Yevamos 78a

יבמות ע״ח ע״א

Yevamot 78a

Learn Yevamos 78a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yevamos 78a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The rules of מצרי converts: whether a 'דאי' case is written, the words of the פסוק that count the generations, and whether a child follows the father or the mother.

Overview

The גמרא asks how a second-generation מצרי could ever have permitted grandchildren. It rejects the idea that he married someone forbidden, because the Torah does not write a case that only comes from a sin just to permit something. A ברייתא then explains why the פסוק needs the words בנים, דורות, להם and אשר יולדו, and why both להם for the מצרי and לו for the ממזר are needed. רבה בר בר חנה reports that רבי יוחנן holds the child of mixed-generation מצרי parents follows the father, and the גמרא defends this against challenges from רב יוסף and רבא. רב דימי reports the opposite: the child follows the mother. אביי challenges this from רבי יוחנן's ruling about a pregnant חטאת, which shows a fetus is not part of its mother. אביי answers that the מצרי case is special because the פסוק says 'אשר יולדו', and רב דימי praises him. The גמרא then challenges from רבא's ruling that a pregnant convert's child needs no טבילה, and it begins to suggest an answer from רבי יצחק's rule about blockage, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. QuestionHow can a second-generation Egyptian become pure?
2. ResponsePerhaps if he sinned and married
3. RejectionThe Torah does not write 'if he sinned' cases
4. ChallengeBut ממזר is an 'if he sinned' case
5. ResolutionSin cases are written for prohibitions, not permissions
6. ChallengeBut remarrying a divorcée is a permission case
7. ResolutionThat case is written for its main prohibition
8. QuestionWhy does the פסוק say both 'sons' and 'generations'?
9. Response'Sons' alone would make us count sons
10. ResponseWhy the word 'sons' is also needed
11. StatementTwo lessons from the word 'to them'
12. StatementWhy both 'to them' and 'that are born' are needed
13. StatementWhy 'to them' here and 'lo' by a ממזר are both needed
14. ResponseWhy the Rule for the Egyptian Alone Is Not Enough
15. ResponseWhy the Rule for the ממזר Alone Is Not Enough, So Both Are Needed
16. StatementSecond-Generation Egyptian Man and First-Generation Egyptian Woman
17. ChallengeChallenge: In רבי טרפון's Case the Child Follows the Mother
18. ResolutionAnswer: Slaves Are Special Because of a פסוק
19. Challengeרבא challenges from the story of מנימין the Egyptian convert
20. Resolutionרבי יוחנן corrected the wording to first generation
21. Statementרב דימי reports the opposite: the child follows the mother
22. Challengeאביי raises רבי יוחנן's ruling about a pregnant sin-offering
23. ChallengeThe ruling works if a fetus is a separate animal
24. ChallengeIf a fetus is part of its mother, the baby could not be offered
25. ResolutionThe מצרי case is special because the פסוק ties it to birth
26. Conclusionרב דימי confirms that this was רבי יוחנן's reason
27. StatementInference: in general a child follows the father
28. ChallengeChallenge from רבא: a pregnant convert's child needs no טבילה
29. ResolutionA suggested answer from רבי יצחק's rule about blockage