If two ewes which have never given birth before bear two males, both go to the priest. [If they give birth to] a male and a female, the male goes to the priest. [If they give birth to] two males and a female, one goes to [the owner], and the other goes to the priest. Rabbi Tarfon says: The priest chooses the better one. Rabbi 'Akiva says: We compromise. The second one goes out to graze until it becomes it develops a blemish, and it is obligated regarding the [priestly] gifts. Rabbi Yossi exempts it. If one of them dies, Rabbi Tarfon says: They divide [the value of the remaining one]. Rabbi 'Akiva says: One who comes to extract from one's friend has the burden of proof. [If they give birth to] two females and a male or two males and two females, the priest receives nothing.
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
Our mishnah is similar to yesterday’s mishnah except that today’s mishnah deals with two sheep that had never given birth before, whereas yesterday’s mishnah dealt with one ewe that had twins. Most of this mishnah is the same as that which we learned yesterday, so I refer the reader to my commentary there.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If two ewes which had never previously given birth bore two males, both belong to the priest. If both of the first-borns are males, then obviously, both go to the priest.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
[If they gave birth] to a male and a female, the male belongs to the priest. If one is a male and the other is a female, then we know that the male is a first-born and it goes to the priest.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
[If they gave birth] to two males and a female, one remains with him, and the other belongs to the priest. Rabbi Tarfon says: the priest chooses the better one. Rabbi Akiva says: we compromise between them. In this case, one male is certainly a first-born, but we don’t know which one. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva again debate how we determine who gets which of the two. For an explanation, see yesterday’s mishnah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
The second one [in the Israelite's possession] is left to pasture until it becomes blemished and the owner is liable for the [priest's] gifts. Rabbi Yose exempts him. This is identical to the debate in yesterday’s mishnah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one of them died: Rabbi Tarfon says: they divide [the living one]. Rabbi Akiva says: the burden of proof is upon the claimant. See yesterday’s mishnah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
[If they gave birth to] two females and a male or two males and two females, the priest receives nothing in such circumstances. If they gave birth to two females, it is possible that there was no male first-born. Therefore, the priest doesn’t receive anything. The Tosefta adds that the males must go out to pasture and become blemished before they can be eaten. This is because they might be first-borns and all doubtful first-borns must become blemished before they can be eaten.
