English of Core Text: Rabbi Yochanan said: A man’s sustenance is twice as hard as childbirth, for concerning a woman in childbirth it is written “be-etzev” (with pain), and concerning sustenance it is written “be-itzavon” (with toil/pain).
On the daf / in context: The intensified form “itzavon” relative to “etzev” is taken to indicate that earning a livelihood is the harder of the two.
Type of Learning: Custom (difficulty of livelihood)What Is Learned: Earning one’s bread is twice as hard as the pain of childbirth, based on the intensified language “itzavon.”