Nedarim 49a

נדרים מ״ט ע״א

Learn Nedarim 49a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Nedarim 49a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

נדרים on cooked food: how vow words follow people's speech, רבי יאשיה on roasted food, and אביי's definition of תבשיל as food eaten with bread

Overview

The משנה teaches that a נדר follows how people normally use words. Someone who vows off 'cooked food' may still eat roasted or well-boiled food. A vow on a 'תבשיל' covers loose pot dishes but not thick ones, and a vow on 'pot food' covers only boiled food, while 'whatever goes into a pot' covers everything cooked in a pot. A ברייתא says רבי יאשיה forbids roasted food too, hinting to this from a פסוק that calls the roasted קרבן פסח 'cooked.' The גמרא concludes that everyone agrees vows follow people's language: in רבי יאשיה's area people simply called roasted food 'cooked,' and the פסוק is only an אסמכתא. Then אביי explains that the משנה's תנא calls 'תבשיל' only food eaten with bread, and a ברייתא about soft gourds that the sick eat with bread supports him. The גמרא challenges this with a story of a doctor who called a gourd an 'angel of death' for a sick man. It gives three answers: soft versus hard gourds, the gourd itself versus its inside, or the 'sick' being weakened רבנן. The amud ends as the גמרא begins to show that רבא is consistent with another statement of his, which comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. StatementVowing off cooked food still allows roasted and boiled food
2. StatementVowing off a cooked dish covers loose dishes only
3. StatementPot food versus whatever goes into a pot
4. Statementרבי יאשיה forbids roasted food, with a hint from a פסוק
5. QuestionSuggesting the argument is Torah language versus people's language
6. RejectionEveryone follows people's language; local speech differed
7. ChallengeBut רבי יאשיה quoted a verse
8. ResolutionThe verse is only a hint
9. ChallengeWhy is a thick dish allowed?
10. Resolutionאביי: 'תבשיל' means food eaten with bread
11. ProofA ברייתא supports אביי
12. ChallengeDo sick people really eat gourds?
13. ResolutionSoft gourds versus hard gourds
14. ResolutionThe gourd itself versus its inside
15. Proofרב יהודה shows the inside of a gourd is eaten with other food
16. ResolutionThe 'sick' in the ברייתא are the רבנן
17. Proofרבא is consistent with his own view