§ After recording the praises of certain historical figures, the Gemara continues in a similar vein. Rabbi Yona said that it is written: "Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul until death, and was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). This verse is referring to Rabbi Akiva, who conveyed the Oral Law to the people by arranging the halakhic and homiletic midrash. And some say that the members of the Great Assembly arranged these compilations of Torah knowledge. But if so, what did this Sage, Rabbi Akiva, arrange? He arranged the interpretive method of generalizations and details.

Rabbi Abbahu said: The lineage of Salma, son of Caleb, son of Hur, is listed in the book of Chronicles. It is written there: "And the families of scribes that dwelt at Jabez: The Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites; these are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab" (I Chronicles 2:55). What is the meaning when the verse states the word scribes, literally, counters? It does not mean that they were scribes; rather, it means that they crafted the halakhot of the Torah into numbered groups. They categorized and brought together disparate halakhot into a mnemonic device to assist learners. The Gemara lists some examples of this numerical categorization: Five categories of people may not separate teruma; five types of grain require the separation of ḥalla from their dough; fifteen categories of women exempt their co-wives from levirate marriage and ḥalitza if they were both married to the same man who died childless; thirty-six transgressions for which one is liable to receive karet are listed in the Torah; thirteen matters are stated with regard to the unslaughtered carcass of a kosher bird; there are four primary categories of damages; and the number of primary categories of labor prohibited on Shabbat is forty-less-one.

The Gemara cites a different interpretation for the Hebrew word for scribe. Rabbi Eliezer said: It is written: "Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest the scribe, a scribe of the words of the mitzvot of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel" (Ezra 7:11). What is the meaning when the verse states the word scribe [sofer] twice? "Scribe" can be interpreted as scholar. The verse is not redundant; rather, it means that just as Ezra was a scholar in matters of Torah, so was he a scholar in matters of the Sages, i.e., the Oral Law.

Rabbi Ḥaggai said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: The former Sages, i.e., the scholars of earlier generations, metaphorically plowed and planted, weeded, cleared thorns, hoed, harvested, gathered sheaves into a pile, threshed the sheaves, winnowed the threshed grain, separated the bad grain form the good, ground the remainder into flour, sifted the flour in a sieve, kneaded the dough, smoothed the surface of the unbaked loaves with liquid, and baked the bread. They prepared everything so that we should be able to grasp Torah concepts; and yet, after all that, we have nothing to eat, as we are still unable to understand the Torah properly. The Gemara cites another metaphor with regard to the relationship between the earlier and later generations. Rabbi Abba bar Zemina said in the name of Rabbi Ze'eira: If the former generations were akin to angels, we are akin to humans; and if they were akin to humans, we are akin to donkeys. Rabbi Mana said: At that hour, when the previous statement was issued, they also said: We are not even comparable to the female donkey of Rabbi Pineḥas ben Yair.

§ The Gemara explains the reference to this particular donkey. The donkey of Rabbi Pineḥas ben Yair was stolen by robbers one night. It was kept hidden by them for three days, and yet it did not eat anything. After three days, they reconsidered and decided to return it. They said: Let's get it out of here, so that it shouldn't die in our possession and leave a stench in our cave. When they set it free it went and stood by its master's gate and began braying. Rabbi Pineḥas said to the members of his household: Open up for that poor creature, which has gone three days without eating anything. They opened the gate for it, and it entered Rabbi Pineḥas' courtyard. He told them: Give it something to eat. They placed barley before it, but it would not eat. They said to him: Rabbi, it will not eat. He said to them: Has the barley been tithed so that it is fit to eat? They replied: Yes. He then asked them: And have you separated their doubtfully tithed produce? Did you tithe the grain about which there is doubt as to whether it has been tithed properly? They replied: Didn't you teach us the following, Rabbi: One who purchases grain for feeding an animal, or flour for processing animal hides, or oil for lighting a lamp, is exempt from separating doubtfully tithed produce? There is no need to separate tithes from doubtfully tithed produce to feed a donkey. He said to them: What can we do for that poor creature, which is very strict with itself and will not eat even from doubtfully tithed produce, despite this exemption? And they therefore separated tithes from the doubtfully tithed produce, and the donkey finally ate the barley grains.

§ The mishna states that Petaḥya was responsible for the pairs of birds. The Gemara mentions some of the talents of this Petaḥya. Come and see how great was the skill of that man. He could open, i.e., elucidate, difficult topics and interpret them. As mentioned in the mishna, he understood all seventy languages. The Gemara adds: It was taught in a baraita: A Sanhedrin that includes two members who are able to speak all the seventy languages, and all of its members are at least capable of understanding those languages, this court is minimally fit to serve as a Sanhedrin. If it has three who can speak those languages, it is a medium level Sanhedrin. If it has four, it is a wise Sanhedrin. In Yavne, the Sanhedrin included four who could speak all seventy languages: Ben Azzai, ben Zoma, ben Ḥakhinai, and Rabbi Elazar ben Matya.

The Gemara cites a story that exemplifies Petaḥya's skills at understanding linguistic allusions. Rabbi Ḥisda said: Once Eretz Yisrael dried up. There was a drought, no grain grew there, and the Sages did not know from where they could bring the omer, the measure of barley brought as a communal offering on the sixteenth of Nisan. And there was a mute present there who knew where barley was growing that year. He came to the Sages and gestured to them with his hands. He placed one of his hands on roofs [gagot] and the other hand on huts [tzerifin], alluding to the name of the place where barley could be found. Since they did not understand his allusions, they brought Petaḥya before him, who observed the actions of the mute and said to them: Is there a place called Gagot Tzerifin or Tzerifin Gagot? They remembered that there was indeed such a place. They went there and found barley for the omer offering. The Gemara relates a similar story. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Bun, said: Once all the grain in the entire world was blighted, and the Sages did not know from where they could bring barley for the omer. And again there was a mute present there who knew where barley was growing. He came before the Sages and gestured to them with his hands. He placed one hand on his eye and the other hand on a doorjamb [sokhara]. Since the Sages were unable to understand his allusions, they brought Petaḥya before him, who observed his actions and said to them: Is there a place called Ein Sokher or Sokher Ein? They remembered that there was indeed such a place. They went there and found barley for the omer offering.

The Gemara cites yet another story that exemplifies Petaḥya's deciphering skills. There were three women who brought their own pair of birds to the Temple. It was not clear which type of offering each of them intended to bring. One of the women said: This pair of birds is for my fountain; and the second one said: It is for my sea; and the third one said: It is for my ziva. With regard to that woman who said: For my fountain, the Rabbis thought to say that she meant that her post-menstrual blood was flowing like a fountain. She was therefore bringing the pair of birds of a zava, as a sin-offering and a burnt-offering for her ritual purity. However, Petaḥya said to them: She was endangered in a fountain. She has brought this pair of birds as a thanks-offering for her escape from that life-threatening situation. With regard to that woman who said: For my sea, the Rabbis thought to say that she meant that her post-menstrual blood was flowing like the sea, which likewise means that she was a zava bringing her offerings for ritual purity. But Petaḥya said to them: She was endangered in the sea, so she too has brought this pair of birds as a thanks-offering. Finally, with regard to that woman who said: For my ziva, the Rabbis thought to say that she meant that she was an actual zava, and she was therefore bringing an offering for ritual purity. But Petaḥya said to them: A wolf [ze'ev], a word that is similar to the one she used, came and attempted to snatch her son, but he was ultimately saved. She, too, has brought this pair of birds as a thanks-offering.

§ The mishna states that ben Aḥiyya was appointed to treat those priests who suffered from intestinal disease. The Gemara explains why priests were particularly susceptible to this ailment. Since the priests would walk barefoot on the floor, even when it was cold, as their feet had to be in contact with the stones of the Temple floor, and since they would eat a lot of meat from the offerings and drink a lot of water, they would contract intestinal disease. And ben Aḥiyya knew that this particular type of wine was good for healing the intestines, and that this other type of wine was effective intestinal medicine.

The mishna states that Neḥunya was the well digger. The Gemara explains that he would dig wells and caves, where rainwater would collect, for pilgrims to use on their way to Jerusalem for the Festivals. And he knew