“A slave of slaves” — When the Africans came to litigate with Israel… Geviha ben Pesisa said to them: “It is written ‘Cursed be Canaan, a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers’ — a slave who acquires property: the slave belongs to whom, and the property to whom?”
On the daf / in context: The Sanhedrin discussion concerns the litigation brought by descendants of Cham over the Land. Geviha ben Pesisa answers their claim by invoking the Torah’s designation of Canaan as “a slave of slaves,” using the verse itself as the basis for the legal rebuttal.
Type of Learning
Custom (application of the curse to a territorial claim).
What Is Learned
The status of Canaan as “slave of slaves” was invoked to refute a claim to the Land of Canaan by descendants of Cham.