Commentary for Pirkei Avot 6:6

For kingship is obtained with thirty levels: The ones that are written in the section about Shmuel when Israel requested a king and he said, "know that so and so is the law of a king." And when you investigate, they are thirty things, including those taught in Sandhedrin, "A king does not judge and is not judged, etc." And the twenty four presents of the priesthood are the ten in the Temple, four in Jerusalem and ten in the borders [of the whole land of Israel].

Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty stages, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah by forty-eight things
By study,
Attentive listening,
Proper speech,
By an understanding heart,
By an intelligent heart,
By awe,
By fear,
By humility,
By joy,
By attending to the sages,
By critical give and take with friends,
By fine argumentation with disciples,
By clear thinking,
By study of Scripture,
By study of mishnah,
By a minimum of sleep,
By a minimum of chatter,
By a minimum of pleasure,
By a minimum of frivolity,
By a minimum of preoccupation with worldly matters,
By long-suffering,
By generosity,
By faith in the sages,
By acceptance of suffering.
This mishnah begins by stating that the crown of Torah is greater than that of the priesthood or royalty. This message has been one of the central themes of all of tractate Avoth. The hereditary position of the priest and the king, two of the central figures of leadership in the Bible and in the Second Temple period, is surpassed, according to the rabbis, by the exalted position of the Torah scholar. Indeed this is one of the revolutions wrought by the rabbis. Jewish leadership was open not just to those born into a certain class, but to any person who worked hard enough to earn it through the study of Torah.
The mishnah states that royalty is earned through thirty “stages”. This is understood by commentators to mean thirty special rights that only a king has. Some of these were listed in chapter two of Mishnah Sanhedrin and some are in the Bible. We will not list these here, because, in my opinion, this is only an aside in the mishnah. The twenty-four stages of the priesthood are the twenty-four different types of things they receive as gifts from other Israelites (agricultural and sacrificial gifts).
With regard to Torah, the mishnah contains the first twenty-four of a list of forty-eight ways in which Torah is acquired. Since most are self-explanatory, I will only comment on things that require further explanation.
Proper speech: this means that he must put his learning into proper order, much in the same way that the Mishnah is ordered in an organized fashion.
By awe: this refers to fear of one’s teacher.
By fear: this refers to fear of God.
By humility: humility prevents the student from being too afraid to ask a question.
By joy: only by enjoying learning can a student hope to be good at what he is doing or learning.
By attending to the sages: a student of Torah does not only learn from a sage’s words, but from his actions as well. This is why the student must serve as an apprentice to his teacher.
By critical give and take with friends: Torah cannot be studied alone.
By fine argumentation with disciples: once a person acquires the status of Teacher, he must learn from the questions his students/disciples ask him. From personal experience I can testify that I have to teach what I am learning to others. Indeed, as much as you may be learning from Mishnah Yomit, I guarantee that I am learning more by being your teacher.
By a minimum of sleep: too much sleep is a waste of time and leads one to be lazy. However, not enough sleep also can be damaging to the study of Torah, for it weakens the body and mind. The ancient rabbis recommended eight hours of sleep a night.
By long-suffering: an angry person will have great difficulty in learning. In order to learn a person must be tolerant and patient.
By acceptance of suffering: this refers to one who accepts his fate in life and does not challenge God.

reverence, awe: [One] whose heart is not [too] high, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 4:10), "The day that you stood in front of the Lord, your God, at Chorev." And hence those that are impure from a seminal emission were forbidden, as it is because of the lightheadedness of a person and the musings of his heart that he comes to being [impure in this way].

[Learning of Torah is also acquired by one]
Who recognizes his place,
Who rejoices in his portion,
Who makes a fence about his words,
Who takes no credit for himself,
Who is loved,
Who loves God,
Who loves [his fellow] creatures, Who loves righteous ways,
Who loves reproof,
Who loves uprightness,
Who keeps himself far from honors,
Who does not let his heart become swelled on account of his learning,
Who does not delight in giving legal decisions,
Who shares in the bearing of a burden with his colleague,
Who judges with the scales weighted in his favor,
Who leads him on to truth,
Who leads him on to peace,
Who composes himself at his study,
Who asks and answers,
Who listens [to others], and [himself] adds [to his knowledge],
Who learns in order to teach,
Who learns in order to practice,
Who makes his teacher wiser,
Who is exact in what he has learned,
And who says a thing in the name of him who said it. Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).
This mishnah is a continuation of the previous mishnah which listed ways in which Torah is acquired. The first twenty-four were in mishnah five and the final twenty-four are here. [Note that 31a is not counted to the forty-eight. According to some commentators this line should not be part of the mishnah.]
As I did in the previous mishnah, I will only explain those things which require explanation.
Who recognizes his place: Some say that this means that he comes early to the bet midrash (study house). Others interpret it to mean that the person knows in which study house it is appropriate for him to learn.
Who rejoices in his portion: he is satisfied with the abilities that God has given him and is not jealous of others. This is similar to one “who recognizes his place.”
Who makes a fence about his words: this refers to one who is careful with his words, so that others should not come to err by them.
Who loves [his fellow] creatures: if a Torah scholar hates humanity, others who observe him will begin to hate Torah. In such a way he will desecrate God’s name. A true student of Torah must also love God’s human creations, as much as he loves God’s legal/theological manifesto.
Who loves reproof: one who seeks wisdom must also appreciate the necessity of reproof. Only by accepting criticism for his errors will he grow, both as a human being and as a scholar.
Who keeps himself far from honors: as we learned above in mishnah four.
Who does not delight not in giving legal decisions: see above, chapter four, mishnah seven.
Who shares in the bearing of a burden with his colleague: when a fellow student bears a burden, such as having to act on behalf of the government, he should help him complete his duty, and together resume learning as quickly as possible. This also may mean that when a fellow student grieves, he must grieve with him.
Who judges with the scales weighted in his favor: as we learned in tractate Sanhedrin, it is always preferable to seek to exculpate the accused.
Who leads him on to truth: this statement balances out the previous statement. Although the judge should look to weigh the scales in favor of the accused, this does not come at the expense of truth.
Who leads him on to peace: one who learns and teaches Torah should use his knowledge to bring peace and friendship between others.
Who composes himself at his study: he learns cautiously and not with excess haste.
Who asks and answers: note that asking the right questions is as important if not more important than giving the right answers.
Who listens [to others], and [himself] adds [to his knowledge]: although he may be the teacher, he learns from his students. See above, chapter one, mishnah thirteen.
Who learns in order to teach: see above, chapter four, mishnah five.
Who makes his teacher wiser: by asking intelligent questions. Thus his teacher will be able to say that he “has learned most from my students”.
Who is exact in what he has learned: he does not add to the tradition that he has received, nor detract from it.
And who says a thing in the name of him who said it: he does not attribute that which he has learned from his teacher, to himself.
Thus you have learned: everyone that says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22): and it was through Esther’s words to the king that the Jewish people were saved.

happiness: Since the Divine presence does not rest amongst pain, but only amongst happiness.

clarification: is the textual variant that we [follow]. The explanation is clarification (clarity) of the mind.

minimization of merchandise: As the master said (Eruvin 55a, and there it is Rabbi Yochanan), "You will not find Torah [knowledge] with merchants and not with peddlers."

minimization of worldly occupation: [so] that he not frequently be with people in the marketplace.

acceptance of afflictions: He accepts afflictions with love.

judging him with the benefit of the doubt: He judges his friend favorably.

placing him with the truth: He pursues truth and peace above everything.

hearing: everything that his master tells him. and adding: but not to contradict the words of his master.

focusing one's teaching: When he gives a legal decision, he focuses it on the matter that his master told him, but he does not add something, to say, "So did his master tell him." Another textual variation: with clarification, with sitting (yeshiva): as 'much sitting, brings much wisdom.' Another [explanation] is culture.

acceptance of afflictions: as we say in Berakhot 5a, 'happy is the man who God afflicts,' - when is this, when [it does not prevent him from studying] Your Torah. As the Holy One, blessed be He, bring afflictions of love on the one that is involved in [Torah], to increase his reward in the world to come.

preparation of speech: that he not stutter in words of Torah, but rather enunciate them with the tongue and bring them out with the mouth. Since words of Torah are only preserved by their being put out with the mouth, as is written, (Proverbs 4:22) "They are life for those that find them" - do not read for those that find them (motsaeihem), but rather those that bring them out (motsieihem) with the mouth.

reverence: as we say (Berakhot 30a), "'And rejoice in trembling' (Psalms 2:11)... In a place of joy, there should there be trembling."

service of sages: that he pushes and enters every place to hear their words and to serve them.

care of friends: He studies in a group.

debate of the students: that they should debate in front of him and make him wiser, as we say (Taanit 7a, Makkot 10a), "[and I have learned] from my students more than from them all."

knowing one's place: that he is involved in Torah [study] every hour. As from this, the Torah is preserved in his hand. The reasons and proofs that he understands in the law are called "his place"; as we say in Sanhedrin when we carry over the judgement to the morrow, (Mishnah Sanhedrin 5:5) "The [judge arguing] to convict says,.. 'I convict in my place'" - [meaning] exactly the same reason and proof that I said yesterday, since I did not find another proof to render him innocent. And so [too] the one who renders him innocent.

gladness in one's portion: as if he worries about his matter, he will not be able to focus on [Torah].

a fence to one's words: as his reasoning is with him, and he brings pretexts to present the words of his teacher to people.

lack of self-aggrandizement: as he does not raise [his opinion] about himself in his heart on account of his increasing Torah [knowledge]; as behold, for this was he formed.

lack of arrogance in learning: which is that he does not get arrogant in front of the creatures.

rebuke: as is written (Proverbs 9:8), "rebuke the sage, and he will love you."

placing him with the truth: with the clarity of the law.

with peace: as he is not resolved towards judgement, but rather willingly makes a compromise.