בכורות 55:2 — Soncino English Talmud

springs higher than the Euphrates? — Said R. Mesharshea: These are the upper parts [the sources] of the Euphrates. But is it not written: And as to the fourth river it is the Euphrates? — Said R. Nahman b. Isaac, (others say: R. Aha b. Jacob): [It means thus]: It is the Euphrates [mentioned] first. It has been taught: Its name is Yubal [river] because Scripture says: For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth the roots by the river [Yubal]. And why is it called Perath? Because its waters are fruitful [fructifying] and increase. [But the Sages say its name is Perath. The Master said: Because its waters are fruitful and increase]. This supports Samuel. For Samuel said: The river grows from the waters coming down its banks. In this he differs from Rab. For R. Ammi reported in the name of Rab: The rise of the Euphrates is a weighty witness [indication] that it has rained in Palestine. The father of Samuel made a mikweh for his daughters in the days of Nisan and had mats laid for them in the days of Tishri. ‘He made a mikweh in the days of Nisan’ because he agreed with Rab. For R. Ammi reported in the name of Rab: The rise of the Euphrates is a weighty witness [indication] that it has rained in Palestine. We fear therefore lest the dripping water will be more than the flowing water and thus the greater part will consist of rain water. ‘And had mats laid for them in the days of Tishri’. And there is a discrepancy between two opinions held by him. For Samuel said: Waters do not ritually cleanse in a running condition, except the river Euphrates in the days of Tishri. MISHNAH. AN ANIMAL BOUGHT OR GIVEN AS A PRESENT IS EXEMPT FROM THE LAW OF CATTLE TITHE. GEMARA. Whence is this proved? — Said R. Kahana: Because Scripture says: The first-born of thy sons thou shalt give unto Me. Likewise thou shalt do with thine oxen and with thy sheep; 16^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ

^ᵃnote:Lit., ‘ladders’, so called because they gush forth and look like ladders on the mountain slopes.
^ᵇnote:Gen. II, 14 thus proving that the Euphrates is one of the rivers, and you say that they all issue from it.
^ᶜnote:I.e., the river which went forth from Eden, and from thence was parted and became four heads (Gen. II, 10). The explanation is based on the superfluous ‘it is’.
^ᵈnote:That of the Euphrates.
^ᵉnote:Jer. XVII, 8, referring to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Life was in the Garden of Eden, the Euphrates watering the Garden of Eden.
^ᶠnote:Welling up spontaneously without the help of rain.
^ᵍnote:Inserted with Sh. Mek.
^ʰnote:Aliter: from its bed. Not from rain. And although Samuel does not distinctly mention the Euphrates, yet since all rivers draw from it, if ordinary rivers are fruitful, this is due to the waters of Euphrates being fruitful and increasing (Tosaf.).
^ⁱnote:A gathering of flowing waters for ritual immersion. Samuel would have one specially constructed as he would not allow them to bathe in the rivers in case the rain water dropping from the clouds and the melting snows were greater than the flowing waters.
^ʲnote:Spread at the bottom of the river in which they bathed so that the mud should not interpose when bathing. Another opinion (Tosaf.) is: that the mats were put up on the shore as a screen, for in the days of Tishri the rivers were low, and for fear of being seen, they might hurry the bathing and not do it properly.
^ᵏnote:I.e., the rain water.
^ˡnote:And rain water does not cleanse when it turns into a stream.
^ᵐnote:By Samuel, who says above that a river grows waters coming down the shores, which contradicts the opinion expressed by him in the following observation. Var. lec.: There is a discrepancy between one opinion of Samuel and another.
^ⁿnote:For the dripping water, the rain water, is constantly the larger amount.
^ᵒnote:Because there is then a decrease in the rain water and also because the Euphrates is constantly welling up with fresh waters. Consequently, we see that he holds that rivers grow from rain water, unlike the opinion expressed above. Another explanation is (Rashi): Samuel's father specially made a mikweh for his daughters because it was the end of the winter and after the great rains but not in the middle of winter, whereas here Samuel says that we always require a mikweh except when bathing in the Euphrates in the days of Tishri. For further notes v. Ned., Sonc. ed., p. 129.
^ᵖnote:Ex. XXII, 28, 29.