Study Bava Batra folio 110A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אלא אי אבוה דאמיה מיוסף – אמה דאמיה מיתרו; אי אבוה דאמיה מיתרו – אמה דאמיה מיוסף. דיקא נמי, דכתיב: ״מבנות פוטיאל״ – תרתי שמע מינה.
Rather, this is how the matter should be resolved: If his mother’s father came from the family of Joseph, his mother’s mother came from the family of Yitro, and if his mother’s father came from the family of Yitro, his mother’s mother came from the family of Joseph, so while his mother was descended from Joseph on one side and from Yitro on the other, Pinehas was a more distant relative to Yitro than Yonatan was. Based on this conclusion, the language of the verse is also precise, as it is written: “And Elazar, Aaron’s son, took one of the daughters of Putiel” (Exodus 6:25). Conclude from the wording of the verse that Pinehas was descended from two men who were referred to as Puti: Yitro and Joseph.
אמר רבא: הנושא אשה, צריך שיבדוק באחיה, שנאמר: ״ויקח אהרן את אלישבע בת עמינדב אחות נחשון״ – ממשמע שנאמר ״בת עמינדב״, איני יודע שאחות נחשון היא? מה תלמוד לומר: ״אחות נחשון״? מכאן שהנושא אשה צריך שיבדוק באחיה. תנא: רוב בנים דומין לאחי האם.
Rava says: One who marries a woman needs to first examine her brothers so that he will know in advance what character his children will have, as it is stated: “And Aaron took Elisheva, the daughter of Amminadav, the sister of Nahshon” (Exodus 6:23). By inference from that which is stated: “The daughter of Amminadav,” do I not know that she is the sister of Nahshon, as Nahshon was the son of Amminadav? What is the meaning when the verse states: “The sister of Nahshon”? From here one learns that one who marries a woman needs to examine her brothers. The reason is as A baraita states: Most sons resemble the mother’s brothers.
״ויסורו שמה, ויאמר: מי הביאך הלם, ומה אתה עושה בזה, ומה לך פה?״. אמרו לו: לאו ממשה קא אתית, דכתיב ביה: ״אל תקרב הלם״? לאו ממשה קא אתית, דכתיב ביה: ״מה זה בידך״? לאו ממשה קא אתית, דכתיב ביה: ״ואתה פה עמד עמדי״? תעשה כומר לעבודה זרה?!
In connection with the Talmud’s mention of Yonatan, who served as a priest for Micah, the Talmud quotes additional statements of the rabbis concerning that episode. Describing when the men from the tribe of Dan passed through Micah’s house, the verse states: “And they turned aside there and said to him: Who brought you here [halom], and what [ma] are you doing in this place, and what do you have here [po]?” (Judges 18:3). The rabbis interpret their multiple questions. They said to him: Do you not come from Moses, about whom it is written: “Do not draw close to here [halom]” (Exodus 3:5)? Do you not come from Moses, about whom it is written: “What [ma] is that in your hand” (Exodus 4:2)? Do you not come from Moses, about whom it is written: “But as for you, stand here [po] with me” (Deuteronomy 5:27)? should you, a descendant of our teacher Moses, become a priest for idol worship?