Rav said: The halakha is according to R. Yehoshua b. Korkhah [who ruled that judges _should_ try to arbitrate a compromise].
[R. Yehoshua b. Korkhah is traditionally identified as the son of R. Aqiva, who was bald (Bekhorot 58a); "korkhah"=baldness). The implication is that R. Yehoshua did not want his reputation to rest on his being the son of a famous father.]
Really? But Rav Huna was a student of Rav, and when (litigants) came before Rav Huna, he would say to them "Do you want justice or do you want compromise?" [If Rav favored compromise, why did his student, Rav Huna, offer the litigants an alternative?]
To what mitzva does R. Yehoshua b. Korkhah refer? -- That it is a mitzvah to ask them whether they want justice or compromise.
But that is the opinion of the Tanna Kamma [the anonymous authority cited by the b'raita at the top of 6a, who ruled against compromise after judgment was rendered, but who permitted compromise before judgment]?
The difference is whether it is a mitzvah. R. Yehoshua b. Korkhah held that it [offering a compromise] is a mitzvah, but the Tanna Kamma holds that it is permitted [but not required].
But that is the position of R. Shimon b. Menasya [also cited in the lengthy b'raita]?
The difference is [quoting R. Shimon b. Menasya]: When you heard the testimony [of the litigants], and you know in which direction the judgment is leaning, you are not permitted to say "Go out and compromise." [The Tanna Kamma, however, permits judicial compromise even after the judge has some sense of what the final judgment will be.]
[The Rambam, Hilkhot Sanhedrin 22:4, rules that it is a mitzvah to offer the opportunity to compromise before final judgment, even if the judge already has a sense of in which direction the judgment is leaning.]
[We return to the discussion of the meaning of the "botze'a" who curses God (Ps 10:3); the word had been translated as a compromiser, or a thief.]
[The b'raita forbidding compromise on the basis of (Ps 10:3). See bm 6b.1] disagrees with R. Tanhum b. Hanila'i, for R. Tanhum b. Hanila'i said that this verse was only said with respect to the Golden Calf, as it says (Ex 32:5) "And when Aaron saw this he built an altar before it."
What did Aaron see? R. Binyamin b. Yefet said in the name of R. Elazar: He saw Hur [who had tried to stop the people from worshipping the Calf] slaughtered in front of him. He [Aaron] [compromised with himself, and] said: If I do not listen to them now, they will do to me what they did to Hur, and will fulfil through me the verse (Lam 2:20) "Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?", and there will never be a remedy for them. It is better that they worship the Calf, for which they can repent.
[Previously, we dealt with the position of R. Shimon b. Menasya, who interpreted Prov 17:14 ("The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water") as indicating that once the judge knows in which direction the judgment is likely to go, he is not permitted to propose a compromise. The gemara now considers alternative readings of the verse.]
And those tanna'im [who disagree with R. Shimon b. Menasya], how do they interpret "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water?" According to Rav Hamnuna, for Rav Hamnuna said: The beginning of a person's [Eternal] judgment is only in matters of Torah [Rashi: for not studyimg Torah], as it says: "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water" [We had translated the word "madon" as "strife;" this revised exegesis relates it to the word "din" {judgment}. And water symbolzes Torah. Thus, the beginning of judgment is when one "lettteth out" Torah.]
Rav Huna said: Discord is like a gully formed by a stream of water; once it widens, it continues to widen.
Abbaye Keshisha (the elder, as distinquished from his better known namesake) said: Discord is like a plank on a bridge; once it is firm, it remains firm. [Rashi: New planks on a bridge are wobbly; with time, the planks settle into place and become firm. Similarly, frequent discord becomes habitual.]
[Having presented several exegeses of Prov 17:14, the Talmud cites an instance in which Mar Shmuel associates this verse with a popular saying for the benefit of his favotite student Rav Yehuda, who must have been quite young at the time. Rav Yehuda was to become Shmuel's most illustrious disciple, ]
There was this man who used to say: Fortunate is he who hears [Rashi: embarrassing comments about himself] and becomes accustomed to it; he avoids a hundred misfortunes. Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Prov 17:14) says "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water." [Rashi: the word "madon" {usually translated as strife} either refers to "me'ah dinei" {a hundred misfortunes} to gematria: mem(40) + dalet(4) + vav(6) + nun(50) = madon(100).]
[As is fairly common in the Talmud, this is followed by several other such associations between popular sayings and biblical verses]
There was this man who used to say: For two or three {thefts), a thief is not put to death. Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Amos 2:6) says "Thus saith the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah, yea for four, I will not reverse it."
There was this man who used to say: Seven pits [in the path of] a man of peace [will not hinder him]; one [pit in the path of] an evil person [will harm him]. Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Prov 24:16) says "For a righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again; but the wicked stumble under adversity."
There was this man who used to say: A man who leaves the court without his coat [Rashi: the coat was taken to pay the court-ordered liability] should sing a song as he goes. Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Ex 18:23) says [referring to those whose cases were judged in the courts set up by Moses] "And all this people also shall go to their place in peace."
There was this man who used to say: When a woman sleeps, her basket is lowered. [Rashi: when a person becomes lazy, the productivity decreases.] Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Eccl 10:18) says "By slothfulness the rafters sink in."
There was this man who used to say: The man that I trusted raised his fist against me. Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: The verse (Ps 41:10) says "Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted ... [hath lifted up his heel against me]."
There was this man who used to say: When our love [Rashi: the love between a man and his wife] was strong, we could have lain together on a sword's edge [i.e. a narrow bed would suffice]; now that our love is not strong, a sixty-amah bed is not wide enough. Rav Huna [reinterpreting it as the cooling relation between God and Israel] said: At first the verse (Ex 25:22) says "And there I will meet with thee and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover." And it was taught in a b'raita that the ark was nine t'fachim high and one tefach thick, which makes ten. [Rashi: God's Divine Presence was thus only 10 t'fachim from the ground.] And it is written (1 Kings 6:2) "And the house which King Solomon built for the Load, the length thereof was three- score cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits." And in the end it is written (Is 66:1) "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool; where isthe house that you may build unto me?" [Rashi: After the Israelites had sinned, the Divine Presence could not remain even within the larger Temple.]
[The words "lo taguru" in Deut. 1:17, that usually mean "do not be afraid" were interpreted on p. 6b as "do not restrain". The linguistic justification of this interpretation is now questioned.]
What does this (interpretation of) "lo taguru" mean? It is the language of "gathering" [derived from the root "aleph-gimel-resh" rather than the usual "gimel-vav-resh]. Rav Nachman says, Scripture says: (Deut. 28:39) "... thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes". Rav Aha b. Yaakov said, it is from: (Proverbs 6.8) "Provideth her bread in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest". Rav Aha son of Rav Ika said it is from: (Proverbs 10:5) "A wise son gathereth in summer".
R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said in the name of R. Yonatan: Any judge whose judgment is perfectly true causes the Divine Presence to reside in Israel, as it says (Ps 82:1) "God standeth in the congregation of God; in the midst of the judges He judgeth." And any judge whose judgment is not perfectly true causes the Divine Presence to depart from Israel, as it says (Ps 12:6) "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, 'Now I will arise" saith the Lord."
And Shmuel b. Nachmani said in the name of R. Yonatan: Any judge who takes from one and give to the other not in accordance with the law, the Holy One, blessed be He, takes his soul, as it says (Prov 22:22-23) "Rob not the weak because he is weak, neither crush the poor in the presence of the gate. For the Lord will plead their cause, and despoil the life of those that despoil them."
And Shmuel b. Nachmani said in the name of R. Yonatan: A judge should always see himself as if a sword was between his thighs and gehinnom (hell) is open beneath him, as it says (Songs 3:7-8) "Behold it is the litter of Solomon, threescore mighty men are about it, of the mighty men of Israel. They all handle the sword, they are expert in war, every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of the dread in the night." -- for the fear of gehinnom, which is like night. [Rashi explains that the "litter of Solomon" refers to the Temple, where the Divine Presence resides. The mighty men are scholars, and the "war" refers to the study of Torah.]
[We end at the fifth line of 7b.]