בָּטֵל I (b. h.; v. בטי) [to be hollow]; 1) to be void, abolished, suspended; to cease to exist. Keth. 103ᵇ בָּטְלָה קדושה sanctity of life ceased; [oth. opin.: the levitical law concerning the contact with a corpse was suspended in favor of Rabbi; v. Tosaf. a. l.]. Ab. V, 16 ב׳ דבר בְּטֵלָה וכ׳ as soon as the (sensual) attraction disappears, love will disappear. Ib. 21 as if dead ועבר וב׳ מן העולם and passed away and disappeared from this world. Y. Meg. I, 70ᵈ top, a. e. בטלה מגלת תענית the Scroll of Fasts has been abolished (the festive commemorations enumerated therein are no more observed). Sot. IX, 9 (47ᵃ); a. fr. —2) to rest from labor, be at ease, be idle. Ab. IV, 10 אם בָּטַלְתָּ מן וכ׳ if thou choosest not to study the law, there will be many disturbances (excuses) to assist thee. Ib. I, 5 בּוֹטֵל מד"ת he neglects the study of the Law; a. fr.
Nif. - נִבְטַל 1) to be abolished, suspended. Y. Meg. I, 70ᵈ bot. עתידין לִיבָּטֵל (= לְהִיבָּטֵל) shall in future be abolished (neglected). Gitt. 32ᵃ, v. infra. —2) to be excused, be exempt. Ib. II, 16 thou art not a free man להִבָּטֵל ממנה so as to be exempt from life’s duties. —3) to remain single. Gitt. IV, 5 (41ᵇ) יִבָּטֵל shall he never marry?
Pi. - בִּיטֵּל, בִּטֵּל 1) to abolish, suspend, cancel, undo, neglect. Ab. II, 4 בַּטֵּל רצונך וכ׳ set aside thy will for the sake of the Lord’s will, in order that He may set aside the will of others (euphem. for His will) for the sake of thy will (withdraw evil decrees at thy prayer). Ib. IV, 9 המְבַטֵּל וכ׳ he who neglects the study of the Law on account of his wealth. Sot. IX, 10 (47ᵃ) אף הוא בִּטֵּל את המעוררין he also abolished (the custom of) the wakers, v. עָרַר. Sabb. 63ᵃ מְבַטְּלָהּ he (the observer of the Law) will cancel it (avert God’s evil decree). Mekh. B’shall., Amalek, 2, v. אִיפָּטִיקוֹס. Macc. 24ᵃ. Ab. Zar. IV, 7 למה אינו מְבַטְּלָהּ why does He not destroy it (the objects of idol worship)?—Gitt. IV, 1 שוב אינו יכול לבַטְּלוֹ he can no longer annul it (his letter of divorce). Ib. 2 in former times a man could summon a court in a strange place ובִּטְּלוֹ and declare it (the letter of divorce which he had sent off) void. Ib. 32ᵇ אתי דיבור ומבטל דיבור a word (declaration) comes and cancels a word.—Ab. Zar. IV, 4 (42ᵇ) an idolator (gentile) מבטל אליל שלו וכ׳ may (by mutilation &c.) cancel his own or his neigbor’s idol (so that it is no longer subject to the law forbidding Jews to derive any benefits from idolatrous paraphernalia), but an Israelite cannot &c. Ib. המב׳ אליל ב׳ וכ׳ in cancelling an idol, one has at the same time cancelled its attachments; a. fr.—ב׳ רשות to resign possession, a legal fiction by which the carrying of objects on the Sabbath from one’s own place to one common to several persons, may be permitted. Erub. VI, 7 מְבַטֵּל את רשותו he (the brother who forgot to lay the Erub, v. עֵירוּב) must resign his share in the common property. Ib. 68ᵇ מבטלין וחוזרין ומב׳ you may resign your share to your neighbor, and then he may resign to you; a. fr.—ב׳ חמץ to renounce (by declaration) the possession of anything leavened that may have remained undiscovered in one’s possession. Pes. 6ᵇ הבודק צריך שיְבַטֵּל after one has searched the house for leavened things, he must renounce (whatever he may have failed to find); a. fr.—Part. pass. מְבוּטָּל, f. מְבוּטֶּלֶת. Erub. 69ᵇ רשותי מב׳ לך my possession be resigned to thee (for Sabbath purposes). Gitt. 32ᵃ if a recipient says, מתנה זו מב׳ ‘this donation be void’, תִּיבָּטֵל ‘shall be void’, opp. to בְּטֵלָה היא ‘is a void one’, i.e. has been annulled.—Eduy. I, 5; Gitt. 36ᵇ, a. fr. אין ב"ד יכול לבַ׳ וכ׳ no court can repeal (overrule) the decisions of another court, unless &c. —2) to neutralize an admixture of forbidden food &c. in a certain quantity. Ḥull. 108ᵃ ושאינו מינו … ומבטלו and the portion of the mixture which is not its kind is prevailing and neutralizes the forbidden portion (as if did not exist at all); a. fr. —3) to disturb, cause suspense, interfere with. Erub. 63ᵇ; Meg. 3ᵃ בִּיטַּלְתֶּם וכ׳ ye interfered with the daily offering; a. fr.—Ber. II, 5 לבטל ממני וכ׳ to suspend (shake off) the yoke of heavenly government even one minute.