Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 10, scan section 84

foot," he (the defendant) is liable, even if he told him so on the condition that he should be free. If he told him: " Tear my garment, break my pitcher," he is liable. If, however, he told him so on the condition that he should be free, he is so. If one says to another to do such damage to a third person, even on condition that he should be free, the defendant is liable whether it be personal injuries or injuries to property. GEMARA : The rabbis taught : All that which was said con- cerning disgrace is only for the civil court, as to how much the plaintiff should receive, but there can be no satisfaction for the injury to the feelings, for which, if he would even offer all the best rams of the world, they would not atone for it, unless he prays the plaintiff for forgiveness, as the verse quoted in the Mishna reads farther on : " For he is a prophet, and he will pray for thee." For he is a prophet! Must, then, only a prophet's wife be restored, and not that of an ordinary person ? Said R. Simeon b. Na'hmani in the name of R. Jonathan: Read thus: Restore the man's wife; (and) because he is a prophet, he will pray for thee — which means that another's wife must be re- stored. And your claim [ibid., ibid. 4 and 5]: "Lord, wilt thou then slay also a righteous nation ? Said he not unto me. She is my sister?" etc., is of no avail; for if a stranger comes to a city, he is usually questioned only what he would eat or drink, but not who is his wife or relatives, as your habit is; and because he was a prophet and he knew what you were going to ask him, therefore he and Sarah were com- pelled to say so. Infer from this that one is punished even when he commits a crime through ignorance, because he ought to learn and know. It is written [ibid., ibid. 18]: " Every womb." Said the disciple of R. Janai, even the hen of Abimelech's household did 2o6 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. not lay its eggs. Said Rabha to Rabba bar Mari:* Whence is the following saying of the rabbis deduced: He who prays in behalf of his neighbor for a certain thing which he himself needs, he is answered first? He answered: From the following verse [Job, xlii. lo]: " And the Lord brought back the captivity of Job, when he prayed in behalf of his friends." He said to him : You deduce it from this, and I deduce it from the following verse [Gen. xx. 17]: "And Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants," etc. ; and immediately thereafter it is written [ibid. xxi. i] : ** And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said," etc., which means, as Abraham prayed in behalf of Abimelech. Said Rabha to Rabba bar Mari: Whence do we deduce the following people's saying: With the thorn the rose is also beaten ? He answered : From the following verse [Jer. ii. 29] : ** Wherefore will ye contend with me ? all of you have trans- gressed against me, saith the Lord." (" All," although there were some who were righteous, as the prophets, etc.) Said he to him : You deduce it from this verse, and I deduce it from the following [Ex. xvi. 28]: " How long refuse j/^ to keep my commandments," etc. (" ye " includes Moses and Aaron also). The same said again to the same : It is written [Gen. xlvii. 2] : ** And he took some of his brothers, five men." Who were the five? He answered: So said R. Johanan : Those whose names were mentioned twice in the benediction of Moses [Deut. xliii.] (Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali). But is not Jehudah's name also mentioned twice ? Jehudah's name was mentioned twice for another purpose (explained in Tract Mak- koth, 10). He questioned him again: What is the origin of the following people's saying: " One misfortune follows the other " ? He answered: In the following Mishna: "The rich bring the first-fruit in golden or silver baskets (and take the baskets back), while the poor bring it in willow baskets, and the baskets remain with the fruit for the priests." He said to him: You find it in the Mishna, and I find it in the Scripture [Lev. xiii. 45] : " And * The following series of questions is placed here because of the verse quoted, " and Abraham prayed unto God," etc., from which Rabba bar Mari delivered his statements in the text differing from Rabha ; and at the same time he mentions here all other statements which each of them deduces from different verses, and casually also others. They wanted also to find the origin of even the ordinary adages of the people in the Holy Writ, on account of what is stated elsewhere in the Talmud, that there is nothing in the world for which there can be found no hint in the Scripture. (See vol. viii., Tract Taanith, p. 9. TRACT BABA KAMA (THE FIRST GATE). 207 the leper. . . . Unclean, unclean, shall he call out." (Hence, it is not enough that he is afflicted, he must himself call it out.) He said again: Where is the origin for the rabbis' saying: Arise early in the morning and eat something, in the summer because of the heat and in the winter because of the cold ; and people say: Sixty men were running after one who used to eat early in the morning, and could not overtake him ? In the verse [Is. xlix. 10]: "They shall not be hungry nor thirsty, and neither heat nor sun shall smite them." Said he: I, however, find the origin in the following [Ex. xxiii. 25]: " And ye shall serve the Lord," which means the reading of Shema and prayer; " And he will bless thy bread, and thy water," which means the bread and salt and the pitcher of water one takes immediately thereafter; [and then he may be sure that] " I will remove sick- ness from the midst of thee." He said again: What is the origin of the rabbis' saying: If your neighbor calls you " ass," put on a saddle {i.e., do not answer him) ? He answered: In [Gen. xvi. 8] :" And he said, Hagar, Sarah's maid, . . . And she said, From the face of my mistress,'' He said again: And wherefrom is the people's saying: ** When talking to a stranger, tell him first of all the position you are in " ? He answered: From [ibid. xxiv. 34]: " And he said, I am Abraham's servant.*' And wherefrom is the people's saying: A duck while it keeps its head down, its eyes still look at a distance? He answered: From [I Samuel, xxv. 31]: " And when the Lord will do good unto my lord, then do thou remember thy handmaid." (While praying to save her life, she hinted that he should marry her.) And wherefrom the following people's saying : For the wine furnished by the host to his guests thanks are due ; the main thanks, however, receives the man who takes care of serving the same in a nice manner? He answered : From [Numb, xxvii. 19] : " And thou shalt lay thy hand upon him " ; and also [Deut. xxxiv. 9] : '' And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of