Makkos 20b

מכות כ׳ ע״ב

Makkot 20b

Learn Makkos 20b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Makkos 20b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Bald spots and their size, removing hair on שבת, rounding the head and beard, and cutting the skin over the dead

Overview

The גמרא first asks how someone can get separate lashes for five bald spots if he was warned only once, since a נזיר who keeps drinking after one warning gets only one set of lashes. It answers that the five spots were made at the same instant, with five fingers dipped in hair-removing cream, so the one warning covers each spot. Next it asks how big a forbidden קרחה must be. The views are the size of a גריס, big enough to be seen, two hairs, or a lentil, with a memory aid from the laws of נגעים. A ברייתא teaches that removing a scissorsful of hair on שבת makes one liable, and רב יהודה says that is two hairs. רבי אליעזר says one hair is enough, and everyone agrees one hair counts when a person picks white hairs out from black ones, which a man may not do even on a weekday. The גמרא then defines rounding the פאת הראש and discusses whether the person being rounded also gets מלקות. It also defines the פאת הזקן. Finally, a ברייתא learns from the פסוק that שריטה is forbidden only over the dead, and that each cut is counted separately. רבי יוסי counts each dead person through the word לנפש, and the גמרא challenges him because that word was already used. The answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. ChallengeCan one warning make him liable for five bald spots?
2. ResolutionFive fingers with hair-removing cream at once
3. QuestionHow big must a bald spot be?
4. Responseרב הונא and רבי יוחנן disagree on the size
5. StatementThe same argument among the תנאים
6. StatementThree תנאים disagree, with a third view of two hairs
7. StatementAnother version replaces two hairs with a lentil
8. StatementA memory aid from the laws of נגעים
9. StatementRemoving a scissorsful of hair on שבת
10. QuestionHow much is a scissorsful?
11. Responseרב יהודה: two hairs
12. ChallengeA ברייתא lists two hairs for קרחה separately
13. ResolutionRead it as 'and likewise for קרחה, two'
14. ProofA ברייתא supports the two-hair measure
15. StatementOne hair is enough for רבי אליעזר, and the חכמים agree when picking white hairs
16. StatementA man may not pick out white hairs even on a weekday
17. StatementDefining the 'edge of the head'
18. StatementBoth the one rounding and the one being rounded get מלקות
19. ChallengeDoes someone who just sits there get lashes?
20. ResolutionThe ברייתא follows רבי יהודה
21. ResolutionRounding his own head
22. ResolutionThe one being rounded helped
23. StatementWhat counts as the 'edge of the beard'
24. StatementCutting the skin is forbidden only over a dead person
25. StatementFive cuts for one dead person bring five punishments
26. Statementרבי יוסי: one cut for five dead people brings five punishments
27. ChallengeWasn't לנפש already used for the house and the ship?