Bava Batra

With [eth] Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son?  — He said: I possessed a precious pearl  and you seek to deprive me of it.  Thus said  R. Hama b. Hanina, 'It  was Jochebed who was conceived on the way  and born between the walls [of Egypt], for it is said, Who was born to Levi in Egypt,  [which implies that] her birth was in Egypt but her conception was not in Egypt'. R. Helbo enquired of R. Samuel b. Nahmani: It is written, And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph etc.;  why  just when Joseph was horn? He replied to him: Jacob our father saw that Esau's seed would be delivered only into the hands of Joseph's seed for it is said, And the house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble etc. He pointed out to him the following objection: And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day!  — He replied to him: He who taught you the Prophets did not teach you the Writings,  for it is written, As he went to Zicklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah and Jozabad and Jediael and Michael and Jozabad and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands that were of Manasseh. R. Joseph raised an objection; And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Palatiah and Neariah, and Raphaiah and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and dwelt there unto this day!  — Rabbah b. Shila replied; Ishi descended from the sons of Manasseh, for it is written, And the sons of Manasseh were Hepher and Ishi. Our Rabbis taught: The firstborn son [of a priest] takes a double portion in the shoulder, and the [two] cheeks, and the maw,  in consecrated objects and in the [natural] appreciation of an estate that accrued after the death of the father.  How [is this to be understood]? — [If] their father had bequeathed to them a cow [that was] rented out to others [for half profit], or given on hire [at a fixed rate], or feeding in the meadow, and it gave birth to a firstling, he  takes [in it] a double portion;  but if they  built houses or planted vineyards, the firstborn does not take [in them] a double portion. How is one to understand [the statement about] the shoulder, and the [two] cheeks, and the maw? If these were already in the possession  of their father, [it is] obvious [that the firstborn is to take a double portion]; and if they were not already in the possession of their father, [at the time of his death], this [is a case of] prospective [property]  and, [surely], a firstborn does not take [a double portion] in prospective [property] as [he does] in that which [was] in the [actual] possession [of his father at the time of his death]! — [The law], here, relates to the case where [the givers  were] acquaintances of the priest,  and [the beast] was [ritually] killed in the lifetime of the father;  and [the Tanna] holds that the [priestly] gifts are regarded as [already] given,  [even though] they have not [actually] been given. 'Consecrated things' [surely], are not his!  — [The law here relates to] consecrated objects of a minor degree and [it is] in accordance with [the view of] R. Jose the Galilean who holds that they  are the property of the owner.  For it was taught: And commit a trespass against the Lord [and deal falsely with his neighbour etc.]  includes consecrated things of a minor degree which are the property of the owner  — these are the words of R. Jose the Galilean. 'If their father had bequeathed to them a cow that was rented out to others [for half profit], or given on hire [at a fixed rate], or feeding in the meadow, and it gave birth to a firstling, he takes [in it] a double portion.' Since it was said that he takes [a double portion in the case of a cow that was] rented out or given on hire, though, [in both cases,] it is not standing in the domain of its owner, is there any need [to mention the case when] it feeds in the meadow?  It is this that was [intended to be] taught: That one rented out or given on hire [is subject to] the same [law as] one that feeds in the meadow. As [in the case of the] one that feeds in the meadow, the appreciation [is such] as comes naturally, and they  do not lose [the cost of its] food