Study Avodah Zarah folio 20A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The source is that the verse states: “You should not show them mercy [lo teḥonnem]” (Deuteronomy 7:2), which is understood as meaning: You should not give them a chance to encamp [ḥanayah] in, i.e., to acquire land in, Eretz Yisrael. The Talmud asks: This phrase: “You should not show them mercy”;
The Talmud answers: If that were so, let the verse say: Lo teḥunnem, with the letter vav, as then it would be evident that this is a form of the root ḥet, vav, nun, which means favor. What is the reason that the verse instead states: Lo teḥonnem, without the letter vav? Conclude two conclusions fr
The Talmud asks: But still, isn’t the phrase “You should not show them mercy” necessary to teach the halakha that this is what God states: You should not give them an undeserved [ḥinnam] gift? The Talmud answers: If that were so, let the verse say: Lo teḥinnem. What is the reason that it is spelle
This is also taught in a baraita: “You should not show them mercy”; this teaches that you should not give them a chance to encamp in the land of Eretz Yisrael. Another matter: “You should not show them mercy”; this indicates that you should not give them favor. Another matter: “You should not show
The Talmud notes: And this issue of an undeserved gift to a non-Jew is itself a dispute between tanna’im. As it is taught in a baraita: “You shall not eat of any unslaughtered animal carcass; you may give it to the resident alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a