The Hidden Derasha from Mishlei
It was easy to miss, because of the way people typically learn gemara, but there was a hidden derasha yesterday, that I didn’t see addressed by the commentators on the daf. There was a section within a larger body of interpretations of Iyov 40, about gradations of bounty from the Leviathan, where they diverged and cited a random verse from Mishlei. Thus, Bava Batra 75:
וְאָמַר רַבָּה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: עָתִיד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַעֲשׂוֹת סוּכָּה לַצַּדִּיקִים מֵעוֹרוֹ שֶׁל לִוְיָתָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״הַתְמַלֵּא בְשֻׂכּוֹת עוֹרוֹ״. זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ סוּכָּה, לֹא זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ צִלְצָל; שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּבְצִלְצַל דָּגִים רֹאשׁוֹ״.
And Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will prepare a sukka for the righteous from the skin of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Can you fill his skin with barbed irons [besukkot]” (Job 40:31). If one is deserving of being called righteous, an entire sukka is prepared for him from the skin of the leviathan; if one is not deserving of this honor, a covering is prepared for his head, as it is stated: “Or his head with fish-spears” (Job 40:31).
זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ צִלְצָל, לֹא זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ עֲנָק; שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַעֲנָקִים לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶיךָ״. זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ עֲנָק, לֹא זָכָה – עוֹשִׂין לוֹ קָמֵיעַ; שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְתִקְשְׁרֶנּוּ לְנַעֲרוֹתֶיךָ״.
If one is deserving at least of this reward, a covering is prepared for him, and if one is not deserving, a necklace is prepared for him, as it is stated: “And necklaces about your neck” (Proverbs 1:9). If one is somewhat deserving, a necklace is prepared for him, and if one is not deserving even of this, only an amulet is prepared for him from the skin of the leviathan, as it is stated: “Or will you bind him for your maidens” (Job 40:29), i.e., a small amulet is prepared for him, like the amulets tied on children’s necks.
So, the gradations are:
sukkah
tziltzel, meaning shade; compare מטללא meaning roof, shade, sometimes sukkah, in Aramaic, since one of the tzadis in Hebrew maps to the tet in Aramaic
anak, meaning necklace
kameia, as an amulet, a step down from there
People often don’t bother thinking about where the verse is coming from. But it is Iyov 40 pasuk 31, end of pasuk 31, go off to Mishlei 1:9, back to Iyov 40 but two pesukim back to pasuk 29.
What does Mishlei 1:9 have to do with anything? Well, the context is this:
שְׁמַ֣ע בְּ֭נִי מוּסַ֣ר אָבִ֑יךָ וְאַל־תִּ֝טֹּ֗שׁ תּוֹרַ֥ת אִמֶּֽךָ׃
My son, heed the discipline of your father,
And do not forsake the instruction of your mother;כִּ֤י ׀ לִוְיַ֤ת חֵ֓ן הֵ֬ם לְרֹאשֶׁ֑ךָ וַ֝עֲנָקִ֗ים לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶֽךָ׃
For they are a graceful wreath upon your head,
A necklace about your throat.
Livyat chen, a graceful wreath, in the first part of the pasuk, is reread as if it referred to the Leviathan. Just pointing it out because I’m always on the look for the “hidden derasha”.
Someone asked at yesterday’s daf yomi shiur about one time Rabba bar bar Chana quoting Rabbi Yonatan instead of Rabbi Yochanan, within a whole chain in which he’s quoting Rabbi Yochanan. My reaction is that it is presumably a scribal error, because Yonatan / Yochanan is a common taut sofer, but check Hachi Garsinan. Indeed, we see that manuscripts vary here:
One other really interesting variant was the two Amoraim in Israel, or alternatively, two angels in Heaven:
״וְשַׂמְתִּי כַּדְכֹד שִׁמְשֹׁתַיִךְ״ – אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי: פְּלִיגִי תְּרֵי מַלְאֲכֵי בִּרְקִיעָא – גַּבְרִיאֵל וּמִיכָאֵל; וְאָמְרִי לַהּ תְּרֵי אָמוֹרָאֵי בְּמַעְרְבָא, וּמַאן אִינּוּן – יְהוּדָה וְחִזְקִיָּה בְּנֵי רַבִּי חִיָּיא; חַד אָמַר: שׁוֹהַם, וְחַד אָמַר: יָשְׁפֵה. אָמַר לְהוּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: לֶהֱוֵי כְּדֵין וּכְדֵין.
§ With regard to the future glory of Jerusalem, the Gemara interprets the verse: “And I will make your pinnacles of kadkhod” (Isaiah 54:12). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Two angels in heaven, Gabriel and Michael, disagree with regard to the material that will be used to form the walls of Jerusalem. And some say that this dispute is between two amora’im in the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael. And who are they? They are Yehuda and Ḥizkiyya, the sons of Rabbi Ḥiyya. One said they will be made of onyx, and one said of jasper. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: Let it be like this [kedein] and like that [ukhedein], i.e., let them be formed from both together. This compromise is indicated by the word kadkhod, a combination of this [kedein] and that [ukhedein].
With the dual or meta-pun of kodkod, being first the topic of what they are trying to define, and then Hashem’s taking both as a compromise.
Slight variants in texts. The Pisaro printing skips one of the two amri lah variants, so that only the angels argue, not the Amoraim (which as Rashbam grapples with, are much later than Yeshaya prophesied):
and the Paris manuscript has on earth rather than in the West, which provides a nice contrast for the rakia:
