Jastrow: פֶּה

פֶּה c. (b. h.) [opening,] orifice, mouth; speech. Ḥull. 142ᵃ, v. לָחַךְ. Pes. 113ᵇ המדבר אחד בפה ואחד בלב he who speaks one way with his mouth, and another way in his heart. Ex. R. s. 1 (play on בפרך, Ex. I, 13) בפה רך with soft (persuasive) speech; Sot. 11ᵇ. Tanḥ. Kor. 9 עד שהביאתו לפִי הארץ וכ׳ until it (the fire) brought him to the opening of the earth, among those that were swallowed up; Yalk. Num. 752. Sabb. 140ᵇ, sq. בהמה שפִּיהָ יפה a beast whose mouth is clean (that does not drop saliva when eating; oth. opin.: that is fastidious about its food), opp. שפיה רעה; a. v. fr.—Keth. I, 6, a. e. לא מִפּיהָ וכ׳, v. חָיָה. Shebu. IV, 1 מִפִּי עצמו (an oath) out of his own mouth (‘I swear that I know no testimony in thy case’), מפי אחרים administered by others.—בְּעַל פה or על פה by word of mouth. Gitt. 72ᵇ top אי אמר ר׳ יוסי בעל פה whether R. Yose had the same opinion in the case of a verbal condition. Ib. 60ᵇ תורה רוב בכתב ומיעוט על פה of the interpretations of the Law, the larger portion rests on the written text, the smaller on oral tradition. Ib. דברים שבכתב … על פה דברים שבעל פה וכ׳ written things (Biblical passages) must not be recited from memory, verbally transmitted words must not be recited from writing.—תורה שבעל פה (abbrev. שבע"פ) oral law. Yoma 28ᵇ, a. fr., v. כְּתָב.—לְפִי a) according to, in proportion to. B. Bath. 11ᵇ לפי בני אדם in proportion to the number of inhabitants of a house; לפי פתחים in proportion to the number of entrances (of a building); a. fr.—b) because. Snh. VII, 4 לפי שבאת לפיכך וכ׳ … because a human being has gone to ruin through it, therefore &c.; a. fr., v. לְפִיכָךְ.—Trnsf. any orifice. Ab. V, 6 פי הארץ the opening of the earth (that swallowed Korah); פי הבאר the opening for the well (Num. XXI, 16).—Nidd. 16ᵇ רוק בתוך הפה spittle in the mouth, euphem. for blood in the orifice of the matrix. Snh. 100ᵃ (play on ת̇ר̇ופ̇ה̇, Ez. XLVII, 12) להת̇יר̇ פ̇ה̇ של מטה to open the lower orifice (the womb of the childless), opp. פה של מעלה the mouth; ib. להתיר פה עקרות; Men. 98ᵃ; a. fr.—Pl. a) פִּיּוֹת. Deut. R. s. 2 (ref. to Zech. XIII, 8) הפ׳ שאומרים שתי וכ׳ those mouths that say, there are two powers (good and evil). Cant. R. to IV, 4 (play on תלפיות, ib.) ספר שאמרוהו פ׳ הרבה the book (תִּלִּים, Psalms) which many mouths have indited (the book of many authors). Ib. ת̇ל̇ שמתפללין בו כל פ׳ the mound (Temple ruins) towards which all mouths are directed in prayer; Ber. 30ᵃ. Ib. 5ᵃ (expl. פיפיות, Ps. CXLIX, 6) חרב של שתי פ׳ a two-edged sword; a. fr.—Ab. d’R. N. ch. XXVIII שתי פ׳ two faces, v. פִּינָּה.—b) פִּיפִיּוֹת. Num. R. s. 18 באותה … פ׳ הרבה at that moment many mouths of the earth were opened (Yalk. ib. 752 פיות).—c) (Chald. pl.) פּוּמִין open vessels; topmost layer in open vessels. Tosef. Ter. V, 11 אם יש [שם] מאה פ׳ וכ׳ if a hundred open vessels are there (in one of which an upper layer of T’rumah has been put) &c.; הפ׳ אסורין the upper layers are forbidden; Y. ib. IV, 43ᵃ bot.