Nedarim 38a — the Talmud in English

“This” in “the mitzva,”

namely, the word “this” from the verse “for he was careful to perform all this mitzva” ,

“He will tread” in “the one who treads,”

namely, the word “he will tread” in the verse “the one who treads will tread his bow,”

“five” in “the southern side,”

namely, the second word “five” in the verse “and these are its measurements, etc., five five hundred, etc.,”

“if” in “for a redeemer,

namely, the word “if” in the verse “for indeed, if I am a redeemer.”

These,

these above-mentioned verses,

they wrote—

but they did not read.

Rav Aḥa bar Adda said: In the West

[in the Land of Israel]

they divide this verse into three verses

[they divide the following verse into three verses]:

“And the Lord said to Moshe: Behold, I am coming to you in the thickness of the cloud

so that the people may hear when I speak with you, and they will also believe in you forever. And Moshe told the words of the people to the Lord” .

Rabbi Ḥama son of Rabbi Ḥanina said: Moshe did not become wealthy—

except from the refuse of the Tablets

of the covenant .

As it is stated: “Carve for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones.”

And they expound that this is the intention of the verse:

the refuse

of the Tablets, namely, what would remain from the stones after he carved the Tablets from them—

shall be yours

[and the Tablets were made from sanpərinon, which is a precious stone] .

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Ḥanina said: The Torah was given—

only to Moshe and his descendants.

As it is stated: “Write for yourself,” “Carve for yourself.” Just as the refuse—

is yours, so too what you write—

is yours.

But

Moshe conducted himself with regard to it

in the Torah

with a generous eye—

and gave it to Israel.

And concerning him the verse says: “One with a generous eye will be blessed, etc.”

Rav Ḥisda objected:

It is written:

“And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you,”

which shows that the Holy One, blessed is He, commanded Moshe to give the Torah to Israel!

And we explain: Moshe said as follows:

“And He commanded me,”

the Holy One, blessed is He,

“and I”

set my heart to teach it

to you.

We raise another objection: But it is written:

“See, I have taught you

statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me,”

which implies that the Holy One, blessed is He, commanded Moshe to teach Israel!

And we explain that here too the intention is that

He commanded me, and I

set my heart to teach it

to you.

We raise another objection: But it is written:

“And now, write for yourselves this song!”

And we say: It was only

the song alone

[by itself] that the Holy One, blessed is He, commanded Moshe to teach the Children of Israel. But the rest of the Torah was given to Moshe alone, and he gave it to Israel.

And we raise an objection: But it is written:

“So that this song may be a witness for Me among the Children of Israel,”

and if this refers only to the song, what testimony is there in it?

Rather,

in truth, the Torah itself was given to Israel. But

mere pilpul,

namely, understanding and sharpness, was given to Moshe alone , and he conducted himself with a generous eye—and transmitted it to Israel.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One, blessed is He, does not cause His Shekhina to rest

permanently

except upon

one who is

mighty, wealthy, wise, and humble.

And all of these, all these qualities, are learned

from Moshe,

for all these qualities were in him, and the Holy One, blessed is He, caused His Shekhina to rest upon him .

And now we explain:

From where do we know that Moshe was

mighty?

For it is written: “And he spread the tent over the Tabernacle,” and the Master said: Moshe our teacher spread it

himself.

And it is written: “Ten cubits was the length of the board, etc.”

[for the height of the Tabernacle was ten cubits, and over this height Moshe spread the curtains]. It is proven from here that Moshe was ten cubits tall. And since he was so tall, certainly he was also physically strong.

And we raise an objection:

Perhaps

Moshe was indeed

long,

that is, tall, but

small,

that is, weak in strength!?

Rather, from this verse, for it is written: “And I grasped the two Tablets and cast them from my two hands and shattered them.” And it was taught: The Tablets were six

handbreadths long,

and six wide, and three thick.

And if so, he certainly needed to be very strong in order to shatter them.

That Moshe was

wealthy—

from where do we know it?

From what we brought above, that they expound from the verse

“Carve for yourself”—

the refuse shall be yours.

And that Moshe was

wise—

from where do we know it?

Rav and Shmuel both say: Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world ,

and all of them were given to Moshe—

except one,

namely, knowledge of the Name, blessed is He, in its truth.

As it is stated: “And You have made him slightly less than God.”

That Moshe was

humble—

from where do we know it?

For it is written: “And the man Moshe was very humble.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All the prophets were wealthy.

From where do we know it?

From Moshe, from Shmuel, from Amos, and from Yona.

Moshe, for it is written

that he said to the Holy One, blessed is He, in the episode of Korah and his assembly:

“I have not taken a single donkey of theirs.”

And now, what did Moshe intend?

If

he intended to say that he had not taken a donkey from them

without payment,

without remuneration,

to exclude one who takes without payment?

That is, does he praise himself for not taking from them without paying remuneration?!

Rather,

you are forced to say that the intention is

that even with payment

he did not take from them. He never benefited from others, because he had everything and did not need them.

And we raise an objection:

Perhaps

the reason he did not take from them was

because he was poor

he was,

and he had no payment with which to pay!?

Rather, from “Carve for yourself”—

the refuse shall be yours,

as above.

Shmuel,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

For it is written

that Shmuel said to the people:

“Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, and whose donkey have I taken?”

And now, how is this stated?

If it means without payment, to exclude one who takes without payment?

That is, does he praise himself for not taking from them without payment?!

Rather—

that even for payment

he did not take from them, because he needed nothing.

We raise an objection:

Perhaps he was poor,

and he had no payment with which to pay!

Rather, from here: “And it was from year to year, and he would go around Bethel and Mizpa and judge Israel, etc.,

and his return was to Ramah

[and afterward he returned to Ramah]

for there was his house.”

And apparently one must wonder: Would I not know that there was his house?

And Rava said:

The intention of the verse is to say that in

every place to which

Shmuel

went—

his house was with him.

That is, all the utensils needed for his house and the tent of his encampment were with him, so that he would not benefit from others.

Rava said: Greater is what is said concerning Shmuel—

more than

what

is said concerning Moshe.

For whereas concerning Moshe our teacher it is written: “I have not taken a single donkey of theirs,”

that is,

even with payment

he did not take from them against their will. But with their consent, he did take.

Whereas concerning Shmuel, even with consent—

he did not hire them. For it is written: “And they said: You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, etc.”

This is because sometimes people consent out of embarrassment, while in truth they are not pleased with it.

Amos,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

For it is written: “And Amos answered and said to Amatzia: I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet, for I am a herdsman and a dresser of

sycamores.”

And

as Rav Yosef translates: “For I am the master of flocks, and I have sycamores in the lowland, etc.”

That is, Amos said: I am not one of your false prophets, who take payment in order to prophesy, for I do not need this and I did not conduct myself in this manner; I am wealthy and possess livestock and property. I am the owner of olive presses, and I have sycamores in the lowland.

Yona,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

For it is written:

“And he found a ship going to Tarshish,

and he paid its fare and went down into it.” And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He paid the fare of the entire ship .

Rav Romanos said: The fare of the ship was four thousand gold dinars.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At first Moshe would learn Torah and forget it ,

Mishna:

until it was given to him as a gift. As it is stated: “And He gave to Moshe, when He finished speaking with him.”

Mishna:

And he may support

the one who imposed the vow

to his wife and to his sons

of the one who is prohibited by the vow,

even though he,

the one who is prohibited by the vow,

is obligated to provide their sustenance.

But he may not feed the animal

of the one who is prohibited by the vow,

whether an impure one or a pure one.

For he directly benefits him, since through this the animal becomes more valuable.

Rabbi Eliezer says: He may feed the impure one, but he may not feed the pure one .

They said to him: What is the difference between an impure animal and a pure one?

He said to them: The pure one, its soul is for Heaven—

but its body is his

for eating, and it follows that he benefits him, since it becomes improved for eating.