Bava Batra 98b — the Talmud in English

It was taught:

the tanna taught in the beraita:

And he lets it age and it continues until the festival.

If he said to him, “aged wine,” then the wine must remain and age until the festival of Sukkot, which is the time of the vintage, when the third year that it is in is completed. For this is the meaning of “aged”: that the wine should age for three complete years. And if the wine turned sour beforehand, the seller is obligated to return the money to the buyer.

Mishna:

One who sells a place to his fellow

who is about to marry off his son, on the condition of making for him a “wedding house” for his son, or a “widowhood house for his daughter.”

And likewise,

a contractor

who accepts a place from his fellow,

who undertook to build for his fellow a structure on his fellow’s land, on the condition

of making for him a “wedding house” for his son,

in which he will live after his marriage, because such was the custom: the father would build for his son a small house adjacent to his own house, so that his son would not live in the house of his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

And

likewise, if he undertook to build on his fellow’s land

a widowhood house for his daughter,

a house in which his widowed daughter would live after returning to her father’s house—if they did not stipulate between them what the size of the land and the house would be—

he builds

the contractor a house of the size

four cubits by six

cubits,

the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Yishmael says: This is a cattle shed!

And it is not fit for human habitation; rather, he must build the house larger.

One who wishes to make a cattle shed—

builds four cubits by six.

And the Gemara will explain this clause, and who stated it, Rabbi Akiva or Rabbi Yishmael.

A contractor who undertakes to build for his fellow

“a small house,”

for example, where his fellow said to him, “Build me a house” without qualification, and did not specify in what size, in which case the contractor has the advantage and may build for him the smallest possible house, builds

six

cubits

by eight

cubits. Since he did not say to him that he should build a wedding house but merely a house, he intended that he should build the house for himself. Therefore it must be larger than a wedding house.

And if he specified to him that he should build for him

a large house,

he builds

eight

cubits

by ten

cubits.

And if he said to him that he should build for him

a “triclinium,” he builds ten

cubits

by ten

cubits. For the triclinium is intended for the seating of ministers and not for dwelling, and therefore it must be large and square.

And in all these houses, its

height,

the height of the house, must be proportionate to the area of the house,

as half its length and half its width

together. That is, a wedding house must have a height of five [cubits]; a small house, seven; a large house, nine; and a triclinium, ten.

A proof for the matter

that this is the measure of the ratio between the height of the houses and their area, from what we learned:

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

the ratio between the area of the house and its height must be

like the construction of the Sanctuary,

like the ratio between the area and the height in the Sanctuary of the Temple, whose length was forty [cubits] and whose width was twenty, and whose height was thirty. That is, like half its length and half its width.

Gemara:

And we discussed it:

Why do I need [the tanna] to teach,

why did the tanna distinguish in his wording between his son and his daughter, and specifically employ the wording

“a wedding house” for his son, and “a widowhood house” for his daughter?

Let him teach,

why did the tanna not state the matter concerning his son and his daughter equally,

“a wedding house” for his son and his daughter, and “a widowhood house” for his son and his daughter!?

And we answer:

He teaches us a matter incidentally, in the course of his words,

the tanna in the Mishna wishes to teach us incidentally

that it is not the way of a groom to dwell in the house of his father-in-law.

For it is not the way of a groom to live near his father-in-law, because of suspicion, lest people say about him that he is behaving improperly with his mother-in-law. Therefore the Mishna stated concerning the daughter that he builds for her a widowhood house, for as long as she is married she does not live near her father because of her husband, so that he should not live near his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Conversely, concerning the son, the Mishna did not state that he builds for him a widowhood house, because even before the son was widowed he did not live with his father-in-law, but with his father.

As it is written in the Book of Ben Sira: “

I weighed everything in the pan of a balance, and I did not find

anything that is

light,

of lesser value,

than bran.”

And lighter than bran,

a thing that is somewhat lesser,

a groom

who dwells in the house of his father-in-law.

And lighter than the groom—

a guest who brings a guest.

For it is enough for him that the homeowner hosts him, and he brings another guest with him.

And lighter than the guest—

one who answers a matter before hearing it.

As it is stated

in Proverbs [18:13], “

One who answers a matter before hearing it, it is folly for him and shame.”

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Yishmael says: This is a cattle shed.

One who wishes to make a cattle shed

builds four cubits by six.

And we discussed it: “

A cattle shed”

who teaches it?

Which of the tannaim, Rabbi Yishmael or Rabbi Akiva, stated the ruling of “one who wishes to make a cattle shed”?

And we answer:

Some say: Rabbi Yishmael teaches it.

And some say: Rabbi Akiva teaches it.

And this is what he says

to Rabbi Yishmael:

Even though

you claim

that

at so small a measure

it is a cattle shed,

for one who wishes to make a cattle shed builds four cubits by six, nevertheless this is also the measure for a wedding house, because

sometimes a person makes his dwelling like a cattle shed.

And some say: Rabbi Yishmael teaches it.

And this is what he says:

at first he says, “This is a cattle shed,” and afterward he explains his words:

that

indeed

one who wishes to make a cattle shed makes four cubits by six,

so how is it possible that a wedding house should have such a measure?

According to this view, Rabbi Akiva holds that the measure of a cattle shed is smaller than four by six. And Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael disagree concerning both of them, both concerning a wedding house and concerning a cattle shed. However, Rabbi Akiva explains only the measure of the wedding house, whereas concerning a cattle shed he does not explain what its measure is. And Rabbi Yishmael explains the measure of the cattle shed, but does not explain the measure of the wedding house.

We learned in the Mishna:

A triclinium, ten by ten.

And we discussed it:

What is a triclinium?

And we answer:

A pavilion of roses,

which is made with windows like the pavilion of prostitutes, and roses are placed there for ornament, so that people may look at them.

It was taught:

And a kantir,

one who undertakes to build a kantir must build it

twelve

cubits

by twelve

cubits.

And we discussed it:

What is a kantir?

And we answer:

The courtyard of a palace,

a large courtyard in front of the palace of ministers.

We learned in the Mishna:

Its height is like half its length and like half its width; a proof for the matter: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, like the construction of the Sanctuary.

And we discussed it: “

A proof for the matter”

who teaches it?

Is this the beginning of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement? Or, since it is said before Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s words, does this mean that the first tanna said it and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel disagrees with him?

And we answer:

Some say: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel teaches it.

And this is what he says: From where is there a proof for the matter

that the height of the house must be like half its length and like half its width?

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: Everything is like the construction of the Sanctuary.

And some say: The first tanna teaches it,

for the first tanna began to say that there is a proof for the matter,

and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel

interrupted him in the middle of his words and

he expressed astonishment, and this is what he said to him [

to the first tanna]:

From where is there a proof?

From the construction of the Sanctuary?!

Do all people make [their houses] like the construction of the Sanctuary?

Do they make all houses like the construction of the Sanctuary, which is important? Since the Sanctuary was thirty cubits high, half its length and half its width, perhaps an ordinary house need only be lower in height.

It was taught: Others say: Its height is like the length of its beams,

the height of the house must be like the length of the beams laid across the width of the house.

And we discussed it:

Let him say: Its height is like its width,

that the height is like the width of the house itself; why must the measure be given according to the length of the beams?

And we answer:

If you wish, say: the house at the top

is wider:

the house is wider above, because the wall is wide below and gradually becomes narrower toward the top, so that it will stand more firmly. Therefore, they gave the measure in the length of the beams, that is, according to the width of the house above.

And if you wish, say: because there are window-openings:

the width also includes the windows, that is, the places where the beams enter the wall.

Rabbi Hanina went out to the towns:

he went out to the towns.

They posed to him:

the townspeople objected to him:

verses against one another

for the verses contradict one another?

It is written

in Kings [I 6:2,

“And the house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits in its length, and twenty in its width, and thirty cubits in its height.”

Thus, even the Holy of Holies, which was included within the sixty cubits, was thirty cubits high.

And it is written [there, verse 20]:

“And before the inner sanctuary”

[within the partition of the Holy of Holies, that is, the Holy of Holies itself]

“twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height.”

Thus, the height of the Holy of Holies was only twenty cubits?

He said to them

Rabbi Hanina:

When it counts,

the twenty cubits are measured

from the edge of the cherubs and upward,

for in the Temple that Solomon built, there were two cherubs standing on the ground in the Holy of Holies, on the two sides of the Ark [besides the cherubs on the cover of the Ark that Moses made], and their height was ten cubits. It follows that from their edge and upward there were only twenty cubits.

And we inquire about it:

What does it teach us?

Why, in truth, did the verse calculate the height from the edge of the cherubs and upward, and not from the ground, that is, thirty cubits?