Shabbat 54A

שית זונה ונצורת לב״.

with the attire of a prostitute [shit zona] and wily of heart” (Proverbs 7:10). Sheḥuzot can be interpreted as an acronym of the words shit zona, attire of a prostitute, with the letters tav and ḥet, which are similar in form, interchanged.

הרחלים יוצאות כבולות. מאי ״כבולות״? שמכבלין אליה שלהן למטה כדי שלא יעלו עליהן זכרים. מאי משמע דהאי ״כבול״ לישנא דלא עביד פירי הוא ⁠— דכתיב: ״מה הערים [האלה] אשר נתת לי אחי ויקרא להן ארץ כבול עד היום הזה״.

We learned in the Mishnah: Ewes may go out kevulot. The Talmud asks: What is the meaning of kevulot? It means that they bind their tails down with animal hide so that the males will not mount them. The Talmud explains: From where may it be inferred that this word kavul is a term meaning does not produce fruit? As it is written, when Solomon gave a portion of land to Hiram, he complained: “What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Kavul to this day” (I Kings 9:13).

מאי ״ארץ כבול״? אמר רב הונא: שהיו בה בני אדם שמכובלין בכסף ובזהב. אמר ליה רבא: אי הכי, היינו דכתיב: ״(כי לא) ישרו בעיניו״⁠ — מפני שמכובלין בכסף ובזהב לא ישרו בעיניו? אמר ליה: אין, כיון דעתירי ומפנקי, לא עבדי עבידתא.

What is the meaning of the land of Kavul? Rav Huna said: That the people living there were bound [mekhubalin] and surrounded by silver and gold. Rava said to him: If so, is that what is written: “And Hiram came out of Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not” (I Kings 9:12)? Because the people there were bound in silver and gold, the cities were not pleasing in his eyes? Rav Huna said to him: Yes, indeed, it was precisely the abundant wealth that displeased Hiram. Since the people were wealthy and delicate, they did not perform labor. Hiram was seeking people whom he could enlist in the service of the king.