Bava Batra 16b (טז:) — the Talmud in English

cruel to her young,

because

when she crouches

to give birth,

she

climbs to the top of the mountain so that the offspring will fall

from her

and die. And I summon for her an eagle that catches it in its wings and places it before her. And if it were to come

the eagle one

moment early or one moment late,

immediately

the offspring would fall and

die.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Job: If

I do not confuse one moment with another,

as I summon the eagle at the proper moment, how could it occur to you that

I confused Job with an enemy?

The Holy One, blessed be He, further said to Job:

“Do you watch over the calving of the does?” [

Job, chapter 39, verse 1].

And the Gemara explains the verse:

This doe has a narrow womb. When she crouches to give birth, I summon a dragon

a snake

that bites her in the womb and then relaxes,

so that her womb expands

and she gives birth .

And if it were to come

the snake

one moment early or one moment late, immediately

the doe

would die.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Job: If

I do not confuse one moment with another,

how could it occur to you that

I confused Job with an enemy?

It is further stated in Job, chapter 34, verse 35:

Elihu son of Barachel said, “

Job

does not speak with knowledge, and his words are without understanding” .

Rava said: From here

this verse teaches

that a person is not held accountable in a time of suffering.

A person is not held liable for harsh things that he says out of suffering . For Job spoke heretical words, and nevertheless it was stated only, “He does not speak with knowledge,” and it was not stated, “He spoke wicked words.”

It is further stated in Job, chapter 2, verse 11, after Job's afflictions had come upon him: “

When Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to mourn for him and to comfort him”—

What is the meaning of: “They met together”?

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This teaches that they entered

Job's friends

through one gate .

And a tanna

taught elsewhere that the distance

between

the residences of

each and every one

of Job's three friends was

three hundred parasangs .

Nevertheless, when Job's afflictions came upon him, all three came together to comfort him.

And we raise an objection:

From where did they know?

From where did Job's three friends know that afflictions had come upon him—

Some say:

Some say that

they had a crown

each had a crown engraved with three faces, and beneath each face was written the name of one of them. When afflictions came upon one of them, the form of the face beneath which his name was engraved would change.

And some say that they had trees

each had three trees, and each tree was named for one of the friends,

and when one withered

that is, if one of the trees dried up,

they knew

that afflictions had come upon the person whose name was written beneath that tree .

Rava said: This is the basis of the popular saying

that is, this explains the popular saying—

“Either a friend like Job's friends,

or death.”

or death

if a person has no friends, it would be better for him to die .

It is stated at the end of the Torah portion of Bereshit:

“And it came to pass when man began to multiply upon the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,”

and the Sages expounded:

Rabbi Yohanan

said:

The verse's statement that man “began to multiply” means that once daughters were born,

multiplication came into the world,

because a woman is naturally robust and quick to give birth, as explained in tractate Sanhedrin [69b]: A male cannot father a child unless he has reached the age of nine, whereas a female can give birth before that age.

Reish Lakish said:

The meaning of the verse is that with the birth of daughters,

strife came into the world,

as they said [Yevamot 63a] that if a man is not worthy, his wife is “against him.”

Reish Lakish said to Rabbi Yohanan: According to your view,

according to your approach, that you hold that the meaning of the verse is that

multiplication came into the world,

it follows that the birth of daughters is a positive matter. If so, the following difficulty arises:

Why

when the Holy One, blessed be He, restored Job's possessions and children twofold

were Job's daughters not doubled?

He said to him: Granted

although

they were not doubled in number,

he did not have additional daughters,

but

in contrast,

they were doubled in beauty,

and there is no greater doubling of goodness than that.

The Gemara brings proof that Job's daughters were beautiful:

as it is written [

in Job, chapter 42, verse 13]:

“And he had sevenfold

fourteen

sons and three daughters; and he called the name of the first Jemima, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.”

And the Gemara explains the names of Job's daughters:

Jemima—

for she resembled

in her beauty

the day.

Keziah—

for her fragrance wafted like keziah [

a type of perfume].

Keren-happuch—

the scholars of the house of Rabbi Sheila said:

She was given this name because

she resembled the horn of a keresh,

the horn of an animal called a keresh, whose horns are black.

And concerning this interpretation

they laughed at it

ridiculed it

in the West,

because they believed that one who resembles

the horn of a keresh—

that is a defect.

It is a deficiency in beauty, not an advantage —

rather, Rav Hisda said:

She resembled

the finest saffron in its kind,

the choicest of the saffron that grows in a garden . Just as this variety is more beautiful than other perfumes, so was she more beautiful than other women,

as it is stated:

“For though you tear yourself with eye-paint,”

“eye-paint” is the blue-black cosmetic that women place on the eye, and “though you tear yourself with eye-paint” means that through the eye-paint the tear of the eye appears larger . [

This Gemara requires explanation, as Tosafot asked: What connection does the verse “though you tear yourself with eye-paint” have with “the finest saffron”? See the note] .

Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi, a daughter was born to him.

A daughter was born to him.

He became distressed.

His mind was troubled.

His father said to him:

When a daughter comes,

“Multiplication comes into the world.” Bar Kappara said to him: Your father has comforted you with empty consolation,” [

as it was taught:]

“The world cannot exist

without males and without females; nevertheless, fortunate is one whose children are males, and woe to one whose children are females.”

And likewise,

“The world cannot exist without perfume-makers”

who make perfumes

and without tanners,

who process hides ;

fortunate is one whose occupation is that of a perfume-maker,

whose products have a pleasant smell;

woe to one whose occupation is that of a tanner,

whose hides have a bad smell.

The Gemara adds that this dispute over whether the birth of a daughter is a positive matter or not is a dispute between tannaim—

As in the dispute between tannaim:

It is stated in the Torah, in Genesis:

“And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything.”

What is the meaning of “with everything”?

Rabbi Meir says: He did not have a daughter,

and this was the blessing with which God blessed Abraham—that he did not have a daughter .

Rabbi Yehuda says that

the blessing was that

he had a daughter .

Others say: Abraham had a daughter, and her name was Bakol ,

and the meaning of the verse “And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything” is that He blessed Abraham with a daughter whose name was “Bakol” .

Thus, tannaim disputed whether the birth of a daughter is a blessing or not. According to Rabbi Meir, it is not a blessing; on the contrary, when there is no daughter, that is a blessing. According to Rabbi Yehuda, when there is a daughter, that is a blessing.

The Gemara adds other opinions concerning the blessing with which God blessed Abraham—

Rabbi Elazar HaModa'i says: Abraham our forefather had astrology in his heart,

for Abraham was expert in the zodiac,

so that all the kings of East and West would rise early to his door

to ask him what would happen to them .

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: A precious stone was suspended from the neck of Abraham our forefather, and any sick person who saw it was immediately healed .

And when Abraham our forefather departed from the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, suspended it

the stone

in the solar sphere.

Abaye said: This is the basis of the popular saying: When the day rises,

when the sun rises higher and shines,

the illness rises down

the illnesses of people are alleviated, because Abraham's stone is suspended in the sun.

Alternatively,

the meaning of what was stated—that Abraham was blessed with everything—is

that Esau did not rebel during his lifetime,

as will be explained below.

Alternatively

that Ishmael did teshuva during his lifetime.

From where do we know that Esau did not rebel during his lifetime?

As it is written, “

And Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.”

And as will be explained below, on that very day Esau committed five sins.

And the tanna

we learned in a beraita that

on that day Abraham our forefather died, and Jacob our forefather prepared a stew of lentils to comfort Isaac his father,

which demonstrates that Esau’s rebellion took place after Abraham’s death.

And it is objected:

And what is different about lentils?

Why did Jacob specifically prepare a stew of lentils?

They say in the West in the name of Rabba bar Mari,

that Jacob came to allude that

just as this lentil has no mouth

it has no opening, unlike the other legumes,

so, too, a mourner has no mouth,

as he sits silent.

Alternatively—

just as this lentil is round,

its shape is circular,

so mourning rolls about and visits the inhabitants of the world.

What difference is there between them?

The difference between them is whether one may comfort a mourner with eggs.

Is it perhaps possible to comfort a mourner with eggs? According to the one who says that Isaac cooked lentils because they have no mouth, eggs likewise have no mouth. But according to the one who holds that Isaac cooked lentils because of their round shape, an egg is not round like a wheel.

Rabbi Yohanan said: The wicked

Esau

committed five sins

on that day

he had relations with a betrothed maiden,

he killed a person, denied the fundamental principle, denied the resurrection of the dead, and he scorned

and disgraced

the birthright,

the Temple service, which had been performed by the firstborn.

The Gemara now explains the source for each of the sins that Esau committed on that day—

He had relations with a betrothed maiden: Here it is written, “

And Esau came from the field,”

and there it is written,

concerning the rape of a betrothed maiden, “

for he found her in the field.”

And they derive by a gzera shava from the word “field” that Esau had relations with a betrothed maiden.

He killed a person,

as

here it is written, “

And Esau came from the field,

exhausted,”

and there it is written,

in the prophet Jeremiah, “

Woe is me, for my soul is exhausted because of the killers.”

And they derive by a gzera shava from the word “exhausted,” written in Jeremiah in the context of killing, to the word “exhausted” written concerning Esau; from this they infer that Esau killed a person on that day.

And he denied the fundamental principle—

here it is written,

concerning Esau, who said, “

Why do I need this

birthright?”

And there it is written,

in the Song at the Sea, “

This is my God, and I will glorify Him.”

And they derive by a gzera shava from the word “this,” written concerning Esau, to the word “this,” written regarding the revelation of the Divine Presence in the Song at the Sea. From this they learned that when Esau said, “Why do I need ‘this’?” he intended to deny the fundamental principle.

And he denied the resurrection of the dead—

as it is written

that Esau said, “

Behold, I am going to die,

so why do I need this birthright?” Thus, he denied the resurrection of the dead, for if he believed in the resurrection of the dead, why did he relinquish the birthright merely because he was going to die?

And he scorned

and disgraced

the birthright—

as it is written, “

And Esau scorned the birthright.”

It was explained above that one of the blessings with which Abraham was blessed was that Ishmael did teshuva during his lifetime.

And we ask:

And that Ishmael did teshuva during his lifetime—

from where do we know this?

And he answers: The source for this is as Rava explained to Ravina and Rav Hama—

For it was like this: Ravina and Rav Hama bar Buzi were sitting before

him,

Rava, and Rava was dozing.

Ravina said to Rav Hama bar Buzi—

Certainly,

is it true

that you say,

that you said that

any death concerning which there is

a term in the Torah

of expiration [

such as “and he expired and was gathered to his people”]

is the death of the righteous?

He said to him: Yes!

Ravina objected to him:

But what of the generation of the Flood?

Although they were wicked, the term “expiration” is used concerning them, as it is stated [Genesis 7:21]: “And all flesh that moved upon the earth expired ...”

He said to him: We are speaking of expiration and gathering,

What we said—that wherever “expiration” is stated it refers to the death of the righteous—applies only where the term “expiration” is stated adjacent to the term “gathering” [such as “and he expired and was gathered”].

Ravina continued to object:

But what of Ishmael, concerning whom it is written,

in Genesis 25:17, the expression

“expiration and gathering,”

as it is stated: “And these are the years of the life of Ishmael ... and he expired and died and was gathered to his people”? Was Ishmael not wicked?

Meanwhile,

in the course of this discussion,

Rava awoke,

Rava woke from his doze and

said to them, “You boys,”

this is what Rabbi Yohanan said—

Ishmael did teshuva during the lifetime of his father!

Therefore, the expression “expiration and gathering” was stated concerning him,

as it is written, “

And they buried him [

our forefather Abraham ]

Isaac and Ishmael, his sons.”

Thus, Esau treated Isaac with honor and placed him before himself, even though Isaac was younger than he was; from this it follows that he did teshuva.

And we object:

Perhaps it lists them according to their wisdom?

Perhaps the Torah lists Esau and Ishmael according to the order of their wisdom, but this does not mean that Ishmael placed Isaac before himself.

And he answers: If so, if the Torah lists them according to the order of wisdom,

from now on,

how are we to explain the verse, “

And they buried him [

our forefather Isaac ]

Esau and Jacob, his sons”?

Why did it not list them according to their wisdom?

Rather,

it is necessarily the case that the Torah does not list them according to the importance of their wisdom. From this they learned that

since it placed

Isaac before Ishmael in the verse, necessarily Ishmael

made him speak first,

placing Isaac before himself.

And from

this

that he made him speak first,

that he placed him first,

infer that he performed teshuva during his lifetime

of Abraham.