Bekhorot 110

עינתא דמידליין

springs higher than the Euphrates? - Said R'Mesharshea: These are the upper parts [the sources]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'ladders', so called because they gush forth and look like ladders on the mountain slopes.');">¹</span>

אמר רב משרשיא

of the Euphrates.

הנהו סולמי דפרת נינהו

But is it not written: And as to the fourth river it is the Euphrates?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. II, 14 thus proving that the Euphrates is one of the rivers, and you say that they all issue from it.');">²</span>

והא כתיב

- Said R'Nahman B'Isaac, (others say: R'Aha B'Jacob) : [It means thus]: It is the Euphrates [mentioned] first.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the river which went forth from Eden, and from thence was parted and became four heads (Gen. II, 10) . The explanation is based on the superfluous 'it is'.');">³</span>

(בראשית ב, יד) והנהר הרביעי הוא פרת

It has been taught: Its name<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That of the Euphrates.');">⁴</span>

אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק ואיתימא רב אחא בר יעקב

is Yubal [river] because Scripture says: For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth the roots by the river [Yubal].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XVII, 8, referring to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Life was in the Garden of Eden, the Euphrates watering the Garden of Eden.');">⁵</span>

הוא פרת דמעיקרא

And why is it called Perath?

תניא רבי מאיר אומר

Because its waters are fruitful [fructifying] and increase.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Welling up spontaneously without the help of rain.');">⁶</span>

יובל שמו שנאמר

[But the Sages say its name is Perath.

{ירמיה טז } והיה כעץ שתול על מים ועל יובל ישלח שרשיו ולמה נקרא שמו פרת שמימיו פרים ורבים

The Master said: Because its waters are fruitful and increase].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Inserted with Sh. Mek.');">⁷</span>

מסייע ליה לשמואל דאמר שמואל

This supports Samuel.

נהרא מכיפיה מיבריך

For Samuel said: The river grows from the waters coming down its banks.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Aliter: from its bed. Not from rain. And although Samuel does not distinctly mention the Euphrates, yet since all rivers draw from it, if ordinary rivers are fruitful, this is due to the waters of Euphrates being fruitful and increasing (Tosaf.) .');">⁸</span>

ופליגא דרב דאמר רב אמי אמר רב

In this he differs from Rab.

מיטרא במערבא סהדא רבה פרת

For R'Ammi reported in the name of Rab: The rise of the Euphrates is a weighty witness [indication] that it has rained in Palestine.

אבוה דשמואל עביד להו לבנאתיה מקוה ביומי ניסן ומפצי ביומי תשרי

The father of Samuel made a mikweh<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A gathering of flowing waters for ritual immersion. Samuel would have one specially constructed as he would not allow them to bathe in the rivers in case the rain water dropping from the clouds and the melting snows were greater than the flowing waters.');">⁹</span>

מקוה ביומי ניסן סבר לה כרב דאמר רב אמי אמר רב

for his daughters in the days of Nisan and had mats laid for them<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Spread at the bottom of the river in which they bathed so that the mud should not interpose when bathing. Another opinion (Tosaf.) is: that the mats were put up on the shore as a screen, for in the days of Tishri the rivers were low, and for fear of being seen, they might hurry the bathing and not do it properly.');">¹⁰</span>

מיטרא במערבא סהדא רבה פרת

in the days of Tishri.'

שמא ירבו נוטפין על הזוחלין והוו להו מי גשמים רובא

He made a mikweh in the days of Nisan' because he agreed with Rab.

ומפצי ביומי תשרי

For R'Ammi reported in the name of Rab: The rise of the Euphrates is a weighty witness [indication] that it has rained in Palestine.

ופליגא דידיה אדידיה דאמר שמואל

We fear therefore lest the dripping water<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the rain water.');">¹¹</span>

אין המים נטהרים בזוחלין אלא פרת ביומי תשרי:

will be more than the flowing water and thus the greater part will consist of rain water.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And rain water does not cleanse when it turns into a stream.');">¹²</span>

<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> הלוקח או שניתן לו במתנה פטור ממעשר בהמה:

'And had mats laid for them in the days of Tishri'.

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> מנא הני מילי

And there is a discrepancy between two opinions held by him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By Samuel, who says above that a river grows waters coming down the shores, which contradicts the opinion expressed by him in the following observation. Var. lec.: There is a discrepancy between one opinion of Samuel and another.');">¹³</span>

אמר רב כהנא דאמר קרא

For Samuel said: Waters do not ritually cleanse in a running condition,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the dripping water, the rain water, is constantly the larger amount.');">¹⁴</span>

(שמות כב, כח) בכור בניך תתן לי כן תעשה לשורך לצאנך

except the river Euphrates<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because there is then a decrease in the rain water and also because the Euphrates is constantly welling up with fresh waters. Consequently, we see that he holds that rivers grow from rain water, unlike the opinion expressed above. Another explanation is (Rashi) : Samuel's father specially made a mikweh for his daughters because it was the end of the winter and after the great rains but not in the middle of winter, whereas here Samuel says that we always require a mikweh except when bathing in the Euphrates in the days of Tishri. For further notes v. Ned., Sonc. ed., p. 129.');">¹⁵</span> in the days of Tishri. <big><b>MISHNAH: </b></big>AN ANIMAL BOUGHT OR GIVEN AS A PRESENT IS EXEMPT FROM THE LAW OF CATTLE TITHE. <big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>Whence is this proved? - Said R'Kahana: Because Scripture says: The first-born of thy sons thou shalt give unto Me. Likewise thou shalt do with thine oxen and with thy sheep;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXII, 28, 29.');">¹⁶</span>