Shevuos 6b

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Shevuot 6b

Learn Shevuos 6b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The shades of נגעים and their secondary shades, and why the sliding-scale offering covers only impurity of the מקדש and its sacred foods

Overview

The amud starts by fixing the wording of רבי עקיבא's list of shades. רבי נתן confirms that רבי עקיבא said 'wool', not 'lime'. אביי shows from a פסוק that בהרת is the brightest white. A ברייתא then explains the names: בהרת looks deep, שאת looks raised, and ספחת is a secondary shade. רבי זירא and another ברייתא prove that בהרת, like שאת, has its own secondary shade. Next, several חכמים offer comparisons for the חכמים' view of the four shades: kings and governors, officials, King שבור and the קיסר, and new and worn garments. The point is that the shades form two separate pairs, not one ladder. Finally, the גמרא returns to the משנה and asks why the sliding-scale offering is only for impurity of the מקדש and its sacred foods. It rules out תרומה, and a new challenge begins that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. Challengeרבי עקיבא should have mentioned wool, not lime
2. ResolutionYes, and רבי נתן confirms the wording is wool
3. QuestionHow do we know בהרת is the brightest white?
4. Responseאביי: 'it is white' means only it is that white
5. Statementבהרת means 'deep'
6. Statementשאת means 'raised'
7. Statementספחת means 'secondary, attached'
8. QuestionWhere do we learn that בהרת has a secondary shade?
9. Responseרבי זירא learns it from the shared word 'white'
10. ResponseA ברייתא learns it from where ספחת stands in the פסוק
11. QuestionWhat does 'white wool' mean?
12. ResponseIt means clean wool kept covered from the first day
13. Statementרבי חנינא's parable of two kings and two governors
14. ChallengeThe two-kings comparison sounds like a full ladder
15. ResolutionFixing the comparison: each king is above only his own governor
16. Statementרב אדא בר אבא compares the shades to four officials
17. ChallengeThe four-officials list also sounds like a ladder
18. ResolutionRearranging the officials into two pairs
19. Statementרבא: like שבור מלכא and קיסר
20. Questionרב פפא asks which king is greater
21. Responseרבא says: look whose coins are used everywhere
22. ProofA verse and רבי יוחנן show it is Rome
23. Statementרבינא compares new and worn garments
24. QuestionWhich impurity does the offering verse mean
25. ResponseLogic: the offering matches the prohibition
26. ChallengeWhy not include impure eating of תרומה?
27. ResolutionNo sin punished by death requires a קרבן
28. ChallengeMaybe that rule is only for a fixed offering