Pt2 R' Bena’a the Sage and Sleuth: Solving Two Mysteries and Rising to Judgeship (Bava Batra 58a)
Two Riddles: R' Bena’a's Uncovering of the True Son, Imprisonment, and Ascent to Judgeship
This is the second and final installment of a two-part series. The first part is here. The outline can be found there.
Two Riddles: R' Bena’a's Uncovering of the True Son, Imprisonment, and Ascent to Judgeship
Pt1 - A man overheard his wife confess to her daughter that only one of her ten sons was fathered by him; R’ Bena’a’s discovery of the true son
In this story, a man overhears his wife confessing to her daughter that only one of her ten sons is fathered by her husband; the others are not his.
On his deathbed, the man declares that all his property will go to one son, but he does not specify which one.
When the sons seek clarification from R' Bena’a, he instructs them to hit their father’s grave to compel him to reveal his intent.
All the sons comply, except for one, who refrains out of respect.
R' Bena’a concludes that this respectful son is the true heir, and he awards him the entire inheritance.1
ההוא גברא דשמעה לדביתהו דקא אמרה לברתה:
״אמאי לא צניעת באיסורא?!
הך איתתא, עשרה בני אית לה, ולית לי מאבוך אלא חד״.
כי שכיב, אמר להו: ״כל נכסי לחד ברא״.
לא ידעי להי מינייהו.
אתו לקמיה דרבי בנאה,
אמר להו: זילו חבוטו קברא דאבוכון, עד דקאי ומגלי לכו להי מינייכו שבקא.
אזלו כולהו, ההוא דבריה הוה לא אזל.
אמר להו: כולהו נכסי דהאי.
There was a certain man who heard his wife saying to her daughter:
Why do you not act clandestinely when you engage in forbidden sexual intercourse?!
That woman has, i.e., I have, ten sons, and I have only one from your father, and no one knows. So too, you must be careful so that no one will discover your illicit behavior.
Having overheard that only one son was his, when that man was dying he said to his family: All of my property is left to one son.
They did not know to which of them he intended to leave his property.
They came before R' Bena’a for guidance,
and he said to the sons: Go strike your father’s grave, until he rises and reveals to you to which of you he left his property.
They all went, but that one who was his son did not go.
R' Bena’a said to them: All of the property belongs to this son who did not go.
Pt2 - R’ Bena’a’s imprisonment, and his wife’s riddle
The other brothers, upset, slandered2 R' Bena’a to the king, accusing him of taking money without witnesses or evidence. Consequently, the king's guards imprisoned R' Bena’a.
His wife approached the guards with a puzzling complaint about a servant who was decapitated, skinned, and eaten, and whose body was filled with water to be shared with friends, claiming she had not been compensated for this.
The guards, confused by her words, called for a wise Jewish man (חכימא דיהודאי) to interpret.
R' Bena’a explained that she was metaphorically referring to a waterskin (זרנוקא, i.e. the answer to the riddle was a goat that was slaughtered, eaten, and its skin repurposed as a water container).3
Impressed by his wisdom, the authorities decided to appoint R' Bena’a as a judge.4
אזלו אכלו קורצא בי מלכא,
אמרי: איכא גברא חד ביהודאי, דקא מפיק ממונא מאנשי בלא סהדי ובלא מידי.
אתיוהו חבשוהו.
אזלא דביתהו, אמרה להו:
עבדא חד הוה לי,
פסקו לרישיה
ופשטו למשכיה
ואכלו בישריה,
וקא מלו ביה מיא
ומשקו ביה לחברייא,
ולא קא יהבי לי דמי, ולא אגריה.
לא ידעי מאי קא אמרה להו.
אמרי: ניתו לחכימא דיהודאי, ולימא.
קריוהו לרבי בנאה,
אמר להו: זרנוקא אמרה לכו.
אמרי: הואיל וחכים כולי האי, ליתיב אבבא, ונידון דינא.
The other brothers were angry. They went and slandered [akhlu kuretza] R' Bena’a in the king’s house.
They said: There is one man among the Jews who removes money from people without witnesses and without any evidence.
The king’s guards brought R' Bena’a and imprisoned him.
The wife of R' Bena’a went and said to the guards:
I had one servant.
They cut off his head,
and skinned him
and ate his flesh,
and they fill him with water
and give their friends to drink from him,
and they have not paid me his value nor have they rented him.
They did not know what she was saying to them.
They said: Let us bring the wise man of the Jews, and let him say what she meant.
They called R' Bena’a, and he said to them: She spoke to you of a water skin [zarnuka]. In other words, she was referring to a goat she owned that was slaughtered, its meat eaten, and its skin made into a water skin that could be filled with drinking water.
They said: Since he is so wise, let him sit at the gate where the judges congregate and render judgment.
Compare the famous Biblical story of King Solomon discovering the true mother.
אכלו קורצא - literally: “ate kurtza”, an idiom for informing to the authorities, found already in biblical Aramaic, as well as elsewhere in the Talmud, see for example my piece here.
In the riddle, referring to the goat as a “servant”, as well as the sequence of violent imagery (decapitation, skinning, and consumption) had set up an expectation that a human was being discussed.
The final line of the riddle, "and they have not paid me his value nor have they rented him," likely alludes to the social expectation of sharing basic resources such as wine and water. Although sharing was expected, it was also seen as poor etiquette to neglect voluntarily offering payment in return.