Study Bava Batra folio 12B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
משמיה דרבי עקיבא בר יוסף כוותיה. אמר רב אשי: ומאי קושיא? דלמא להא מילתא בר מזליה הוא!
in the name of the well-known tanna R' Akiva bar Yosef in accordance with his statement. It certainly cannot be maintained that the first Sage is similar in his nature to the illustrious R' Akiva, so he must have arrived at his statement through prophecy. Rav Ashi said: And what is the difficulty with explaining this? Perhaps they were born under the same constellation, and with regard to this issue the first Sage has the same understanding as R' Akiva.
אלא אמר רב אשי: תדע, דאמר גברא רבה מילתא, ומתאמרא הלכה למשה מסיני כוותיה. ודלמא כסומא בארובה! ולאו טעם יהיב?!
Rather, Rav Ashi said: Know that this is so, as a great man makes a statement and the same statement is then cited as a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai in accordance with his statement. The Sage makes a statement that corresponds to words pronounced in Heaven, which, without prophecy, is beyond human capability. The Talmud states: But perhaps he arrived at this idea by chance, without the assistance of prophecy, like a blind man who makes his way through a skylight. A blind man cannot deliberately find a skylight; therefore, his finding it occurs by chance. The Talmud answers: But does the Sage not offer a reason for his statement? The fact that he demonstrates an understanding of the issue indicates that he does not arrive at his idea by chance, but rather by prophecy.
אמר רבי יוחנן: מיום שחרב בית המקדש, ניטלה נבואה מן הנביאים וניתנה לשוטים ולתינוקות. לשוטים – מאי היא? כי הא דמר בר רב אשי – דהוה קאי ברסתקא דמחוזא, שמעיה לההוא שוטה דקאמר: ריש מתיבתא דמליך במתא מחסיא – ״טביומי״ חתים. אמר: מאן חתים ״טביומי״ ברבנן – אנא; שמע מינה לדידי קיימא לי שעתא. קם אתא. אדאתא אימנו רבנן לאותביה לרב אחא מדפתי ברישא.
R' Yoḥanan said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to imbeciles and children. The Talmud explains: In what way was prophecy given to imbeciles? It was like this incident involving Mar bar Rav Ashi, who was standing in the street [beristeka] of Meḥoza when he heard a certain imbecile say: The head of the yeshiva who will be appointed in Mata Meḥasya signs his name Tavyumei. Mar bar Rav Ashi said to himself: Who among the rabbis signs his name Tavyumei? Nobody but me. Conclude from the statement by the imbecile that my hour has arrived, and I will reap success in this matter. He arose and went to Mata Meḥasya. By the time he arrived, the rabbis had already decided to appoint Rav Aḥa of Difti as the head of the yeshiva.