A colossal rabbinic blunder caused by a drop of spilled ink? (Mishpatim) |
אַרְבָּעָה אֲבוֹת נְזִיקִין, הַשּׁוֹר וְהַבּוֹר וְהַמַּבְעֶה וְהַהֶבְעֵר…
There are four primary categories of damage: The category of שור Ox; and the category of בור Pit; and the category of מבעה Maveh; and the category of הבער Fire …
These are the opening words of the first Mishnah in tractate Baba Kama, and arguably the most famous line in the Babylonian Talmud.
Clearly based on verses in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Mishpatim, these classifications are designated as the master categories of damages to any life or property caused by negligence. And, by definition and intent, each title is crystal clear, with the exception of the third, מַּבְעֶה / Maveh which defies translation because the sages of the Talmud, the Amoraim, themselves were clueless as to the word’s meaning, spending any number of pages on verbal pilpulation and exegetical contortions in their efforts to discern the meaning of this unique idiom.
One would assume that the Amoraim, the sages of the Talmud, would question whether this word actually exists. After all, the redactor of the Mishnah, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (Judah the Prince) was, if nothing else, extremely precise in his vocabulary. He was scrupulous about using language, primarily Hebrew, that would be absolutely intelligible. Hence, in selecting the name for a master classification of laws of damages, the last thing he would do is pick some obscure, if not nonexistent, term. This would be especially true in this case where the other three categories are given the simplest and most readily comprehensible nouns: OX, PIT, FIRE.
Moreover, categories 1, 2 and 4 are all found in our Parsha, Mishpatim (Shemot/Exodus 21,22) and in sequence. Hence it would stand to reason that this category, this mysterious MAVEH, should be found in this very same parsha between #2 and #4.
Indeed, one would assume the Amoraim would ask........