Bava Batra 58a (נח.) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Bana’a added and said:

And a

table

of an am ha-aretz resembles

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 around which pots are arranged.

Rabbi Yoḥanan further asked Rabbi Bana’a:

What is the bed of Torah scholars like?

He said to him:

It is one beneath which there are only sandals during the summer—

which they store there until they need them during the rainy season because of the mud—

and shoes

are kept beneath it

during the rainy season,

which they store there until they need them during the summer.

And

the bed

of an am ha-aretz resembles an ill-assorted storeroom

[a mixture], as everything—food and utensils—is placed there in a mixture beneath their beds.

The Gemara further relates:

Rabbi Bana’a would mark burial caves,

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

When

Rabbi Bana’a

reached the cave of Abraham

our father,

he found Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, standing

before the entrance,

[Rabbi Bana’a found Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, standing at the entrance to the cave].

He said to him

Rabbi Bana’a said to Eliezer:

What is Abraham doing

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

He said to him

Eliezer said to Rabbi Bana’a:

He is lying in Sarah’s embrace, and she is examining his head,

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

Rabbi Bana’a said to him

to Eliezer:

Go and tell him

[go and tell Abraham our father]:

Bana’a is standing at the entrance

[Bana’a is standing at the entrance], that is, ask him for permission to enter!

Eliezer went to Abraham, and

said to him

Abraham our father said to Eliezer:

Let him enter

[let him enter] Rabbi Bana’a. I am not concerned about conducting myself modestly before him by lying in Sarah’s embrace, because

it is known that there is no evil inclination in that world

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

Rabbi Bana’a entered,

Rabbi Bana’a

examined the cave and left,

[Rabbi Bana’a entered, examined the length and width of the cave, and left]!

When

[when] Rabbi Bana’a

reached the cave of the first man, a Divine voice emerged and said

to Rabbi Bana’a:

Indeed,

you have looked at the likeness of My image

[at the form of Jacob, which resembles My image], for the form of Jacob our father is similar to the form of the first man [as explained below]. However,

at My very image

[the image of the first man, who was created in the image of God]

do not look!

Rabbi Bana’a said: How, then, shall I not enter?

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. It is sufficient for you that you measured the outer cave, where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried, because

the dimensions of the outer cave are the same as the dimensions of the inner cave.

And according to the one who says

that the “Cave of Machpelah”

consisted of two chambers, one above the other,

and not one within the other, the Divine voice answered as follows:

The dimensions of the upper chamber,

where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried,

are the same as the dimensions of the lower chamber,

where Adam and Eve are buried.

Rabbi Bana’a said:

I looked at the two heels

of the first man [which I was permitted to see],

and they resembled two wheels of the sun!

The Gemara says:

The faces of

all

[all the Patriarchs and Matriarchs]

compared with Sarah’s face

[in relation to the beauty of Sarah’s face] are

like a monkey compared with a human being.

Sarah

our mother

compared with Eve: like a monkey compared with a human being.

Eve compared with Adam: like a monkey compared with a human being.

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

The beauty

[the form and appearance of his face]

of Rav Kahana

was

similar to the beauty of Rabbi Abbahu, and

the

beauty of Rabbi Abbahu

was

similar to the beauty of Jacob our father, and

the

beauty of Jacob our father

was

similar to the beauty of the first man.

In connection with the incident involving Rabbi Bana’a in the burial caves, the Gemara relates another incident that took place in a burial cave.

There was an incident involving

a certain magus

[sorcerer]

who would dig among the dead

[digging up the dead in order to strip them of their clothing].

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 the sorcerer]!

Abaye came,

who

was

a friend of that gentile, -

and

said to him

to Rav Tovi bar Mattana: “

Please, leave him alone

[please, release him]!”

The following year he came again

[the following year that sorcerer returned there], and

Rav Tovi bar Mattana seized him

Rav Tovi bar Mattana seized that sorcerer

by his beard

[by his beard]!

Abaye came,

but nevertheless

he 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 relates an incident involving the deeds and statements of Rabbi Bana’a.

There was an incident involving

a certain

man

who said to them

to his sons—when he was distributing his property before his death—in an enigmatic language, so that people would not understand that he was a wealthy man: “

A jar of earth to one son, a jar of bones to another son, and a jar of wool to a third son

[I give a jar of earth to one of my sons, a jar of bones to a second son, and a jar of wool to a third son].”

The sons did not know

what

he was saying to them

their father [the sons could not fathom their father’s intention]!

The sons came

to

Rabbi Bana’a

to have him explain the meaning of the statement, and

he said to them

Rabbi Bana’a said to the sons: “

Do you have land

[did your father leave you land]?” That is, did your father leave land?

They said to him “

Yes

, our father indeed left us land.”

Rabbi Bana’a continued and asked them: “

Do you have livestock

[did your father leave livestock]?”

They said to him “

Yes”!

Rabbi Bana’a continued and asked them: “

Do you have woolen garments

[did your father leave garments made of wool]?”

They said to him “

Yes”!

Rabbi Bana’a said to them:

If so, this is what your father was saying to you

your father [this is what your father meant when he said this to you]!

That is: The jar of earth refers to the land; the jar of bones refers to the livestock; and the jar of wool refers to the garments.

There was an incident involving

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

Why are you not discreet in your forbidden relations!?

Look at

this woman

[she was referring to herself], who

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

[There was an incident involving a man who heard his wife say to their daughter: “Why are you not careful when you engage in adultery, so that no one will know about it? You see that I have ten sons, and only one of them is from your father; the others were born through adultery, and no one knows about it.”]

When

[when] her husband

died,

the father said

to his sons: “

All my property goes to one son

[all my property goes to one of my sons],” that is, to the one whom the court would determine.

And

the sons did not know

which one

of them

their father had intended.

They came “

the sons”

before Rabbi Bana’a,

and Rabbi Bana’a understood that all of them were mamzerim except for one. Therefore,

he said to them

Rabbi Bana’a said to the sons, in order to determine which one was the son and which were the mamzerim: “

Go and strike your father’s grave until he stands and reveals to you to which of you he left his property

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

And indeed,

they all went, but

there was

that one who was his son—

he did not go; he said to them “

All the property belongs to this one”

[all of them went to strike their father’s grave except for the one who did not go, and Rabbi Bana’a said that this was the son to whom the father had intended to leave his property]. This was because the mamzerim are brazen, and therefore they went to strike their father’s grave, whereas the son who was not a mamzer did not go.

The

nine “sons”

went and informed against him before the king; they said “

There is one Jew who extracts money from people without witnesses and without any evidence.”

Bring him and imprison him!

[The other sons went and informed against Rabbi Bana’a before the king, saying: “There is one Jew who takes people’s money without witnesses and without evidence!” The king sent officers, who arrested Rabbi Bana’a.]

His wife went

and

said to them

at the royal court: “

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

[Rabbi Bana’a’s wife went and said to the royal court, in an enigmatic language: “I had a slave, and they came, cut off his head, stripped off his skin, and ate his flesh; they filled his skin with water and gave it to their companions to drink, but they did not give me any payment.” She said this so that they would be forced to summon Rabbi Bana’a 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 among themselves]: “

Let us summon the wise man of the Jews, and let him tell us

[let us summon the sage of the Jews—Rabbi Bana’a—and ask him to explain the meaning of the words].”

They summoned Rabbi Bana’a, and he said to them “

She was referring to a leather waterskin

[they summoned Rabbi Bana’a, and he explained to them that she meant a leather waterskin],” that is, this is what she said to them: “I had a he-goat, and they robbed me of it; they slaughtered it and ate the flesh, and from the skin they made a leather flask, from which they draw water and drink.”

They said

at the royal court:

Since he is so wise—

Rabbi Bana’a—

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].

He saw

Rabbi Bana’a

that it was written on the gate

[Rabbi Bana’a saw a maxim written on the city gate, so that people would learn from it]: “

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

[any judge who is summoned to court because a monetary claim has been brought against him is not a judge],” because he loves money and will accept bribes!