Bava Batra 16b — the Talmud in English

Cruel to her children,

for

when she crouches ![](pamud.bmp "

Exact page location")

to give birth,

she

goes up to the top of the mountain so that it will fall

the fetus

from her and die. And I summon for her an eagle that receives it with its wings and places it before her. And were it not that it comes early

the eagle

by one moment, or comes late

by one moment, immediately

the fetus falls and

dies.

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

between one moment and another I was not confused

when I summon the eagle at the correct moment, how could it enter your mind that

between Job and an enemy I was confused?

The Holy One, blessed is He, further said to Job: “

Do you keep watch over the calving of the does” [Job, chapter 39, verse 1].

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 for her a dragon

a snake

that bites her in the womb and relaxes

and her womb expands

and she gives birth ,

and were it not that

the snake

comes early by one moment or comes late by one moment, immediately

the doe

dies.

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

between one moment and another I was not confused,

how could it enter your mind that

between Job and an enemy I was confused?

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 not with understanding”

Rava said: From here

this verse teaches

that a person is not held accountable at the time of his distress.

A person is not made liable for harsh things that he says out of his distress . For Job spoke words of heresy, and nevertheless it was said only, “He does not speak with knowledge,” and it was not said, “He spoke words of wickedness.”

It is further stated in Job, chapter 2, verse 11, after Job’s afflictions came upon him— “

And Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and they came, each man from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they appointed themselves together to come to mourn for him and to comfort him”—

What is the meaning of “and they appointed themselves together”?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: It teaches that they entered,

Job’s friends,

all through one gate .

And a tanna,

and we learned elsewhere that the distance

between

the dwelling places of

each and every one

of Job’s three friends was

three hundred parsaot .

And nevertheless, when afflictions came upon Job, 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—

There are those who say:

there are those who say that

they had a kelila,

each of them had a crown on which three faces were engraved, and beneath each face the name of one of them was inscribed; and when afflictions came upon one of them, the form of the face beneath which his name was engraved would change.

And there are those who say: They had trees,

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

and when one withered

and one of the trees dried up,

they knew

that afflictions had come upon the one whose name was inscribed beneath that tree .

Rava said: This is what people say

according to this one can understand the popular saying—

“Either a friend like Job’s friends,

or a person should have friends like Job’s friends,

or death,”

and if he has no loving friends, it is better for him to die .

It is stated at the end of the portion of Genesis:

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

and the Sages, of blessed memory, expounded—

Rabbi Yohanan

said:

what the verse means by “to multiply” is that, since daughters were born,

multiplication came into the world,

for a woman’s nature is to be healthy and to give birth quickly, as explained in tractate Sanhedrin [69b], that a minor cannot give birth unless she has reached nine years of age, whereas a female can give birth before that .

Reish Lakish said:

the intention of the verse is that with the birth of daughters

strife comes into the world,

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

Reish Lakish said to Rabbi Yohanan: According to you, who say

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

“multiplication comes into the world,”

it follows that the birth of daughters is a good thing; and if so, this is difficult:

Why

when the Holy One, blessed is He, doubled for Job his property and his children,

were Job’s daughters not doubled?

He said to him: Granted

even though

they were not doubled in number,

he did not have additional daughters,

but

in contrast to this,

they were doubled in beauty,

and you have no doubling better than this.

The Gemara brings proof that Job’s daughters were beautiful—from

for 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 one 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 was similar

in her beauty

to day.

Keziah—

for her fragrance wafted like keziah [

a type of perfume].

Keren-happuch—

the scholars of the house of Rabbi Sheila said

that he called her this because

she was similar to 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 held that one who resembles

the horn of a keresh—

it is a blemish.

This is a defect in beauty, not an advantage —

rather, Rav Hisda said:

that she was similar to

the finest saffron in its kind,

the choicest of the saffron that grows in a garden , and just as this species is more beautiful than the other perfumes, so was she more beautiful than the other women,

as it is stated, “

For you tear open your eyes with paint,”

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

This Gemara requires explanation, as Tosafot asked: What connection does this verse, “For you tear open your eyes with paint,” have to “the finest saffron”? And see the note ].

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

a daughter was born to him,

and he became distressed,

and he was distressed.

His father said to him,

behold, when a daughter comes,

“multiplication comes into the world.” Bar Kappara said to him: Your father has consoled you with empty consolations, [

as it was taught:]

It is impossible for the world

to exist without males and without females; rather, fortunate is one whose children are males, woe to one whose children are females.

And likewise,

it is impossible for the world to exist without a perfume-maker

who makes perfumes

and without a tanner,

who tans hides ;

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

whose products have a good smell,

woe to one whose trade is that of a tanner,

for the hides have a bad smell.

And the Gemara adds that this dispute, whether the birth of a daughter is a good thing or not, is a dispute among tannaim—

As a dispute among tannaim,

it is stated in the Five Books of Moses, in Genesis: “

And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything.”

What is “with everything”?

Rabbi Meir says: He did not have a daughter,

and this was the blessing with which the Lord 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 Everything ,

and the explanation of the verse “And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything” is that He blessed Abraham with a daughter whose name was “Everything” —

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. Whereas according to Rabbi Yehuda, when there is a daughter, that is a blessing.

The Gemara adds and brings further opinions: What was the blessing with which the Lord blessed Abraham—

Rabbi Elazar HaModa'i says: Astrology was in the heart of Abraham our father,

for Abraham was expert in the constellations,

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

to ask him what would happen to them .

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: A precious stone was suspended around the neck of Abraham our father, so that every sick person who saw it was immediately healed ,

and when Abraham our father departed from the world, the Holy One, blessed is He, suspended it

from the stone

on the solar sphere.

Abaye said: This is what people say: When the day rises,

when the sun rises and shines,

the illness rises down,

illness among human beings is eased, because Abraham our father’s stone is suspended in the sun.

Alternatively:

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

that Esau did not rebel during his lifetime

as will be explained below.

Alternatively

that Ishmael repented during his lifetime.

That Esau did not rebel during his lifetime—from where do we know this?

For it is written: ‘

And Esau came from the field, and he was weary.’

And as is explained below, on that day Esau committed five transgressions,

and the tannai

we learned in a beraita that

on that day Abraham our father died, and Jacob our father made a stew of lentils to console Isaac his father,

so it follows that Esau’s rebellion was after Abraham’s death.

And he raises an objection:

And what is different about lentils—

why did Jacob specifically make a stew of lentils?

They say in the West in the name of Rabbah bar Mari that

Jacob came to hint that

just as this lentil has no mouth

it has no slit, as the other legumes do,

so too, a mourner has no mouth,

for he sits silent.

Alternatively—

just as this lentil is round,

its form is circular,

so too, mourning revolves and returns over the inhabitants of the world.

What is the difference between them?

The difference between them is concerning consoling with eggs:

is it possible to console a mourner with eggs? According to the one who says that Isaac cooked lentils because they have no mouth, eggs too have no mouth. But according to the one who holds that Isaac cooked lentils because their form is round, an egg is not round like a wheel.

Rabbi Yohanan said: five transgressions did that

wicked man

Esau

commit on that day

he had intercourse with a betrothed maiden,

he killed a person, denied the Fundamental Principle, denied the resurrection of the dead, and he despised

and degraded

the birthright,

the Temple service that had been performed by the firstborn.

Now the Gemara explains what the source is for each and every transgression that Esau committed on that day—

He had intercourse with a betrothed maiden: it is written here: ‘

And Esau came from the field’,

and it is written there,

concerning the violation of a betrothed maiden: ‘

For he found her in the field’;

and they learn by gzera shava from the word “field” that Esau had intercourse with a betrothed maiden—

He killed a person,

for

it is written here: ‘

And Esau came from the field,

weary’,

and it is written there,

in the prophet Jeremiah: ‘

Woe is me, for my soul is weary of those who kill’;

and they learn by gzera shava from the word “weary” written in Jeremiah in connection with killing to the word “weary” written concerning Esau, and from this they infer that Esau killed a person on that day.

And he denied the Fundamental Principle—

it is written here,

concerning Esau, who said: ‘

Why is this

birthright [of any use] to me?’

and it is written there,

in the Song at the Sea: ‘

This is my God, and I shall glorify Him’;

and they learned by gzera shava from the word “this” written concerning Esau to the word “this” written concerning the revelation of the Divine Presence in the Song at the Sea. From this they learned that when Esau said, “Why is this [of any use] to me?” he intended to deny the Fundamental Principle.

And he denied the resurrection of the dead—

for it is written

that Esau said: ‘

Behold, I am going to die,

so why is this birthright [of any use] to me?’—thus he denied the resurrection of the dead, for if he believed in the resurrection of the dead, why did he relinquish the birthright because he was going to die?

And he despised

degraded

the birthright—

for it is written: ‘

And Esau despised the birthright.’

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

And we raise an objection:

And that Ishmael repented 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,

they were sitting before

Rava, and Rava was dozing.

Ravina said to Rav Hama bar Buzi:

Certainly,

is it true

that you say

that you said that

every death concerning which there is

a statement about it in the Torah using the expression

expiry [

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

this is the death of the righteous?

He said to him: Yes!

Ravina raised an objection to him:

But the generation of the Flood

although they were wicked, the expression “expiry” is used concerning them, as it is stated [Genesis, chapter 7, verse 21], “And all flesh that moved upon the earth expired ...”;

he said to him: We are speaking of expiry and gathering,

what we said—that wherever “expiry” is stated, this is the death of the righteous—is only where the expression “expiry” is stated adjacent to the expression “gathering” [such as, “And he expired and was gathered”].

Ravina continued to raise an objection:

But concerning Ishmael, of whom it is written

in Genesis, chapter 25, verse 17, the expression

expiry and gathering,

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

Meanwhile,

in the course of these words,

Rava awoke among them;

Rava awoke from his dozing and

said to them: Young ones,

this is what Rabbi Yohanan said—

Ishmael repented during his father’s lifetime!

And therefore the expression “expiry and gathering” was stated concerning him,

as it is written: ‘

And they buried him

[Abraham our father]

Isaac and Ishmael, his sons’;

thus Esau conducted himself honorably toward Isaac and placed him before himself, even though Isaac was younger than he, and from here [we learn] that he repented.

And we raise an objection:

Perhaps it counts them according to the order of their wisdom?

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

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

from now on,

how shall we explain the verse: ‘

And they buried him

[Isaac our father]

Esau and Jacob, his sons’?

For what reason did it not count them according to the order of their wisdom?

Rather,

it is necessarily not the case that the Torah lists them according to the importance of their wisdom, and from this they learned that

from the fact that it placed him first,

in the verse, Isaac before Ishmael, necessarily Ishmael

caused him to be spoken first,

he placed Isaac before himself;

and from

this

that he caused him to be spoken first,

that he placed him first,

infer from it: he practiced repentance during his lifetime

of Abraham.