Talmud sobre Job 31:44

What was the fence that Job made around his words? It says (Job 1:5), “A pure and righteous man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” This teaches us that Job distanced himself from anything that would bring him to sin, from any ugliness, and from anything even resembling ugliness. If that is so, then why do we have to also learn that he was “a pure and righteous man”? But instead, this is here to teach us that Job emerged [from the womb] already circumcised. Adam also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 1:24), “And God created the person in His image.” Seth also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 5:2), “He had a child in his likeness and image.” Noah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 6:9), “A just and pure man in his generation.” Shem also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 14:18), “Malkitzedek, king of Shalem.”²Malkitzedek is understood in rabbinic tradition to be Shem. The Hebrew word shalem means “complete.” Jacob also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 25:27), “Jacob was a pure man, who sat in tents.” Joseph also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 37:2), “This is the progeny of Jacob: Joseph.” But shouldn’t it say [instead]: This is the progeny of Jacob: Reuben? What do we learn from [the fact that it says] Joseph? [We learn] that just as Jacob emerged already circumcised, (so, too,) Joseph emerged already circumcised. Moses also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Exodus 2:2), “She saw that he was good.” And what did his mother see in him that was lovelier and more praiseworthy than any other person? That he emerged circumcised. Bil’am the wicked also came out circumcised, as it says (Numbers 24:4), “The word of him who hears God’s speech.” (Samuel also emerged circumcised, as it says [I Samuel 2:26], “Young Samuel continued to grow and was good.”) David also emerged circumcised – as it says (Psalms 16:1), “A mikhtam³A ketem (which has the same Hebrew letters as mikhtam) can mean a type of spot or marking. of David. (Protect me, for I seek refuge in You).” Jeremiah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Jeremiah 1:5), “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you.” Zerubbabel also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Haggai 2:23), “On that day (I will take,) [declares the Eternal of Hosts, I will take] Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the Eternal.” And it says (Job 31:1), “I have made a covenant with my eyes, so how can I gaze at a maiden [i.e., an unmarried woman]?” This teaches that Job was strict with himself and would not even look at a maiden. And if with a maiden – whom he could marry if he wished (to his son, to his daughter, or to [another] family member) – he was strict with himself and would not look at her, then all the more so [would he never look at] a married woman! And why was he so strict with himself not to look even at a maiden? Because Job said to himself: Perhaps I will look today, and tomorrow another man will come along and marry her, and then I will have looked at a married woman.

It is written²⁸³2K. 8:7.: Elisha came to Damascus when Ben-Hadad the king of Aram was sick. What did he come to do there? He went to bring back Geḥazi but found him absolutely impure²⁸⁴Most rules of skin-disease (Lev.13:1–46) define two stages of the diagnosis. In the first one, the sufferer is quarantined (מֻסְגָּר). If he be found pure, a simple immersion in water will make him ritually pure. But if he was found impure after quarantine, he is absolutely impure and can regain purity only by the elaborate ceremony described in Lev. 14. For an inhabitant of the Northern kingdom, this would present almost insurmountable difficulties. (Naˋaman as a Gentile did not need any ceremony.) Elisha is faulted for not helping Gehazi to repent and regain his purity.. From here that one should push away with one’s left hand but bring back close with one’s right. Rebbi Joḥanan said, the stranger should not stay outside overnight; my doors I opened for the guest²⁸⁵Job 31:32.. From here that one should push away with one’s left hand but bring back close with one’s right. Not as Elisha did who pushed Geḥazi away with both hands. Elisha was sick with two sicknesses²⁸⁶In the Babli 107b: three sicknesses; the two mentioned here and an additional one for sending the bears against the children. In 2K. 13:14 it is mentioned that Elisha fell ill “with the sickness which would cause his death”. This implies that it was not his only sickness; he must have been sick at least twice.. One in the ways of the world, and one because he pushed Geḥazi away.

HALAKHAH: “This is more severe regarding a human than an ox,” etc. “A person who hits his father or mother,” etc. It was stated⁴³A similar statement is in Mekhilta dR. Ismael, Neziqin 9.: If the witnesses said, we testify that X blinded both of his eyes simultanously, or that he knocked out two of his teeth simultaneously, he does not have to pay anything. One after the other, he gains his freedom by the first and he pays him damages for the second⁴⁴Ex. 21:26–27 states that a slave gains his freedom if his master blinds him or knocks out one of his teeth. If the master injures the slave repeatedly, the slave gains his freedom by the first injury and, therefore, can claim full payment for the second as a free Jew (Babli Giṭṭin 42b). But if a double injury was inflicted in one blow, the slave was not free and has no claim beyond his automatic freedom.. Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: This implies that one estimates embarrassment for slaves⁴⁵Since there is no exception made for shame in the previous statement.
The statement is difficult to understand since at the moment of the second injury the slave already is a free Jew rather than a slave. As R. Eliahu Fulda points out, it also is superfluous since R. Joḥanan always follows the anonymous Mishnah as practice. Since the Yerushalmi is so elliptic, it may not be excluded that it follows the Babli (Giṭṭin 42b) in holding that the slave is automatically free only for eye and tooth which are mentioned in the verse, but for other injuries for which the court will force the slave’s freedom a bill of manumission would be required. Then R. Abbahu’s statement becomes relevant for the case of a slave in his period between servitude and freedom.. ⁴⁶A text similar to the remainder of this paragraph is in Ketubot 5:5, Notes 120–130. Rebbi La in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: If a person dedicates his earnings, he dedicates everything⁴⁷Everything he earns automatically is Temple property; he cannot take anything to feed himself but has to beg his sustenance from others. Tosephta ‘Arakhin 3:8 does not support this statement.. If he dedicates the earnings of his slave, he⁴⁸The slave can support himself from his own earnings; only the excess becomes Temple property; Tosephta ‘Arakhin 3:8, Babli Giṭṭin 12a. can take from there his upkeep and the remainder is dedicated. Here you say, the remainder is dedicated, but there you say, everything is holy. Rebbi Aḥa said, Jews are more obligated to support free people than slaves⁴⁹Slaves would not be able to feed themselves from alms.. But did not Rebbi Joḥanan say: If somebody cuts off the hands of somebody else’s slave, his master collects damages, suffering, medical costs, loss of earnings, and embarrassment, and that one should be supported by welfare⁵⁰Babli Giṭṭin 12b.. Rebbi Aḥa said, Jews are more obligated to support amputated slaves than unimpaired ones. But did not Rebbi Joḥanan also give to his slave when he ate meat? Give also to his slave when he drank wine? And recited for himself the verse⁵¹Job 31:15.: “Did not His maker make me in the womb”? They said, there a rule of law, here a rule of mercy.

BARAITHA. ¹With the Baraithoth of this chapter, cf. DEZ III.Judge your words before you let them come forth from your mouth. Plan your deeds in accordance with good manners and so add to the furtherance of your progress.²lit. ‘reward to your steps’. Always accept with resignation the verdict against you and refrain from grumbling. Judge your fellow-man in the scale of merit and do not judge him in the scale of guilt. Rejoice in your portion; be content³lit. ‘suited’. with the little you have and do not hate him who reproves you. Be small in your eyes so that your portion may be blessed for ever. Regard everyone with a good eye and a considerate soul. Teach your tongue to say, ‘I do not know’ lest you be induced to tell a falsehood and be caught.⁴Ber. 4a (Sonc. ed., p. 10). If you are slack in the performance of one precept⁵Reading miẓwah for Mishnah. in the end you will neglect another like it. If you feel impelled⁶The text of V is corrupt. For the meaning given here, cf. DEZ II (ed. Higger, p. 89) to make light of it in the end you will make light of another like it, and you will have no reward for your trouble. If you have taken what is not yours, then what is yours will be taken from you. Be careful with sacred foods both in the eating and disposing of them. Be submissive and beloved when answering those whom you know.⁷Here, too, the text of V is corrupt; cf. DEZ III. Be submissive towards all men and towards the members of your household more than to all men.
The beginning of vows is the door to folly; the beginning of impurity [in conduct] is the door to idolatry; levity with women is the door to immorality. If you become surety, it is on the condition that you will have to pay; if you borrow, it is on the condition that you will pay back; if you lend, it is on the condition [that there is a possibility of] not being paid back. Hasten to settle your account.⁸The text is corrected in agreement with DEZ III. One who gains a good name gains it for himself. The shamefaced cannot learn, the impatient cannot teach, the ‘am ha-’areẓ cannot be pious, the empty-headed cannot be God-fearing, and who is engaged over much in business cannot acquire wisdom.⁹Aboth II, 6 (Sonc. ed., II, 5, p. 13).
GEMARA. ‘Judge [your words]’: so that a man may consider what to answer and what answer might be given to him.
‘Accept with resignation’: [Admit that the judge] has given a correct judgment, that he has rightly condemned, that he has judged well.
‘Refrain from grumbling’: But this has already been taught!¹⁰Cf. III, 24. There it speaks of matters concerning himself, here of matters relating to the Holy One, blessed be He.
‘Judge your fellow-man’, etc.: when the matter is known to you.
‘Do not judge him in the scale of guilt’: by not abiding by the verdict when he wins it.
‘Rejoice in your portion’: That is [in your] wife; for Scripture declares, For what would be the portion of God from above?¹¹Job 31, 2. and it further states, House and riches are the inheritance of fathers; but a prudent wife is from the Lord.¹²Prov. 19, 14. ‘Be content with the little you have’—in the matter of food. ‘Hate the “how much?” ’¹³Reading המה בכך for V’s המברך. This clause has apparently fallen out from the present Baraitha. But this has already been taught in a previous chapter!¹⁴In III, 20. There it refers to general matters; here [it means that] one should not say, ‘How much [I would like to be the husband of] So-and-so’s daughter if she were unmarried!’
‘Be small in your eyes.’ As it is written, In whose eyes a vile person is despised.¹⁵Ps. 15, 4. ‘So that your portion may be blessed.’ As it is written, Let thy fountain be blessed.¹⁶Prov. 5, 18. ‘Regard everyone with a good eye.’ As it is written, He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed.¹⁷ibid. XXII, 9. ‘And a considerate soul.’ As it is written, And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry.¹⁸Isa. 58, 10. ‘Teach your tongue.’ As it is written of Ahimaaz.¹⁹Cf. 2 Sam. 18, 29. In reply to a question by David, he answered, But I knew not what it was. ‘If you are slack.’ As it is written, If thou faint in the day of adversity.²⁰Prov. 24, 10. ‘Be submissive and beloved’—but this has already been taught!²¹In III, 3. There²²H reads ‘here’; but in both references the context relates to human beings. it certainly refers to being so before the All-present.
‘The beginning of vows … levity with women.’ It is not necessary [to mention this] except in connection with one’s wife. ‘If you become surety.’ As it is written, Take [leḳaḥ] his garment that is surety for a stranger.²³Prov. 20, 16. Here it is written leḳaḥ and in another verse it is written ḳaḥ: Take [ḳaḥ] his garment that is surety for a stranger!²⁴ibid. XXVII, 13. [It indicates] that whoever is surety for another and does not repay [if called upon to do so] is regarded as though he incurred the debt and did not repay. If you borrowed with the intention to repay, all is well; but if you lent with the intention not to demand it,²⁵Reading with H lithbo‘a. then ‘split’.²⁶i.e. grin and bear the loss. If so, the consequence is that the money is lost! We deal here with the disciples of the wise who will not transgress [the teaching of Scripture], The wicked borroweth, and payeth not; but the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth.²⁷Ps. 37, 21.
‘Hasten to settle your account.’ This is good advice offered to the disciples of the wise, that when they have business deals with men of the world not to be neglectful and incur one loss after another.
‘One who gains a good name.’ As it is written, If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself.²⁸Prov. 9, 12. ‘The empty-headed man cannot be God-fearing.’ Since he is ignorant of the Torah, he does not know how to keep away from sin. ‘The ’am ha-’areẓ cannot be pious.’ Why? Since he has not learnt the words of the Torah, the verse is applied to him, He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.²⁹ibid. XXVIII, 9. ‘The shamefaced cannot learn, the impatient cannot teach.’ This is self-evident! No, [it was necessary to mention it to make clear that it holds good] even in matters of behaviour.
Father³⁰A term of endearment suggested perhaps by Elisha’s cry, my father my father, when Elijah was translated to heaven (2 Kings 2, 12). The phrase ‘Father Elijah’ occurs in Sanh. 113a (Sonc. ed., p. 780). Elijah, may his memory be for good, said, ‘The knowledge of the Torah cannot be spread except by one who is not impatient. I, too, will not reveal myself except to one who is not impatient’. Happy is the man who met [Elijah] and sat with him, for he is assured of being a son of the World to Come.

Rebbi Jeremiah asked: If somebody dedicated his slave’s earnings and the latter was a hunter, what are the rules¹¹⁹If the owner expects the slave to feed himself from his catch.? Let us hear from the following: If somebody dedicates his slave, that one is dedicated but his earnings are profane¹²⁰The slave becomes Temple property, but he can use anything he catches or earns for himself without stealing dedicated property.. His [slave’s] earnings, he is profane and his earnings are dedicated¹²¹In this version, the slave cannot eat anything he catches because that immediately becomes Temple property, any profane use of which is larceny. The Tanna of this baraita seems to hold that an owner is not obligated to feed his slave.. ¹²²This sentence is out of place and belongs to the discussion below. Rebbi Joḥanan said, if somebody cuts off the hands of another person’s slave, that one’s owner collects the payments for his injuries, his pain, his shame, and impairment but he shall go out and subsist on alms. Did we not state¹²³Tosephta ‘Arakhin 3:8.: If somebody dedicates his slave, that one takes out his provisions but the remainder is dedicated¹²⁴Even though the slave is not dedicated, since the owner is obligated to feed his slave one automatically interprets his dedication to mean that only the excess earnings over the slave’s minimal needs are dedicated.. Rebbi Abba bar Mamal said, nobody thinks that he should die¹²⁵It remains open whether there is an obligation on the part of the owner to feed his slave but in any case, nobody thinks that the slave should suffer king Midas’s fate that he could not eat anything that he made or earned.. [ ] more than for slaves¹²⁶The text is defective. The original text must have been similar to the parallel in Baba Qama 8:4 from a different editorial team: אָמַר רִבִּי אָחָא. מְצוּוִּים יִשְׂרָאֵל לְפַרְנֵס בְּנֵי חוֹרִין יוֹתֵר מֵעֲבָדִים. “Rebbi Aḥa said, Jews are more obligated to provide for free persons than for slaves.”. Did not Rebbi Joḥanan say, if somebody cuts off the hands of another person’s slave, that one’s owner collects the payments for his damages, his pain, his shame, and impairment¹²⁷In Baba Qama 8:4 one adds: His medical costs. This means that the owner presents the bill for medical costs to the person causing the injury. but he shall go out and subsist on alms. The rabbis of Caesarea in the name of Rebbi Aḥa: Jews are obligated to care for amputees, even slaves.¹²⁸In Baba Qama: “R. Aḥa said, Jews are more obligated to provide for amputated slaves than for whole ones.” On that statement then comes the objection that R. Joḥanan shares his meat and wine with his slave. Rebbi Joḥanan gave to his slave from everything he himself ate¹²⁹His deeds do not follow his words that the owner has the right to let his slave be fed from charity. In Baba Qama, the answer is given that his rule is legal, his behavior moral. and quoted for this¹³⁰Job 31:15, speaking of Job’s slaves.: “Did not his Maker make me in the belly and formed me likewise in a womb?”

Yosef ben Yohanan, a man of Jerusalem, would say: Let your house be open to all, let the poor be members of your household, and do not talk too much with married women.
Let your house be open to all. How so? This teaches that a person’s house should be open to all sides: the south, the east, the west, and the north. This is like Job, who made four doors to his house. And why did Job make four doors to his house? So that the poor would not have to trouble themselves to go around the whole house. Someone who came in from the north would enter from that direction, and someone who came in from the south would enter from that direction, and so with every direction. That is why Job made four doors to his house.
Let the poor be members of your household. Not that they will be actual members of your household, but they will speak of what they ate and drank in your house, in the way that they speak of what they ate and drank in the house of Job. For when they would meet, one would say to another: Where are you coming from? (And the other would reply:) From the house of Job; and where are you going? (And the first one would say:) To the house of Job.
So when all the great tragedies came upon him, Job said before the Holy Blessed One: Did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty? as it says (Job 31:17), “Did I ever eat my food alone, and not let orphan eat from it?” And did I not clothe the naked? as it says (Job 31:20), “He warmed himself from the shearings of my sheep.” And even so, these tragedies came upon me. The Holy Blessed One said to Job: Job, you still have not gotten to [even half] the level of Abraham. You sit and wait in your house, and guests come in to you. And if it is someone’s custom is to eat wheat bread, you feed him wheat bread. And if someone’s custom is to eat meat, you feed him meat. And if someone’s custom is to drink wine, you pour him wine. But Abraham did not do this. Rather, he sat and looked out at the world, and when he would see potential guests, he would go bring them into his house. And if someone was not accustomed to eating wheat bread, he would feed him wheat bread. And if someone was not accustomed to eating meat, he would feed him meat. And if someone was not accustomed to drinking wine, he would pour him wine. Not only that, but he built large booths out on the roads, where he would leave food and drink, and anyone who came by and entered would eat and drink and bless the heavens, and he would feel content. Anything that one could ask for was available in the house of Abraham, as it says (Genesis 21:33), “And he planted an Eshel tree in Beer Sheba.”¹Note: The Midrash reads the word Eshel as an acronym for akhila (eating), shtiya (drinking), and livui (accompanying)

Yosef ben Yohanan, a man of Jerusalem, would say: Let your house be open to all, let the poor be members of your household, and do not talk too much with married women.
Let your house be open to all. How so? This teaches that a person’s house should be open to all sides: the south, the east, the west, and the north. This is like Job, who made four doors to his house. And why did Job make four doors to his house? So that the poor would not have to trouble themselves to go around the whole house. Someone who came in from the north would enter from that direction, and someone who came in from the south would enter from that direction, and so with every direction. That is why Job made four doors to his house.
Let the poor be members of your household. Not that they will be actual members of your household, but they will speak of what they ate and drank in your house, in the way that they speak of what they ate and drank in the house of Job. For when they would meet, one would say to another: Where are you coming from? (And the other would reply:) From the house of Job; and where are you going? (And the first one would say:) To the house of Job.
So when all the great tragedies came upon him, Job said before the Holy Blessed One: Did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty? as it says (Job 31:17), “Did I ever eat my food alone, and not let orphan eat from it?” And did I not clothe the naked? as it says (Job 31:20), “He warmed himself from the shearings of my sheep.” And even so, these tragedies came upon me. The Holy Blessed One said to Job: Job, you still have not gotten to [even half] the level of Abraham. You sit and wait in your house, and guests come in to you. And if it is someone’s custom is to eat wheat bread, you feed him wheat bread. And if someone’s custom is to eat meat, you feed him meat. And if someone’s custom is to drink wine, you pour him wine. But Abraham did not do this. Rather, he sat and looked out at the world, and when he would see potential guests, he would go bring them into his house. And if someone was not accustomed to eating wheat bread, he would feed him wheat bread. And if someone was not accustomed to eating meat, he would feed him meat. And if someone was not accustomed to drinking wine, he would pour him wine. Not only that, but he built large booths out on the roads, where he would leave food and drink, and anyone who came by and entered would eat and drink and bless the heavens, and he would feel content. Anything that one could ask for was available in the house of Abraham, as it says (Genesis 21:33), “And he planted an Eshel tree in Beer Sheba.”¹Note: The Midrash reads the word Eshel as an acronym for akhila (eating), shtiya (drinking), and livui (accompanying)