compiler) tradition records, that Rabbi Eliezer had said: As there are hinges to a house, so there are hinges to a woman; as it is said (1 Sa. iv. 19): "For her hinges, %, were turned on her." Rabbi Yehoshua said: She has also doors like a house; for it is said (Job iii. 10): "Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb." Rabbi Akiva said: A woman has also a key like a house; for it is said: "And he opened (л", пл, a key) her womb." Bechoroth, fol. 45, col. 1.

VERSE 35.

Now will I praise the Lord.

Never since the Holy One, blessed be He! created the world, had there been a man to praise Him, until Leah came and praised Him. (There is no such instance recorded in Scripture); for it is said: "Now will I praise the Lord." Berachoth, fol. 7, col. 2.

CHAPTER XXX.

VERSE 1.

Give me children, or else I die.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

CHILDREN.

2. A man should never make invidious distinctions between his children; for on account of two selas' worth of silk (Milath, probably Malta, Maltese wool), which Jacob gave Joseph, his brothers' envy was excited, and it became the cause of our fathers' going down to Egypt. Shabbath, fol. 10, col. 2.

3. Rava said: He that loves the Rabbis, his children will be Rabbis; he that holds the Rabbis in great honour, his sons-in-law will be Rabbis; and he that fears the Rabbis, will himself be a learned Rabbi; or, at least, his words will be listened to as if he were one. Shabbath, fol. 23, col. 2.

8. Seven are excommunicated from heaven; these are: A Jew who has no wife; or who has a wife, but no children; or who has children, and does not train them in the study of the Law; who has no phylactery on his head, and none on his arm, no fringes on his garment, no amulets on his doorposts; and no shoes on his feet. (See page 338, Note 9.) Psachim, fol. 113, col. 2.

9. Rava said: Life, children and sustenance are not the reward of merit, but of astrological influence. Moed-katon, fol. 28, col. 1.

16. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: If a woman married a first husband, and had no children, then a second, and had no children, she may not marry a third husband, unless he has children by another wife; if she marries a third husband, who has no children, she is to be divorced with the loss of the prescribed sum due to a divorced woman. Yevamoth, fol. 65, col. 1; Maimonides, Hilchoth Ishuth, Sec. 15, Halachah, 14.

T. N. The question is asked, whether, now that her barrenness is established, the first two husbands can reclaim the prescribed sums they had each paid her at their respective divorces; and it is decided in the negative. But, it is again asked, what if she marries a fourth husband, and has children by him, can she claim the prescribed sum from the third husband? In that case, it is said, she would be told, that silence was more advantageous to her than speech, since the third husband might invalidate her fourth marriage by saying, that had he known this, he would not have divorced her.

19. "Ye are the children of the Lord your God." (De. xiv. 1.) When you behave as children, you are called children; but you are not called children, when you do not behave like children; so says Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Meir says: They are called children irrespective of their behaviour; for it is said (Je. iv. 22): "They are sottish children;" and again (De. xxxii. 20): "Children in whom is no faith;" and again (Is. i. 3): "A seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters." Kiddushin, fol. 36, col. 1.

20. Whoever marries a woman for the sake of her money, has unworthy children. Kiddushin, fol. 70, col. 1.

24. Rav Hunah found a luscious date, which he wrapped up in a napkin. His son Ravah discovering it by its fragrance, Rav Hunah gave it to him, and he, in turn, gave it to his son. Son, said Rav Hunah, thou hast cheered my heart, and at the same time, set my teeth on edge; I feel the truth of the proverb: The father loves his son; but the son loves his own son better. Soteh, fol. 49, col. 1.

32. Say not, I will not marry; but take a wife, and beget sons and daughters, and contribute abundantly to the increase of population. Avoth of Rabbi Nathan, chap. 3.

VERSE 14.

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field.

The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: "And the soul that does ought presumptuously." (Nu. xv. 30.) That applies to Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, who indulged in sneering criticisms. What, he asked, had Moses nothing else to record but that "Lotan's sister was Timna" (Ge. xxxvi. 22), that "Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son," and that "Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field"? . . . . The fact is (say the Rabbis), that Timna was a royal princess; as it is written (Ge. xxxvi. 29, 40):

"duke Lotan," "duke Timna; " and duke means uncrowned royalty. She wished to embrace the religion of the patriarchs, but they repelled her. She therefore said: I will rather be a slave of that people, than a princess of any other. And because the patriarchs would not receive her, she became the ancestress of Amalek (Ge. xxxvi. 16), who troubled Israel. With reference to Reuben, it teaches that the righteous keep their hands from the property of others. What are Dudaim (A.V., mandrakes) ? Rav says Mandrakes. Laive says: Daffodil. Rav Yonathan says: Sweet violets. Sanhedrin, fol. 99, col. 2.

VERSE 16.

And Leah went out to meet him.

I. Rav Shemuel bar Nachmaine recorded, that Rabbi Yochanan had said: Every woman that urges her husband to fulfil a precept (as Leah did), will have sons, whose equals were not found even in the generation of Moses; for in that generation it was said (De. i. 13, 15): "Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes; " but they found only "wise men and known," and no "understanding." Whereas of Leah it is said: "And Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee;" and again (1 Ch. xii. 32): "And the children of Issachar (Leah's son), which were men that had understanding," etc. Eiruvin, fol. 100, col. 2.

II. Issachar (Ge. xlix. 14). The ass caused ( in Syriac denotes to bring about) the birth of Issachar; for it stopped providentially at Leah's tent, and detained Jacob there. Niddah, fol. 31, col. 1.

VERSE 21.

And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. What is the meaning of "And afterwards"? After Leah had judged herself, and said: Jacob is to have twelve tribes, I have already given birth to six, and the handmaids to four; if this also will be a son, my sister Rachel will not come up even to one of the handmaids. Upon this the embryo was turned into a female; and she, therefore, called her Dinah (judgment). Berachoth, fol. 60, col. 1.

T. N. This incident is adduced in refutation of an illustration of a vain prayer, viz., that an expected birth may prove that of a male child. The matter is compromised by the observation, that supernatural events, such as that relating to Dinah, are exceptional, or, that sexual changes may occur forty days after conception.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

DINAH.

1. Some say, that Job flourished in the time of Jacob, and that he married Dinah, the daughter of Jacob; for Job calls his wife "foolish,” (Job ii. 2), and with reference to Dinah it is said (Ge. xxxiv. 7): "Because he wrought folly, na, in Israel." Bava-bathra, fol. 15,

col. 2.

T. N. a. It should have been stated before, that among the thirteen hermeneutical rules, of which seven are alleged to have been framed by Hillel the Elder, and six by Rabbi Ishmael, at about the close of the first century, the second is designated, mm, Inference from Identity, or from the occurrence, in two different parts of Scripture, of two identical words, or phrases, of which either one, or both, are superfluous. This is taken as an indication of the complete identification of the two subjects to which they severally belong, so that what is legally determined, or historically asserted, with reference to one, applies equally to the other. Keeping this rule in view, some of the discussions recorded in the preceding pages will be intelligible, though its application is very often, as in this instance, altogether arbitrary, and leading to absurd and fantastical issues.

b. The thirteen rules are inserted in the Liturgy, and are daily repeated by every Jew, who thus in his prayers acknowledges most solemnly the Divine authority of Rabbinism in all its minutiæ, whatever he may assert to the contrary in verbal, or literary discussions.

3. Six years old was Dinah when she had Osnath (Joseph's wife) by Shechem. Sophrim, chap. 21.

VERSE 28.

Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

Rav Yitzchak said: With the birth of a boy peace comes into the world. . . . . A boy is born with a loaf in his hand; a girl comes destitute into the world, and she gets no food until she asks for it (depends upon her husband); for it is written: "Female, thy wages upon me, by nap, and I will give it." Niddah, fol. 31, col. 2.

CHAPTER XXXI.

VERSE 27.

I might have sent thee away with mirth.

SYNOPTICAL NOTES.

MIRTH, JOY AND THE LIKE.

1. People may not rise to pray when in a state of dejection, idleness, mirth, levity, or from commonplace conversation, or from loose talk, but only when in a state of joy arising from the performance of some precept. Berachoth, fol. 31, col. 1.

3. Rabbi Eliezer says: On annual festivals, a man may do nothing else but eat and drink, or sit and study. Rabbi Yehoshua says: Divide the day, half for eating and drinking, and the other half spend at the house of study (which is done now). Rabbi Yochanan (about a century later) said: Both relied upon the same Scripture; one text says (De. xvi. 8): "A solemn assembly to the Lord thy God;" and another says (Nu. xxix. 35): "A solemn assembly shall be to you." Rabbi Eliezer holds, that the whole day shall either be the Lord's, or yours. Rabbi Yehoshua maintains, that it shall be divided. Psachim, fol. 68, col. 1.

5. The Post-Mishnic Rabbis have taught: A man is bound to cheer his children and the members of his household on annual feasts; for it is said (De. xvi. 14): “And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast," etc. How shall he cheer them? With wine. Rabbi Yehudah said: Men with wine, and women, if in Babylon, with gaudy garments, and if in the land of Israel, with apparel made of bleached linen. Psachim, fol. 109, col. 2.

6. All are bound to appear at the Temple, and to rejoice on the three annual feasts, except a deaf man, i.e., one who can speak, but does not hear, or hears, and cannot speak. But though exempt from appearing in the Temple, he is bound to rejoice. A deaf-mute, an idiot, and a child are exempt from both, because they are free from all the precepts contained in the Law. Chaguigah, fol. 2, col. 2.

7. Men may not take wives during the feast, whether they be virgins, widows, or the wives of deceased brothers, who died childless, because such marriages are occasions of joy. They may, however, marry again divorced women. . . . Whence is it proved, that men may not marry during the feast? It is said (De. xvi. 14): "Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast," but not in thy wife. Moed-katon, fol. 8, col. 2. 10. Rabbi Chanin, the son-in-law of the patriarch, had no boys. When at last, in answer to prayer, one was born, the father died on the same day. The mourner then exclaimed: Joy is turned into