Pesachim 117a

פסחים קי״ז ע״א

Learn Pesachim 117a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 117a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How to read and place the word הללויה, who first said הלל, and how joy relates to the שכינה and to Torah study

Overview

The משנה ends with saying הללויה, so the גמרא first asks whether words ending in יה, like הללויה, ידידיה and מרחביה, are one word or two. רבי יוחנן, רב and רבה give different lists, and רב's own statements show he splits ידידיה and הללויה, treating the יה as a holy name. רבי יהושע בן לוי reads הללויה as one word ('many praises'), but elsewhere he seems to contradict himself. The גמרא then asks who first said הלל: שמואל says the נביאים set it up, רבי מאיר says דוד wrote all of תהלים, and רבי יוסי argues that הלל goes back to the sea. Along the way it explains words in תהלים and teaches that the שכינה rests only through שמחה של מצוה. It then settles how a teacher can be joyful while a student must sit in awe. A ברייתא lists six historical moments when הלל was first sung, and the חכמים say the נביאים set it for every trouble and every redemption. The amud ends by debating whether a border הללויה ends one chapter or opens the next, and begins comparing this to the משנה and a ברייתא about where בית שמאי and בית הלל stop הלל. That comparison continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (50)

1. Statementרבי יוחנן: הללויה, כסיה, and ידידיה are each one word
2. Statementרב: כסיה and מרחביה are each one word
3. Statementרבה: Only מרחביה is one word
4. QuestionWhat does רב חסדא hold about מרחביה?
5. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
6. QuestionWhat does רב hold about ידידיה?
7. Responseרב explicitly says ידידיה is two words
8. QuestionWhat does רב hold about הללויה?
9. Responseרב saw הללויה split across two lines in a ספר תהלים
10. Statementרבי יהושע בן לוי reads הללויה as one word
11. Challengeרבי יהושע בן לוי seems to contradict himself
12. Statementמשה and Israel sang שירת הים
13. QuestionWho said הלל?
14. ResponseThe נביאים set up הלל for Israel
15. Statementרבי מאיר: דוד said all the praises in תהלים
16. ProofThe פסוק read as 'all these are דוד's prayers'
17. QuestionWho said this הלל?
18. Responseאלעזר: משה and ישראל said it at the sea
19. StatementThe colleagues: דוד said it
20. Conclusionרבי יוסי sides with his son
21. ProofFirst proof: they must have sung with the פסח and לולב
22. ProofSecond proof: פסלו של מיכה
23. Statementרבי אליעזר: דוד said the songs about himself
24. Statementרבי יהושע: about the community
25. Statementחכמים: some of each
26. StatementHow to tell: singular or plural
27. StatementWhat נצוח, נגון and משכיל mean
28. Statementלדוד מזמור vs. מזמור לדוד
29. StatementThe Divine Presence rests only through the joy of a מצוה
30. StatementThe same joy is needed for saying הלכה
31. StatementThe same joy brings a good dream
32. ChallengeChallenge: a student's lips must drip with bitterness
33. ResolutionJoy is for the teacher, awe is for the student
34. ResolutionSecond answer: joy before teaching, awe after starting
35. Proofרבה's practice: a joke first, then serious learning
36. QuestionA ברייתא asks: who first said הלל?
37. Responseרבי אליעזר: משה and Israel at the sea
38. Responseרבי יהודה: יהושע and Israel against the kings of כנען
39. Responseרבי אלעזר המודעי: דבורה and ברק against סיסרא
40. Responseרבי אלעזר בן עזריה: חזקיה against סנחריב
41. Responseרבי עקיבא: חנניה, מישאל and עזריה against נבוכדנצר
42. Responseרבי יוסי הגלילי: מרדכי and אסתר against המן
43. ResponseThe חכמים: the נביאים set הלל for every trouble and every redemption
44. Statementרב חסדא: הללויה ends the chapter
45. Statementרבה בר רב הונא: הללויה starts the next chapter
46. Statementהללויה written in between shows uncertainty
47. StatementThree places where all agree הללויה opens the section
48. StatementThe Bible experts add two more places
49. QuestionSuggesting the dispute matches an argument of תנאים
50. ProofA ברייתא uses different stopping points