He [R. Akiva] was wont to say: A father endows his son with beauty, strength, wealth, wisdom, and years [i.e., long life. Because the nature of the son is likely to be similar to that of the father, from the beginning of his creation he is endowed with beauty, strength, wisdom, and years; and wealth is bequeathed him by his father. To me, the Mishnah seems to mean that if a man merits it, his sons come to acquire all of these things], and (he endows him) with the number of generations before him. [Sometimes, the Holy One Blessed be He assures the father that He will grant some favor to his children in the third or fourth generation, and it is the father's merit that secures that favor for his children]; and that is the "ketz" ("ending"). [i.e., that is the meaning of the "ketz" assigned by the Holy One Blessed be He to arrive at a certain time or at a certain generation], as in (Isaiah 41:4): "He calls out the generations from the beginning." Even though it is written (Genesis 15:3): "And they will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years," it is written (afterwards, Ibid. 16): "And the fourth generation will return here." [so that the number of generations, which is "the fourth generation," is the ketz of the "four hundred years" (referred to above).]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
האב זוכה לבן וכו' – since it is close that the nature of the son is to be similar to the nature of the father, and beauty, and strength and wisdom and years, a man endows [his son] with them from the beginning of his creation according to his nature, and wealth a person bequeaths to his son. And wisdom that we speak of here, is the straight ingenuity of mind/brightness of mind, which is in a person according to his nature. And years, length of days. And to me it appears that if a person endows them, he will have sons who are pleasant, strong, wise, rich and who live long lives.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Introduction
Mishnayoth nine (and ten) contain further statements of Rabbi Akiva. These statements are not about halakhah, but rather about aggadah, or Jewish legend.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
ובמספר הדורות לפניו – Sometimes that the Holy One, blessed be He promises that his father will do good for his seed to the third generation or to the fourth generation, and the father endowed to that generation that this particular goodness will come to them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
He used to say: the father transmits to the son beauty, strength, wealth, wisdom and years. This mishnah contains a popular saying by Rabbi Akiva, that a son inherits from his father, beauty, strength, wealth, wisdom and years, which is length of life.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
הוא הקץ – that the Holy One, blessed be He, determined for this matter that it will be for a specific time and for a certain generation, such as (Genesis 15:14,16): “…and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years…and they shall return here in the fourth generation…,” that the number of generations which is the fourth generation will be end of the four hundred years.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
And the number of generations before Him, that shall be their appointed end: For it is said, “calling the generations from the beginning” (Isaiah 51:4) Although it is said, “And shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13), it is also said, “And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again” (Genesis 15:16). This section has been explained in many different ways and is very difficult to understand. I will explain it the way that Albeck explains. Rabbi Akiva is dealing with the issue of fate: if a father controls the number of years that his son will live, how is that God has already determined how long the world will last. The answer that Rabbi Akiva gives is that the number of generations is fixed, as the verse in Isaiah says, but the number of years in each generation is not fixed. Although one verse from Exodus seems to say that God counts years, a few verses later generations are mentioned. According to Rabbi Akiva’s interpretation of these verses and his theology, a person’s years are determined by his actions and by his father’s actions, and not predetermined by God. It is only the number of generations until redemption that is known by God. Of course, human beings do not know this number. It is important to note that when we deal with issues such as fate and the end of the world, we are dealing with issues about which many different Jewish answers have been given. This is not an issue that human beings can fully understand.
