וּמוֹצֶ֨א אֲנִ֜י מַ֣ר מִמָּ֗וֶת אֶת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֨יא מְצוֹדִ֧ים וַחֲרָמִ֛ים לִבָּ֖הּ אֲסוּרִ֣ים יָדֶ֑יהָ ט֞וֹב לִפְנֵ֤י הָאֱלֹהִים֙ יִמָּלֵ֣ט מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְחוֹטֵ֖א יִלָּ֥כֶד בָּֽהּ׃
Et ce que j’ai trouvé de plus amer que la mort, c’est la femme, dont le cœur n’est que guet-apens et pièges et dont les bras sont des chaînes. Celui qui jouit de la faveur de Dieu échappe à ses griffes, mais le pécheur s’y laisse prendre.
The Jewish Spiritual Heroes
The reason for his return to Babylonia, it seems, was his desire to be married. Although it is not expressly stated, one can infer it from his leave-taking from R. Chiya. R. Chiya said to him in farewell, when he left his uncle to return to Babylonia, “May the Almighty protect you from a fate worse than death!” Later Rav wondered what could be worse than death, until he remembered the verse in Ecclesiastes (VII, 26) which states that “Woman is more bitter than death.” One may infer therefore that his uncle wished to warn him to be very careful in picking his wife.43)יבמות ס״ג א׳.