Bava Batra 242

לא היה דיבור עם משה שנאמר (דברים ב, טז) ויהי כאשר תמו כל אנשי המלחמה למות מקרב העם וסמיך ליה וידבר ה' אלי לאמר אלי היה הדיבור

there was no [divine] communication with Moses;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the direct manner as described in Num. XII, 8: 'With him do I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, etc.' (Rashb.). ');">¹</span> for it is said, So it came to pass, when all the mem of war were consumed and dead from among the people, that the Lord spoke unto me saying,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. II, 16f. ');">²</span> '[only then', said Moses] 'was there speaking<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra n. 3. ');">³</span> to me'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An annual festive day was, therefore, declared, to commemorate the divine reconciliation with Israel's leader. ');">⁴</span>

עולא אמר יום שביטל בו הושע בן אלה פרדסאות שהושיב ירבעם על הדרכים שלא יעלו ישראל לרגל

'Ulla said: [It was] the day on which Hosea,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The last of the kings of Israel. ');">⁵</span> son of Elah, removed the guards whom Jeroboam<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Son of Nebat, the first of the kings of the divided kingdom of Israel. Cf. II Kings XVII, 2, on which this tradition is based. ');">⁶</span> had placed on the roads to prevent Israel from making the pilgrimages to Jerusalem.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Pilgrimages were made on the occasion of the three great annual festivals, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. ');">⁷</span> R. Mattena said: [It was] the day on which the slain of Bether<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [The town where in the rebellion of Bar Cochba, the Jews made their last stand against the Romans in 135 C.E.] ');">⁸</span>

רב מתנה אמר יום שנתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה דאמר רב מתנה אותו היום שנתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה תקנו ביבנה הטוב והמטיב הטוב שלא הסריחו והמטיב שנתנו לקבורה

obtained [suitable] burial; for R. Mattena said [elsewhere]:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ber. 48b, Ta'an. 31a. ');">⁹</span> On the day when the slain of Bether obtained burial [the benediction] 'who art kind and dealest kindly'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The fourth of the benedictions of Grace after Meals. ');">¹⁰</span> was instituted at Jabneh<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The religious centre and seat of the Sanhedrin after the destruction of Jerusalem. ');">¹¹</span> 'Who art kind' [was instituted] because they<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The corpses. ');">¹²</span>

רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרוייהו יום שפוסקין בו מלכרות עצים למערכה תניא רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר כיון שהגיע חמשה עשר באב תשש כחה של חמה ולא היו כורתין עצים למערכה אמר רב מנשה וקרו ליה יום תבר מגל

did not decompose;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [During the long period in which the slain were left lying in the open field, owing to Hadrian's decree forbidding their interment.] ');">¹³</span> 'and dealest kindly' [was instituted] because they obtained burial. Both Rabbah and R. Joseph said: [It was] the day on which they ceased cutting wood for the altar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] lit., 'arrangement', i.e., the pile of wood arranged on the Temple altar. ');">¹⁴</span> It was taught: R. Eliezer the Great said: As soon as the fifteenth of Ab arrived, the power of the sun weakened and they chopped no [more] wood for the altar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' All wood for the altar had to be chopped during the period when the sun shone in full strength, i.e., from the month of Nisan to the fifteenth of Ab. Any wood chopped later than that period was considered unsuitable for the altar on account of the dampness in it which produced smoke and generated worms (v. Mid. 11, 5). ');">¹⁵</span>

מכאן ואילך דמוסיף יוסיף שאינו מוסיף יסיף מאי יסיף תני רב יוסף תקבריה אמיה

R. Manasseh said: They called it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The fifteenth of Ab. ');">¹⁶</span> 'the day of the breaking of the axe.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As there was no longer any immediate use for the tool. ');">¹⁷</span> From that [day]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The fifteenth of Ab. ');">¹⁶</span> onwards, he who adds [from the night to the day]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the purpose of study. The days shorten and the hours of study would consequently diminish unless part of the night were also to be devoted to the same purpose. ');">¹⁸</span>

תנו רבנן שבעה קפלו את כל העולם כולו מתושלח ראה אדם שם ראה מתושלח יעקב ראה את שם עמרם ראה את יעקב אחיה השילוני ראה את עמרם אליהו ראה את אחיה השילוני ועדיין קיים

will [also] add [length of days and years for himself],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Prov. III, 2. ');">¹⁹</span> [and he] who does not add [from the night to the day], decreases [his years].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The original contains a play upon the words 'add' and 'decrease' [H] ');">²⁰</span> What [is meant by] 'decreases'? R. Joseph learnt: His mother will bury him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he will die in the prime of life. ');">²¹</span> Our Rabbis taught: Seven [men] spanned<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'folded'. ');">²²</span>

ואחיה השילוני ראה את עמרם והא כתיב (במדבר כו, סה) ולא נותר מהם איש כי אם כלב בן יפונה ויהושע בן נון

[the life of] the whole world.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The total length of their respective lives covered the entire period of the life of the human species. ');">²³</span> [For] Methuselah saw Adam; Shem saw Methuselah, Jacob saw Shem; Amram saw Jacob; Ahijah the Shilonite saw Amram; Elijah saw Ahijah the Shilonite, and he<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Elijah. ');">²⁴</span> is still alive. And [did] Ahijah the Shilonite see Amram? Surely it is written, And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXVII, 65. since Ahijah saw Amram, whether in Egypt or in the wilderness, he must have been, according to this verse, among those who died in the wilderness. How then could he have been living (cf. I K. XI, 29) in the days of Jeroboam? ');">²⁵</span>

אמר רב המנונא לא נגזרה גזרה על שבטו של לוי דכתיב (במדבר יד, כט) במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם וכל פקודיכם לכל מספרכם מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה מי שפקודיו מבן עשרים יצא שבטו של לוי שפקודיו מבן שלשים

— R. Hamnuna replied: The decree<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That all must die in the wilderness. ');">²⁶</span> was not directed<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'decreed'. ');">²⁷</span> against the tribe of Levi;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ahijah was a Levite (cf. I Chron. XXVI, 20), hence he could enter the promised land. ');">²⁸</span> for it is written, Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIV, 29. ');">²⁹</span>

ומשאר שבטים לא עייל והתניא יאיר בן מנשה ומכיר בן מנשה נולדו בימי יעקב ולא מתו עד שנכנסו ישראל לארץ שנאמר (יהושע ז, ה) ויכו מהם אנשי העי כשלשים וששה איש ותניא שלשים וששה ממש דברי ר' יהודה

[this implies that a tribe] that was numbered from twenty years old and upward [came under the decree]; the tribe of Levi, [however], having been numbered<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the purpose of the Temple service. Cf. Num. IV, 23, 29, 35. ');">³⁰</span> from thirty years old, was excluded. Did none of the [members of the] other tribes<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who came out of Egypt. ');">³¹</span> enter [the promised land]? Surely it was taught: Jair the son of Manasseh and Machir the son of Manasseh were 'born in the days of Jacob and did not die before Israel entered the [promised] land; for it is said, And the men of the Ai smote of them about thirty and six men,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jos. VII, 5. ');">³²</span>

אמר לו רבי נחמיה וכי נאמר שלשים וששה והלא לא נאמר אלא כשלשים וששה אלא זה יאיר בן מנשה ששקול כרובה של סנהדרין

and it was taught<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' San. 44a. ');">³³</span> 'actually thirty six men' [these are] the words of R. Judah; R. Nehemiah, [however], said unto him: Was it said, 'thirty and six'? Surely it was said, about<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. Kisheloshim, [H] the [H] may signify, 'about' and also 'like', 'equal'. ');">³⁴</span> thirty and six! But this<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The expression 'about thirty and six'. V. previous note. ');">³⁵</span> [must refer to] Jair the son of Manasseh who was equal to the greater part of the Sanhedrin!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Sanhedrin having consisted of seventy-one men, thirty-six formed a majority. Now, since Ahijah was among those who came out of Egypt and also among those who entered Canaan, how could it be said that, besides the tribe of Levi, none of the members of the other tribes had entered the land? ');">³⁶</span>

אלא אמר רב אחא בר יעקב לא נגזרה גזירה לא על פחות מבן עשרים ולא על יתר מבן ששים לא על פחות מבן עשרים דכתיב מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה ולא על יתר מבן ששים גמר ומעלה (ויקרא כז, ז) ומעלה מערכין מה להלן יתר מבן ששים כפחות מבן כ' אף כאן יתר מבן ששים כפחות מבן עשרים

— But, said R. Aha b. Jacob, the decree<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 500, n. 12. ');">³⁷</span> was directed<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. loc. cit. n. 13. ');">³⁸</span> neither against one [who was] under twenty years of age, nor against [one who was] over sixty years of age. [It was directed] neither against [one] under twenty years of age' — for it is written, from twenty years old and upward;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who came out of Egypt. ');">³¹</span> 'nor against [one] over sixty years of age' — for 'and upward'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XIV, 29. ');">³⁹</span>

איבעיא להו ארץ ישראל לשבטים איפלוג או דלמא לקרקף גברי איפלוג

is deduced from 'and upward'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XXVII, 7. ');">⁴⁰</span> [in the section] of valuations,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. vv. 2ff. ');">⁴¹</span> as there, [one] over sixty years of age is like [one] under twenty years of age,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In both cases (under twenty and over sixty) the valuation is lower than that for the ages of twenty to sixty. ');">⁴²</span> so here, one over sixty years of age is like one [who is] under twenty years of age.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As those under twenty were not subject to the penalty of the decree so were not those over sixty. Ahijah, even though he did not belong to the tribe of Levi, having been over sixty at the Exodus, was not subjected to the decree, and could, therefore, enter the land. ');">⁴³</span> The question was raised: Was the land of Israel divided according to the [number of the] tribes,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Each tribe taking a twelfth of the land and, then, subdividing it in accordance with the number of its men. ');">⁴⁴</span> or was it, perhaps divided according to the [number of the] head[s] of the men?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The entire land being divided into as many shares as there were men. ');">⁴⁵</span>