Menachot 77a — the Talmud in English

Ten “

issaron”

for

the ten loaves of

leavened bread: one issaron

one

for

each

cake

of the ten leavened cakes.

And ten

issaron

for

all thirty loaves of

unleavened bread.

And in the unleavened bread there are three kinds: cakes, wafers, and scalded bread—

It follows that there are three and one-third issaron for each kind and kind,

because the ten issaron are divided equally among each kind and kind—

and three cakes for

each

issaron,

since in each kind and kind there are ten cakes, so there are one-third issaron per cake, which are three cakes per issaron.

Up to here the Mishna explains the division of the issaron that was customary in the wilderness; and now the Mishna explains, according to the Jerusalem measure—in which they did not use the measure of “issaron”— the division of the five Jerusalem se'a, which are equal to the six wilderness se'a:

And according to the Jerusalem measure there were

five se'a

thirty

kav,

because the se'a is six kav, so five se'a contain thirty kav; and this was their division:

Fifteen

kav

for leavened bread, and fifteen for unleavened bread,

and he proceeds to explain how.

Fifteen

kav

for leavened bread: one and a half kav for

each

cake

of the ten leavened cakes.

Fifteen

kav

for unleavened bread: and in the unleavened bread there are three kinds—cakes, wafers, and scalded bread; it follows that there are five kav for each kind and kind, and two cakes per kav.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna:

The thanksgiving-offering was brought with five Jerusalem se'a...

the eifa is three se'a:

The Gemara asks:

From where are these words

that the eifa is three se'a?

It is written in the Book of Ezekiel 45:9: “So said the Lord God: Enough for you, princes of Israel; remove violence and robbery, and perform justice and righteousness; establish scales of righteousness and an eifa of righteousness [eifa: it is a measure for dry substances] and a bat of righteousness [bat: it is a measure for liquids] shall be yours. The eifa and the bat shall have one measure [the measure of the eifa and the measure of the bat shall be equal], to carry a tenth of a homer—the bat; and a tenth of the homer—the eifa; [that is, the size of the bat measure shall be one-tenth of the measure of the homer, which equals thirty se'a and is also called a kor; and likewise the measure of the eifa shall be one-tenth of the measure of the homer] according to the homer shall its measure be” [that is, these measures shall always be one-tenth of the measure of the homer, and if they increase the measure of the homer, they shall also increase the measures of the eifa and the bat]— “

This is the offering [the large one] that you shall lift: a sixth of an eifa [you shall lift] from a homer of wheat, [according to a calculation of one-sixtieth, for the homer equals ten eifa, and when one contributes a sixth of an eifa, it is one sixtieth], and a sixth of an eifa from a homer of barley [and likewise from a homer of barley you shall lift a sixth of an eifa]—

and the statute of the oil: the bat of oil, a tenth of a bat from the kor [that is, and for the tithe-offering—which is a tenth of the tithe—you shall take one bat from every kor, which is the homer], ten bat shall be the homer, for ten bat are a homer [that is, since the measure of the kor, which is the measure of the homer, equals ten bat, if you take one bat from every homer, you have taken a tithe as the Torah said].”

Said

Rabbi explained

Rav Hisda:

From here we know that the eifa is three se'a:

for the verse says

in Ezekiel: “

The eifa and the bat shall have one measure [

they shall have an equal measure],” and if so,

just as a “

bat

is three se'a

it is,

so an “

eifa

is three se'a

it is.

The Gemara objects:

But a “

bat

itself, from where do we know

that the measure of the bat is three se'a, so that you can learn from it the measure of the eifa equal to it!?

If you say, from that which is written

in that same verse: “

to carry a tenth of the homer—the bat,”

that is, the measure of the bat contains one-tenth of the measure of the homer, and since the homer is thirty se'a, we thereby know that the bat is three se'a, and from it [we learn] to the eifa, which is three se'a; this cannot be said, for:

before you learn the eifa from the bat, whose measure we knew only from the measure of the homer, go and learn the measure of the eifa from the measure of the homer, for concerning the

eifa too, it is written: “

and its tenth—the homer—

the eifa”!

Rather,

certainly you cannot learn this, because the

homer

itself

we do not know how much

its measure is—

Here too, we do not know how much,

that is, if so, you will likewise not know what the measure of the bat is, since you do not know the measure of the homer, and you know only that the bat is one-tenth of it!?

Rather, from here

we know that the bat is three se'a [and consequently we know that the eifa equal to it is three se'a], for the verse says there: “

And the statute of the oil: the bat of oil [

a bat of oil]

a tenth of the bat from the kor, ten bat are a homer, for ten bat are a homer,”

so we have learned that the bat is one-tenth of the kor, and we have learned that the kor is like the homer; and the measure of a kor was known by the Babylonians to be thirty se'a, and consequently we know that the bat is three se'a, and from it [we know] that the eifa is three se'a.

Shmuel said:

A.

They do not increase the measures by more than a sixth,

as he proceeds to explain below, namely, a sixth melaber, which is one-fifth of the previous measure, and likewise in all of them.

B.

And they do not

increase

the coin by more than a sixth.

C.

And one who profits

from something that is food for human consumption

shall not profit

[gain]

by more than a sixth.

The Gemara discusses:

What is the reason

that they do not increase the measures by more than a sixth?

If you say, because of price inflation,

perhaps you will say that the reason is because of price inflation, since through increasing the measures the price of that measure necessarily becomes more expensive, and this brings about general price inflation; this cannot be said, for:

If so, they should not increase by a sixth either,

so as not to cause general price inflation.

One who cheats his fellow: if the cheating was less than a sixth, this is waiver; if it was a sixth, the sale stands and he returns the cheating; and if the cheating was more than a sixth, the sale is void.

Rather,

the Gemara explains another reason not to increase the measures by more than a sixth:

because of overreaching, so that it should not be a “

cancellation of the sale.”

That is, landowners who bring their produce to sell in the city sometimes do not know that in the city they increased the measures, and they mistakenly sell by the new, larger measure at the price of the old measure, and it follows that they are cheated through the increase; therefore care must be taken that the increase not be more than a sixth, for then the sale would be void; but when they increase by a sixth, the sale stands, and the buyer returns the overcharge to the seller.

And we object:

But Rava said: Anything involving a measure, a weight, or a count,

that is, if the overreaching is not because of a mistake in the price, but because of a mistake in quantity, weight, or number,

even

if the mistake was

less than the measure of overreaching,

it

is returned—

And if so, even if they increase only by a sixth, the sale would be void,

for the mistake is in the measure, since the sellers do not know that the quantity sold is larger than the quantity they intend to sell.

Rather,

because of this objection the Gemara gives another reason not to increase the measures:

because of the trader [

one who buys in the villages and sells in the city],

so that a loss should not come to him [

a loss; so that he should not be found to have suffered a loss]—

That is, sometimes the increase of the measures is already customary in the city, while the villagers in the fields sell to the trader according to the old, smaller measure, and the trader still does not know that in the city they increased the measures; he sells a large measure at the price of a small measure, and it follows that he loses; but since the trader does not sell at the price at which he bought, but also adds a sixth to what he bought for, he loses only when the measures are increased by more than a sixth, against the trader’s profit; therefore they should not increase by more than a sixth.

We object to this: And is it only

a loss

[

the loss]

that he

does not want to come to him,

that is, do we have only to prevent a loss from the trader, whereas

profit he does not want,

that is, we need not bring it about that he has a profit—

And is one who

buys and sells [

one who buys and sells without any profit]

called a trader [

called a trader]!?

That is, if you limited the addition to a sixth, you ensured that he would have no loss, but you left no profit in his hands; do we not need to bring it about that the trader also have a profit, and not work for nothing!?

Rather, Rav Hisda said: Shmuel found a verse and expounded it [

a verse written in the Book of Ezekiel concerning the matter mentioned above; Shmuel found it and expounded it]—not to increase the measures by more than a sixth:

As it is said there [after the verse establishing the measure of the eifa and the bat]:

The shekel [

it is the sela; shall be]

twenty gera [

coins; and the verse adds to explain how many shekels the maneh shall be]:

twenty shekels, [

and additionally]

twenty-five shekels, [

and additionally]

fifteen shekels [

altogether sixty shekels]

shall the maneh be for you.”

But is the

maneh two hundred and forty [

two hundred and forty] zuz

!?

For if a maneh is sixty sela, and a sela is four zuz, the maneh is two hundred and forty zuz; but this is not so, for a maneh is twenty-five sela, which are only one hundred zuz!?

Rather, infer from this

from this verse

three things:

A.

Infer from this: a consecrated maneh

[

concerning which the verse is speaking]

was doubled

in its weight, and it contained two hundred ordinary zuz—

B. And infer from this: they increase the measures, but they do not increase by more than a sixth;

that is, that consecrated maneh, whose weight was doubled, was further increased in its weight in the days of Ezekiel [and this is the addition of a measure], and the maneh became equal to sixty shekels, namely, an addition of a sixth melaber to the fifty shekels to which it should have been equal, and it was equal to two hundred and forty zuz instead of two hundred zuz; and from what Ezekiel established “shall be for you,” Ezekiel taught us that they should not add more than this.

C.

And infer from this: a sixth—

that they increase the measures—

melaber [

from outside] is; that is, the addition is one-fifth of the previous measure, which, when joined to the previous measure, constitutes one-sixth of the whole.

Ravina said:

Our Mishna also precisely indicates [

even from our Mishna one can learn] that they increase the measures up to a sixth melaber, although the addition is more than a sixth milegav [from within, that is, exactly a sixth]:

From

the fact that it teaches

in our Mishna:

the thanksgiving-offering would come [with] five Jerusalem seahs, which are six wilderness [seahs],

behold, an addition of one-sixth to the measure of the seah, which is one-fifth from within [inside].

Conclude from it!