Large Numbers (≥100) in the Talmud: A Data Analysis
The Talmud, a vast collection of Jewish law and commentary spanning 5,000+ pages, contains extensive numerical references. Using computational text analysis, we extracted every number of 100 or greater from the complete text to examine how numbers function in this ancient corpus.
The analysis identified 1,813 instances of numbers ≥100 across the Talmud's 13.9 million characters.1 These range from common amounts like "one hundred dinars" to large figures reaching 40 million. The distribution and patterns of these numbers offer insights into numerical practices in Talmudic literature.
Outline
Intro
Large Numbers (≥100) in the Talmud: A Data Analysis
The Dominance of Specific Numbers
Distribution Patterns
Three Forms of Expression
Contextual Usage
Specific Number Patterns
Scale
Methodological Notes
What the Data Shows
Implications for Text Analysis
Appendix - Some Notable Passages Related to Large Numbers - Large Measurements (Maneh, Dinarii) and Large Numbers of People
Large Measurements (Maneh, Dinarii)
The Galilean Oil Tycoon: The agent of Laodicea, the Farmer of Gush Ḥalav, and the Olive Oil Wealth of Asher’s Land (Menachot 85b)
Blessing of Asher - Olive Oil (Deuteronomy 33:24)
The people of Laodicea sent an Agent to purchase 1 million maneh of olive oil
The agent first visits Jerusalem, then Tyre, but neither has sufficient supply of oil; he’s directed to Gush Ḥalav (in the Galilee)
Encounter With the Galilean Farmer
The agent, skeptical due to the farmer’s casual behavior and the modest rural setting, assumes he's been tricked
Revelation of the Farmer’s large amount of olive oil and Fulfillment of the Verse
Generosity and Unexpected Credit - total of 1,180,000 maneh of oil
Transporting the massive amount of olive oil required renting every available draft animal in Eretz Yisrael
The Moral: Hidden Wealth (Proverbs 13:7)
Nakdimon ben Guryon's daughter had a million gold dinarii listed as her dowry in her marriage contract (Ketubot 66b-67a)
R' Yehuda HaNasi’s Lavish Wedding For His Son - spent 240 million dinarii on the canopy (Nedarim 50b-51a)
R' Elazar ben Ḥarsum's Priestly Tunic - Valued at 20,000 dinarii (Yoma 35b)
Large Numbers of People
Number of Victims of Massacres by Hadrian (1.2 million; in 123 CE) and Vespasian (4 million or 40 million; in 70 CE) (Gittin 57b)
“King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’) (Gittin 57a)
300,000 Roman soldiers perpetrated the Massacre of “King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’)
Ravin citing R' Yoḥanan - Population Traditions-- 600,000 cities in Tur Malka (Lamentations 2:2)
Rav Yehuda citing Rav Asi - Each of the 600,000 cities had a population of 600,000
The Definition of “Crowd” - 600,000 people (Berakhot 57b-58a)
Census by King Agrippa of Number of People in Jerusalem for Passover - 6 million people (Pesachim 64b)
Large Numbers of Angels
R’ Simai - When Israel said “We will do” before “We will hear,” 600,000 angels gave each person two crowns; When they sinned with the Golden Calf, 1.2 million destructive angels removed the crowns (Shabbat 88a-89a)
The danger of Agrat bat Maḥalat and 180,000 angels of destruction on Tuesday and Friday nights (Pesachim 112a-114a)
The Dominance of Specific Numbers
The most striking finding is the frequency distribution. The number 100 appears 792 times—44% of all large numbers in the text. The number 200 appears 231 times (13%), and 1,000 appears 115 times (6%). These three numbers alone account for 63% of all instances.
Round numbers dominate throughout. Numbers ending in zeros (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1000, 2000, etc.) make up the vast majority of references, while precise figures like 603,550 or 78,600 appear infrequently but consistently in specific contexts.
Distribution Patterns
The data shows clear clustering in certain ranges:
76% of numbers fall between 100-499
4% fall between 500-999
11% fall between 1,000-4,999
Only 5% exceed 10,000
This distribution suggests most numerical references relate to quantities within everyday experience—monetary amounts, measurements, and counts that would arise in legal and ritual discussions.
Three Forms of Expression
The analysis found numbers expressed by ed. Steinsaltz (at Sefaria) in three distinct ways:
Written words (90% of instances): "six hundred thousand," "one hundred," "forty million"
Arabic numerals (7.5% of instances): "603,550," "1,200,000," "940,000"
Mixed detection (2.5% of instances): Numbers identified through linguistic analysis
Ed. Steinsaltz has an overwhelming preference for written-out numbers.
Contextual Usage
Examination of the contexts reveals several patterns:
Legal discussions frequently reference round hundreds: "one hundred dinarii," "two hundred measures"
Historical passages contain the largest numbers: population counts in millions, and historical amounts of dinarii in dowries2
Ritual contexts often include specific calendrical numbers: 365 (solar year),3 354 (lunar year)
Census data preserves precise figures: 603,550 appears three times in similar contexts
Specific Number Patterns
Certain numbers appear with remarkable consistency:
600,000 appears 22 times, referring to the traditional count of Israelites in the Exodus4
365 appears 12 times in calendrical discussions
248 appears 9 times5
12,000 appears 18 times across various contexts
2,000 appears a large number of times, typically in the context of techum shabbat6
These repetitions suggest some numbers carried special significance beyond their quantitative value.
Scale
The largest numbers in the corpus relate to casualties in historical contexts.7 Examples:
40,000,000: "forty million"
4,000,000: "four million"
1,200,000
1,000,000: "one million" (appears 5 times)
These large numbers typically use the Hebrew term for “myriad”, i.e. 10,000: ribo.8 Many of these numbers are clearly hyperbolic.9
Meanwhile, the most precise numbers often appear in technical or census-related passages:
603,550 (appears 3 times)
78,600 (specific count)
211,000 (precise figure)
This split between round historical figures and precise technical numbers is consistent throughout the text.
Methodological Notes
The analysis used three extraction methods:
Regex pattern matching for written numbers
Numerical pattern recognition for Arabic numerals
Natural language processing for additional detection
All three methods showed high agreement, with 100% successful conversion of identified numbers to numeric values. The computational approach allowed systematic analysis across the entire corpus rather than selective sampling.
What the Data Shows
The numerical landscape of the Talmud reveals several observable patterns:
Heavy reliance on round numbers, particularly multiples of 100
Consistent usage of specific figures across different sections
Distinction between precise technical numbers and round historical estimates
Strong preference for written-out rather than symbolic representation
These patterns reflect the numerical practices embedded in Talmudic literature. Whether they represent broader ancient practices, specific scribal conventions, or the particular needs of legal discourse remains an open question.
The data provides a foundation for understanding how numbers functioned in this influential text, offering a quantitative perspective on questions that have traditionally been approached through qualitative analysis alone.
Implications for Text Analysis
This computational approach demonstrates the value of systematic numerical analysis for understanding large textual corpora. The Talmud's 1,813 large numbers, when analyzed collectively, reveal patterns that would be difficult to detect through traditional close reading methods.
The findings raise questions about numerical practices in other ancient texts and suggest that computational analysis might reveal similar patterns in comparable corpora. For the Talmud specifically, the data provides a quantitative baseline for future studies of numerical symbolism, historical claims, and mathematical thinking in ancient Jewish literature.
Appendix - Some Notable Passages Related to Large Numbers - Large Measurements (Maneh, Dinarii) and Large Numbers of People
Large Measurements (Maneh, Dinarii)
The Galilean Oil Tycoon: The agent of Laodicea, the Farmer of Gush Ḥalav, and the Olive Oil Wealth of Asher’s Land (Menachot 85b)
Blessing of Asher - Olive Oil (Deuteronomy 33:24)
A baraita interprets Moses’ blessing to Asher—“immerse his foot in oil” (Deuteronomy 33:24)—as a literal reference to olive oil abundance in the territory of the tribe of Asher.
תנו רבנן
(דברים לג, כד) "וטובל בשמן רגלו"
זה חלקו של אשר
שמושך שמן כמעין
A baraita states:
In his blessing to the tribe of Asher, Moses said: “He will be pleasing to his brothers, and immerse his foot in oil” (Deuteronomy 33:24).
This is referring to the portion of Asher,
as the oil flows there like a spring (מעין)
The people of Laodicea sent an Agent to purchase 1 million maneh of olive oil
The people of Laodicea10 commission an agent11 to purchase a massive quantity of olive oil: 1 million maneh.
אמרו:
פעם אחת
נצרכו להן אנשי לודקיא בשמן
מינו להן פולמוסטוס אחד
אמרו לו: לך והבא לנו שמן במאה ריבוא.
The Talmud relates: They said that
once,
the people of Laodicea were in need of oil.
They appointed a non-Jew messenger [polmostos]
and said to him: Go and bring us one million maneh worth of oil.
The agent first visits Jerusalem, then Tyre, but neither has sufficient supply of oil; he’s directed to Gush Ḥalav (in the Galilee)
He first visits Jerusalem, then Tyre12—both urban centers with commercial significance—but neither has sufficient supply. In Tyre, he’s directed to Gush Ḥalav.13
In Gush Ḥalav, the envoy is sent to a particular field.
הלך לירושלים
אמרו לו: לך לצור
הלך לצור
אמרו לו: לך לגוש חלב
הלך לגוש חלב
אמרו לו: לך אצל פלוני לשדה הלז
He first went to Jerusalem to procure the oil,
but residents there did not have that quantity of oil. They said to him: Go to Tyre, which was a commercial city.
He went to Tyre,
but they also did not have enough oil. They said to him: Go to Gush Ḥalav, which is located in the portion of Asher.
He went to Gush Ḥalav,
and they said to him: Go to so-and-so, to that field.
Encounter With the Galilean Farmer
Arriving in that field, he finds a man hoeing (עוזק) beneath his olive trees.
The man casually tells the envoy to wait until he finishes his work.
ומצאו שהיה עוזק תחת זיתיו
אמר לו: יש לך שמן במאה ריבוא שאני צריך?
אמר לו: המתן לי עד שאסיים מלאכתי
המתין עד שסיים מלאכתו.
He went there and found someone hoeing [ozek] under his olive trees.
The messenger said to that man: Do you have the one million maneh worth of oil that I need?
The man said to him: Wait for me until I complete my labor, i.e., hoeing.
The messenger waited until the man completed his labor.
The agent, skeptical due to the farmer’s casual behavior and the modest rural setting, assumes he's been tricked
לאחר שסיים מלאכתו
הפשיל כליו לאחוריו
והיה מסקל ובא בדרך
אמר לו:
יש לך שמן במאה ריבוא?!
כמדומה אני ששחוק שחקו בי היהודים
After he completed his labor,
the man slung (הפשיל) his tools over his shoulders behind him, a manner typical of poor laborers, and started walking,
and he was removing stones (מסקל) from his orchard as he went along the path.
Upon seeing this behavior, which suggested the man was merely a laborer, the messenger questioned whether the man was truly able to provide him with the oil.
He said to the man:
Can it be that you really have the one million maneh worth of oil that I need?!
It seems to me that the Jews of Gush Ḥalav are making a laughingstock14 of me by sending me here.
Revelation of the Farmer’s large amount of olive oil and Fulfillment of the Verse
Returning to his home, the man’s female slave brings him hot water in a kettle (קומקמום) to wash.
She then presents a golden basin (ספל) filled with oil, in which he immerses his hands and feet—enacting the biblical phrase (cited earlier, in Deuteronomy 33:24) literally.
כיון שהגיע לעירו
הוציאה לו שפחתו קומקמום של חמין
ורחץ בו ידיו ורגליו
הוציאה לו ספל של זהב מליאה שמן
וטבל בו ידיו ורגליו
לקיים מה שנאמר: "וטובל בשמן רגלו"
When he reached his city,
the man’s female slave brought out to him a kettle [kumkemos] of hot water,
and he washed his hands and his feet.
Afterward, she brought out to him a golden basin filled with oil,
in which he immersed his hands and feet,
in fulfillment of that which is stated with regard to the Tribe of Asher: “And immerse his foot in oil” (Deuteronomy 33:24).
Generosity and Unexpected Credit - total of 1,180,000 maneh of oil
After sharing a meal, the man measures out exactly 1 million maneh of oil.
When the envoy asks for more but admits he lacks funds, the man offers him additional oil on credit—another 180,000 maneh—and volunteers to accompany him to collect payment.
לאחר שאכלו ושתו
מדד לו שמן במאה ריבוא
אמר לו: כלום אתה צריך ליותר?
אמר לו: הן, אלא שאין לי דמים
אמר לו:
אם אתה רוצה ליקח
קח
ואני אלך עמך ואטול דמיו
מדד לו שמן בשמונה עשר ריבוא
After they ate and drank,
the man measured out for the messenger one million maneh worth of oil.
The man said to him: Are you sure that you do not need any more oil?
The messenger said to him: Yes, I do need more, but I do not have the money for it.
The man said to him:
If you wish to take more oil,
take it
and I will go back to Laodicea with you and collect the money for the extra oil there.
The messenger agreed and the man measured out an additional 180,000 maneh worth of oil.
Transporting the massive amount of olive oil required renting every available draft animal in Eretz Yisrael
אמרו:
לא הניח אותו האיש
לא סוס
ולא פרד
ולא גמל
ולא חמור
בארץ ישראל, שלא שכרו.
Concerning this incident, people said:
The messenger had such an enormous burden of oil that he left
neither a horse,
nor a mule (פרד),
nor a camel,
nor a donkey
in all of Eretz Yisrael, that he did not rent in order to help transport the oil back to Laodicea.
The Moral: Hidden Wealth (Proverbs 13:7)
When they return to Laodicea, the locals praise the envoy.
He redirects their praise to the man who supplied the oil, citing Proverbs 13:7: “There is one who seems to be rich yet has nothing, and one who seems to be poor yet possesses great wealth.”
כיון שהגיע לעירו
יצאו אנשי עירו לקלסו
אמר להם:
לא לי קלסוני
אלא לזה שבא עמי
שמדד לי שמן במאה ריבוא
והרי נושה בי בשמונה עשרה ריבוא
לקיים מה שנאמר (משלי יג, ז):
יש מתעשר ואין כל
מתרושש והון רב
When the messenger finally reached his city,
the people of his city came out to praise him15 for achieving this tremendous feat.
The messenger said to them:
Do not praise me.
Rather, praise this man who has come with me,
as it is he who measured for me one million maneh worth of oil,
and he extended a credit to me for 180,000 maneh worth of oil.
This incident was in fulfillment of that which is stated:
“There is one who seems to be rich, yet has nothing;
there is one who seems to be poor, yet has great wealth” (Proverbs 13:7).
Nakdimon ben Guryon's daughter had a million gold dinarii listed as her dowry in her marriage contract (Ketubot 66b-67a)
(Previously cited in my ““Gathering Barley from Arabs' Animals' Dung": The Dramatic Fall from Grace of Nakdimon ben Guryon’s Daughter (Ketubot 66b-67a)”, section “Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai encounters her”)
אמרה לו:
רבי!
זכור אתה כשחתמת על כתובתי?
אמר להן לתלמידיו:
זכור אני כשחתמתי על כתובתה של זו,
והייתי קורא בה:
אלף אלפים דינרי זהב מבית אביה
[...]
She said to him:
My master! (רבי - “rabbi”)
do you remember when you signed on my marriage contract?
He said to his students:
I remember that when I signed on the marriage contract of this woman,
and I read in it,
it listed a thousand thousands (אלף אלפים), i.e., one million gold dinars as a dowry from her father’s house
[...]
R' Yehuda HaNasi’s Lavish Wedding For His Son - spent 240 million dinarii on the canopy (Nedarim 50b-51a)
(Previously cited in my “Pt1 R' Yehuda HaNasi and Bar Kappara: Talmudic Stories of Humor, Wealth, and Reflection (Nedarim 50b-51a)”, section “R' Yehuda HaNasi’s Wedding Feud: His Lavish Wedding For His Son and Bar Kappara's Rebuke”.)
רבי עבד ליה הלולא לרבי שמעון ברבי,
כתב על בית גננא:
עשרין וארבעה אלפין ריבואין דינרין
נפקו על בית גננא דין
[...]
R' Yehuda HaNasi made a wedding for R' Shimon, son of R' Yehuda HaNasi.
Someone wrote on the canopy:
24,000 myriads [=240 million] dinars
were expended on this canopy
[...]
R' Elazar ben Ḥarsum's Priestly Tunic - Valued at 20,000 dinarii (Yoma 35b)
(Previously cited here, section “Appendix - Extravagant Priestly Garments and Their Limitations: R' Yishmael ben Pabi's Tunic and R' Elazar ben Ḥarsum's Transparent Tunic”. See my conjecture there that it was made of silk.)
אמרו עליו על רבי אלעזר בן חרסום:
שעשתה לו אמו כתונת משתי ריבוא
they said about the High Priest R' Elazar ben Ḥarsum:
that his mother made him a tunic worth 20,000 dinars
Large Numbers of People
Number of Victims of Massacres by Hadrian (1.2 million; in 123 CE) and Vespasian (4 million or 40 million; in 70 CE) (Gittin 57b)
(Previously cited in my “Rome’s Hands, Jacob’s Voice: A Talmudic Lament Over the Destruction (Gittin 57b-58a)“, section “Hadrian, Vespasian, and the wicked Roman Empire“.)
״הקול״,
זה אדריינוס קיסר,
שהרג באלכסנדריא של מצרים ששים רבוא על ששים רבוא, כפלים כיוצאי מצרים.
״קול יעקב״ –
זה אספסיינוס קיסר,
שהרג בכרך ביתר ארבע מאות רבוא,
ואמרי לה: ארבעת אלפים רבוא.
“The voice”;
this is the cry stirred up by the emperor Hadrian,
who caused the Jewish people to cry out when he killed 600,000 on 600,000 in Alexandria of Egypt, twice the number of men who left Egypt.
“The voice of Jacob”;
this is the cry aroused by the emperor Vespasian,
who killed 4 million people in the city of Beitar.
And some say: He killed 40 million people.
“King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’) (Gittin 57a)
(Previously cited in my “The Destruction of “King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’): A Story of Custom, Rebellion, and Massacre (Gittin 57a)”.)
300,000 Roman soldiers perpetrated the Massacre of “King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’)
According to R' Asi, 300,000 armed men massacred the population for three days and nights.
אמר רבי אסי:
תלת מאה אלפי שליפי סייפא עיילו לטור מלכא
וקטלו בה תלתא יומי ותלתא לילוותא
Rav Asi says:
300,000 men with drawn swords entered the King’s Mountain
and massacred its inhabitants for 3 days and 3 nights.
Ravin citing R' Yoḥanan - Population Traditions-- 600,000 cities in Tur Malka (Lamentations 2:2)
R' Yoḥanan interprets “YHWH has swallowed up... all the habitations of Jacob” (Lamentations 2:2) as referring to 600,000 cities in Tur Malka.
״בלע ה׳ ולא חמל את כל נאות יעקב״ –
כי אתא רבין, אמר רבי יוחנן:
אלו ששים רבוא עיירות שהיו לו לינאי המלך בהר המלך.
§ Concerning the verse: “YHWH has swallowed up without pity all the habitations of Jacob” (Lamentations 2:2),
it is related that when Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said that R' Yoḥanan says:
This is referring to the 600,000 cities that King Yannai had in the King’s Mountain.
Rav Yehuda citing Rav Asi - Each of the 600,000 cities had a population of 600,000
דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב אסי:
ששים רבוא עיירות היו לו לינאי המלך בהר המלך,
וכל אחת ואחת היו בה כיוצאי מצרים
As Rav Yehuda says that Rav Asi says:
King Yannai had 600,000 cities in the King’s Mountain,
and each of them had a population as great as the number of those who left Egypt [=600,000]
The Definition of “Crowd” - 600,000 people (Berakhot 57b-58a)
(Previously cited in my “Pt2 From Babylon’s Ruins to Jewish Multitudes: Talmudic Blessings for Idolatry, Crowds, and Leadership (Berakhot 57b-58a)”, section “The Biblical Jesse's Large Entourages and the Definition of “Crowd””)
תנא:
אין אוכלוסא פחותה מששים רבוא.
The Sage taught:
A “multitude” (אוכלוסא - from Greek) is no fewer than 600,000 people.
Census by King Agrippa of Number of People in Jerusalem for Passover - 6 million people (Pesachim 64b)
(Previously cited in my “Crowds, Crushes, and Censuses: Talmudic Historical Anecdotes of The Pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover in the Late Second Temple Period (Pesachim 64b)”, section “Census by King Agrippa”.)
תנו רבנן:
פעם אחת, ביקש אגריפס המלך ליתן עיניו באוכלוסי ישראל.
אמר ליה לכהן גדול: תן עיניך בפסחים.
נטל כוליא מכל אחד,
ונמצאו שם ששים ריבוא זוגי כליות, כפלים כיוצאי מצרים.
[...]
ואין לך כל פסח ופסח שלא נמנו עליו יותר מעשרה בני אדם
The Sages taught:
Once, King Agrippa wished to set his eyes on the multitudes [ukhlosin] of Israel to know how many they were.
He said to the High Priest: Set your eyes on the Paschal lambs; count how many animals are brought in order to approximate the number of people.
The High Priest took a kidney from each one, as the kidneys are burned on the altar,
and 600,000 pairs of kidneys were found there, double the number of those who left Egypt.
[...]
Furthermore, this was a count of the Paschal lambs and not of the people, and there was not a single Paschal lamb that did not have more than 10 people registered for it.
Large Numbers of Angels
R’ Simai - When Israel said “We will do” before “We will hear,” 600,000 angels gave each person two crowns; When they sinned with the Golden Calf, 1.2 million destructive angels removed the crowns (Shabbat 88a-89a)
(Previously cited in my “Pt1 Conditionality of Creation, Crowns, and Commitment: the Cosmic Significance of the Giving of the Torah and the Revelation at Sinai (Shabbat 88a-89a)”, section “R’ Simai - When Israel said “We will do” before “We will hear,” 600,000 angels gave each person two crowns (Exodus 33:6)”)
דרש רבי סימאי:
בשעה שהקדימו ישראל ״נעשה״ ל״נשמע״
באו ששים ריבוא של מלאכי השרת,
לכל אחד ואחד מישראל קשרו לו שני כתרים
[...]
וכיון שחטאו ישראל,
ירדו מאה ועשרים ריבוא מלאכי חבלה
ופירקום
R' Simai taught:
When Israel accorded precedence to the declaration “We will do” over the declaration “We will hear,”
600,000 ministering angels came
and tied two crowns to each and every member of the Jewish people
[...]
And when the people sinned with the Golden Calf,
1,200,000 angels of destruction descended
and removed them from the people
[...]
The danger of Agrat bat Maḥalat and 180,000 angels of destruction on Tuesday and Friday nights (Pesachim 112a-114a)
(Previously cited in my “Pt2 Rabbinic Advice: Practical Guidance from the Talmud (Pesachim 112a-114a)”, section “Agrat bat Maḥalat and Successive Sages’ Banishment of Demons to the Outskirts of Towns”)
לא יצא יחידי בלילה,
לא בלילי רביעיות, ולא בלילי שבתות,
מפני שאגרת בת מחלת,
היא ושמונה עשרה רבוא של מלאכי חבלה יוצאין,
it was taught in a baraita:
One should not go out alone at night,
neither on Tuesday nights nor on Shabbat nights, i.e., Friday nights,
because the demon Agrat, daughter of Maḥalat,
she and 180,000 angels of destruction go out at these times.
My script for extracting the number from ed. Steinsaltz’s translation (from Sefaria) can be found here (as a Google Colab notebook): Talmud Large Number Extraction Script - 2-Aug-25
Final output: final csv output - Large Numbers (≥100) in the Talmud: A Data Analysis - 1.8k rows - 2-Aug-25
And here, uploaded Excel file:
See examples in the appendix of the dowries of Nakdimon ben Guryon's daughter and R' Yehuda HaNasi’s son. Both of these people are quintessentially wealthy individuals in the Talmud.
Referring to the number of days in the tropical year - ימות החמה - literally: “days of the sun, solar days”.
יוצאי מצרים - “those who left Egypt”; see a discussion of this number in Wikipedia:
“248 limbs” (רמ”ח איברים) and “248 negative commandments” (לאווין).
See Wikipedia, “Techum shabbat“:
In Jewish halacha, the techum shabbat (Hebrew: תחום שבת, "Shabbat limit"), or simply techum, is a limited physical area in which a Jew is permitted to walk on foot on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
In general, this area is calculated by measuring 2000 cubits (about 1 kilometer) in every direction from the place (or settlement) where a person was located when Shabbat began.
One may extend this limit for an additional 2000 cubits in one direction, using a procedure known as eruv techumin.
Specifically in reference to the number of Jewish casualties of Roman massacres in the rebellions of year 70 CE and 123 CE.
On these Talmudic passages, see my recent pieces.
See Wikipedia, “Myriad“:
In the context of numeric naming systems for powers of ten, myriad is the quantity ten thousand (10,000).
Idiomatically, in English, myriad is an adjective used to mean that a group of things has indefinitely large quantity.
Myriad derives from the ancient Greek for ten thousand (μυριάς, myrias) […]
And ibid., section “In Hebrew“ (with adjustments):
In Hebrew the word רבבה ("revava") means 10,000, and is the highest number represented in Hebrew.
Its sources go back to biblical times.
Its usage became very rare after the 19th century.
The term “60 ribo" (ריבוא), meaning “600,000”, is used several times in the Bible […]
See also Wikipedia, “10,000“, section “Name“:
Many languages have a specific word for this number: in Ancient Greek it is μύριοι (the etymological root of the word myriad in English), in Aramaic ܪܒܘܬܐ, in Hebrew רבבה [revava] […]
In many of these languages, it often denotes a very large but indefinite number.
And see Wikipedia, “Indefinite and fictitious numbers“:
Indefinite and fictitious numbers are words, phrases and quantities used to describe an indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable.
Other descriptions of this concept include: "non-numerical vague quantifier" and "indefinite hyperbolic numerals".
And ibid., end of section “Specific values used as indefinite“:
The number 10,000 is used to express an even larger approximate number, as in Hebrew רבבה revâvâh, rendered into Greek as μυριάδες, and to English myriad.
On the etymology of the Hebrew words for “myriad”—biblical revava and Talmudic ribo—see Hebrew Wiktionary (at the entries hyperlinked in the Hebrew words above), my translation:
The word 'revava' ('ten thousand') appears in the later stratum of Biblical Hebrew, which is characterized by borrowing and increasing influence from Aramaic.
Hebrew Wiktionary ibid. points to Daniel.7.10:
אלף (אלפים) [אלפין] ישמשונה
ורבו (רבון) [רבבן] קדמוהי יקומון
Thousands upon thousands served Him;
Myriads upon myriads attended Him
On hyperbole in the Talmud, compare my piece on the Talmud discussing hyperbole in the Mishnah.
In general, it’s well-known that many larger numbers in the Talmud are typological, especially those that are related to the number 60; see my previous note on this.
לודקיא; in Syria. See Wikipedia, “Laodicea in Syria“.
There was also a major city called “Laodicea” in Asian Minor (see Wikipedia, “Laodicea on the Lycus“), but it’s generally understood that the “Laodicea“ in Talmudic literature refers to the one in Syria. See Jewish Encyclopedia, entry “Laodicea“.
And see Hebrew Wikipedia, “לטקיה“, section “יהודים בלטקיה“, my translation:
In Talmudic literature, Laodicea is frequently referred to, by the name Lodkiya (and sometimes abbreviated simply as Lod, though this refers to Laodicea, not the city of Lod).
In Tractate Shabbat, it mentions a very wealthy Jew who lived there and attained great wealth because he honored the Sabbath.
In Tractate Menachot [=our sugya], it notes that the people of Laodicea sought to purchase large quantities of oil, which were ultimately acquired in Gush Halav in the Galilee.
In Tractate Ta'anit, it mentions that two Jewish brothers, Pappus and Lulianus, were executed during the Diaspora Revolt (115–117 CE), indicating that Latakia was home to a significant Jewish center.
צור; in modern-day Lebanon.
שחוק שחקו - literally: “laughter”, i.e. a joke/prank.
לקלסו - from Greek.