Study Pesachim folio 107B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואתי לאימנועי מלמיעבד פסחא. או דילמא, סמוך למנחה קטנה תנן — ומשום מצה, דילמא אתי למיכלה למצה אכילה גסה.
and he will end up refraining from performing the Paschal lamb? Or perhaps we learned this halakha in the Mishnah as pertaining to the time adjacent to the lesser minḥa, and the reason for the prohibition is due to matza. If one eats shortly before nightfall, perhaps he will come to eat the matza as an act of excessive eating, when one forces himself to eat despite the fact that he has no desire to do so.
אמר רבינא, תא שמע: אפילו אגריפס המלך שהוא רגיל לאכול בתשע שעות — אותו היום לא יאכל עד שתחשך. אי אמרת בשלמא סמוך למנחה קטנה תנן, היינו רבותיה דאגריפס.
Ravina said: Come and hear a solution from a baraita: Even King Agrippa, who regularly eats every day at 9 hours, i.e., 3 hours before sunset, on that day of Passover eve, he may not eat until dark. Ravina infers from this baraita: Granted, if you say that we learned in the Mishnah that it is prohibited to eat adjacent to the lesser minḥa, this is why his actions are accounted to the greatness of Agrippa, as he refrained from eating despite the fact that the prohibition had not yet gone into effect.
אלא אי אמרת סמוך למנחה גדולה תנן, מאי רבותיה דאגריפס? חל איסור עליה מעיקרא! אלא סמוך למנחה קטנה תנן.
However, if you say that we learned in the Mishnah that one may not eat adjacent to the greater minḥa, what is the greatness of Agrippa? The prohibition against eating had already taken effect at the outset, right after midday. Rather, it must be that we learned in the Mishnah that it is prohibited to eat adjacent to the lesser minḥa, and Agrippa was praised for changing his regular routine, despite the fact that he was not obligated to do so.