Kommentar zu Bekhorot 8:3
מִי שֶׁלֹּא בִכְּרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ וְיָלְדָה שְׁנֵי זְכָרִים, נוֹתֵן חָמֵשׁ סְלָעִים לַכֹּהֵן. מֵת אֶחָד מֵהֶן בְּתוֹךְ שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם, הָאָב פָּטוּר. מֵת הָאָב וְהַבָּנִים קַיָּמִים, רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, אִם נָתְנוּ עַד שֶׁלֹּא חָלְקוּ, נָתָנוּ. וְאִם לָאו, פְּטוּרִין. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר נִתְחַיְּבוּ נְכָסִים. זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, אֵין כָּאן לַכֹּהֵן כְּלוּם:
Einer, dessen Frau nie geboren hatte und der zwei Jungen zur Welt brachte - er gibt dem Priester fünf Selaim . Wenn einer von ihnen innerhalb von dreißig Tagen starb, ist der Vater befreit. Wenn der Vater starb und die Kinder noch am Leben sind - Rabbi Meir sagt: Wenn sie [die fünf Selaim ] gaben, bevor sie das Anwesen teilten - es wird gegeben, wenn nicht - sind sie befreit; Rabbi Yehuda sagt: Der Nachlass wurde verpflichtet. Wenn sie einen Jungen und ein Mädchen zur Welt bringt, bekommt der Priester nichts.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one of them dies within thirty days [of birth] the father is exempt.
If the father dies and the sons survive: Rabbi Meir says: if they gave the five sela's before the property was divided up, then what they gave is given; but if not, they are exempt. But Rabbi Judah says: there is a claim on the property.
If she gave birth to a male and a female, the priest receives nothing.
This mishnah deals with a case where twins are born, but it is unclear which child came out first.
Section one: One of these boys is certainly the first born and one is certainly not. Therefore, the father pays five selas to the priest, but does not pay twice.
Section two: A child who dies before he reaches thirty days never has a chance to be redeemed and his father is exempt. In this case, since we don’t know if the first or second born died, the father is exempt, because he can say to the priest, “prove to me that the first born survived and I will give you your five selas.” This accords with the general principle that the burden of proof is upon the claimant.
Section three: If the father dies before he has a chance to redeem one of the sons, then legally the sons must redeem themselves. However, the problem is that each son can claim that he is not the first-born and therefore doesn’t need to be redeemed. According to Rabbi Meir, if they already gave five selas to the priest before the property was divided up, then they cannot get their money back. However, if their father’s property was divided up before the five selas were given to the priest, they are exempt because each son can claim that he is not the first born.
Rabbi Judah disagrees and holds that there is a debt hanging over the father’s property and that debt must be paid off, regardless of the fact that we don’t know which of the sons is a first born.