Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5

Mishnah 1 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/1

Mishnah 2

Mishnah 3 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/3

Mishnah 4

Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in Egypt,
And ten [miracles were performed] at the [Reed] Sea.

(Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt,
And ten [plagues did God bring] at the [Reed] Sea.)

[With] ten trials did our ancestors test the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the Wilderness,
As it is said (in Numbers 14:22):
“Yet have they tested Me these ten times,
And have not hearkened to My voice.”

Mishnah 5

Mishnah 6

Ten things were created on the eve of the [first] Sabbath at twilight,
And these are they:
[1] The mouth of the earth [that swallowed Korach in Numbers 16:32 ],
[2] The mouth of the well [that accompanied the Israelites in the Wilderness in Numbers 21:17],
[3] The mouth of the donkey [that spoke to Balaam in Numbers 22:28–30 ],
[4] The rainbow [that served as a covenant after the Flood in Genesis 9:13 ],
[5] The manna [that God provided the Israelites in the Wilderness in Exodus 16:4–21 ],
[6] The rod [of Moses],
[7] The Shamir [worm that helped build the Temple without metal tools],
[8] The letters,
[9] The writing, and
[10] The tablets [of the Ten Commandments].

And some say:
Also the destructive spirits,
And the burial place of Moses, our teacher,
And the ram of Abraham, our father.

And some say:
Also the [first human-made] tongs, made with [Divine] tongs.

Mishnah 7 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/7

Mishnah 8

Seven kinds of punishment come to the world for seven categories of sin:

[When] some of [the people] give tithes, and others do not give tithes,
A famine from drought comes,
And some go hungry, and others have plenty.

[When] they all decide not to give tithes,
A famine from tumult and drought comes.

[And when they decide, in addition,] not to set apart the dough [offering],
A famine of annihilation comes.


Pestilence comes to the world
For [sins] the death penalties [for which are] set forth in the Torah
That are not in the hands of a [human] court [to carry out];

And for [violation of the laws governing] the produce of the Sabbatical year.


[The] sword comes to the world
For the delay of justice,
And for the perversion of justice,
And because of those who interpret the Torah counter to the accepted law.

Mishnah 9 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/9

Mishnah 10 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/10

Mishnah 11

There are four temperaments among men:

• Easy to provoke and easy to appease--his loss is canceled by his gain.
  
• Hard to provoke and hard to appease--his gain is canceled by his loss.
  
• Hard to provoke and easy to appease--he is pious.
  
• Easy to provoke and hard to appease--he is evil.

Mishnah 12 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/12

Mishnah 13 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/13

Mishnah 14 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/14

Mishnah 15 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/15

Mishnah 16 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/16

Mishnah 17 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/17

Mishnah 18 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/18

Mishnah 19 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/19

Mishnah 20 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/20

Mishnah 21

He [Yehudah ben Teima] used to say:
Five years [is the age] for [the study of] Scripture,
Ten [is the age] for [the study of] Mishnah,
Thirteen [is the age] for [observing] commandments,
Fifteen [is the age] for [the study of] Talmud,
Eighteen [is the age] for the [wedding] canopy,
Twenty [is the age] for pursuing [a livelihood],
Thirty [is the age] for [full] strength,
Forty [is the age] for understanding,
Fifty [is the age] for [giving] counsel,
Sixty [is the age] for mature age,
Seventy [is the age] for a hoary head,
Eighty [is a sign of superadded] strength,
Ninety [is the age] for [a] bending [stature],
A hundred, is [the age at which one is] as if dead, passed away, and ceased from the world.

Mishnah 22 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/22

Mishnah 23 Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/23