Bekhorot 5B

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Text Excerpt

והא מאתן וארבעין הויין! אלא שמע מינה: מנה של קודש מנה כפול היה.

But each shekel consists of 4 dinars, and therefore 60 shekels is equivalent to 240 dinars, not a maneh, which is generally worth 100 dinars. Rather, learn from this verse a number of matters: First, learn that the maneh of the Sanctuary to which Ezekiel was referring was a maneh that was double its standard value. Therefore, it was worth 50 shekels, which is equivalent to 200 dinars.

ושמע מינה, מוסיפין על המדות, ואין מוסיפין יתר על שתות, ושמע מינה שתותא מלבר.

And furthermore, as Ezekiel stated that the maneh will be 60 dinars, not 50, learn from it that a community may increase measures, but they may not increase them by more than 1/6th. And learn from it that the 1/6th is calculated from the outside, i.e., it is 1/6th of the final sum, which is 1/5th of the previous sum. Therefore, adding 1/5th of the original 50 shekels, which is 10 shekels, to the total equals 60 shekels. It is from this sum that the 1/6th from the outside, 10 shekels, is calculated.

אמר רבי חנינא: שאלתי את רבי אליעזר בבית מותבא רבא, מה נשתנו פטרי חמורים מפטרי סוסים וגמלים? אמר לי: גזירת הכתוב היא, ועוד שסייעו ישראל בשעת יציאתם ממצרים, שאין לך כל אחד ואחד מישראל שלא היו עמו תשעים חמורים לובים טעונים מכספה וזהבה של מצרים.

§ The Talmud returns to discussing the redemption of firstborn donkeys: R' Ḥanina said: I asked R' Eliezer in the great study hall: In what way are firstborn donkeys different from firstborn horses and camels, i.e., other non-kosher animals, which are not redeemed? R' Eliezer said to me: It is a Torah edict. And furthermore, donkeys assisted the Jewish people at the time of their exodus from Egypt, as there was not one member of the Jewish people that did not have 90 Nubian donkeys with him, which were considered to be of superior quality, laden with the silver and gold of the Egyptians.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.