“Asking Anything in the Entire World”: A Talmudic Sugya of Zoological Questions and Intuitive Etymologies of Aramaic Words (Shabbat 77b)
Appendix - Animal-Based Natural Remedies and Weak Creatures That Intimidate the Mighty (Shabbat 77b)
Zoological Questions - Six Questions
Zoology is the scientific study of animals.
Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems.
Zoology is one of the primary branches of biology.
The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion ('animal'), and λόγος, logos ('knowledge', 'study').
Although humans have always been interested in the natural history of the animals they saw around them, and used this knowledge to domesticate certain species, the formal study of zoology can be said to have originated with Aristotle.
He viewed animals as living organisms, studied their structure and development, and considered their adaptations to their surroundings and the function of their parts.
The questions in the Talmud nowadays would be part of ethology (animal behavior), evolutionary biology (why certain animals have certain characteristics), and ecology (how animals are adapted to their environments).1
Outline
Six Zoological Questions
Intro
Why do goats walk in front of the flock and then ewes follow?
Why are the genitals of these ewes covered with a tail, whereas these goats are exposed?
Why is the camel’s tail short?
Why is the ox’s tail long?
Why is the grasshopper’s antenna soft?
Why does the chicken’s lower eyelid cover the upper one?
Folk Etymologies of Aramaic words - Twenty-Two etymologies
Appendix 1 - Analysis
Historical-Cultural Context
Linguistic and Philological Analysis
Literary-Critical Dimensions
Theological Subtext
Appendix 2 - Animal-Based Natural Remedies and Weak Creatures That Intimidate the Mighty (Shabbat 77b)
Everything Created Has a Purpose: A list of five animal-based natural remedies
Method for applying the gecko remedy
A List of Five weak animals that strike fear in strong ones
The Source
Six Zoological Questions
Intro
רבי זירא אשכח לרב יהודה
דהוה קאי אפיתחא דבי חמוה,
וחזייה דהוה בדיחא דעתיה,
ואי בעי מיניה כל חללי עלמא,
הוה אמר ליה.
On the topic of the nature of the world, the Gemara relates that R’ Zeira found Rav Yehuda,
who was standing at the entrance of his father-in-law’s house,
and observed that he was in an especially cheerful mood.
And R’ Zeira understood that were he to ask Rav Yehuda about anything in the entire world,
he would tell him the answer.
He therefore posed questions to him on a variety of topics unrelated to halakha.
Why do goats walk in front and then sheep follow?
אמר ליה:
מאי טעמא עיזי מסגן ברישא,
והדר אימרי?
אמר ליה:
כברייתו של עולם,
דברישא חשוכא, והדר נהורא.
He asked:
Why do goats walk in front of the flock
and then ewes follow?
He said to him:
It is just as it was in the creation of the world,
which at first was dark and then light followed.
Goats, which are typically black, precede the ewes, which are typically white.
Why are the genitals of these ewes covered with a tail, whereas these goats are exposed?
מאי טעמא הני מכסיין
והני מגליין?
הני דמכסינן מינייהו — מכסיין,
והני דלא מכסינן מינייהו — מגליין.
And he asked: Why are the genitals of these ewes covered with a tail,
whereas these goats are exposed?
He answered: These ewes, whose wool we use to cover ourselves, are rewarded in that they are covered;
and those goats, whose hair we do not use to cover ourselves, are exposed.
Why is the camel’s tail short?
מאי טעמא גמלא זוטר גנובתיה?
משום דאכל כיסי.
And he asked: Why is the camel’s tail short?
He answered: Because a camel eats thorns, and a long tail would become entangled in the thorns.
Why is the ox’s tail long?
מאי טעמא תורא אריכא גנובתיה?
משום דדייר באגמי,
ובעי לכרכושי בקי.
And he asked: Why is the ox’s tail long?
He answered: Because the ox lives in a swamp
and must fend off mosquitoes.
Why is the grasshopper’s antenna soft?
מאי טעמא קרנא דקמצא רכיכא?
משום דדיירא בחילפי,
ואי קשיא —
נדיא, ומתעוורא.
דאמר שמואל:
האי מאן דבעי דליסמיה לקמצא —
לשלפינהו לקרניה.
He continued to ask: Why is the grasshopper’s antenna soft?
He answered: Because it lives in the plains among the grass,
and if the antenna were hard
it would break and the grasshopper would go blind.
as Shmuel said:
One who seeks to blind a grasshopper
should remove its antenna.
Why does the chicken’s lower eyelid cover the upper one?
מאי טעמא האי תימרא דתרנגולתא מדלי לעילא?
דדיירי אדפי,
ואי עייל קטרא —
מתעוורא.
And he asked: Why does the chicken’s lower eyelid cover the upper one?
He answered: Because a chicken lives on rafters in houses,
and if the smoke from the houses were to enter its eyes without the protection of the eyelid,
it would go blind.
Folk Etymologies of Aramaic words - Twenty-Two etymologies
See also my previous piece on Talmudic sages as empirical linguists.
״דשא״ —
דרך שם.
״דרגא״ —
דרך גג.
״מתכוליתא״ —
מתי תכלה דא.
״ביתא״ —
בא ואיתיב (בה).
״ביקתא״ —
בי עקתא.
״כופתא״ —
כוף ותיב.
״לבני״ —
לבני בני.
״הוצא״ —
חציצה.
״חצבא״ —
שחוצב מים מן הנהר.
״כוזה״ —
כזה.
״שוטיתא״ —
שטותא.
״משיכלא״ —
מאשי כולא.
״משיכלתא״ —
משיא כלתא.
״אסיתא״ —
חסירתא.
״בוכנה״ —
בוא ואכנה.
״לבושה״ —
לא בושה.
״גלימא״ —
שנעשה בו כגלם.
״גולתא״ —
גלי ואיתיב.
״פוריא״ —
שפרין ורבין עליה.
״בור זינקא״ —
בור זה נקי.
״סודרא״ —
סוד ה׳ ליראיו.
״אפדנא״ —
אפיתחא דין.
He asked further: Why is a door called dasha in Aramaic?
He said to him: It is an acronym for derekh sham, which means through there.
Why is a stair called darga?
He said to him: It is an acronym for derekh gag, which means the way to the roof.
Why are spices called mitkolita?
He said to him: It is an acronym for matai tikhleh da, which means when will this be finished. Since spices are used sparingly, they last a long time.
Why is a house called beita?
He said to him: It is an acronym for bo ve’eitiv ba, which means come and I will sit in it.
Why is a small house called bikta?
He said to him: It is an acronym for bei akta, which means a narrow house.
A barrel is called kufta,
which is an acronym for kuf vetiv, which means turn it over and sit.
Bricks are called livnei,
which is an allusion to livnei benei, which means for the children of children.
A fence made of thorns is called hutza
and Rav Yehuda said that it is merely a ḥatzitza, which means partition, as opposed to a true fence.
A jug used for drawing water is called a ḥatzba
because it hews [ḥotzev] water from the river.
A small jug is called kuza,
alluding to kazeh, which means: Give me one like that.
Myrtle branches with which people dance at a wedding are called shutita,
an allusion to shetuta, which means madness, as the frenzied dancing appears to be madness.
The large vessel used for washing is called meshikhla,
which is an acronym for mashei kula, which means: It washes all.
A small vessel used for washing is called mashkhilta,
and Rav Yehuda explained that it is an acronym for mashya kalta, which means: It washes the bride.
A mortar is called asita,
alluding to ḥasirta, which means lacking, since it has a large cavity.
The pestle that is inserted into the mortar for pounding its contents is called bukhna,
which is an acronym for bo ve’akkena, which means: Come and I will strike it.
An outer garment is called levusha,
which is an acronym for lo busha, which means no shame, as one who is clothed is no longer ashamed.
A broad outer garment is called gelima,
an allusion to the fact that, by wearing it, one is transformed into an amorphous golem-like figure, as his limbs are indistinguishable.
A beautiful coat is termed golta,
which is an acronym for geli ve’eitiv, which means reveal, remove the coat, and only then I will sit, so that the coat will not get dirty.
A bed is called purya,
an allusion to the fact that people parin veravin, which means procreate, upon it.
An empty pit is called bor zinka,
which is an acronym for bor ze naki, which means that this pit is empty of water.
The head covering of Torah scholars is called sudara,
an acronym for sod yareh, which is a reference to the verse: “The counsel of the Lord is with them who fear Him [sod Hashem lire’av]” (Psalms 25:14).
A palace is called apadna,
which is an acronym for apitḥa dein, meaning: To this entrance all come.
Appendix 1 - Analysis
Boader analysis from historical, critical, and linguistic angles:
Historical-Cultural Context
Genre and Sitz im Leben
The passage sits at the intersection of aggadah, folklore, natural observation, and folk etymology. Its dialogical setting, with R’ Zeira seizing on a moment of openness in Rav Yehuda, gives the feeling of a casual curiosity salon.
It’s a liminal moment—not halakhic, but reflective and speculative, and thus ripe for associative thinking. Such passages may reflect the rhetorical and pedagogical customs of Babylonian sages in relaxed, interpersonal contexts—an informal 'science of the sages', perhaps.
Late Antique Natural Philosophy
The explanations of animal morphology and behavior echo Greco-Roman and Near Eastern “just-so stories”—etiological myths that explain why creatures are the way they are. While not "scientific" in the modern sense, they reflect genuine attempts to correlate form with function.
The idea that the ox’s tail is long to swat flies, or that the camel’s is short due to thorns, shows keen empirical observation linked to adaptive reasoning. These are part of a broader discourse found in Pliny the Elder, Aelian, and Aristotelian natural philosophy, with which the rabbis may have had indirect contact.
Rabbinic Views on Language and the World
This passage reflects an epistemology where the natural world and language are both semiotically rich—full of encoded messages from creation, awaiting decipherment.
The principle that function determines form, and that names reflect essence, may be influenced by earlier Biblical thinking (e.g., Adam naming animals in Genesis), as well as Stoic linguistic realism.
Linguistic and Philological Analysis
Folk Etymologies
The passage offers a series of folk etymologies—Aramaic backronyms. These are not linguistically "correct" but reflect how language is intuitively experienced, not how it historically developed. They depend on:
Phonetic resemblance (e.g., "פוריא – שפרין ורבין עליה" — purya from parin ve-ravin),
Associative logic (e.g., "לבושה – לא בושה" — being clothed ends shame),
And sometimes moral or didactic motives (e.g., "סודרא – סוד ה’ ליראיו").
Many of these etymologies collapse complex Semitic roots into didactic mnemonics. Linguistically, this is folk morphology, not historical etymology. For instance, beita doesn’t historically come from bo ve’etiv ba, but the etymology is retrojected to suit a moral or intuitive reading.
Dialect Evidence
This is a valuable source for Babylonian Aramaic vocabulary. The terms analyzed (דשא, דרגא, פוריא, בוכנה) show attested lexicon in use in the 3rd–4th centuries CE.
The juxtaposition of native Hebrew (e.g., חצבא from חוצב) and Aramaic provides insight into the diglossic texture of Talmudic Hebrew and Aramaic.
Lexicographical Implications
This passage preserves terms and meanings sometimes found nowhere else in rabbinic literature. For example, משיכלתא as a bride-washing vessel is obscure and offers a valuable data point for historical lexicographers of Semitic languages.
Literary-Critical Dimensions
Structure and Progression
There is a shift from zoological/morphological questions to linguistic/etymological ones. This mirrors a rhetorical descent from external (worldly) observation to internal (human speech) reflection—from biology to lexicon.
Wisdom-Literature Resonance
The sage-on-the-doorstep scene, where someone in a receptive mood is plied with riddles and questions, resembles Near Eastern wisdom dialogues and mirabilia lists (cf. the Questions of King Solomon or Ahiqar literature). The format—casual but revelatory—is key to the genre.
Theological Subtext
While ostensibly secular, this passage reflects the idea that all creation and language are infused with divine logic. The natural world reveals God’s plan (“Creation proceeds from darkness to light”), and even daily objects point back to meaning (door = derekh sham). This pan-semiosis is a theological stance: language is not arbitrary; it encodes metaphysical truth.
Appendix 2 - Animal-Based Natural Remedies and Weak Creatures That Intimidate the Mighty (Shabbat 77b)
Everything Created Has a Purpose: A list of five animal-based natural remedies
Rav Yehuda said that Rav said that nothing in the world was created in vain:2
A snail (שבלול) for a sore (כתית - a snail is used as a remedy for a sore)
A fly (זבוב) for a wasp (צירעה - a fly is crushed and spread as a remedy for a wasp sting)
A mosquito (יתוש) for a snake (a mosquito is used as a remedy for a snake bite.)
A snake for a skin rash (חפפית - a snake is used as a remedy for a skin rash.)
A gecko (סממית) for a scorpion (a gecko is used as a remedy for a scorpion bite.)
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב:
כל מה שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו, לא ברא דבר אחד לבטלה:
ברא שבלול — לכתית.
ברא זבוב — לצירעה.
יתוש — לנחש.
ונחש — לחפפית.
וסממית — לעקרב.
On the subject of sores, the Gemara cites a statement referring to one of the methods for healing a sore. Rav Yehuda said that Rav said:
Everything that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created in His world, He did not create anything for naught.
He created a snail as a remedy for a sore;
He created a fly to be crushed and spread as a remedy on a wasp sting;
He created a mosquito as a remedy for a snake bite;
and He created the snake itself as a remedy for a skin rash;
and He created a gecko as a remedy for a scorpion bite.
Method for applying the gecko remedy
Take two geckos, one black and one white.
Boil (שלקי) them
Apply (שייפי - the resulting mixture to the affected area)
היכי עביד ליה?
מייתי חדא אוכמא וחדא חיורא,
ושלקי להו
ושייפי ליה.
The Gemara explains: How does one implement the remedy?
He brings two geckos, one black and one white,
cooks them,
and spreads the resulting ointment on the affected area.
A List of Five weak animals that strike fear in strong ones
A baraita lists five weak animals that strike fear (אימות) in strong ones:
The mafgia (מפגיע - a small creature) terrifies the lion.
The mosquito terrifies the elephant.
The gecko terrifies the scorpion.
The swallow (סנונית) terrifies the eagle.
The kilbit (כילבית - a small fish) terrifies the Leviathan (לויתן)
Supporting Verse (Amos 5:9): "He that causes destruction (שד) to flash upon the mighty", which is nterpreted as: God empowers the weak over the mighty.
תנו רבנן,
חמשה אימות הן, אימת חלש על גבור:
אימת מפגיע על הארי,
אימת יתוש על הפיל,
אימת סממית על העקרב,
אימת סנונית על הנשר,
אימת כילבית על לויתן.
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב:
מאי קרא?
״המבליג שד על עז״.
With regard to these creatures, the Gemara cites that which our Sages taught:
There are five dreads, i.e., dread that the weak cast over the mighty:
The dread of the mafgia, a small creature, over the lion;
the dread of the mosquito over the elephant;
the dread of the gecko over the scorpion;
the dread of the swallow over the eagle;
the dread of the kilbit, a small fish, over a whale.
Rav Yehuda said that Rav said:
What is the verse that alludes to these matters?
As it is written: “He that causes destruction [shod] to flash upon the mighty, so that destruction comes upon the fortress” (Amos 5:9), which is interpreted as: He who lifts the downtrodden [shadud] over the mighty.
Compare my piece on the dialogues of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and Antoninus, which includes a question that today would today be considered a scientific question: Why does the sun emerge in the east and set in the west?
Giving examples of natural remedies from animals that seemingly have no value for humans. As per ed. Steinsaltz, in each of the five pairs listed, the first is always used as natural remedy for a bite from the second of the pair.