Bava Basra 17a

בבא בתרא י״ז ע״א

Bava Batra 17a

Learn Bava Basra 17a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 17a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Righteous people who received special gifts, the end of פרק השותפין, and the opening משנה on distances from a neighbor's wall

Overview

The amud opens with a series of lists of very special righteous people. אברהם, יצחק and יעקב got a taste of עולם הבא in this world, and the יצר הרע had no power over them. Some say דוד also belongs on that second list, but the other opinion reads his פסוק as describing his suffering. A ברייתא lists six people who died by a divine kiss and not through the מלאך המות. The גמרא asks how מרים can be included, and רבי אלעזר answers with a גזירה שוה. A second ברייתא lists seven people whose bodies worms never touched, with an argument again about whether דוד is included. A third ברייתא lists four people who died only because of the נחש, with no sin of their own, and the גמרא proves ישי's place on that list from the words 'אביגיל בת נחש'. Then פרק השותפין ends. The new פרק opens with a משנה about how far a person must keep pits, materials, planting, a mill and an oven from a neighbor's wall.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. StatementThree people got a taste of the World-to-Come
2. StatementThree people the evil inclination could not rule
3. StatementSome add דוד המלך to the list
4. RejectionThe first opinion reads דוד's פסוק as describing pain
5. StatementSix people the Angel of Death could not rule
6. ChallengeBut the פסוק never says this about מרים
7. Resolutionרבי אלעזר: מרים died by a kiss, learned from משה
8. ResolutionWhy the תורה did not say it openly about מרים
9. StatementSeven people whose bodies worms never touched
10. ProofThe פסוקים behind each name on the list
11. StatementSome add דוד to the list
12. RejectionThe first opinion says דוד was only praying
13. StatementFour people who died only because of the נחש
14. ProofOnly ישי is hinted at in a פסוק
15. ChallengeBut אביגיל was the daughter of ישי
16. Resolution'בת נחש' means daughter of the one who died because of the נחש
17. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק השותפין
18. StatementDo not dig a pit near a neighbor's pit without keeping a distance
19. StatementKeeping piles of materials away from a neighbor's wall
20. StatementKeeping seeds, plowing, and urine away from the wall
21. StatementHow far to keep a mill and an oven from the wall