Bava Batra

but no inheritance is passed from the father even where there is a daughter'?  — If so  the Torah should not have written  [at all]. Then ye shall cause [his inheritance] to pass [unto his daughter]. According to him who infers it  from, then ye shall cause [his inheritance] to pass,  what is [the phrase], his kinsman, to be applied to? — He applies  it, to [the following], as it was taught: His kinsman,  refers to his wife: [and this] teaches that the husband is heir to his wife.  And according to him who infers its from his kinsman, to what does he apply [the expression], then ye shall cause [his inheritance] to pass?  — He applies it to [the following]; as it was taught: Rabbi said: In [the case of] all [the relatives],  [the expression of] 'giving' is used, but here,  [the expression] used is that of 'causing to pass',  [in order to teach] you that no other but a daughter causes an inheritance to pass from one tribe to [another] tribe, since [in her case] her son or her husband are her heirs. What [reason] is there for deducing that she'ero  refers to the father? — Because it is written, She is thy father's near kinsman:  Why not [rather] say [that] she'ero refers to the mother since it is written, She is thy mother's near kinswoman?  — Raba replied: The Scriptural text says. that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it;  the family of the father is regarded  [as the proper] family [but] the family of the mother is not regarded  [as the proper] family; for it is written, by their families, by their father's houses.  [But] is not the mother's family regarded  [as the proper] family? Surely it is written, And there was a young man out of Bethlehem in Judah — of the family of Judah — who was a Levite, and he sojourned there;  [now], this is self-contradictory, [for] it is said, 'who was a Levite', which clearly indicates that he descended from Levi, [and it is also said], 'of the family of Judah,' which clearly shows that he descended from Judah; must it not then be concluded that his father [was of the tribe] of Levi and his mother [of that] of Judah, and [yet the text] speaks [of him as] 'of the family of Judah'! — Raba, son of R. Hanan, replied: No;  [he may have been] a man whose name was Levi.  If so, [is] this [the reason] why Micah said, 'Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite as my priest'?  — Yes; [he was glad] that he happened to obtain a man whose name was Levi. But was Levi his name? Surely his name was Jonathan, for it is said, And Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites?  — He said unto him: But [even] according to your argument, [it may be objected], 'Was he the son of Manasseh? Surely he was the son of Moses, for it is written, the son of Moses: Gershom, and Eliezer';  but [you must say that] because he acted [wickedly] as Manasseh,  the Scriptural text ascribed his  descent to Manasseh, [so] also here  [it may be said that], because he acted [wickedly] as Manasseh who descended from Judah, the Scriptural text ascribed his  descent to Judah.  R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: From here [one may infer] that corruption is ascribed  to the corrupt.  R. Jose b. Hanina said: [This  may be inferred] from the following: [It is written,] And he  was also a very goodly man, and he was born after Absalom;  was not Adonijah the son of Haggith, and Absalom the son of Maacah? But because he  acted in the same manner as Absalom who rebelled against the king, the Scriptural text associated  him with Absalom. R. Eleazar said: One should always associate  with good [people]; for behold, from Moses who married the daughter of Jethro,  there descended Jonathan  [while] from Aaron, who married the daughter of Amminadab, there descended Phinehas.  But did not Phinehas descend from Jethro? Surely it is written, And Eleazar  Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife;  does not this mean that he descended from Jethro who crammed  calves for idol worship? — No; [it means] that he descended from Joseph who conquered  his passions.  Did not, however, the tribes sneer at him and say.  'Have you seen this Puti-son?  A youth whose mother's father crammed calves for idol-worship should kill the head  of a tribe in Israel!'