Talmud - Nazir 5a נזיר ה׳ א׳

And Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi derives the meaning of the term yamim stated with regard to Absalom based upon a verbal analogy from the word yamim that appears in the context of houses of walled cities, where it states: “For a full year [yamim] he shall have the right of redemption” (Leviticus 25:29). Just as there, in the case of walled cities, the term yamim means twelve months, as the verse states immediately afterward: “Within the space of a full year” (Leviticus 25:30), so too here, in the case of Absalom, the term yamim means twelve months.

Rabbi Nehorai says: Absalom cut his hair once every thirty days. Rabbi Yosei says: He cut his hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve, as we find that the sons of kings cut their hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve.

The Gemara asks: What is the reasoning of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? He derives the meaning of the verse concerning Absalom from the verse concerning houses of walled cities. But isn’t it Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi himself who said that one may not redeem his house until it has been in the buyer’s possession for at least two days, as the word yamim does not refer to fewer than two days? This demonstrates that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi understands the word yamim in the case of walled city houses as referring to a period of two days rather than a year. How then can he employ a verbal analogy from houses of walled cities to derive that the word yamim in the case of Absalom indicates a period of twelve months?

The Gemara answers: He learned this verbal analogy because the verse states that Absalom would trim his hair due to its weight (II Samuel 14:26), and in two days there is no significant weight added to the hair. Consequently, the term yamim cannot be understood to mean two days in the case of Absalom.

The Gemara asks: But say that yamim means two years, as it is written: “And it came to pass at the end of two years of days [yamim]” (Genesis 41:1). The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim in a case where it does not have the term years mentioned with it, as in the case of Absalom, from another usage of the term yamim that does not have the term years mentioned with it, i.e., the verse about houses of walled cities. And this usage of the term yamim that does have the term years mentioned with it will not prove otherwise.

The Gemara asks: But say that yamim means thirty days, as it is written: “But a month of days [yamim]” (Numbers 11:20). The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim in a case where it does not have the term months mentioned with it from another usage of the term yamim that does not have the term months mentioned with it. And this usage of the term yamim that does have the term months mentioned with it will not prove otherwise.

The Gemara asks: But say that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi should have derived the meaning of the term yamim from here: “The daughters of Israel went from time to time [yamim yamima] to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year” (Judges 11:40). This teaches that the daughters of Israel would go four times a year, each time for one day, to lament her, in which case yamim yamima means once every three months. The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim from another usage of the term yamim, and we do not derive the meaning of the term yamim from a case where the word yamim is used in conjunction with the term yamima.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: And what is the difference between yamim and yamima? Didn’t the school of Rabbi Yishmael teach a verbal analogy with regard to leprosy of houses between the words “and the priest shall return [veshav]” (Leviticus 14:39) and the words “and the priest shall come [uva]” (Leviticus 14:44)? It is derived from this that just as this is the halakha with regard to returning, i.e., the priest returns after seven days, this is the halakha with regard to coming, which is also after seven days. Just as the Hebrew words veshav and uva can be used in a verbal analogy, certainly two words with a less pronounced variation, i.e., yamim and yamima, can be used to teach a verbal analogy.

The Gemara responds: This applies only where there are no terms that are identical to it. However, where there are terms that are identical to it, we derive the meaning of a term from the usage of terms that are identical to it rather than from the usage of terms that are merely similar.

Some say that the reason the halakha is not derived from yamim yamima is because the time period to which it refers is unclear: From where do we know that they would lament Jephthah’s daughter once every three months, at fixed intervals? Perhaps they would lament her four times a year, in irregular intervals. Alternatively, it might have taken place in regular but uneven intervals, e.g., after four months they would visit one time, and then after two months they would visit one time, and then they would visit again after a four-month interval and again after a two-month interval.

It was taught in the baraita that Rabbi Nehorai says that Absalom cut his hair once every thirty days. The Gemara explains the basis for this opinion: What is the reason that with regard to priests, the halakha is that they must cut their hair every thirty days? It is because after that interval there is noticeable weight to the hair. Here, too, in the case of Absalom, there is noticeable weight after this period of time has passed, and it is clear that Absalom cut his hair due to its weight, as it is stated: “Because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it” (II Samuel 14:26).

It was taught in the baraita that Rabbi Yosei says: Absalom cut his hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve, as the sons of kings would cut their hair every Shabbat eve. The Gemara asks: If so, what difference is there between Absalom, who was a nazirite, and the rest of his brothers, King David’s sons, who also cut their hair once a week?

The Gemara answers: There is a difference between them with regard to a Festival that occurs in the middle of the week, as his brothers would cut their hair in honor of the Festival, whereas he would not cut his hair. Alternatively, the difference between them concerns cutting hair on the morning of Shabbat eve. His brothers would cut their hair at that hour, whereas he would not cut his hair until the evening, shortly before Shabbat.

Having mentioned in 4b the verse “and it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king” (II Samuel 15:7), the Gemara asks: With regard to these forty years, what is their purpose in this discussion, i.e., to what time period do they refer? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Nehorai says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: It is referring to the end of forty years, since the Jewish people requested for themselves a king in the days of Samuel (see I Samuel, chapter 8). It was taught: That year when they requested for themselves a king was the tenth year of the leadership of Samuel the Ramathite.

MISHNAH: In the case of unspecified naziriteship, where one does not state how long he wishes to be a nazirite, the term lasts for thirty days.

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived, that an unspecified naziriteship is thirty days? In answer to this question, Rav Mattana said: The verse states with regard to a nazirite: “He shall be [yihye] holy” (Numbers 6:5), and the numerical value [gimatriyya] of the letters of the word yihye is thirty.

Bar Padda said: The number of days of an unspecified naziriteship corresponds to the number of appearances of the words “nazirite,” “his naziriteship,” and similar terms that are stated in the Torah in the chapter of naziriteship (Numbers, chapter 6): Thirty less one times. So too, an unspecified term of naziriteship is twenty-nine days.

The Gemara asks: And Rav Mattana should also derive from the number of times that the words “nazirite” and “his naziriteship” appear, to conclude like bar Padda that an unspecified naziriteship lasts for twenty-nine days.

The Gemara answers: Rav Mattana could have said to you: That word is needed for a specific exposition. The words: “He shall abstain [yazir] from wine and strong drink” (Numbers 6:3), comes to prohibit a nazirite from drinking wine that is consumed for a mitzva just as he is prohibited from drinking wine whose consumption is optional. Likewise, the words: “When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a nazirite, to consecrate himself” (Numbers 6:2), teach that one vow of naziriteship takes effect where another vow of naziriteship already exists. For example, if one takes a vow by stating: I will be a nazirite today, and then repeats the vow, he must observe two periods of naziriteship. Consequently, since sometimes the word nazirite, in its different forms, appears in order to serve as the source of a particular exposition, the number of times it occurs does not indicate the length of an unspecified term of naziriteship.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Nazir 5a explores how long Absalom let his hair grow before cutting it, debating whether the term yamim means twelve months or thirty days.