בֵּן m.n. 1 son; offspring. - Klien Dictionary, Carta Jerusalem; 1st edition, 1987
According to legend, Ben Bag Bag and Ben He He (the author of the next mishnah) were converts. In order to hide them from the Roman authorities who forbade conversion, they were called by nicknames (these are obviously not real names). Both nicknames are in essence the letter “heh”, which is the letter that was added to Sarai and Avram’s, the first two converts, names. Bag Bag is in gematria (numerical value) five (bet is two and gimmel is three), which is equivalent to He He, the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The language of the next two mishnayoth is Aramaic, as are the sayings of Hillel that we saw in chapter one, mishnah thirteen. It is possible that these two sages are from the same time period as Hillel.
(כב) בֶּן בַּג בַּג אוֹמֵר, הֲפֹךְ בָּהּ וַהֲפֹךְ בָּהּ, דְּכֹלָּא בָהּ. וּבָהּ תֶּחֱזֵי, וְסִיב וּבְלֵה בָהּ, וּמִנַּהּ לֹא תָזוּעַ, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ מִדָּה טוֹבָה הֵימֶנָּה:
(כג) בֶּן הֵא הֵא אוֹמֵר, לְפוּם צַעֲרָא אַגְרָא:
(22) Ben Bag Bag said: Turn it over, and [again] turn it over, for all is therein. And look into it; And become gray and old therein; And do not move away from it, for you have no better portion than it.
(23) Ben He He said: According to the labor is the reward.
Why to these two verses use such short words compared to other verses in Pirkei Avot?
By the way, the Gettysburg address is also very repetitive and uses very short words.
הפוך בה והפוך בה וכו' פי' הר"ב בתורה. וכתב במד"ש בשם רבינו אפרים שלפי שדברי תורה הן צורך גדול לבני אדם. היה אומר בלשון ארמי. שהיו הכל מכירין בו כשעלו מבבל וכן שנינו לעיל דלא יליף וכו'. ע"כ. ובדרך חיים כתב שהיו גרים ולשונם לשון ארמי. עוד כתב לפי שהתורה לא נתנה למלאכים. ולא שייך לגבייהו שכר מצות אמרו בלשון ארמי לשון שאין מלאכי השרת מכירין בו.
Midrash Shmuel writes in the name of Rabbenu Ephraim that because Torah is something that people greatly need, Ben Bag Bag said his dictum in Aramaic, which everyone knew upon their return from Babylon. Hillel did so as well, in the mishna of “and he who does not learn” (1:13).
Maharal writes in Derech Chaim that they were converts and they thus spoke Aramaic. He also writes that because the Torah was not given to the angels and they cannot receive reward for performing commandments, Ben Bag Bag said his dictum in Aramaic, which the angels do not understand.
And look into it וּבָהּ תֶּחֱזֵי
חֲזִי, חֲזָא ch. same , to see, recognize, to decide. Targ. O. Gen. XXIX, 10; a. fr.—Ber. 45ᵃ; Erub. 14ᵇ, a. e. פוק חֲזִי וכ׳, v. דְּבַר. Ib. 13ᵇ דחֲזִיתֵיה לר"מ וכ׳ (not דחזיתא) because I have seen R. M. &c. Ḥull. 59ᵇ בעינא דאֶיחְזֵי וכ׳ I want to see your God Erub. 63ᵃ ח׳ לנפשיה may examine the knife for his own use;
Af. - אַחֲזֵי to show, let see, reveal; to lay before a teacher for examination or decision. Targ. O. Gen. XLI, 28; a. fr.—Ḥull. 59ᵇ בעינא דמַחֲזִית וכ׳ I want thee to show it to me. Bets. l. c. אַחֲזַיֵיה לחכם וכ׳ as soon as he showed it to an expert (and the latter decided favorably) &c.; a. fr.
He said about the Torah that one should search in it and meditate upon it, as everything is in it. And he said, "And in it should you see (techezei)," meaning to say the truth. [The explanation is that] you will see the truth with the eye of the intellect, like the [Aramaic] translation of vayira (and he saw) is vechaza.
And afterwards he said, "and grow old and be worn in it" - to say, occupy yourself with it until the time of old age; and even then, do not veer from it to something else.
(כג) בֶּן הֵא הֵא אוֹמֵר, לְפוּם צַעֲרָא אַגְרָא:
(23) Ben He He said: According to the labor is the reward.
צַעֲרָא as labor,
but the Klien Dictionary, Carta Jerusalem; 1st edition, 1987 defines,
צַעֲרָא m.n. PBH pain, ache, grief, suffering. [Aram. See צַעַר.]
"One of the most fascinating aspects of Torah study is that it is a subject we never 'complete' but return to our entire lives. As I’ve heard R. Berel Wein observe, in secular studies a student will typically complete a course of study and progress to the next level. Once a student passes Calculus I, he puts it behind him (presumably having gained something in the process) and moves on to Calc. II. Not so with the Torah. Year after year we study the same Scripture — the same stories of Creation, Noah, Abraham, the Exodus — each year understanding just a little bit more than we did in the past. The Torah was meant to be studied in this manner. The youngest child will revel at the uplifting and inspiring stories of our ancestors, while the greatest scholar fathoms the true depth and profundity of each verse. The Torah is infinite. No one fully fathoms it, yet neither is anyone entirely removed from it."
Do you think that continuing to "turning them over and over" over time will help you continue to gain understanding?