Bava Batra 73a (עג.) — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara asks:

Let us say

that Reish Lakish has brought us to the

dispute between Rabbi Shimon and the Rabbis!

And it answers:

This teaches us

that Reish Lakish

holds in accordance with Rabbi Menahem bar Rabbi Yosei, who holds in accordance with Rabbi Shimon.

We will return to you, chapter “One Who Sells a House.”

Mishna:

A person

who sells a ship,

and did not explicitly state what is included in the ship being sold, then presumably he

sold

also

the mast

of the ship,

and

he likewise sold

the nes

[the sail] of the ship,

and

likewise

the anchors

[an anchor],

and all that steer it,

the ship. The Gemara explains what “those that steer the ship” are.

All those mentioned are presumably included in the sale of the ship, since they are essential to the ship. Therefore, as long as the seller did not explicitly say, “I am not selling these things,” they are included in the sale of the ship.

But he did not sell

to him presumptively

the slaves,

who belong to the owner of the ship in order to steer it and guard the merchandise inside it,

nor the marzupin

[large sacks in which the ship’s merchandise is placed ],

nor the antiki

[the merchandise transported in the ship ].

. And

all this applies when he sold him a ship without specification. But

when he said to him,

the seller: I am selling you

it,

the ship,

and everything inside it, then all of them are sold.

The mast, the sail, the anchor, and those that steer it are sold even presumptively; and as he said that he was selling him everything inside it, even the merchandise located in it at that time is sold with it.

Gemara:

The Gemara explains the words of the Mishna in the language of the Gemara:

a. The

mast mentioned in the Mishna is

the

iskarya in Aramaic, on which the sail is spread at the front of the ship.

the Aramaic term for the pole at the top of the ship from which the sail is spread.

And

the Gemara brings proof that the “mast” is the “iskarya” on which the sail is hung:

for so he says,

[Ezekiel 27:5 ]:

“From the cedars of Lebanon they took to make a mast for you,”

and it is known to us that an “iskarya” is made from cedar or from a tall tree, so that the sail will be high and will propel the ship effectively by means of the sea winds. Therefore, conclude from it: “mast” means “iskarya.”

b. The

nes mentioned in the Mishna is

the

adra in Aramaic [a sail].

the Aramaic term for a sail .

And

the Gemara brings proof that a “nes” is an “adra,” a sail:

for so he says

[there, verse 7]:

“Fine linen embroidered from Egypt was your sail, to serve you as a nes.”

c. The

anchors mentioned in the Mishna:

the Mishna teaches

Rabbi Hiyya taught

in a beraita:

these are

its anchors [a heavy iron implement thrown into the water to keep the ship in one place].

heavy iron objects thrown into the water to keep the ship in one place.

The Gemara brings proof that an anchor signifies restraint, namely, the anchor that restrains the ship’s movement:

And so he says [Ruth 1:12–13]: “Return, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to be married. Even if I said, ‘I have hope,’ and even if I were married tonight and also bore sons,

would you wait for them

to grow?

Would you wait

until they grew, would you be restrained

[would you be confined until they grew],

from being married?”

Thus, igun denotes restraint. We learned in the Mishna: One who sells a ship sells the mast … and all those who

steer

it.

Rabbi Abba said

[he explained]:

These are its oars,

for the oars too are among the ship’s essential implements.

The Gemara brings proof that the oars are indeed among the ship’s essential implements:

And so,

when the prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the destruction of Tyre and compared it to a ship, he listed there the ship’s implements and utensils.

And there

he says: “They made your oars of oaks from Bashan.”

It follows that “and all those that steer it” in our Mishna comes to include the oars.

Alternatively, if you wish, say:

one can learn that the oars are essential to the ship

from here,

[there, verse 29]: “

And they shall disembark from their ships,

[when the ‘ship of Tyre’ sinks,]

all who grasp the oar.”

The Sages taught:

A person

who sells a ship

sells

with it

the iskala

[the ship’s gangplank] by which one boards and leaves the ship,

and the water reservoir inside it,

since seawater is salty, they would install in the ship something like a reservoir and place “fresh” water there for drinking.

Rabbi Natan says: One who sells a ship sells

with it also

the beitzit,

a small boat tied to a large ship. When they wish to go ashore, they enter the small boat from the large one and reach the shore in it, since the large ship cannot approach the seashore because of its draft.

Sumakhos says: One who sells a ship sells

with it also

the dugit.

Rava said

[he explained]:

Rabbi Natan

and Sumakhos did not disagree with one another. The

beitzit

mentioned by Rabbi Natan

is the “dugit”

mentioned by Sumakhos.

Rabbi Natan was Babylonian,

he called it,

the small boat,

“butzit,” as people say

[in ordinary speech], calling the small boats on the river of Mishna, which is shallow and navigated only by small boats:

the butziata of Mishna.

Sumakhos was an Eretz Yisrael man,

and

he called it “dugit,”

and

as

we find in the language of Scripture,

as it is written

[Amos 4:2]:

“And your end will be with fishhooks.”

Introduction to the aggada concerning the statements of Rabbah bar bar Hana:

Rashbam wrote: All the stories brought in the Gemara below are brought to teach us the greatness of God’s works, as it is written [Psalms 104:24]: “How manifold are Your works, O Lord.” Some of them serve to make known the reward of the righteous in the future, or to explain verses in the Book of Job that speak of huge birds, large animals, and great fish.

The Maharsha added: Although in truth the plain meaning of these statements cannot be denied, as it is written [Psalms 107:23–26]: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters; they have seen the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. He spoke and raised a storm wind, which lifted its waves. They rose to the heavens and descended to the depths,” nevertheless, there is something underlying them.

That is, certainly the statements do not depart from their plain meaning; nevertheless, the Sages intended through these aggadot to allude to profound matters, as the Maharsha and the great commentators explained.

The Ritva wrote: The stories in this chapter contain matters strange to people because they are unaccustomed to them, but they are very close to those who know their nature—such as the size of the fish in the sea and the tremendous size of the sea’s waves. These stories also contain matters alluded to that were not perceived by physical sight, but in a dreamlike vision. This occurred when the Sages traveled on the Ocean Sea and saw there the wonders of the Lord, and also because while there they secluded themselves and contemplated awesome and wondrous matters. The Geonim wrote that whenever we say here, “I myself saw,” it was in a dream-vision while he was traveling on the Ocean Sea.

Two accounts of what those who traveled the sea told Rabbah bar bar Hana:

a.

Rabbah said: The sea travelers

[told]

me

[those who travel the sea]:

This wave that is about to sink

[that wants to drown]

the ship appears like sparks

[sparks ]

of pale fire at its summit.

[Before that wave that comes to sink the ship, a destructive angel travels, appearing like sparks of white fire.]

And we strike it with clubs

[clubs, sticks]

on which is engraved: “I shall be what I shall be; Yah; the Lord of Hosts; amen, amen, forever.”

And it subsides,

the wave calming from its fury.

[They strike it with sticks on which is engraved: “I shall be what I shall be; Yah; the Lord of Hosts; amen, amen, forever,” and then the wave calms from its fury and does not sink the ship.] b.

Rabbah said:

The sea travelers told me:

Between wave and wave there are three hundred parasangs, and the height

of the

wave is three hundred parasangs.

Between one wave and the next there are three hundred parasangs,

and so too is the height of a wave.

Once, we were traveling on a road—

by sea—

and a wave lifted us

higher,

until we could see the dwelling place

of

a small star, and it seemed to me like a field

[a field suitable for sowing] of

forty kor

[a kor]

of mustard seeds; and had we been lifted

by the wave

any higher, we would have been burned by its vapor.

Once, we were traveling by sea, and a wave lifted us until we could see the dwelling place of one of the smallest stars, and it seemed to me that its area was like the area required for sowing forty kor of mustard—mustard seeds being small, the area required for sowing a kor of mustard is greater than that required for sowing a kor of wheat—and had the wave lifted us higher, we would have been burned by the vapor and heat of the star. Since this wave rose so high, the wave behind it thought that it had burst beyond the shore and flooded the world.

And one wave called out to the other:

“My companion, have you left anything in the world that you have not flooded, so that I may come and destroy it?”

It called out to it the wave behind it: “My companion, have you left anything in the world that you have not yet flooded, so that I may flood it and destroy it because of the sins of the generation?”

He said to it: “Go and see the might of your Master,”

for even

when it is as thin as a thread, the sand does not let it pass.

The first wave said to the other: “Go and learn from this the might of your Master, Creator of the universe: Despite my height and the force of my waters, I cannot pass beyond the sand of the sea, even by the width of a thread.”

As it is stated [Jeremiah 5:22]:

Jeremiah 5:22:

“Will you not fear Me, says the Lord; will you not tremble before Me, Who placed sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree that it cannot cross

? They surge, but cannot prevail; its waves roar, but cannot cross it.”

The Gemara now brings three statements concerning what Rabbah bar bar Ḥana saw: creatures of extraordinary strength and size:

a.

Rabbah said:

I myself saw

Hormin, son of Lilith

[the name of a demon

when he was running along the crenellations

of the wall

of Meḥoza, while a horseman was running as he rode an animal beneath him, and he could not catch him.

I saw the demon called Hormin son of Lilith running along the wall of the city of Nehardea, while a horseman rode naturally beneath the wall—close to the wall, on the ground—and the demon was unable to catch the horseman and harm him, because the horseman galloped swiftly.