Eikev 11:21 · unit 8

Parashas Eikev · Passuk 11:21

The Complete Passuk

לְמַ֨עַן יִרְבּ֤וּ יְמֵיכֶם֙ וִימֵ֣י בְנֵיכֶ֔ם עַ֚ל הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יְהֹוָ֛ה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם לָתֵ֣ת לָהֶ֑ם כִּימֵ֥י הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ*(בספרי תימן הָאָֽרֶץ בצד״י גדולה)׃ {ס}        

to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that GOD swore to your fathersifathers See note at 1.35. to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin. (שם שם — same source as the previous unit).

TT lemma: כימי השמים וגו' (unit 8 of 9).

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כימי השמים וגו'. א"ר יהודה אמר שמואל, ימות המשיח כמיום שנברא העולם ועד עכשיו שנאמר כימי השמים על הארץ עיין מש"כ לעיל ריש פרשה ח' בדרשה ויענך וירעיבך וצרף לכאן.

English: Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: The days of Mashiach are as from the day the world was created until now, as it is said, “like the days of the heavens over the earth.”

On the daf / in context: Torah Temimah places this derasha on Devarim 11:21. The Core Text is the words of Chazal (as transmitted in the source named above).

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13

The Gemara uses this passuk in a sugya (proof, illustration, or dispute). Named as one of R' Yishmael’s 13 or R' Eliezer’s 32 only when that move is explicit.

What Is Learned

The phrase “like the days of the heavens over the earth” is taken as a measure of the Messianic span.