(Wenn einer sagte :) "Ich werde ein Nazirit sein, wenn ich einen Ben habe" (allgemein "ein Kind"), und ein Sohn wurde ihm geboren, er wird ein Nazirit. Wenn ihm eine Tochter, ein Tumtum (eines, dessen Genitalien verborgen sind) oder ein Androgynos (ein Zwitter) geboren wurden, wird er kein Nazirit. [Denn im allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch wird nur ein Mann "ben" genannt und nicht eine Frau, ein Tumtum oder ein Androgyn.] Wenn er sagte: ("Ich werde ein Nazirit sein), wenn ich einen Valad (Nachkommen) habe." Selbst wenn er eine Tochter, einen Tumtum oder einen Androgynos hatte, wird er ein Nazirit. [Sogar eine Tochter, ein Tumtum und ein Androgyn werden "Valad" genannt.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
ונולד לו בן הרי זה נזיר – for in the language of humans one is not called a son other than a male, and not a female nor a child bearing unclear sexual traits or a child bearing the sexual traits of both sexes. A child is called even a daughter/female or a child bearing unclear sexual traits or a child bearing the sexual traits of both sexes.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
Introduction
This mishnah deals with a person who stipulates that he will be a nazirite if he has a son, or, alternatively, if he has a child. The question is, what is the definition of a son or child.
As an aside, we can see from this mishnah that people made nazirite vows as a way of thanking God for things God has given them. The same is true for vows in general.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
[If one says,] “Behold, I am a nazirite when I shall have a son,” and son is born to him, he becomes a nazirite. If the child is a daughter, or a tumtum, or an hermaphrodite, he does not become a nazirite. A “tumtum” is a person who has no signs of being male or female. A hermaphrodite has both male and female genitalia. The mishnah teaches that when the person said “when I shall have a son”, his intention was specifically for a son and not for any of the other three genders, female, the gender-less tumtum or double-gendered. Note that the mishnah has to say this because sometimes the Hebrew word for son “ben” can mean “child.” This is how the word is interpreted in Deuteronomy 25:5, in the context of the laws of levirate marriage.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
If he said, “When I shall have a child,” then even if it is a daughter, or a tumtum, or an hermaphrodite, he becomes a nazirite. However, if he says “child” any child is included, no matter the gender.
