Wenn man ein Tier von einem Nichtjuden kauft und nicht bekannt ist, ob es geboren hat oder nicht, sagt Rabbi Yishma'el: [Die Nachkommenschaft] einer Ziege in ihrem ersten Jahr gehört sicherlich dem Priester. Von diesem Punkt an ist es fraglich. [Die Nachkommenschaft] eines zweijährigen Mutterschafs gehört zweifellos dem Priester. Von diesem Punkt an ist es fraglich. [Der Nachwuchs] einer dreijährigen Kuh oder eines Esels gehört sicherlich dem Priester. Von diesem Punkt an ist es fraglich. Rabbi Akiva sagte zu ihm: Wenn ein Tier nur mit der Geburt von Nachkommen befreit würde, wären Sie richtig. Vielmehr sagten sie: Das Zeichen der Nachkommenschaft bei kleinen Rindern ist Schmutz [aus dem Mutterleib]. Bei großen Rindern ist das Zeichen die Nachgeburt. Bei einer Frau [das Zeichen ist] der Fötus und die Nachgeburt. Dies ist die allgemeine Regel: Wenn bekannt ist, dass [das Tier] geboren hat, erhält der Priester nichts. Wenn es nie geboren hat, gehört es dem Priester. Im Zweifelsfall wird es von den Eigentümern fehlerhaft gegessen. Rabbi Eli'ezer ben Jacob sagt: Wenn ein großes Haustier ein Blutgerinnsel abgibt, wird [das Gerinnsel] begraben, und [die Mutter] ist von [den Verpflichtungen] des Erstgeborenen befreit.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
הלוקח. עז בת שנתה – [a goat] a year old that produced an offspring within its first year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
Today’s mishnah deals with a person who bought an animal from a non-Jew and doesn’t know whether it had yet given birth. If it had not, then the first animal born in Jewish possession would be considered a first born and would have to be treated accordingly.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ודאי- that offspring belongs to the Kohen, for prior to this it had not produced offspring.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one buys an animal from a non-Jew and it is not known whether it had given birth or had not given birth: Rabbi Ishmael says: that born of a goat in its first year certainly belongs to the priest; after that, it is a questionable case [of a first-born]. That born of a ewe two years old certainly belongs to the priest; after that, it is a questionable case [of a first born]. That born of a cow or a donkey three years old certainly belongs to the priest; after that, it is a questionable case [of a first born]. Rabbi Ishmael says that we can estimate whether the animal had given birth by checking the age of the animal. If the goat gives birth within its first year, we can assume that it is a first born. If the goat is beyond its first year, then it is a case of a doubtful first born. As we have seen previously, doubtful first borns go out to pasture until they become blemished, at which point they may be eaten by their owners. Rabbi Ishmael proceeds to give ages in which we can expect that a ewe and a cow would give birth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ספק - it would be sent to pasture until a blemish befalls it and the owners would consume it in its blemishes (see Tractate Bekhorot, Chapter 2, Mishnayot 6-7). But if it is a doubtful firstling donkey, he would separate a lamb and it would be his.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Rabbi Akiva to him: if an animal were exempted [from the law of the first born] only with the birth of [actual] offspring, it would be as you say. But they said: the sign of offspring in small cattle is a discharge [from the womb]. In large cattle, the after-birth; in a woman, the signs are the fetus and the after-birth. Rabbi Akiva disagrees with Rabbi Ishmael because the rabbis taught that if an animal or woman miscarries before having her first born, the next animal/child is not considered the first born, at least not to be treated as holy. Therefore, even if the animal gives birth within that time period, there is no way of knowing if it had previously miscarried. Rabbi Akiva now gives signs by which we can know whether an animal or woman had miscarried. This would be important to distinguish between a true miscarriage and non-miscarriage discharge.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
טנוף (discharge from the womb indicating abortion) – bubbles/pustules of blood that the animal discharges. And they show them to a wise shepherd and recognizes them if they are because of the pregnancy that it miscarried and perhaps it discharged within the first year which is a doubtful offspring and it is exempt from the laws of firstlings, therefore, even a goat that is one year old is doubtful.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
This is the general rule: Whenever it is known that it had given birth, the priest receives nothing. Whenever it had never given birth, it belongs to the priest. If there is a doubt, it shall be eaten blemished by the owners. Having rejected Rabbi Ishmael, Rabbi Akiva must provide an alternative way to treat the animal bought from the non-Jew. He relies on general rules of certain/doubtful property cases. If we know for a fact that the animal had never given birth, then the first born in Jewish possession must be treated as a first born and given to the priest. If the animal definitely had given birth before, then obviously the priest doesn’t receive anything. Finally, if it is doubtful, then the animal must go out to pasture, become blemished and then it can be eaten by its owners.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
שליא – a kind of covering over the fetus that the fetus is lying in it (i.e., placenta).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: if a large domestic animal has discharged a clot of blood, it [the clot] shall be buried, and it [the mother] is exempted from the law of the first born. As an addendum to our mishnah, Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov states that if a large animal discharges a blood clot, the blood clot should be buried. This will allow people to know that the clot is being treated as a miscarriage and that the next born animal is not the first born.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
שפיר – above from the placenta is a membrane/skin that has in it congealed blood and it is called the sac of a fetus. And my teachers/Rabbis explained, it is a piece of flesh that has on it the form of a human. But there are those who say that is called a sac of a fetus, because it is made like a tube.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ששפעה חרדת דם (that discharged a clod of blood) – that discharged a portion of blood (see also Tractate Hullin, Chapter 4, Mishnah 7 regarding to the placenta).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
הרי זו תקבר – to inform that it was exempted from the [law of] the firstling, for a person who sees that they bury it knows that what comes after it (i.e., born afterwards) is not holy for the [law of] the firstling. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva and [according to] Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.
