Study Bava Kamma folio 83A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לשון סורסי למה? או לשון הקדש, או לשון יונית! ואמר רבי יוסי: [ב]בבל – לשון ארמי למה? או לשון הקדש, או לשון פרסי! אמרי: לשון יוני לחוד, חכמת יונית לחוד.
why would one speak the Syriac [Sursi] language? One should speak either the sacred tongue, Hebrew, or the Greek language. And R' Yosei said similarly: In Babylonia, why would one speak the Aramaic language? One should speak either the sacred tongue or the Persian language. At any rate, R' Yehuda HaNasi’s statement indicates that there is nothing wrong with learning and speaking Greek. The rabbis say in response: The Greek language is discrete, and Greek wisdom is discrete. In other words, these are two separate issues; only Greek wisdom is prohibited, not the Greek language.
וחכמת יונית מי אסירא?! והאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל משום רבן שמעון בן גמליאל: ״עיני עוללה לנפשי מכל בנות עירי״ – אלף ילדים היו בבית אבא; חמש מאות מהם למדו תורה, חמש מאות למדו חכמת יונית; ולא נשתייר מהם אלא אני – כאן, ובן אחי אבא – בעסיא!
The Talmud further pursues this line of inquiry: And is Greek wisdom itself actually prohibited? But doesn’t Rav Yehuda say that Shmuel says in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: It is written: “My eye affected my soul, because of all the daughters of my city” (Lamentations 3:51). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel applied this verse to a personal tragedy: There were 1,000 children in the household of my father, Rabban Gamliel; 500 of them studied the Torah, and 500 of them studied Greek wisdom. All of them were killed by the Romans; and the only ones that remain of them are I, who is here, and the son of my father’s brother, who is in Asia Minor [Asya]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement indicates that it is permitted to study Greek wisdom.
אמרי: שאני בית רבן גמליאל, שהיו קרובים למלכות. וכדתניא: המספר קומי – הרי זה מדרכי האמורי. אבטולמוס בר ראובן התירו לו לספר קומי, מפני שהוא קרוב למלכות. של בית רבן גמליאל התירו להם לספר בחכמת יונית, מפני שקרובים למלכות.
The rabbis say in response: The household of Rabban Gamliel is different, as they held close ties with the government. Since knowledge of Greek wisdom was crucial for the members of this family, the rabbis exempted them from the general decree, as it is taught in a baraita: With regard to one who cuts his hair in the fashion of komi, a certain haircut favored by the Romans, this is considered one of the ways of the Amorites, i.e., a non-Jew practice prohibited by the Torah (Leviticus 18:3). Despite this, the rabbis permitted Avtolmos bar Reuven to cut his hair in the fashion of komi, because he had close ties with the government. Likewise, they permitted the members of the household of Rabban Gamliel to discuss matters of Greek wisdom, because they had close ties with the government.