Gemara Clarity

Gittin 69b

גיטין ס״ט ע״ב

Learn Gittin 69b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 69b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The גמרא's list of folk remedies: heart problems (with רבינא's correction), bowels and worms, the spleen, hemorrhoids, bladder stones, and fevers

Overview

This amud continues the גמרא's long list of folk remedies. It finishes a remedy from the previous amud. Then it gives cures for a stinging pain, for drinking uncovered water (גילוי), for a pus-filled wound, and for several heart problems. רב אחא מדיפתי objects that רבינא's barley remedy would make a racing heart worse. רבינא answers that he said it for heaviness of the heart, and he gives a wheat-and-honey remedy for a racing heart. The list goes on with cures for intestinal pain and worms, and wet or dry chamomile for the bowels. Then comes a long 'if not' ladder of spleen cures, ending with a barrel of wine; רב אחא בריה דרבא suggests eating bread every morning instead. Next come cures for hemorrhoids, rheumatism, and a bladder stone. The amud ends with fevers: a sweat bath for an external fever, and a cure for an internal fever that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְנִיטַּיְיפֵיהּ אַתְּלָת קִלְחֵי כְּרָבָא,

and let him drip it onto three stalks of cabbage,

וְנִיבְחֲשֵׁיהּ בִּגְווֹזָא דְּמַרְמְהִין;

and stir it with a sprig of marjoram;

וְכִי בְּשִׁיל גְּווֹזָא דְמַרְמָהִין –

and when the sprig of marjoram is cooked,

בְּשִׁיל לֵיהּ כּוּלֵּיהּ.

all of it is cooked.

The steps (32)

  1. StatementFinishing the remedy: cabbage stalks, marjoram, and a backup option
  2. StatementRemedy for a stinging pain
  3. StatementRemedy for drinking uncovered water
  4. StatementRemedy for a pus-filled wound
  5. StatementRemedy for a racing heart
  6. ChallengeWouldn't this make the heart race even more?
  7. ResolutionThe remedy was for heaviness of the heart
  8. StatementThe real remedy for a racing heart
  9. StatementRemedy for heart pain
  10. StatementRemedy for intestinal pain
  11. ProofThe story of רב אשי's daughter being healed
  12. StatementRemedy for roundworm
  13. StatementRemedy for white worm, with a safety warning
  14. StatementChamomile to bind or loosen the bowels, with a memory sign
  15. StatementLeeches in wine as a remedy for the spleen
  16. StatementBackup cure: drying a goat's spleen while saying a formula
  17. StatementBackup cure: the hand of someone who died on שבת
  18. StatementBackup cure: fish and water from a blacksmith's shop
  19. ProofA goat that drank blacksmith's water had no spleen
  20. StatementLast spleen remedy: open a barrel of wine
  21. Challengeרב אחא objects: a man with a barrel of wine wouldn't need a doctor
  22. StatementA better habit: eat bread every morning
  23. StatementRemedy for hemorrhoids: a mixture held in a bag
  24. StatementBackup hemorrhoid remedy: diluted beer
  25. StatementRemedy for rheumatism: roll a jar of fish brine on the thighs
  26. StatementRemedy for a bladder stone: three drops of three liquids
  27. StatementFirst backup cure for a bladder stone: the handle of a wine sac
  28. StatementSecond backup cure: a crimson thread
  29. StatementThird backup cure: lice from a man and a woman
  30. StatementPassing the stone, and using it against fevers
  31. StatementSweat-bath cure for an external fever
  32. StatementCure for an internal fever: beets and eder leaves