Bava Batra

there was no [divine] communication with Moses;  for it is said, So it came to pass, when all the mem of war were consumed and dead from among the people, that the Lord spoke unto me saying,  '[only then', said Moses] 'was there speaking  to me'.  'Ulla said: [It was] the day on which Hosea,  son of Elah, removed the guards whom Jeroboam  had placed on the roads to prevent Israel from making the pilgrimages to Jerusalem.  R. Mattena said: [It was] the day on which the slain of Bether  obtained [suitable] burial; for R. Mattena said [elsewhere]:  On the day when the slain of Bether obtained burial [the benediction] 'who art kind and dealest kindly'  was instituted at Jabneh  'Who art kind' [was instituted] because they  did not decompose;  'and dealest kindly' [was instituted] because they obtained burial. Both Rabbah and R. Joseph said: [It was] the day on which they ceased cutting wood for the altar. It was taught: R. Eliezer the Great said: As soon as the fifteenth of Ab arrived, the power of the sun weakened and they chopped no [more] wood for the altar.  R. Manasseh said: They called it,  'the day of the breaking of the axe.' From that [day]  onwards, he who adds [from the night to the day]  will [also] add [length of days and years for himself],  [and he] who does not add [from the night to the day], decreases [his years].  What [is meant by] 'decreases'? R. Joseph learnt: His mother will bury him. Our Rabbis taught: Seven [men] spanned  [the life of] the whole world.  [For] Methuselah saw Adam; Shem saw Methuselah, Jacob saw Shem; Amram saw Jacob; Ahijah the Shilonite saw Amram; Elijah saw Ahijah the Shilonite, and he  is still alive. And [did] Ahijah the Shilonite see Amram? Surely it is written, And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun!  — R. Hamnuna replied: The decree  was not directed  against the tribe of Levi;  for it is written, Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward;  [this implies that a tribe] that was numbered from twenty years old and upward [came under the decree]; the tribe of Levi, [however], having been numbered  from thirty years old, was excluded. Did none of the [members of the] other tribes  enter [the promised land]? Surely it was taught: Jair the son of Manasseh and Machir the son of Manasseh were 'born in the days of Jacob and did not die before Israel entered the [promised] land; for it is said, And the men of the Ai smote of them about thirty and six men,  and it was taught  'actually thirty six men' [these are] the words of R. Judah; R. Nehemiah, [however], said unto him: Was it said, 'thirty and six'? Surely it was said, about  thirty and six! But this  [must refer to] Jair the son of Manasseh who was equal to the greater part of the Sanhedrin!  — But, said R. Aha b. Jacob, the decree  was directed  neither against one [who was] under twenty years of age, nor against [one who was] over sixty years of age. [It was directed] neither against [one] under twenty years of age' — for it is written, from twenty years old and upward;  'nor against [one] over sixty years of age' — for 'and upward'  is deduced from 'and upward'  [in the section] of valuations,  as there, [one] over sixty years of age is like [one] under twenty years of age,  so here, one over sixty years of age is like one [who is] under twenty years of age. The question was raised: Was the land of Israel divided according to the [number of the] tribes,  or was it, perhaps divided according to the [number of the] head[s] of the men?