Commentary for Berakhot 42:5
מאי משמע דתני רבנאי אחוה דרבי חייא בר אבא אתיא תוך תוך כתיב הכא ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל וכתיב התם (במדבר טז, כא) הבדלו מתוך העדה הזאת מה להלן עשרה אף כאן עשרה
How is this implied? As Rabbanai, the brother of R. Hiyya b. Abba, taught : We draw an analogy from the occurrence of the word "among." It is written here, "But I will be hallowed among the children of Israel" and it is written elsewhere "Separate yourselves from among this congregation" (Num. xvi. 21). As in the latter circumstance there were ten, so here also there must be ten.
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
On the argument, see p. 18 n. 5.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
It cannot be deduced from Num. xvi. 21 that there were ten. In the parallel passage (Megillah 23b), a further analogy is drawn between the use of the word "Congregation" here and in ibid. xiv. 27 where the reference is to the twelve spies, minus Joshua and Caleb. See p. 28 n. 2.
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