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Bechoros 50a

בכורות נ׳ ע״א

Bekhorot 50a

Learn Bechoros 50a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 50a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The value of the סלע for פדיון הבן (the Torah's original סלע and the rabbinic addition), other biblical coin values, and whether coins made from Temple metal may be used

Overview

רבי יוחנן gives a practical way to find the twenty דינרים (five סלעים) owed for פדיון הבן, starting from a worn gold coin worth twenty-five זוזים. The גמרא checks his arithmetic twice. It concludes that you first remove one זוז and then a sixth, which leaves exactly twenty, and it also restates that amount in מתקלי. רבא then proves from a פסוק, the תרגום and a ברייתא that the Torah's original סלע is only three and a third דינרים. A ברייתא says a holy סלע is forty-eight פונדיונין, which is four דינרים. The גמרא answers that this describes the time after the חכמים added a sixth, which the Torah allows (they may add, but never reduce). The story of רב אשי and רב אחא shows that in practice the larger amount of twenty דינרים is paid. רבי חנינא explains how much an unspecified 'silver' is in the Torah, נביאים and כתובים, with עפרון's silver as an exception. Finally, אביי explains that the חכמים considered banning the worn coins of הדריינוס and טריינוס because they contained ירושלים's Temple metal. A פסוק showed that plundered Temple metal loses its holiness.

Opening lines

רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Yochanan says:

דִּינָרָא הַדְרִיָּינָא טִרְיָינָא שְׁיָיפָא

the worn-out dinar of Hadrian and Trajan

דִּמְזַבְּנָא בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְחַמְשָׁה זוּזֵי,

which is sold for twenty-five zuz,

דַּל מִינַּיְיהוּ שְׁתוּתָא

take away a sixth from them

The steps (19)

  1. Statementרבי יוחנן's method for calculating פדיון הבן
  2. ChallengeThe math does not come out to twenty
  3. ResolutionFirst correction: remove a sixth and also a זוז
  4. ChallengeStill not exact: now it is too little
  5. ResolutionFinal correction: first a זוז, then a sixth
  6. StatementThe result expressed in מתקלי
  7. Statementרבא: the biblical סלע is three and a third דינרים
  8. Proofרבא's proof from the פסוק, the תרגום, and a ברייתא
  9. ChallengeChallenge: a סלע of הקדש has forty-eight פונדיונין
  10. ChallengeThe ברייתא explains what the extra פונדיון is for
  11. ResolutionThe ברייתא describes the time after the coins were increased
  12. ProofA source showing the שקל may be increased but not decreased
  13. Statementרב אשי asks for change from his redemption money
  14. Rejectionרב אחא replies that three more זוזים are owed
  15. Statementרבי חנינא: what unspecified 'silver' means in each part of תנ"ך
  16. StatementThe exception: עפרון's silver was in large units
  17. StatementThe חכמים almost put away all the world's silver and gold
  18. ChallengeIs ירושלים most of the world?
  19. Resolutionאביי narrows it to the worn coins of הדריינוס and טריינוס