Bava Batra 58a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Banaah added and said:

And a

table

and the table of an am ha-aretz resembles

exact column location")

a bonfire, with pots surrounding it,

that is, the bowls are placed around the table, while the tablecloth and the bread are in the middle, like a bonfire that pots surround.

Rabbi Yohanan further asked Rabbi Banaah:

What is the bed of Torah scholars like?

He said to him:

Anything beneath which there are only sandals during the summer,

which he stores there until he needs them during the rainy season because of the mud,

and shoes

are beneath it

during the rainy season,

which he stores there until he needs them during the summer.

And

the bed

and the bed of an am ha-aretz resembles a mixed storeroom

[mixed], for everything—food and vessels—is placed there together beneath their beds.

The Gemara further brings:

Rabbi Banaah was marking burial caves,

he would mark from outside the length and width of the burial caves, so that passersby would not overhang the impurity; and for this purpose he would enter the cave.

When

Rabbi Banaah

reached the cave of Abraham

our father,

he found Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, standing

before the entrance,

Rabbi Banaah found Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, standing at the entrance of the cave.

Rabbi Banaah said to him

Rabbi Banaah to Eliezer:

What is Abraham doing

what is Abraham our father doing at this time inside the cave?

Eliezer said to him

Eliezer to Rabbi Banaah:

He is sleeping in the wing of Sarah, and she is examining his head,

Abraham is lying between the arms of Sarah our mother, and she is examining his head.

Rabbi Banaah said to him

Rabbi Banaah to Eliezer:

Go and tell him

go and tell Abraham our father:

Banaah is standing at the entrance

Banaah is standing at the entrance; that is, ask him for permission to enter!

Eliezer went to Abraham, and

Abraham our father said to him

Abraham our father to Eliezer:

Let him enter

Rabbi Banaah may enter, and I am not concerned to conceal from him that I am lying in Sarah’s wing, for

it is known that there is no inclination in that world

it is known that there is no evil inclination in the World to Come!

He entered

Rabbi Banaah,

examined and went out,

Rabbi Banaah entered, examined the length and width of the cave, and went out!

When

Rabbi Banaah reached

the cave of Adam the first, a Divine voice went forth and said

to Rabbi Banaah:

Indeed

you have looked at the likeness of My image

at Jacob’s form, which is in the likeness of My image, for the form of Jacob our father was similar to the form of Adam the first, as explained below; but

at the image itself

the form of Adam, which is in the image of God,

do not look!

Rabbi Banaah said: And how shall I not enter,

when I need to mark the cave

for I need to mark the length and width of the cave?!

The Divine voice answered him: You need not examine the inner cave, where Adam and Eve are buried; what you measured of the outer cave, where the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried, is sufficient for you, for

as is the measure of the outer one, so is the measure of the inner one.

And according to the one who says

that the “Cave of Machpelah”—the doubled cave—was constructed in the form of

two chambers, one above the other,

and not one within the other, the Divine voice answered thus:

as is the measure of the upper one,

where the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried,

so is the measure of the lower one,

where Adam and Eve are buried.

Rabbi Banaah said:

I looked at the two heels

of Adam the first, at which I was permitted to look,

and they resemble two solar disks!

The Gemara says:

the faces of

everyone

all the patriarchs and matriarchs

in comparison with Sarah’s face

in relation to the beauty of Sarah’s face:

like a monkey in comparison with a human being.

Sarah

our mother

in comparison with Eve: like a monkey in comparison with a human being.

Eve in comparison with Adam: like a monkey in comparison with a human being.

Adam in comparison with the Divine Presence: like a monkey in comparison with a human being.

The beauty

the appearance and form of his face

of Rav Kahana

was

similar to the beauty of Rabbi Abahu,

and

the beauty of Rabbi Abahu

was

similar to the beauty of Jacob our father,

and

the beauty of Jacob our father

was

similar to the beauty of Adam the first.

In connection with the incident involving Rabbi Banaah in the burial caves, the Gemara brings another incident that occurred in a burial cave.

An incident involving

a certain sorcerer

a sorcerer

who was digging among the dead

digging among the dead to strip them of their garments,

when he reached the cave of Rav Tovi bar Mattana, he seized him

when that sorcerer reached the burial cave of Rav Tovi bar Mattana, Rav Tovi bar Mattana seized that sorcerer!

Abaye

came

Abaye—

who was a friend of that gentile— \-

and

said to

Rav Tovi bar Mattana: “

Please, release him

please, release him!”

The following year he came back again

the following year that sorcerer returned there,

Rav Tovi bar Mattana seized him

Rav Tovi bar Mattana seized that sorcerer

by his beard

by his beard!

Abaye came,

and nevertheless

Rav Tovi did not release him

Rav Tovi did not release that sorcerer,

until he brought scissors and cut off his beard

until he brought scissors and cut off his beard.

The Gemara further brings from the deeds and statements of Rabbi Banaah.

An incident involving

a certain

man

who said to them

to his sons—when he was distributing his property before his death—in a wise language, so that people would not understand that he was a person possessing property: “

A barrel of earth for one son, a barrel of bones for one son, and a barrel of stuffing for one son

a barrel of earth I give to one of my sons, a barrel of bones to a second son, and a barrel of stuffing to a third son.”

The sons did not know

the sons

what he was saying to them

what their father meant; the sons did not reach the end of their father’s intention!

The sons came

the sons

before Rabbi Banaah

so that he would explain the meaning of the words,

Rabbi Banaah said to them

Rabbi Banaah said to the sons: “Do

you have land

do you have land? That is, did your father leave land?”

They said to him “

Yes

indeed, our father left us land.”

Rabbi Banaah added and asked them: “

Do you have animals

did your father leave animals?”

They said to him “

Yes”!

Rabbi Banaah added and asked them: “

Do you have mattresses

did your father leave types of garments made of stuffing?”

They said to him “

Yes”!

Rabbi Banaah said to them:

If so, this is what your father said to you

your father said to you!

That is: the barrel of earth is the land, the barrel of bones is the animals, and the barrel of stuffing is the garments.

An incident involving

a certain man who heard his wife saying to her daughter “

Why are you not modest in your forbidden act?!

Look at

this woman

she said this about herself, for

she has ten sons, and only one is from your father”—

An incident involving a man who heard his wife say to their daughter: Why are you not careful when you commit adultery, so that no one will know of it? Behold, you see that I have ten sons, and only one of them is from your father; the others are from adultery, and no one knows about it.

When

her husband died,

the father said to

the sons: “

to his sons: “

All my property is for one son

all my property is for one of my sons”—that is, for the one whom the court will determine.

and

the sons did not know

the sons

which of them

their father intended.

They came “

the sons”

before Rabbi Banaah,

Rabbi Banaah understood that all of them were mamzerim except one, and therefore

Rabbi Banaah said to them

Rabbi Banaah said to the sons, in order to determine who was the son and who were the mamzerim: “

Go and strike your father’s grave until he stands up and reveals to you to which of you he left [the property]

go and strike your father’s grave until he stands up and reveals to you to which of you he left his property”!

And indeed

they all went,

but

the one who was his son—

did not go; he said to them “

All the property belongs to this one”!

They all went to strike the grave except the one who did not go, and Rabbi Banaah said: This is the son, whom the father intended; and because mamzerim are brazen, they went to strike their father’s grave, whereas the son who was not a mamzer did not go.

The nine “sons” went

the nine “sons”

they informed against him to the king; they said “

There is one Jewish man who takes money from people without witnesses and without anything.”

They brought him and imprisoned him;

the other sons went and informed against Rabbi Banaah before the king, saying: “There is one Jew who takes people’s money without witnesses and without proof!” The king sent officers and they imprisoned Rabbi Banaah.

His wife went

and

said to them

to the royal household: “

I had one slave; they cut off his head, stripped off his skin and ate his flesh, filled it with water and gave it to their companions to drink, and they do not give me his value or his wage,”

Rabbi Banaah’s wife went and said to the royal household in a wise language: “I had a slave; they came, severed his head, stripped off his skin and ate his flesh, filled his skin with water and gave it to their companions to drink, but they gave me no payment at all.” She said this so that they would be compelled to summon Rabbi Banaah, in order to understand the meaning of her words.

They did not know what she was saying to them,

they did not understand the depth of her intention.

They said

they said: “

Let us bring the sage of the Jews, and let him say

let us call the sage of the Jews—Rabbi Banaah—and ask him the meaning of the matter.”

They summoned Rabbi Banaah; he said to them “

She spoke of a waterskin to you

they summoned Rabbi Banaah, and he explained to them that her intention was a leather waterskin,” that is, this is what she said to them: “I had a goat; they robbed it from me, slaughtered it and ate the flesh, and from the skin they made a wineskin, and they draw water with it and drink from it.”

They said

in the royal household:

Since he is so wise—

Rabbi Banaah—

let him sit at the gate and judge cases,

since he is so wise, let him sit at the city gate and judge the cases of the city’s residents.

Rabbi Banaah saw

Rabbi Banaah

that it was written on the gate

Rabbi Banaah saw a saying written on the city gate, so that people would learn from it: “

Any judge who is summoned to judgment is not called a judge

any judge who is summoned to court over a monetary claim made against him is not a judge,” for he loves profit and will accept a bribe!