Gemara Clarity

Arachin 4b

ערכין ד׳ ע״ב

Arakhin 4b

Learn Arachin 4b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Arachin 4b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who is included in ערכין and דמים, the unspecified ערך, pledging limbs, and whether a vital part is judged as the whole (נידון בכבודו).

Overview

This amud works through a ברייתא on the פסוקים of ערכין in ויקרא 27. The word נפשות teaches that a woman can make a ערך vow and that a מנוול or a מוכה שחין can be valuated. The words והיה ערכך teach that a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס can be pledged by דמים (market value), but they have no ערך, since only a definite male or female has one. The גמרא then explains ערך סתום: someone who pledges an unnamed ערך pays the smallest amount, three שקלים, because of תפשת מרובה לא תפשת. רב נחמן gives two opposite versions of whether this amount can be lowered for a poor person (הֶשֵּׂג יָד). Next the גמרא learns that a ערך covers a whole person, not a limb. A part that life depends on counts as the whole person, while the dead and the dying are left out. It then shows how one word can teach several lessons. Finally, רבא says a טומטום is נידון בכבודו, and אביי challenges him from the case of the head of a slave, donkey or cow. They settle it by splitting קדשי מזבח from קדשי בדק הבית, and a new challenge about the cow begins that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֵין לִי אֶלָּא אִישׁ שֶׁהֶעֱרִיךְ

I have only a man who valuated

בֵּין אִישׁ בֵּין אִשָּׁה,

whether a man or a woman;

אִשָּׁה שֶׁהֶעֱרִיכָה אִישׁ,

a woman who valuated a man,

אִשָּׁה שֶׁהֶעֱרִיכָה אִשָּׁה מִנַּיִן?

or a woman who valuated a woman, from where do we know?

The steps (52)

  1. QuestionWhat about a woman who makes a valuation vow?
  2. ResponseThe word 'persons' includes women who vow
  3. StatementAnother use of 'persons': a repulsive person and one with boils
  4. StatementWhy we needed a פסוק to include them
  5. Statement'Your valuation shall be' includes a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס for דמים
  6. StatementWhy we needed a פסוק for this inclusion
  7. StatementThe word 'the male' excludes a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס
  8. QuestionMaybe they should get a woman's valuation instead
  9. ResponseOnly a definite male or a definite female
  10. QuestionWhat is an 'unspecified valuation'?
  11. ResponseAn unspecified valuation pays the smallest amount: three shekels
  12. ChallengeWhy not fifty shekels?
  13. ResolutionGrab a lot and you grab nothing; grab a little and you have it
  14. ChallengeWhy not say the lowest ערך is one שקל?
  15. ResolutionThe one-שקל verse is about a poor person
  16. ChallengeThen why do we need the פסוק at all?
  17. ResolutionThe פסוק teaches that ערך סתום is not reduced for a poor person
  18. QuestionWhy is it not lowered?
  19. ResponseIt is as if he named the amount
  20. StatementSecond version: ערך סתום is lowered for a poor person
  21. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
  22. ResolutionWithout it, we might have thought it was a stated amount
  23. StatementA second lesson: only the ערך of the whole person
  24. ChallengeBut that word was already used for ערך סתום
  25. ResolutionThe word holds two lessons
  26. StatementA part that life depends on counts as the whole person
  27. StatementThe dead have no ערך
  28. ChallengeThe word was already used
  29. ResolutionThe plural form gives two lessons
  30. StatementA dying person (גוסס) is also left out
  31. ChallengeThe same verse could leave out the dead too
  32. ResolutionYes, the dead are learned from that verse
  33. ChallengeThen what is נפש / נפשות for?
  34. ResolutionIt teaches a lesson coming up soon
  35. StatementOne person can pledge the value of a hundred people
  36. StatementA woman can also pledge an ערך
  37. StatementIncluding a repulsive person and one covered in boils
  38. ChallengeThe word was already used for the other lessons
  39. ResolutionThe other lessons do not need the extra word
  40. StatementThe verse includes a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס in pledges of value
  41. ChallengeWhy is a verse needed for value pledges?
  42. Resolutionרבא: the verse teaches that they are judged by the importance of the body part
  43. ResolutionWhy we might have thought otherwise
  44. Challengeאביי questions whether someone outside ערכין is judged by importance
  45. Proofאביי's proof: the head of a slave or a donkey
  46. ProofThe cow's head is sold or consecrated by itself
  47. StatementWhy a cow's head is different
  48. ChallengeAnimals outside ערכין are not judged by the vital part
  49. RejectionA slave is in ערכין, yet he is not judged by the vital part either
  50. ResolutionAltar holiness versus Temple-maintenance holiness
  51. ChallengeFor the altar, holiness should spread to the whole cow
  52. ProofBringing a source that holiness spreads