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Niddah 31a

נדה ל״א ע״א

Learn Niddah 31a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How a baby forms and is born, ה׳'s role in creating a person, and what decides a baby's gender

Overview

This amud is full of אגדה about how a baby is formed and born. It opens with the פסוק for the oath a baby takes before birth, and רבי אלעזר's picture of a baby floating in the womb like a nut in water. A ברייתא then describes where the baby lies during each three months of pregnancy, and says that labor pains come from the baby turning over. That is why labor is harder with a girl, who must also turn her face. Next come teachings about marital relations during pregnancy, including the danger of the ninetieth day and אביי's answer, 'שומר פתאים ה׳'. The גמרא then teaches that every person has three partners: father, mother, and הקדוש ברוך הוא. It follows with several פסוקים that praise ה׳'s wonders in the womb, the story of the thorn that saved a traveler, and teachings that ה׳ is involved in conception. The amud ends with what decides whether a baby is a boy or a girl, and a question about the sons of אולם whose answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַאי קְרָא?

What is the verse?

״מִמְּעֵי אִמִּי אַתָּה גוֹזִי״.

"From my mother's womb You are gozi."

מַאי מַשְׁמַע דְּהַאי ״גּוֹזִי״

From where can we tell that this "gozi"

לִישָּׁנָא דְּאִשְׁתְּבוֹעֵי הוּא?

is a word for making someone swear?

The steps (35)

  1. QuestionWhat is the verse for the baby's oath?
  2. ResponseThe verse: You made me swear from my mother's womb
  3. QuestionHow do we know גוזי means swearing?
  4. ResponseProof from "cut off your hair"
  5. StatementThe baby in the womb is like a nut in water
  6. StatementWhere the baby lives during each part of pregnancy
  7. ProofWhy labor pains are greater for a girl
  8. ProofA verse showing the baby starts in the lowest part of the womb
  9. QuestionWhy are labor pains greater for a girl?
  10. ResponseA girl must turn her face around; a boy does not
  11. StatementHow marital relations affect mother and baby in each third of pregnancy
  12. StatementA warning about the ninetieth day
  13. ChallengeHow could anyone know it is the ninetieth day?
  14. Resolutionאביי: go ahead, and ה׳ protects the simple
  15. StatementThree partners in making a person
  16. StatementAt death, ה׳ takes back His part
  17. Statementרב פפא's saying about salt and meat
  18. StatementThe baby stays safe in an open womb
  19. StatementThe heavier the baby, the higher it rises
  20. StatementSeeds in a garden versus a baby in the womb
  21. StatementDyes in a pot versus a baby in the womb
  22. QuestionWhy thank ה׳ for being angry?
  23. ResponseThe thorn that saved a traveler's life
  24. StatementEven the one saved by a miracle does not see it
  25. StatementA person is formed only from the choice part of the drop
  26. StatementParable of the man winnowing grain
  27. ChallengeTwo spellings of 'girded me' in דוד's song
  28. Resolutionדוד: You winnowed me and You strengthened me
  29. Statementה׳ waits for the drop that will form a צדיק
  30. Statementבלעם is blinded for mocking this idea
  31. Proofרבי יוחנן: ה׳ helped in the conception of יששכר
  32. StatementWhat decides if the baby is a boy or a girl
  33. Statementרבי צדוק finds the source in the פסוק about לאה's children
  34. ProofA second פסוק: the sons of אולם had many sons
  35. QuestionCan a person control having many sons?