Avodah Zarah 24b

עבודה זרה כ״ד ע״ב

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Topic

Can animals that came from a non-Jew be brought as קרבנות? The גמרא answers challenges from פסוקים, ending with the song of the cows that carried the ארון.

Overview

The background worry in this sugya is that a non-Jew may have used his animal for רביעה (bestiality), which would make it unfit for the מזבח. The גמרא tests this worry against cases where animals linked to non-Jews seem to have been offered. יתרו bought his animals from a Jew. The 'best' animals of עמלק were meant to be sold, and the money used to buy other animals. ארונה was a גר תושב, so he was not suspected. The cows of the פלשתים that pulled the ארון were offered under a הוראת שעה, a one-time ruling. The supporting argument that a female עולה is otherwise impossible is pushed aside, since a female עולה is allowed on a במת יחיד. רבי יוחנן then offers a new approach: a non-Jew would not abuse an animal under three years old, because it would become barren. That answer fails for the cows, which already had calves, so the גמרא returns to the הוראת שעה answer. The amud ends with אגדה about the song the cows sang to the ארון, and two Persian words traced back to פסוקים.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. ChallengeWhat about the view that יתרו came after מתן תורה?
2. ResolutionYitro bought his animals from a Jew
3. ChallengeChallenge from שאול and the animals of עמלק
4. Resolution'The best' means the money value of the best
5. QuestionWhy save the best animals in particular?
6. ResponseGood animals sell easily
7. ChallengeChallenge from ארונה's offer to דוד
8. Resolutionארונה was a גר תושב
9. QuestionWhat does the word מורגים mean?
10. Responseעולא: It is a טורביל bed
11. QuestionWhat is a טורביל bed?
12. ResponseA toothed board used for threshing
13. Proofרב יוסף brings a פסוק that shows a מורג threshes
14. ChallengeThe פלשתים's cows were offered as an עולה
15. ResolutionIt was a one-time ruling
16. ProofSupport: a female עולה does not normally exist
17. RejectionMaybe it was on a private altar
18. Proofרב אדא בר אהבה's source: שמואל's milk lamb
19. ChallengeThe verse calls שמואל's lamb a male
20. ResolutionThe word is written in the feminine
21. Statementרבי יוחנן: the line is at three years old
22. Resolutionרבי יוחנן answers all the challenges the same way
23. ResolutionThe cows of the פלשתים were under three
24. ChallengeThose cows already had calves
25. ProofA ברייתא shows a cow under three does not give birth
26. ConclusionGoing back to the first answer
27. QuestionWhat does וַיִּשַּׁרְנָה mean?
28. ResponseThe cows sang a song
29. ResponseThey turned to face the ארון and sang
30. QuestionWhich song did they sing?
31. ResponseThey sang שירת הים
32. Responseרבי יוחנן's own view: a song from ישעיהו
33. Responseריש לקיש: an 'orphaned' psalm
34. Responseרבי אלעזר: 'ה׳ מלך ירגזו עמים'
35. Responseרבי שמואל בר נחמני: The Lord Reigns, Clothed in Majesty
36. Responseרבי יצחק נפחא: A Song to the Acacia ארון
37. Questionרב אשי Moves the Song: What Did ישראל Say When the ארון Traveled?
38. Responseישראל Sang 'Sing, Sing, Acacia'
39. StatementWhy the Persians Call a Book 'דביר'
40. StatementWhy the Persians Call a נדה 'דשתנא'