Study Bava Batra folio 123B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
״ואת בנימין אחיו בן אמו״?! אמר: מרגלית טובה היתה בידי, ואתה מבקש לאבדה ממני; הכי אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא: זו יוכבד – שהורתה בדרך, ולידתה בין החומות; שנאמר: ״אשר ילדה אותה ללוי במצרים״ – לידתה במצרים, ואין הורתה במצרים.
“And he lifted up his eyes, and saw et Benjamin his brother, his mother’s son” (Genesis 43:29), which would render the count of 70 incorrect. R' Ḥiyya bar Abba said: There was a goodly pearl [margalit] in my hand, and you are trying to have me lose it. He continued: So said R' Ḥama bar Ḥanina: This missing 70th person is Jochebed, whose conception was on the journey, as the family of Jacob descended to Egypt, and she was born within the walls, i.e., in Egypt, as it is stated: “And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt” (Numbers 26:59). Her birth was in Egypt, but her conception was not in Egypt. Accordingly, the family had 70 persons upon arrival, but she could not have been listed as descending to Egypt.
בעא מיניה רבי חלבו מרבי שמואל בר נחמני, כתיב: ״ויהי כאשר ילדה רחל את יוסף וגו׳״ – מאי שנא כי אתיליד יוסף? אמר ליה: ראה יעקב אבינו שאין זרעו של עשו נמסר אלא ביד זרעו של יוסף, שנאמר: ״והיה בית יעקב אש, ובית יוסף להבה, ובית עשו לקש וגו׳״.
§ R' Ḥelbo asked R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani: It is written: “And it came to pass, when Rachel gave birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban: Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country” (Genesis 30:25). What was different when Joseph was born, that Jacob decided only then to return home? R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani said to him: Jacob our patriarch saw prophetically that the descendants of Esau will be delivered only to the hand of the descendants of Joseph, as it is stated: “And the house of Jacob should be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for straw, and they should kindle in them, and devour them” (Obadiah 1:18). Jacob had left Eretz Yisrael to escape Esau, but he now felt confident that he could return without endangering his family.