More Discussions for this daf
1. Honey 2. Normal/Abnormal Decline 3. הערות
4. למה פירש רשי אצל רב עמרם ולא אצל רבא
DAF DISCUSSIONS - BAVA METZIA 38

harold jitschak bueno de mesquita asked:

You wrote in the Outline:

(l) Answer: The oil can be used to anoint leather, the honey for a wound on a camel's back.

(m) Question (Beraisa): Chachamim say, he should fix the situation and sell them in Beis Din - what does he fix (wine, honey and oil will not spoil any further!)?

i would be thankfull to know if it is known [from the commentaries??] if ,the honey described here ,is bee- honey or date-honey.

thank you,

shana tova ktiva w'chatima tova

harold jitschak bueno de mesquita, jerusalem, israel

The Kollel replies:

Dear Harold,

As of now we found no commentaries on the Daf that discuss the type of honey that is beneficial.

However we can deduce as follows: Mishnayos Machshirin 6:4 lists the 7 (Halachic) liquids: Dew, water, wine, oil, blood, milk and bee-honey (date honey is not considered a liquid). They have special rules concerning Tum'ah. In Shabbos Perek 8 when discussing carrying on Shabbos, water, oil, milk and honey are specifically mentioned before generally mentioning liquids. The size of honey which is forbidden to carry is given there as the amount needed for a sore. We see that the honey which is considered liquid (bee-honey) is used for sores. However, whether date honey also has such use I was not able to prove.

Also on the subject.

1) Honey can also be made from figs and carobs (Kesuvos 111b, "Plant World of the Bible", Yehuda Felix).

2) Devarim 8:8 lists the 7 fruits of Eretz Yisrael. The last one Devash (honey) refers to dates. However, there it is obvious that it does not mean bee honey.

3) Devarim 32:13 mentions that "He nursed them honey from rock". Rashi on that Pasuk mentions the Sifri regarding honey floating from figs in barrels. But the Tosefta uses this pasuk to show that honey is called liquid because of the word "nursing". If so, this refers to bee-honey since this is the only "liquid" honey. We'll let you know if we find any more information.

All the best,

Reuven Weiner