he has increased his obligation to them, since if he had meant to give them no more than the accepted amount, he would not have made any stipulation at all. The mishna then continues: And there is also a supporting incident involving Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Matya, who said to his son: Go out and hire laborers for us. His son went, hired them, and pledged to provide sustenance for them as a term of their employment, without specifying the details. And when he came back to his father and reported what he had done, Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Matya said to him: My son, even if you were to prepare a feast for them like that of King Solomon in his time, you would not have fulfilled your obligation to them, as they are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Gemara asks: Is this to say that the feast of Abraham, our forefather, was superior to that of King Solomon? But isn’t it written: “And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, beside harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl” (I Kings 5:2–3). And Guryon ben Asteyon says in the name of Rav: These measures of flour mentioned in the verse were used merely for the bakers’ well-worked dough [la’amilan] that was placed in the pot to absorb the steam. And Rabbi Yitzḥak says: These measures of flour were used for meat pudding, a mixture of wine, flour, and leftover meat, in a pot. And Rabbi Yitzḥak further says: King Solomon had one thousand wives, each one of whom would prepare for him at her home a feast of such proportions. What is the reason that they did this? This wife reasoned: Perhaps he will feast with me today, and that wife reasoned: Perhaps he will feast with me today. But with regard to Abraham, it is written: “And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good” (Genesis 18:7), and Rav Yehuda says that Rav says, in explanation of the verse: “A calf” indicates one; the word “tender” means an additional one, i.e., two; “and good” indicates yet another one. This makes a total of three calves, a considerably smaller feast than that of Solomon. The Gemara answers: There, with regard to Abraham, he prepared three oxen for three people, whereas here, in the case of Solomon, his wives would prepare a feast for the entire realms of Israel and Judah, as it is stated: “Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry” (I Kings 4:20). Abraham’s feast was proportionately greater than that of Solomon. With regard to the verse cited in relation to King Solomon, the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the term “fatted fowl [avusim]”? Rav says: It means that they are fed [ovsim] by force. Shmuel says: It means that they were fattened [avusim] and maintained on their own accord, i.e., they were naturally fat. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Solomon’s feasts were of fine quality because they would bring from his herd an ox that had never been forced to work, and they would also bring a hen from its coop that had never been forced to lay eggs, and use those for the cuisine. The Gemara cites a related statement of Rabbi Yoḥanan. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The choicest of cattle is the ox. The choicest of fowl is the hen. With regard to the type of hen to which this is referring, Ameimar says: It is a fattened, black hen [zagta] that is found among the wine vats, which consumes so many grape seeds that it cannot take a step the length of a reed, due to its corpulence. The Gemara returns to discuss the verse in Genesis: “And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good” (Genesis 18:7). Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: “A calf” is one; “tender” indicates an additional one, i.e., two; “and good” indicates another one, for a total of three calves. The Gemara asks: But why not say that the verse is referring to only one calf, as people say when describing a single item that it is tender and good? The Gemara answers: If so, let the verse write: Tender, good. What is the significance of the term “and good,” which indicates an addition? Conclude from this that the verse is stated for the purpose of an exposition and is referring to more than one calf. The Gemara challenges: But one can still say there were only two calves. The Gemara answers: From the fact that the word “good” is written for an exposition, to include an additional calf, it may be inferred that the term “tender” is also written for an exposition and indicates yet another calf.