Pt1 From Verse to Aphorism: Tracing the Biblical Basis of Rabbinic and Popular Sayings (Bava Kamma 92a-93a)

Biblical Sources for 16 aphorisms relating to daily life, social behavior, health, gratitude, shame, poverty, exclusion, and human association

This is the first part of a three-part series. The outline of the series is below.¹

Intro

Part 1

This sugya in Bava Kamma 92a–93a presents a long sequence of exchanges between Rava and Rabba bar Mari, organized around the search for biblical or rabbinic sources for popular aphorisms. As a whole, the sugya is a compact anthology of rabbinic proverb-exegesis. It treats folk wisdom, practical advice, and moral observation as material that can be anchored in Scripture. The repeated formula, “From where is this matter derived?” assumes that even common sayings have textual roots or at least textual analogues. The exchanges also show a hierarchy of sources: Rabba bar Mari often provides a valid source from elsewhere in the canon or from rabbinic literature, while Rava frequently seeks a Pentateuchal source. The result is a chain of sayings that moves across daily life, social behavior, health, gratitude, shame, poverty, exclusion, and human association, while repeatedly translating each proverb into biblical language.

The sugya begins with Rava asking Rabba bar Mari for the source of a rabbinic maxim: “Anyone who asks for compassion on behalf of another, while he himself needs that same thing, is answered first.” Rabba bar Mari derives it from Job, where God restores Job’s fortunes when he prays for his friends. Rava then supplies a preferred Torah source from Abraham: Abraham prays for Abimelech’s household to be healed and bear children, and immediately afterward “YHWH remembered Sarah,” which is interpreted as Abraham himself being answered in the same matter for which he prayed on behalf of another. This opening establishes one of the main patterns of the sugya: Rabba bar Mari often cites a source from Prophets, Writings, Mishnah, or general tradition, while Rava responds by locating an equivalent source in the Torah itself.

The following exchanges apply the same method to a series of folk sayings. Some are moral observations, some are social observations, and some are practical advice. The aphorism “the cabbage is struck together with the thorn” means that innocent parties can be harmed together with guilty ones. Rabba bar Mari proves this from Jeremiah’s collective rebuke, “You all have transgressed against Me,” which includes even those who may not have sinned. Rava instead cites the Torah’s plural rebuke after the manna violation: “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?” Since the address is plural, even Moses is included in the rebuke, despite not being one of the violators. The point is that collective punishment, or collective reproach, may include the righteous along with the guilty.

Another aphorism states: “Poverty follows the poor.” Rabba bar Mari derives this from Mishnah Bikkurim: the rich bring first fruits in gold and silver baskets, which are returned to them, while the poor bring them in willow baskets, which are kept by the priests together with the fruit. The poor therefore lose not only the produce but also the container. Rava again turns to the Torah, citing the metzora, who must call out “Unclean, unclean.” The metzora is already afflicted, yet must also publicly announce his impurity. In both cases, one who already suffers is subjected to an additional burden.

Part 2

The sugya then moves to health advice. Rava asks for a source for the teaching that one should eat early in the morning, in summer because of the heat and in winter because of the cold. A related folk saying claims that even sixty runners cannot catch the person who ate in the morning, meaning that early eating gives a person strength and protection. Rabba bar Mari cites Isaiah: “They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them.” Rava cites Exodus: “You shall serve YHWH your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from your midst.” This is interpreted as a sequence: service of God refers to Shema and prayer; “bread and water” refers to morning bread with salt and a flask of water; and this leads to the removal of sickness. A baraita then identifies “sickness” with bile, explaining that the Hebrew word for “sickness” - maḥala - has the numerical value (gematria) eighty-three, corresponding to eighty-three illnesses associated with bile. All are neutralized by eating bread with salt in the morning and drinking water afterward.

Several sayings concern social conduct and self-presentation. “If your friend calls you a donkey, put a saddle on your back” means that a person should sometimes accept an unflattering designation rather than dispute it. Rabba bar Mari derives this from Hagar, whom the angel calls “female slave of Sarai”; Hagar accepts that framing and answers that she is fleeing from “my mistress Sarai.” A related saying states: “A shameful matter in you, say it first.” Rabba bar Mari derives this from Eliezer, who immediately identifies himself as “Abraham’s servant.” The point is not that subordinate status, diminished identity, and stigma should be acknowledged by the subject explicitly.

Another saying uses animal imagery: “The goose walks bent over, but its eyes look far away.” Rabba bar Mari derives this from Abigail, who humbly calls herself David’s maidservant while also saying, “When YHWH shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your female slave.” Her speech combines submission in the present with a forward-looking request for later benefit. The saying therefore describes a posture of humility that is strategically aware.

The next saying shifts to exclusion and appetite: “Sixty pains reach the teeth of one who hears another eating and does not eat.” Rabba bar Mari cites Nathan’s complaint that Adonijah invited many people to his feast but did not invite Nathan, Zadok, Benaiah, or Solomon. Rava cites a Torah source: immediately after Isaac marries Rebecca and is comforted after Sarah’s death, Abraham takes Keturah as a wife. The juxtaposition suggests that seeing Isaac marry awakened Abraham’s own desire to remarry, analogous to the discomfort of one who hears another eating while he himself does not eat.

The sugya also includes an aphorism about mediation and credit: “The wine belongs to the owner, but gratitude goes to the pourer.” Rabba bar Mari proves this from Moses and Joshua. God is the true source of Joshua’s wisdom, yet Scripture says Joshua was full of wisdom “because Moses had laid his hands upon him.” Moses, as the visible transmitter, receives credit for what ultimately comes from God. The saying captures a common social phenomenon: thanks is directed not only to the ultimate source of benefit but to the immediate agent through whom it is received.

Other aphorisms describe hunger, affinity, failed assistance, and gratitude. “A hungry dog swallows even dung” is supported by Proverbs: “To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” “A bad palm tree goes to a grove of barren trees” means that like seeks like. Rabba bar Mari presents this as broadly attested: in Torah, Esau goes to Ishmael; in Prophets, worthless men gather to Yiftah; in Writings, Ben Sira says that every bird dwells with its kind and a person with one like himself; in Mishnah, whatever is attached to impurity is impure and whatever is attached to purity is pure; and in a baraita, R’ Eliezer says the starling went to the raven because it is of its kind. This is the most expansive proof-chain in the sugya, moving through Torah, Prophets, Writings, Mishnah, and baraita.

Part 3

The saying “If you call your friend and he does not answer, throw a large wall at him” means that after failed attempts to help or correct someone, one may cease trying. Rabba bar Mari cites Ezekiel, where God says that because Israel was purified but did not become pure, it will not be purified again until divine wrath is spent. The saying “Do not throw a stone into a well from which you drank” is derived from the Torah’s prohibition against abhorring Egypt, “because you were a stranger in his land.” Even Egypt, despite its later oppression of Israel, is not to be despised absolutely, because Israel once benefited from residence there. The principle is basic gratitude toward a source of past benefit.

The final sayings in the unit concern cooperation, decline in status, and association with wealth. “If you lift with me, I will lift; if not, I will not” is derived from Barak’s words to Deborah: “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” “When we were small, we were treated as men; now that we are old, as children” is derived from Israel’s wilderness experience: at first God Himself goes before Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire, but later God says, “Behold, I send an angel before you.” The nation’s later stage seems, paradoxically, to receive a lower form of guidance. Finally, “Drag wood after a property owner” means that one should assist or attach oneself to a wealthy person, since such association may bring benefit. Rabba bar Mari derives this from Lot, who prospered because he accompanied Abram: “And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents.”

The formula

The formula here (appears 16 times in the sugya):

אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי:

מנא הא מילתא ד-[אמור רבנן / אמרי אינשי:]?

[ביטוי]

אמר ליה:

דכתיב:

[פסוק]

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:

From where is this matter derived whereby [the rabbis said / people say]:

[aphorism]

[Rabba bar Mari] said to [Rava] that

the source for this is as it is written:

[Biblical verse]

And then in 5 instances, Rava then responds with an alternative source from the Pentateuch:

אמר ליה:

את אמרת מהתם,

ואנא אמינא מהכא:

Rava said to him [=Rabba bar Mari]:

You said the proof from there, from a verse in the Writings,

and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Pentateuch:

Outline

Intro

1. Part 1

2. Part 2

3. Part 3

The formula

The Passage

Series of questions that Rava asked Rabba bar Mari - Biblical Sources for Aphorisms

Aphorism #1 - One who prays for another while needing the same thing is answered first

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Job prayed for his friends and then God restored his fortune - Job 42:10

2. Rava’s Torah source - Abraham prayed for Abimelech’s household, and Sarah was then remembered - Genesis 20:17; Genesis 21:1

Aphorism #2 - “The cabbage is struck together with the thorn”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - “You all have transgressed against Me” - Jeremiah 2:29

2. Rava’s Torah source - Moses is included in the plural rebuke after the manna violation - Exodus 16:28

Aphorism #3 - “Poverty follows the poor”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - The poor bring first fruits in willow baskets, and the baskets are kept by the priests - Mishnah Bikkurim 3:8

2. Rava’s Torah source - The metzora must announce his own impurity - Leviticus 13:45

Part 2

Aphorism #4 - Eat early in the morning, in summer because of heat and in winter because of cold

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - One who is not hungry or thirsty is not struck by heat or sun - Isaiah 49:10

2. Rava’s Torah source - Service of God, bread, and water remove sickness - Exodus 23:25

3. Baraita - “Sickness” means bile - Exodus 23:25

   1. ... since maḥala has gematria 83, corresponding to 83 bile-related illnesses

   2. ... all neutralized by bread with salt and water in the morning

Aphorism #5 - “If your friend calls you a donkey, put a saddle on your back”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Hagar accepts the angel’s description of her as Sarai’s female slave - Genesis 16:8

Aphorism #6 - “A shameful matter in you, say it first” (i.e., be self-deprecating)

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Eliezer immediately identifies himself as Abraham’s slave - Genesis 24:34

Aphorism #7 - “The goose walks bent over, but its eyes look far away”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Abigail humbly calls herself David’s maidservant while hinting at future benefit - I Samuel 25:31

Aphorism #8 - “Sixty pains reach the teeth of one who hears another eating and does not eat”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Nathan notes that he and others were excluded from Adonijah’s feast - I Kings 1:25–26

2. Rava’s Torah source - Isaac marries Rebecca, and immediately afterward Abraham takes Keturah - Genesis 24:67; Genesis 25:1

Aphorism #9 - “The wine belongs to the owner, but gratitude goes to the pourer”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Moses receives credit for Joshua’s wisdom, though it comes from God - Numbers 27:18–20; Deuteronomy 34:9

Aphorism #10 - “A hungry dog swallows even dung”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - To the hungry, every bitter thing is sweet - Proverbs 27:7

Aphorism #11 - “A bad palm tree goes to a grove of barren trees” (i.e., like seeks like)

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Esau goes to Ishmael (Genesis 28:9); worthless men gather to Yiftah (Judges 11:3); birds dwell with their kind (Ben Sira 13:17); impurity/purity follows attachment (Mishnah Kelim 12:2); the starling goes to the raven; R’ Eliezer - The starling goes to the raven because it is of its kind

Part 3

Aphorism #12 - “If you call your friend and he does not answer, throw a large wall at him”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - God says that after failed purification, Israel will not be purified again until wrath is spent - Ezekiel 24:13

Aphorism #13 - “Do not throw a stone into a well from which you drank”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Do not abhor Egypt, because Israel sojourned there - Deuteronomy 23:8

Aphorism #14 - “If you lift with me, I will lift; if not, I will not”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Barak tells Deborah - if you go with me, I will go; if not, I will not go - Judges 4:8

Aphorism #15 - “When we were small, we were treated as men; now that we are old, as children”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - At first God Himself led Israel; later He sends an angel - Exodus 13:21; Exodus 23:20

Aphorism #16 - “Drag wood after a property owner”

1. Rabba bar Mari’s source - Lot prospered by accompanying Abram - Genesis 13:5

Appendix 1 - Joseph’s Five Brothers Before Pharaoh and Moses’ Prayer for Judah’s Admission to the Heavenly Academy (Bava Kamma 92a-93a)

1. Rabba bar Mari citing R’ Yoḥanan - Joseph presented to Pharaoh the five weaker brothers, identified as those whose names are repeated in Moses’ blessings: Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Naftali - Genesis 47:2; Deuteronomy 33

2. R’ Shmuel bar Naḥmani citing R’ Yonatan - Judah’s repeated name in Moses’ blessing - Deuteronomy 33:6–7

3. ... is because Moses prayed for Judah’s posthumous restoration

4. Judah’s bones reassembled

5. Entry to the Heavenly Academy

6. Ability to understand and argue

7. Ability to decide halakhically

Appendix 2 - Table of 16 aphorisms in the sugya, and their provided Biblical sources

Appendix 3 - analysis of the Sugya’s aphorisms from a modern psychology perspective

1. Reciprocity and prosocial behavior

2. Stigma, shame, and self-disclosure

3. Cumulative disadvantage; “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer”

4. Social comparison and envy

5. Coping, agency, and giving up

6. Status reversal and perceived decline

7. Affiliation and similarity

8. Embodied psychology

The Passage

ChavrutAI: Bava_Kamma/92a#15 thru 93a#2

Series of questions that Rava asked Rabba bar Mari - Biblical Sources for Aphorisms

Aphorism #1 - One who prays for another while needing the same thing is answered first

אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי:

מנא הא מילתא דאמור רבנן:

כל המבקש רחמים על חבירו

והוא צריך לאותו דבר,

הוא נענה תחילה?

§ The Talmud cites a series of questions that Rava asked Rabba bar Mari, the first one being related to the previous topic of discussion.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:

From where is this matter derived whereby the rabbis stated:

Anyone who asks for compassion from Heaven on behalf of another,

and he requires compassion from Heaven concerning that same matter,

he is answered first?

Rabba bar Mari’s source - Job prayed for his friends and then God restored his fortune - Job 42:10

אמר ליה:

דכתיב:

״וה׳ שב את שבות איוב

בהתפללו בעד רעהו״.

Rabba bar Mari said to him that the source for this is as it is written:

“And YHWH changed the fortune of Job,

when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10).

Rava’s Torah source - Abraham prayed for Abimelech’s household, and Sarah was then remembered - Genesis 20:17, 21:1

אמר ליה:

את אמרת מהתם,

ואנא אמינא מהכא:

Rava said to him:

You said the proof from there, from a verse in the Writings,

and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Torah (=Pentateuch):

״ויתפלל אברהם אל האלהים,

וירפא אלהים

1. את אבימלך

2. ואת אשתו

3. ואמהותיו [וגו׳]״,

As it is written:

“And Abraham prayed to God;

and God healed

1. Abimelech,

2. and his wife,

3. and his female slaves,

and they bore children” (Genesis 20:17),

וכתיב:

״וה׳ פקד את שרה

כאשר אמר וגו׳״

כאשר אמר אברהם אל אבימלך.

and it is written immediately following that:

“And YHWH remembered Sarah,

as He had said” (Genesis 21:1),

with the pronoun interpreted homiletically: As Abraham said with regard to Abimelech.

Because Abraham prayed for Abimelech that the women of his household should give birth, Abraham himself was answered concerning that matter.

Aphorism #2 - “The cabbage is struck together with the thorn”

אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי:

מנא הא מילתא דאמרי אינשי:

בהדי הוצא, לקי כרבא?

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:

From where is this matter derived whereby people say:

The cabbage is damaged together with the thorn,

since the cabbage is sometimes harmed when the thorn is removed?

Rabba bar Mari’s source - “You all have transgressed against Me” - Jeremiah 2:29

אמר ליה:

דכתיב:

״למה תריבו אלי?

כלכם פשעתם בי

נאם ה׳״.

Rabba bar Mari said to him that

the source is as it is written:

“Why will you contend with Me?

You all have transgressed against Me,

says YHWH” (Jeremiah 2:29).

The term “you all” includes even those who have not sinned.

Rava’s Torah source - Moses is included in the plural rebuke after the manna violation - Exodus 16:28

אמר ליה:

את אמרת מהתם,

ואנא אמינא מהכא:

Rava said to him:

You said the proof from there, from a verse in the Prophets,

and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Torah (=Pentateuch):

״עד אנה מאנתם לשמר מצותי ותורתי?!״

[...]

God said to Moses after some of the people collected the manna on Shabbat:

“How long do you refuse [me’antem] to keep My commandments and My laws?!” (Exodus 16:28).

The term “you refuse [me’antem]” is written in the plural, indicating that even Moses was included, although he did not sin.

[...]²

Aphorism #3 - “Poverty follows the poor”

אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי,

מנא הא מילתא דאמרי אינשי:

בתר עניא אזלא עניותא?

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:

From where is this matter derived whereby people say:

Poverty follows the poor?

Rabba bar Mari’s source - The poor bring first fruits in willow baskets, and the baskets are kept by the priests - Mishnah Bikkurim 3:8

אמר ליה:

דתנן:

• עשירים

  • מביאין בכורים בקלתות של זהב ושל כסף,

• ועניים

  • בסלי נצרים של ערבה קלופה.

הסלים והבכורים נתונים לכהנים.

Rabba bar Mari said to him:

As we learned in a Mishnah (Bikkurim 3:8):

• Rich people

  • would bring first fruits in baskets³ of gold and of silver,

• and poor people

  • would bring first fruits in wicker baskets (סלי נצרים) made of peeled willow,

and they would give the baskets and the first fruits to the priests.

The rich would have their baskets returned to them, while the poor would not.

Rava’s Torah source - The metzora must announce his own impurity - Leviticus 13:45

אמר ליה:

את אמרת מהתם,

ואנא אמינא מהכא:

Rava said to him:

You said the proof from there, from a Mishnah,

and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Torah (=Pentateuch):

״וטמא טמא יקרא״.

The verse states with regard to one diagnosed with tzara’at:

“And the metzora in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and he shall cry: Unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:45).

Not only must the metzora suffer from the tzara’at itself; he must undergo further embarrassment by publicizing his condition. This is akin to the aphorism that poverty follows the poor.

1. On the questions/riddles for biblical sources, compare this trope elsewhere in the Talmud.

On rabbinic aphorisms, compare my series on tractate Avot.

2. The Talmud cites another back-and-forth between Rabba bar Mari and Rava on a midrashic topic; since it’s not the same aphorism formula, I elide it here, and move it to an appendix at the end of this piece: “Appendix 1 - Joseph’s Five Brothers Before Pharaoh and Moses’ Prayer for Judah’s Admission to the Heavenly Academy (Bava Kamma 92a-93a)“.

3. קלתות - from Greek.

On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “קַלָּת”:

(κάλαθος [kalathos], probably of Semitic origin, see the preceding word; see Lewy, ‘Semitic Fremdworter’ p. 109)

vase-shaped basket, especially woman’s work-basket.

• Mishnah Gittin 8:1 - זרקו … לתוך קַלָּתָהּ - “if he throws the letter of divorce into her lap or into her basket”

• Gittin 78a:10 - כל דבר שהוא כקלתה - “any receptacle that is designated for her specific use like her basket”

• Bava Metzia 9b:8 - קלתה מינח נייחא וכ׳ - “(if he throws the document into her basket on her head,) her basket is at rest, but she moves under it”

• Ketubot 72b:1 - קלתה שפיר דמי - “if she goes out with her basket on her head, it is right (she cannot be legally sued for indecent conduct)”; דת יהודית אפי׳ קלתה וכ׳ - “but so far as Jewish custom is concerned, it is improper to go out uncovered even with the basket on the head”

• Jerusalem Talmud Gittin 8:1:5 - היתה קלתה של זהב - “if the basket (into which he threw the letter of divorce) was of gold;

• and frequently.

Plural: קַלָּתוֹת.

• Mishnah Bikkurim 3:8 - העשירים … בקלתות של וכ׳ - “the rich brought the first-fruits in baskets of silver or of gold”

• Gittin see above - מוכר קלתות - “a dealer in baskets”

• Mishnah Kelim 16:3;

• and elsewhere.

And see Wikipedia, “Calathus (basket)“:

A calathus […] or kalathos […] (Ancient Greek: κάλαθος, plural calathi or kalathoi κάλαθοι) was a basket resembling a top hat, used to hold wool or fruit […]

These baskets were made by weaving together reeds or twigs.

They were typically used by women to store skeins of wool, but they had other uses in the household.

In Roman times, there are reports for baskets of these sorts to be used in agricultural activities like bringing in the fruits from the fields.