Commentary for Avodah Zarah 52:6
אמר מר היו מורידין אבל לא מעלין השתא אחותי מחתינן אסוקי מיבעי אמר רב יוסף בר חמא אמר רב ששת לא נצרכא שאם היתה מעלה בבור מגררה דנקיט ליה עילא ואמר לא תיחות חיותא עלויה
The Master said: They may be cast in and need not be brought up — if they may be cast in, does it need to say they need not be brought up? R. Joseph b. Hama said in the name of R. Sheshet: It is only necessary to teach that if there was a step in the sides of the pit, one may scrape it off, giving as a reason for doing so that a wild animal should not go down in there.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The baraita seems superfluous—if you can cast these people in, then obviously you do not need to bring them up.
R. Joseph b. Hama reads into the baraita a broader meaning of the lack of an obligation to bring them up. If one of these people is in the pit, one can even remove the ladder and provide some excuse as to why one is doing so.
R. Joseph b. Hama reads into the baraita a broader meaning of the lack of an obligation to bring them up. If one of these people is in the pit, one can even remove the ladder and provide some excuse as to why one is doing so.
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