Gemara Clarity

Sotah 46b

סוטה מ״ו ע״ב

Learn Sotah 46b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 46b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The עגלה ערופה ceremony and the great importance of לויה, escorting travelers

Overview

This amud finishes explaining the משנה about the עגלה ערופה. First a ברייתא shows that איתן means 'hard', and אחרים say it means 'old'. The heifer is killed from behind, learned from the word עריפה by the bird חטאת העוף. רבי יאשיה and רבי יונתן argue whether the valley must never have been worked in the past. רבא says both agree it may not be worked from then on. A ברייתא teaches that only work on the ground itself is forbidden there, so combing flax and cutting stones are allowed. The זקנים wash over the spot where the neck was broken. Their declaration 'our hands did not spill this blood' means they did not send the traveler off without food or לויה. This opens a long section on לויה: its endless reward (the man of לוז, פרעה and אברהם), how far each person must escort, stories of אמוראים escorting their teachers, and רבי מאיר's warning that not escorting is like spilling blood. The proof is the story of אלישע and the youths, and the גמרא explains the youths' taunt, the words 'young lads', and what אלישע 'saw', ending with the two bears.

Opening lines

״אֵיתָן מוֹשָׁבֶךָ וְשִׂים בַּסֶּלַע קִנֶּךָ״,

"Firm is your dwelling-place, and your nest is set in the rock"

וְאוֹמֵר:

and it says:

״שִׁמְעוּ הָרִים אֶת רִיב ה׳

"Hear, O mountains, the Lord's controversy,

וְהָאֵיתָנִים מֹסְדֵי אָרֶץ״.

and the enduring rocks, the foundations of the earth"

The steps (53)

  1. ProofVerses showing that איתן means hard
  2. ProofAnother view: איתן means old
  3. QuestionWhy is the heifer killed from behind?
  4. ResponseLearned from the bird sin-offering
  5. StatementDispute: past or future?
  6. Statementרבא: everyone agrees about the future
  7. Proofרבי יאשיה's reading of the פסוק
  8. Challengeרבי יונתן pushes back
  9. Resolutionרבי יאשיה: the word אשר points to the past
  10. Resolutionרבי יונתן: אשר comes to include something
  11. StatementCombing flax and cutting stones are allowed, and all ground work is forbidden
  12. QuestionWhy does the פסוק also say 'not sown'?
  13. ResponseSowing shows that only work on the ground itself is forbidden
  14. ChallengeMaybe this is a כלל ופרט and only sowing is forbidden
  15. ResolutionThe word אשר is a ריבוי
  16. StatementThe זקנים wash their hands over the spot where the calf's neck was broken
  17. QuestionWhy Would the Elders Need to Say They Did Not Kill?
  18. ResponseThe Elders Mean They Did Not Neglect the Traveler
  19. Statementרבי מאיר: People Can Be Forced to Escort
  20. ProofProof From the Man Who Showed the City Entrance
  21. StatementThe City of לוז Is Protected Forever
  22. Conclusionקל וחומר: Real לויה Earns Even More
  23. QuestionHow did the man show them the way?
  24. ResponseTwo opinions: with his mouth or with his finger
  25. ProofA ברייתא supports רבי יוחנן
  26. StatementNo escort? Learn Torah on the way
  27. StatementPharaoh's four steps with אברהם
  28. StatementFour אמות of escort protects from harm
  29. Proofרבינא's story proves רב's promise
  30. StatementHow far each person must escort
  31. QuestionHow far is "no limit"?
  32. Responseרב ששת: up to a פרסה
  33. StatementA main רב gets three פרסאות
  34. Questionרב כהנא escorts רב שימי and asks about the palm trees
  35. Questionרב שימי recalls a puzzling פסוק about an empty land
  36. Responseאדם הראשון decided which lands would be settled
  37. StatementHow far רב מרדכי escorted רב אשי
  38. StatementNot escorting is like spilling blood
  39. ProofThe proof from אלישע and the bears
  40. StatementWhat the youths meant by 'go up, baldhead'
  41. QuestionWhy the double phrase 'young lads'?
  42. Responseרבי אלעזר: empty of מצוות and small in faith
  43. ResponseA ברייתא: grown youths who acted like children
  44. ChallengeMaybe נערים is just the name of their hometown
  45. ResolutionHere the youths' place is already known
  46. QuestionWhat did אלישע see before cursing them?
  47. Responseרב: He really looked at them, and a חכם's look can harm
  48. Responseשמואל: They were conceived on יום הכיפורים
  49. Responseרבי יצחק נפחא: They wore non-Jewish hairstyles
  50. Responseרבי יוחנן: Not even a drop of מצוה in them
  51. ChallengeBut maybe their descendants would have done מצוות
  52. Resolutionרבי אלעזר: No מצוות in their descendants forever
  53. StatementThe two bears come out of the forest