15 passagesc. 500 CEHebrew / AramaicCC-BY
Individual passages from Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra, indexed for close reading, source verification, and myth source-checking.
Who wrote the Hebrew Bible? The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b provides a complete accounting, attributing every book to a specific author. Moses wrote his own book, the Torah. And also ...
The question of whether Moses wrote the last eight verses of the Torah, the ones describing his own death, provoked one of the most poignant debates in the Talmud. Bava Batra 15a p...
(Genesis 24:1) tells us that in his old age, God blessed Abraham in all things. We usually think of that in terms of wealth and a long life. But what if there was more? What if "al...
There's a story told about Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a third-century Babylonian Amora (a scholar of the Talmud) renowned for his... well, let's just call them "adventures." Rabbah's t...
Rabbah bar bar Hana was the Talmud's greatest traveler of the impossible. His sea voyages, recorded in Bava Batra 73a–b, describe creatures so vast they reshape the geography aroun...
Sometimes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. and sometimes, well, it's a whole orchard of strange and wondrous fruit. The story returns to Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a traveler...
The impossible creatures of Rabbah bar bar Hana's voyages continue in Bava Batra 73b, each one more staggering than the last, a catalog of wonders that pushed the boundaries of the...
Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra turns to Where Heaven And Earth Meet. One of my favorites comes from the adventures of Rabbah bar Bar Hannah. Now, Rabbah bar Bar Hannah was no ordinary tr...
Rabbah bar bar Hana's journeys were not limited to the sea. An Arab guide led him across the desert to the most sacred and terrifying locations in biblical geography. According to ...
The story goes that when God desired to create the world, He turned to Rahab, who was the angel or prince of the sea. God commanded Rahab to "Open your mouth and swallow all the wa...
Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra turns to The Messianic Banquet. This isn’t just any potluck. According to tradition, as described in Elliot Wolfson's Tree of Souls, God will prepare a fea...
At the end of days, God will host a banquet for the righteous, and the main course will be the Leviathan. According to Bava Batra 74b, this is not metaphor. The Sages described the...
The future Jerusalem will be built from precious stones so massive they defy imagination. According to Bava Batra 75a, God will take gems thirty cubits by thirty cubits, carve gate...
Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra turns to The New Jerusalem. The prophet Isaiah paints a breathtaking picture of the future, a time of ultimate peace and harmony. He proclaims, "New moon a...
The righteous in the World to Come will not all share the same reward. According to Bava Batra 75b, there are tiers. And every righteous person who sees a canopy grander than their...
