Gemara Clarity

Shevuos 5a

שבועות ה׳ ע״א

Shevuot 5a

Learn Shevuos 5a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 5a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

רבי's method of reading פסוקים and the שבועות ruling, the sources for ידיעה בתחילה ובסוף, and why our משנה counts the carrying cases of שבת as 'two that are four.'

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question: why does רבי read the firstborn פסוקים as ריבוי ומיעוט when he usually uses כלל ופרט? The answer is that two general terms placed before the detail make the passage ריבוי ומיעוט, as the school of רבי ישמעאל taught about במים. The רבנן instead imagine the detail between the two general terms and read the passage as כלל ופרט. Since רבי normally uses כלל ופרט, the גמרא concludes that he wrote the שבועות ruling following רבי עקיבא. Next the גמרא studies the ברייתא in which רבי עקיבא and רבי disagree about how to learn ידיעה בתחילה and ידיעה בסוף from ״ונעלם״. רבא explains the wording, אביי rejects his explanation from סוטה and from a פסוק about the תורה, and אביי concludes that רבי counts ידיעת בית רבו as knowing. Finally, the גמרא asks why our משנה lists the carrying cases of שבת as only 'two that are four.' After one answer is rejected, רב פפא and רב אשי explain that the four are liable cases of carrying out and bringing in. The proof for רב אשי's claim continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

רִיבּוּיֵי וּמִיעוּטֵי.

amplifications and restrictions?

אִין, בְּעָלְמָא כְּלָלֵי וּפְרָטֵי דָּרֵישׁ;

Yes, in general he expounds generalizations and details;

וְהָכָא הַיְינוּ טַעְמָא –

but here, this is the reason:

כִּדְתָנָא דְּבֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל.

as the school of רבי ישמעאל taught.

The steps (28)

  1. ChallengeEnd of the question on רבי's method
  2. ResolutionUsually כלל ופרט, but here a special reason applies
  3. ProofThe fish פסוק: במים written twice
  4. QuestionHow do the רבנן read it?
  5. Responseרבינא: put the detail between the two general terms
  6. ChallengeIf רבי uses כלל ופרט, the ruling on oaths is a problem
  7. Resolutionרבי wrote the oaths ruling following רבי עקיבא
  8. Statementרבי עקיבא learns awareness at the start and end from the double ״ונעלם״
  9. Statementרבי finds both awarenesses elsewhere and uses the extra ״ונעלם״ for the מקדש
  10. QuestionHow does ״ונעלם״ show he once knew?
  11. Responseרבא: the פסוק did not say ״והיא עלומה ממנו״
  12. Challengeאביי challenges רבא from the case of a suspected wife
  13. ProofA ברייתא shows the husband could not have known
  14. ChallengeA second challenge from the hiddenness of the תורה
  15. Resolutionאביי: knowledge from one's teacher counts as knowing
  16. Challengeרב פפא asks whether anyone lacks childhood knowledge
  17. ResolutionA child captured among non-Jews
  18. StatementQuoting the next line of the משנה about carrying on שבת
  19. QuestionWhy is this משנה shorter than the one in שבת?
  20. ResponseMain categories here, sub-categories only in מסכת שבת
  21. ChallengeCarrying out gives only two, not four
  22. ChallengeRuling out a mix of liable and exempt cases
  23. Resolutionרב פפא: here only the liable cases are listed
  24. ChallengeThe liable cases are carrying out, but there are only two
  25. ResolutionTwo of carrying out and two of bringing in
  26. ChallengeBut the משנה says only 'carrying out'
  27. Resolutionרב אשי: the תנא calls bringing in 'carrying out' too
  28. QuestionAsking for proof of רב אשי's claim