The Virtues of Humility, Restraint, and Silence (Chullin 88b-89a)
This sugya develops a series of teachings on humility, restraint, property, and speech.1 It begins with Abraham’s descriptions of himself and his conduct after defeating the four kings, then moves to Moses and Aaron, and finally formulates broader principles about the conduct through which the world is sustained.
Rava first interprets Abraham’s declaration, “I am dirt and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), as the basis for two rewards granted to his descendants. The word “ashes” corresponds to the ashes of the red heifer, used in the purification ritual described in Numbers 19. The word “dirt” corresponds to the dirt placed in the water administered to a suspected adulteress in the sota ritual of Numbers 5. Abraham’s self-abasement is thus rewarded through commandments whose physical materials reproduce the terms of his statement.
A second teaching applies the same principle to Abraham’s refusal to accept property from the king of Sodom. Abraham declared that he would take neither “a thread nor a shoe strap” (Genesis 14:23). According to Rava, his descendants therefore received the thread of tekhelet worn on tzitzit and the leather straps of tefillin. The correspondence is again verbal and material: thread is rewarded with a sacred thread, and a strap with sacred straps. Abraham’s refusal to profit from questionable property becomes the source of visible ritual objects worn on the body.
The discussion then explains the significance of tekhelet. R’ Meir describes a chain of visual associations: tekhelet resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky, the sky resembles sapphire, and sapphire resembles the Throne of Glory. Exodus 24:10 describes the pavement beneath the God of Israel as sapphire and as clear as the heavens, while Ezekiel 1:26 describes the divine throne as resembling sapphire. Tekhelet therefore directs the wearer from an ordinary physical color toward the Divine Presence.
Abraham’s refusal of the king of Sodom’s property also introduces a teaching about theft. R’ Abba states that stolen property that has already been consumed is especially difficult to restore, since even completely righteous people cannot return the object itself after it has been eaten. Abraham could renounce the property offered to him, but he could not return the food already consumed by his men. The passage distinguishes between refusing improper gain before it is used and attempting restitution after the original property no longer exists.
The sugya next compares Abraham’s humility with that of Moses and Aaron. Abraham called himself “dirt and ashes,” physical substances that still possess some existence. Moses and Aaron responded to Israel’s complaints by asking, “What are we?” (Exodus 16:7–8), describing themselves as nothing. Rava, or according to another attribution R’ Yohanan, therefore ranks their statement above Abraham’s. Their self-effacement is then connected to Job 26:7, “He hangs the earth upon nothing.” The world is understood to endure through the merit of those who regard themselves as nothing.2
Several later teachings reinterpret this cosmological claim as a practical ethical principle. R’ Ile’a reads the word translated as “nothing” in Job as an allusion to verbal restraint: the world endures through one who controls himself during a quarrel. R’ Abbahu similarly states that the world is sustained by one who treats himself as insignificant and places himself beneath others. Humility is presented here as an active social discipline, especially when a person is provoked or holds a position of authority.
R’ Yitzhak concludes with a qualified rule of silence based on Psalms 58:2. A person’s regular practice should be to make himself like a mute. Silence, however, does not apply to words of Torah, which must be spoken. Even Torah learning does not authorize arrogance or premature certainty. The scholar or judge must continue to judge equitably and remain aware of the possibility of error.
The sugya thus moves from Abraham’s concrete acts of humility and renunciation to a general program of self-restraint in property, conflict, scholarship, and speech.
Outline
Intro
The Passage
Rava - Abraham’s declaration that he was ‘dirt and ashes’ earned his descendants the mitzvot of the red heifer’s ashes and the sota’s dirt- Genesis 18:27
Rava - Abraham’s refusal to take even a thread or shoe strap from the king of Sodom earned his descendants the tekhelet thread and tefillin straps - Genesis 14:23
R’ Meir - Tekhelet resembles the sea, the sky, sapphire, and ultimately the Throne of Glory (thereby directing its wearer’s attention toward the Divine Presence)
Prooftexts - Exodus 24:10; Ezekiel 1:26
R’ Abba - Consumed stolen property is especially difficult to restore, since even completely righteous people cannot return what has already been eaten - Genesis 14:23–24
Rava, alternatively R’ Yohanan - Moses and Aaron displayed greater humility than Abraham
Abraham called himself dirt and ashes, while Moses and Aaron described themselves as nothing - Genesis 18:27; Exodus 16:7–8
Rava, alternatively R’ Yohanan - The world endures through the merit of Moses and Aaron, who regarded themselves as nothing - Exodus 16:7–8; Job 26:7
R’ Ile’a - The world endures through one who restrains himself during a quarrel - Job 26:7
R’ Abbahu - The world endures through one who considers himself insignificant and beneath others - Deuteronomy 33:27
R’ Yitzhak - A person should generally remain silent - Psalms 58:2
... but should speak words of Torah
... even then, learning must not lead to arrogance or biased judgment
The Passage
In Sefaria: Chullin.88b.10-89a.10
In Bekiut,3 starts at: Chullin/88b#10
Rava - Abraham’s declaration that he was ‘dirt and ashes’ earned his descendants the mitzvot of the red heifer’s ashes and the sota’s dirt - Genesis 18:27
אמר רבא:
בשכר שאמר אברהם אבינו ״ואנכי עפר ואפר״,
זכו בניו לשתי מצות:
אפר פרה,
ועפר סוטה.
[...]
§ The Talmud cites aggadic accounts relating to the mitzva of covering the blood:
Rava says:
As reward for that which our Patriarch Abraham said:
“And I am but dirt [afar] and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), his children merited two mitzvot:
The ashes of the red heifer (see Numbers, chapter 19)
and the dirt of the sota, i.e., dirt taken from the ground of the Tabernacle that is mixed into the water that examines whether or not a woman committed adultery (see Numbers 5:17).
[...]
Rava - Abraham’s refusal to take even a thread or shoe strap from the king of Sodom earned his descendants the tekhelet thread and tefillin straps - Genesis 14:23
ואמר רבא:
בשכר שאמר אברהם אבינו ״אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל״,
זכו בניו לשתי מצות:
לחוט של תכלת,
ורצועה של תפילין.
[...]
And Rava says:
As reward for that which our Patriarch Abraham said to the king of Sodom:
“That I will not take a thread nor a shoe strap (שרוך) nor anything that is yours” (Genesis 14:23), distancing himself from anything not rightfully his,
his children merited two mitzvot:
The thread of tekhelet wool worn on tzitzit
and the strap (רצועה) of tefillin.
[...]
R’ Meir - Tekhelet resembles the sea, the sky, sapphire, and ultimately the Throne of Glory (thereby directing its wearer’s attention toward the Divine Presence)
תניא,
רבי מאיר אומר:
מה נשתנה תכלת מכל הצבעונין?
מפני ש
תכלת
דומה לים,
וים
דומה לרקיע,
ורקיע
דומה לאבן ספיר,
ואבן ספיר
דומה לכסא הכבוד,
it is taught in a baraita that
R’ Meir would say:
What is different about tekhelet from all other colors (צבעונין) such that it was specified for the mitzva of tzitzit?
It is because
tekhelet dye
is similar in its color to the sea,
and the sea
is similar to the sky,
and the sky
is similar to the sapphire stone,
and the sapphire stone
is similar to the Throne of Glory,
Prooftexts - Exodus 24:10; Ezekiel 1:26
דכתיב:
״ויראו את אלהי ישראל, ותחת רגליו וגו׳״,
וכתיב:
״כמראה אבן ספיר, דמות כסא״.
as it is stated:
“And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness” (Exodus 24:10). This verse shows that the heavens are similar to sapphire,
and it is written:
“And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone” (Ezekiel 1:26).
Therefore, the throne is similar to the heavens. The color of tekhelet dye acts as an indication of the bond between the Jewish people and the Shekhina.
R’ Abba - Consumed stolen property is especially difficult to restore, since even completely righteous people cannot return what has already been eaten - Genesis 14:23–24
אמר רבי אבא:
קשה גזל הנאכל,
שאפילו צדיקים גמורים אינן יכולין להחזירו,
שנאמר:
״בלעדי רק אשר אכלו הנערים״.
[...]
The Talmud above mentioned that Abraham refused to accept property that did not belong to him.
With regard to this, R’ Abba says:
Difficult is the return of theft that has been consumed,
as even the perfectly righteous are unable to return it,
as it is stated:
“That I will not take a thread nor a shoe strap nor anything that is yours…
except only that which the young men have eaten with me” (Genesis 14:23–24).
Even the righteous Abraham was unable to return that which the young men had already consumed.
[...]4
Rava, alternatively R’ Yohanan - Moses and Aaron displayed greater humility than Abraham
אמר רבא,
ואיתימא רבי יוחנן:
גדול שנאמר במשה ואהרן
יותר ממה שנאמר באברהם,
The Talmud relates: Rava says, and some say R’ Yoḥanan says:
Greater is that which is stated with regard to Moses and Aaron
than that which is stated with regard to Abraham.
Abraham called himself dirt and ashes, while Moses and Aaron described themselves as nothing - Genesis 18:27; Exodus 16:7–8
דאילו באברהם כתיב:
״ואנכי עפר ואפר״,
ואילו במשה ואהרן כתיב:
״ונחנו מה״.
As with regard to Abraham it is written:
“And I am but dirt and ashes,”
while with regard to Moses and Aaron it is written:
“And what are we,” i.e., we are not even dirt and ashes.
Rava, alternatively R’ Yohanan - The world endures through the merit of Moses and Aaron, who regarded themselves as nothing - Exodus 16:7–8; Job 26:7
ואמר רבא, ואיתימא רבי יוחנן:
אין העולם מתקיים אלא בשביל משה ואהרן,
כתיב הכא:
״ונחנו מה״,
וכתיב התם:
״תולה ארץ על בלימה״.
And Rava says, and some say R’ Yoḥanan says:
The world endures only in the merit of Moses and Aaron.
It is written here:
“And what (מה) are we,”
and it written elsewhere:
That is, the earth endures in the merit of those who said of themselves that they are nothing, i.e., Moses and Aaron.
R’ Ile’a - The world endures through one who restrains himself during a quarrel - Job 26:7
אמר רבי אילעא:
אין העולם מתקיים אלא בשביל מי שבולם את עצמו בשעת מריבה,
שנאמר:
״תולה ארץ על בלימה״.
With regard to that verse, R’ Ile’a says:
The world endures only in the merit of one who restrains6 himself during a quarrel,
as it is stated:
“He hangs the earth upon nothing [belima].
R’ Abbahu - The world endures through one who considers himself insignificant and beneath others - Deuteronomy 33:27
רבי אבהו אמר:
מי שמשים עצמו כמי שאינו,
שנאמר:
״ומתחת זרועות עולם״.
R’ Abbahu says:
The world endures only in the merit of one who renders himself as if he were non-existent (אינו),
as it is stated:
“And underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27)7
R’ Yitzhak - A person should generally remain silent - Psalms 58:2
אמר רבי יצחק:
מאי דכתיב
״האמנם אלם צדק תדברון?
מישרים תשפטו בני אדם?״
R’ Yitzḥak says:
What is the meaning of that which is written:
“Do you indeed [ha’umnam] speak as a righteous company [elem]?
Do you judge with equity [meisharim] the sons of men” (Psalms 58:2)?
מה אומנותו של אדם בעולם הזה –
ישים עצמו כאלם.
The verse is interpreted as follows:
What should be a person’s occupation8 in this world?
He should render himself silent as a mute [ilem].
... but should speak words of Torah
יכול אף לדברי תורה?
תלמוד לומר
״צדק תדברון״.
If so, one might have thought that he should render himself as a mute even with regard to words of Torah.
Therefore, the verse states:
“Speak as a righteous company,”
indicating that one should speak the righteous words of Torah.
... even then, learning must not lead to arrogance or biased judgment
יכול יגיס דעתו?
תלמוד לומר
״מישרים תשפטו בני אדם״.
If so, he might have thought that one who speaks words of Torah has the right to become arrogant (יגיס דעתו).
Therefore, the verse states:
“Judge with equity [meisharim] the sons of men.”
Even a learned judge must take extra care to judge with equity, and not assume that he will immediately arrive at the correct understanding.
Note that Daf Yomi covered the folio containing the passage discussed in this piece just a few days ago.
For more on the importance of humility in the Talmud, see my three-part series: “Arrogance, Adultery, and the Primacy of Humility (Sotah 4b-5a)”, final part: Pt3.
Formerly known as ChavrutAI; recently renamed to Bekiut. I also did a full redesign of the website. For more details, see the Changelog page, section “July 2026”.
I previously discussed the subsequent passage in my “Appendix - The Humility of Israel’s Leaders vs. the Arrogance of Non-Jewish Kings (Chullin 89a)” (recently re-posted); therefore I elide here.
בלימה - belimah. Based on the presence of mah within the word. Note that this interpretation was developed extensively in later medieval Kabbalah.
On this word, see also Jastrow (modernized), entry “בְּלִימָה”:
(Biblical Hebrew, see בְּלִי)
[nothing,] air (from Job 26:7).
Bamidbar Rabbah 14:12 - עשר ספירות בלימה (some editions: בלי מה) - “the ten heavenly spheres” (compare Sefer Yetzirah beginning).
Shemot Rabbah 15:22-23 - על אויר העולם על בלימה … - “he rested it (the upper story, the sky) on the atmosphere, on b’limah” (Midrash Tanḥuma Ḥaye 3 על מה על האויר).
בולם - bolem.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “בָּלַם I”:
(Biblical Hebrew; denominative of בְּלוֹם, √בל, בלל
fodder-bag, nose-bag, muzzle) to muzzle, restrain.
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 743:18 (read in place of כדו בלום וכ׳:) -פיו בָּלוּם לעמו של משה יכול הוא לִבְלוֹם צפורנו של אחד מהם - “the mouth of the people of Moses is tied up (we dare not talk), but can he tie up (disable) the nail of any of them (the Canaanites)?”
Chullin 89a:9 (play on בלימה, Job 26:7) - שבּוֹלֵם וכ׳ - “who restrains himself in strife” (refrains from violence, keeps silence etc.).
Steinsaltz explains:
i.e., one who considers himself to be underneath everything else is the everlasting arm that upholds the world.
Compare the Talmud’s interpretation of this verse elsewhere:
“Pt1 Talmudic Cosmology (Ma’aseh Bereshit): Earth’s Foundations, the Seven Heavens, and Cosmic Dimensions (Chagigah 12b-13a)“, section “R’ Yosei - Earth Stands on Layers: Pillars, Water, Mountains, Wind, Storm, and the Arm of God“
“Pt1 Ma’aseh Bereishit (Creation and Cosmology) and Ma’aseh Merkava in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Chagigah 2:1)“, section “R’ Yehuda bar Pazi - Originally the world was “water in water”; God transformed it into snow, then land; land stands on water, water on mountains, mountains on wind, wind on storm, and storm is suspended under God’s arm - Genesis 1:2; Psalms 147:17, 104:6, 136:6, 148:8; Job 37:6; Amos 4:13; Deuteronomy 33:27 (#3)“