Makkos 7b

מכות ז׳ ע״ב

Makkot 7b

Learn Makkos 7b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Who goes to גלות: the downward-motion rule, the slipping ladder rung, the butcher, and the ax that slips

Overview

The משנה ends with a rule: an accidental killer goes to גלות only if the killing came through a downward motion. שמואל finds the source in the פסוק 'וַיַּפֵּל עָלָיו'. A ברייתא then reads the פסוקים word by word. רבא and רבה explain that its 'מזיד' and 'מתכוין' mean an אומר מותר and someone who aimed at a different target. Another ברייתא lists cases left out of גלות (a corner, an enemy, a wrong throw) and cases brought in (a shove, or a downward motion done in order to go up). רבי יוחנן uses that last idea to rule that a climber whose ladder rung slips and kills goes to גלות. He defends this by showing that the משנה's זה הכלל comes to add a butcher, whose four ברייתות all follow the direction of the swing. The גמרא then rejects the idea that two ladder ברייתות argue about up or down, and settles them in three other ways. A new משנה brings a מחלוקת between רבי and חכמים about an ax head slipping off its handle versus a chip flying off the wood. רב explains that they argue whether we learn from the spelling (יש אם למסורת) or the reading (יש אם למקרא). The גמרא begins to question whether רבי really holds יש אם למסורת, and this continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (31)

1. StatementClimbing up a ladder and falling: no exile
2. ConclusionThe general rule: downward motion means exile
3. QuestionWhere does the downward rule come from?
4. Responseשמואל's source: 'and he caused it to fall'
5. Statementברייתא: two words that exclude intentional killers
6. ChallengeWhy exclude a מזיד? He is executed anyway
7. Resolutionרבא: 'מזיד' means someone who thought killing was allowed
8. Challengeאביי: Isn't such a person an אנוס?
9. Resolutionרבא: An אומר מותר is close to a מזיד
10. ChallengeWhy would we need a פסוק to exclude someone who meant to kill?
11. Resolutionרבה: he meant to kill something else and killed a person
12. StatementA new ברייתא: a corner and an enemy are excluded
13. StatementA shove and a downward motion for going up are included
14. StatementWrong direction and wrong distance are excluded
15. StatementThe forest: only a place both people may enter
16. Questionרבי אבהו asks: a ladder rung slips and kills
17. Responseרבי יוחנן: the ברייתא already covered this
18. ChallengeThe משנה's general rule seems to exempt the ladder case
19. RejectionThe first half of the rule also needs something to add
20. ResolutionBoth halves of the rule come to add a butcher
21. StatementFour ברייתות about a butcher seem to contradict each other
22. ResolutionThe first two ברייתות: down in front and up behind, or the reverse
23. ResolutionThe last two ברייתות: down on both sides, or up on both sides
24. ProofSuggesting the ladder question is a dispute of two ברייתות
25. RejectionEveryone agrees it is upward: one ברייתא is about damages and one is about גלות
26. ResolutionSecond answer: both are about גלות, and it depends on whether the rung was worm-eaten
27. ResolutionThird answer: it depends on whether the rung was tightly fitted
28. StatementBlade slips off the handle versus chip flies off the wood
29. Proofרבי proves from the verse that the killing piece comes from the tree
30. StatementBoth sides read the same word, written one way and read another
31. ChallengeDoes רבי really follow the written spelling?