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August 18, 2007
It's a Dog According to the Talmud
Apropos of yesterday's post, here is what the Talmud says about urinating on a wall,
AND URINE MUST BE REMOVED THREE HANDBREADTHS etc. Rabbah b. Bar Hana said: It is permissible for a man to make water on the side of another man's wall, as it is written, And I will cut off from Ahab one that pisseth against the wall and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. But did we not learn, URINE MUST BE KEPT THREE HANDBREADTHS FROM THE WALL? — This refers to slop water. Come and hear: A man should not make water on the side of another man's wall, but should keep three handbreadths away. This is the rule for a wall of brick, but if the wall is of stone, he need keep away only so far as not to do any damage. How much is this? A handbreadth. If the wall is of hard stone, it is permitted. Does not this confute the dictum of Rabbah b. Bar Hana? — It does. But Rabba b. Bar Hana based himself on the Scripture? — The meaning of the verse is this: 'Even a creature whose way is to piss against a wall I will not leave him. And what is this? A dog. - Baba Bathra 19b [bold and blue emphasis added, Maurice Simon translation. (1935 – 1948)
Well, I know of at least one other species whose young and adult males have been known to pisseth against a wall from time to time.
Posted by Duane Smith at August 18, 2007 1:41 PM | Read more on Hebrew Bible |
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