Commentary for Avodah Zarah 9:11
לא תימא אנו לא באנו לעולם אלא כמי שלא באנו לעולם למימרא דאי לא חטאו לא הוו מייתי והכתיב פרשת יבמות ופרשת נחלות
Do not say “we would not have come into the world,” rather it would have been as if we had not come into the world. Does that mean then that if they had not sinned, they would never have died? But were not chapters written about levirate marriage and inheritance?
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The Talmud now emends the statement with which this section began. Had they not sinned, Jews would have lived forever. While they would have procreated, those Jews who were at Sinai would eternally overshadow those Jews born later.
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Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The idea that had they not sinned Jews would have lived forever is problematic—the Torah contains laws which assume that people would die. The laws of levirate marriage assume that married men die and the laws of inheritance clearly assume that people die.
The answer is that these laws were written conditionally. They were given under the foreknowledge that they would be relevant only if Israel did not sin.
The answer is that these laws were written conditionally. They were given under the foreknowledge that they would be relevant only if Israel did not sin.
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