraita that we have,

it is taught:

that they were saying, “If he had not had a

daughter,

we would not have spoken”? And the objector himself did not know how to explain it.

Rabbi Jeremiah said: Erase “daughter” from here.

That is, erase the word “daughter” from the version that you have.

However,

Abaye said:

The version should not be changed, and this is its explanation:

Even if he had had a daughter of a son, we would not have spoken.

As we said above, that a daughter does not inherit together with a son’s daughter.

They were righteous, for

although it was permitted for them to marry whomever they wished , nevertheless,

they married only one suitable for them.

That is, from their father’s family, as it is written: “And they became ... wives for the sons of their cousins.”

Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob taught:

Since they waited for one suitable for them,

even the youngest among them did not marry before the age of forty .

И Гемара возражает:

And the Gemara objects:

Is that so? But Rav Hisda said: One who marries before the age of twenty gives birth until the age of sixty; one who is twenty gives birth until the age of forty; one who is forty no longer gives birth.

And if so, how did they wait so long that they could no longer give birth, and likewise, who agreed to marry them when they could not give birth?

Rather, since they were righteous,

and confident in their righteousness that a miracle would be performed for them, they were not concerned about waiting for one suitable for them even after the age of forty. And

a miracle was performed for them, as for Jochebed.

And where was a miracle performed for Jochebed?

For it is written

concerning Amram, the father of Moses, who again married Jochebed:

“And a man went from the house of Levi and took the daughter of Levi.”