נדרים 37 — Soncino English Talmud

¹We learnt: HE MAY NOT TEACH HIM SCRIPTURE. Now that is well on the view that remuneration is for the teaching of accentuation. But on the view that payment is for acting as guardian — does an adult need one? — It refers to a child. If so, consider the last clause: BUT HE MAY TEACH SCRIPTURE TO HIS SONS: can a child have children? — It is defective, and teaches thus: HE MAY NOT TEACH HIM SCRIPTURE in the case of a minor: but if he is an adult, HE MAY TEACH SCRIPTURE BOTH TO him and HIS SONS. An objection is raised: Children are not to study a new portion of Bible on the Sabbath; but they may make a first revision on the Sabbath. This is well on the view that remuneration is for the teaching of accentuation: hence a passage may not be read for the first time on the Sabbath; but on the view that payment is for acting as guardian, why is it forbidden to teach a passage for the first time on the Sabbath, yet permitted to give a first revision on the Sabbath; surely there is pay for guardianship oil the Sabbath? — Now, even according to your reasoning: is remuneration for teaching the accentuation on the Sabbath forbidden? Is it not included [in the weekly or monthly fee], which is permitted? For it was taught: If one engages a [day] labourer to look after a child, or the heifer, or to watch over the crops, he may not pay him for the Sabbath: therefore^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ

^ᵃnote:Hence, Bible teaching to an adult should be unremunerated, in which case it should be permitted in the Mishnah.
^ᵇnote:I.e., having studied it before, they may revise it even for the first time on the Sabbath.
^ᶜnote:Because remuneration is made chiefly for teaching a passage for the first time, as that is the most difficult part of instruction. Hence, if a new passage is thus taught on the Sabbath, the teacher is paid chiefly for Sabbath labour, which is forbidden.
^ᵈnote:What does it matter whether the passage is a new' one or not? The guardianship is the same in both cases, and remuneration for such work on the Sabbath is forbidden.
^ᵉnote:That he should not ritually defile himself. It was customary for a child to draw the water from a well to mix with the ashes of the red heifer; this child had to be ritually clean.
^ᶠnote:This refers to the red heifer. The guardian was to take care that 'no yoke came upon it' (Num. XIX, 2).
^ᵍnote:This refers to the barley specially sown seventy days before Passover (Men. 85a) for the ceremony of 'sheaf waving' (v. Lev. XXIII. 11) and to the wheat of which were made the 'two wave-loaves' on Pentecost (ibid. 17). These crops were specially guarded.
^ʰnote:Since each day is separately paid for, and payment for the Sabbath per se is forbidden.

²Now, he who maintains that remuneration is for the teaching of accentuation, — why does he reject the view that it is for acting as guardian? — He reasons: Do daughters then need guarding? And he who maintains that the fee is for guardianship, — why does he reject the view that it is for teaching accents? — He holds that accents are also Biblical; for R. Ika b. Abin said in the name of R. Hananel in Rab's name: What is the meaning of, And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading? 'They read in the book, it, the law of God,' refers to Scripture; 'distinctly,' to Targum; 'and they gave the sense', to the division of sentences; 'so that they understood the reading,' to the accentuation; others say, to the masoroth. R. Isaac said: The textual reading, as transmitted by the Soferim, their stylistic embellishments, [words] read [in the text] but not written, and words written but omitted in the reading, are all halachah from Moses at Sinai. By textual reading is meant words as erez, shamayim, mizraim. Stylistic embellishments: e.g., [and comfort ye your hearts;] after that ye shall pass on. [Let the damsel abide with its a few days, at least ten:] after that she shall go. [Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites;] afterwards, shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. [The singers went before,] the players on instruments followed after. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. [Words] read [in the text] but not written: [the word] 'Euphrates' in [the verse] as he went to recover his border at the river [Euphrates]; [the word] 'man' in [the verse] And the counsel of Ahitophel … was as if a [man] had enquired of the oracle of God; [the word] 'come' in [the verse] Behold, the days [come], saith the Lord, the city shall be built etc.; 'for it' in [the verse] let there be no escape [for it]: 'unto me' in [the verse] All that thou sayest [unto me] I will do; 'to me' [in the verse] And she went down unto the floor; 'to me' in [the verse] And she said, These six measures of barley gave he unto me; for he said [to me], All these [words] are read but not written. The following are written but not read: [the word] 'pray' in forgive; ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ

^ⁱnote:Girls are generally at home and do not venture into the streets; hence require no guarding. Now the Mishnah states in general terms that he may not teach Scripture. Though this, as explained, refers to a minor, yet even so the law holds good both of boys and of girls, since no limitations are given. But if payment is for guardianship, he should be permitted to teach girls, who do not need it. — Another reading is: does an adult need guarding? According to this, the explanation that the Mishnah refers to a minor is rejected as being too farfetched.
^ʲnote:I.e., the system of accentuations goes back to Moses: consequently it was included in Moses' prohibition.
^ᵏnote:Neh. VIII, 8.
^ˡnote:Targum, 'translation', generally refers to the Aramaic translation of the Bible. In Mishnaic phraseology it might refer to a translation from Hebrew or the Bible into any language, (v. J. Kid. 59a, where it denotes a Greek version of Aquila; Meg. II, 1; Shab. 115a), but the word Targum by itself was restricted to the Aramaic version of the Bible. This Aramaic translation was publically read in the synagogue, along with the original text, and rules for reading it were formulated (v. Meg. II, 1; Tosef. Meg. II, V). This practice was an ancient institution, dating back to the Second Temple, and according to Rab, going back to Ezra, v. J.E., XII, p. 57.
^ᵐnote:Masoroth: Tosaf and Asheri refer this to the plene and defective readings, e.g., where the 'o' is represented by waw (plene) and where it is missing (defective); where the 'i' is shewn by yod, and where not. Ran simply states: the traditional readings. The term 'masorah' occurs in Ezek. XX, 37, and means 'fetter'. Thus the masorah is a fetter upon the text, i.e., it fixes its reading. In course of time it was connected with masar (to hand down), and thus came to mean traditional reading. The old Hebrew text was in all probability written without any breaks. it was the work of the Masorites to make the divisions into words, books, sections, paragraphs, etc., and fix the orthography and pronunciation. The traditionally fixed text, especially with a view to its orthography, was called masoreth; the division into sense-clauses, pisuk te'ammim; the traditional pronunciation, mikra. V. J.E. s.v. Masorah.
^ⁿnote:V. preceding note.
^ᵒnote:I.e., though these were established by the Soferim (v. Glos.) they are based on usage going back to Moses.
^ᵖnote:In pause (viz., an ethnahta or sof pasuk) the tone-vowels are lengthened. Since there is nothing in the lettering to indicate this grammatical change, it was the work of the Soferim to teach it.
^ᵠnote:Gen. XVIII, 5.
^ʳnote:Num. XXXI, 2.
^ˢnote:Ps. LXVIII, 26.
^ᵗnote:Ps. XXXVI, 7. In all these examples 'after' is strictly speaking superfluous, for the verses would have made the same sense without it (presumably by the use of the copulative). In the last example, the comparative kaf (like) is also unnecessary, being omitted in the parallel stich: thy judgements are a great deep. But they are inserted in the text in order to give it a smoother flow. Ran: In all these cases, 'after' (Heb. ahar). and in the last example, 'like the mountains' (Heb. keharere) bear a disjunctive accent, so as to elucidate the meaning. E.g., the first example (disregarding the accents) might read, 'and comfort ye your hearts after ye shall have passed', and so the other examples. The last example, owing to the disjunctive of ke-harere, is according to Ran to be translated: Thy righteousness, O God, is as (manifest as) the mountains. These disjunctives are referred to as the embellishments of the Soferim. Goldschmidt, Nedarim a.l. (p. 442, n. 84) observes that a copulative word has been omitted in all these texts, as is shewn by the Samaritan text and some MSS.
^ᵘnote:II Sam. VIII, 3.
^ᵛnote:Ibid. XVI, 23.
^ʷnote:Jer. XXXI, 38.
^ˣnote:Jer. L. 29.
^ʸnote:Ruth III, 5.
^ᶻnote:Ibid. 17.
^ᵃᵃnote:Wilna Gaon adds the following examples, given in some editions, and also in Soferim VI, 8: But (the children of) Benjamin would not hearken (Jud. XX, 13); Because (Heb. Ki 'al ken: ken is read but not written) the king's son is dead (II Sam. XVIII, 20); The seal of the Lord of (hosts) (II Kings XIX, 31); Adrammelech and Sharaezer (his sons) smote him (Ibid. 37).
^ᵃᵇnote:II Kings V, 18.