Bava Basra 15a

בבא בתרא ט״ו ע״א

Bava Batra 15a

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Topic

Who wrote the books of תנ״ך, the last eight פסוקים of the תורה, and when (and whether) איוב lived

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא that lists who wrote each book of תנ״ך: ירמיה, חזקיה and his group, אנשי כנסת הגדולה, and עזרא, with נחמיה finishing דברי הימים. The גמרא then looks at the claim that יהושע wrote the last eight פסוקים of the תורה. רבי יהודה says משה could not write 'and משה died there,' so יהושע wrote it. רבי שמעון answers that משה wrote it himself, in tears. This debate is connected to the rule that one person reads those eight פסוקים. Next the גמרא asks how יהושע and שמואל could write books that report their own deaths, and answers that later people finished them. It then checks the list of ten elders behind תהלים, explaining that איתן האזרחי is אברהם and that there were two people named הימן. Finally it turns to איוב: whether he lived in משה's time or the time of the מרגלים, whether he was a real person or only a parable, and a new view that he was among the עולי גולה. That last view is challenged at the end of the amud, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. StatementThe list continues: ירמיה, חזקיה's group, and אנשי כנסת הגדולה
2. Statementעזרא wrote his book and the family records of דברי הימים
3. ProofThis supports רב: עזרא first recorded his own family line, then went up
4. QuestionWho finished דברי הימים?
5. Responseנחמיה finished it
6. StatementThe ברייתא follows the view that יהושע wrote the last eight פסוקים
7. ChallengeHow could משה write 'and משה died there'?
8. Resolutionמשה wrote up to here, and יהושע wrote the rest
9. Challengeרבי שמעון objects: the Torah could not be missing a letter
10. Statementמשה wrote the last verses with tears
11. ProofProof that writing by dictation is a real model
12. QuestionDoes the eight-verse reading rule follow only רבי יהודה?
13. ResponseEven רבי שמעון agrees: those verses are already different
14. ChallengeHow could יהושע write about his own death?
15. Resolutionאלעזר finished the book
16. ChallengeBut אלעזר's death is also in the book
17. Resolutionפנחס finished it
18. ChallengeHow could שמואל write about his own death?
19. Resolutionגד and נתן finished שמואל's book
20. Statementדוד wrote תהלים with ten elders
21. ChallengeWhy isn't איתן האזרחי on the list?
22. Resolutionאיתן האזרחי is אברהם
23. ChallengeHow can both משה and הימן be counted?
24. ResolutionThere were two people named הימן
25. Statementמשה wrote the תורה, the section of בלעם, and איוב
26. ProofThis supports dating איוב to משה's time
27. ChallengeThe same word also appears with יצחק, יעקב, and יוסף
28. ResolutionWhy איוב is linked to משה and not to the אבות
29. Statementרבא: איוב lived in the time of the spies
30. ChallengeThe two words are not the same
31. Resolutionמשה's hidden question about איוב
32. StatementA scholar claims איוב was only a parable
33. Rejectionרבי שמואל בר נחמני: the פסוק says he was a real man
34. Challengeנתן's parable also says 'there was'
35. ResolutionA parable would not give a name and a city
36. Statementאיוב came up from the exile and taught in טבריא
37. ChallengeA ברייתא says איוב lived while ישראל were in מצרים