Study Avodah Zarah folio 19B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דלא ליפלוג לישני. ״על פלגי מים״. אמר רבי תנחום בר חנילאי: לעולם ישלש אדם שנותיו — שליש במקרא, שליש במשנה, שליש בתלמוד.
he will not become confused by the different versions of the same statements he hears from each teacher, as he will have no clear authoritative version from one source. The Talmud continues discussing the verse cited above: “By streams [palgei] of water” (Psalms 1:3). R' Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai says: Since the root peh, lamed, gimmel can also refer to dividing, the verse is interpreted as follows: A person should always divide his years into thirds, as follows: 1/3rd for Bible, 1/3rd for Mishnah and 1/3rd for Talmud.
מי ידע איניש כמה חיי? כי קאמרינן — ביומי.
The Talmud asks: How can one divide his life this way? Does a person know the length of his life, that he can calculate how much a third will be? The Talmud answers: When we said that a one should divide his time into thirds, the intention was with regard to his days, i.e., he should devote 1/3rd of each day to Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud, respectively.
״אשר פריו יתן בעתו״, אמר רבא: אם ״פריו יתן בעתו״ — ״ועלהו לא יבול״, ואם לאו — על הלומד ועל המלמד עליהם הכתוב אומר: ״לא כן הרשעים כי אם וגו׳״.
The Talmud discusses the continuation of the verse cited above: “That brings forth its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither” (Psalms 1:3). Rava says: If one brings forth fruit in its season, i.e., if he acts in accordance with the precepts of Torah that he learns, then his leaf will not wither, as the Torah will sustain him. But if one does not learn with the intention that his studies should lead to action, then with regard to both the one who is taught and with regard to the one who teaches, the verse states about them: “Not so the wicked; but they are like the chaff that the wind drives away” (Psalms 1:4).