12. The ruling is to be according to the context, or to the general drift of the argument.
13. When two texts are contradictory, a third is to be sought that reconciles them.
Rabbi Akiva was forty years of age when he began to study, and after thirteen years of study he began publicly to teach.
Avoth d'Rab. Nathan.
Thirteen treasurers and seven directors were appointed to serve in the Temple. (More there might be, never less.)
Tamid, fol. 27, col. 1.
Thirteen points of law regulate the decisions that require to be made relative to the carcass of a clean bird.
Taharoth, chap. i, mish. 1.
A man must partake of fourteen meals in the booth during the Feast of Tabernacles.
Succah, fol. 27, col. 1.