Commentary for Bekhorot 6:12
אֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵין שׁוֹחֲטִין עֲלֵיהֶן לֹא בַמִּקְדָּשׁ וְלֹא בַמְּדִינָה, חֲוַרְוָד וְהַמַּיִם שֶׁאֵינָם קְבוּעִין, וְחִטָּיו הַפְּנִימִיּוֹת שֶׁנִּפְגְּמוּ, (אֲבָל לֹא) שֶׁנֶּעֶקְרוּ, וּבַעַל גָּרָב, וּבַעַל יַבֶּלֶת, וּבַעַל חֲזָזִית, וְזָקֵן, וְחוֹלֶה, וּמְזֻהָם, וְשֶׁנֶּעֶבְדָה בוֹ עֲבֵרָה, וְשֶׁהֵמִית אֶת הָאָדָם (עַל פִּי עֵד אֶחָד אוֹ עַל פִּי הַבְּעָלִים), וְטֻמְטוּם, וְאַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס, לֹא בַמִּקְדָּשׁ וְלֹא בַמְּדִינָה. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, אֵין מוּם גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אֵינוֹ בְכוֹר, אֶלָּא נִגְזָז וְנֶעֱבָד:
For the following they do not slaughter - neither in the Temple nor outside the Temple: If it had non-persistent white spots in its eye, or non-persistent tearing or if its inner gums are missing a piece but not uprooted, or if it had eczema, a wart or boils or if it was old or sick or smelled bad, or if a sin [of bestiality] was committed with it or if it killed a man [as determined] by the word of one witness or by the owners admission, one of undetermined gender or a hermaphrodite, neither in the temple or outside it. Rabbi Yishmael says, there is no blemish greater than this [i.e. being a hermaphrodite] but the Sages say it is not a first born and can be sheared and worked.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
לא במקדש – because they are not appropriate, for one does not offer up in the Sanctuary any other than the most choice.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
The blemishes listed in this mishnah disqualify an animal from being valid as a sacrifice. However, they are not permanent blemishes and therefore if the animal is a first born, it may not be slaughtered. Basically, all the owner can do is wait until either the blemish goes away or a permanent blemish develops.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ולא במדינה – that they are not lasting/permanent to release them from their sanctity, but rather we set them aside until another lasting blemish befalls them and they are slaughtered for it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
And in consequence of the following blemishes one may not slaughter a first born either in the Temple or in the rest of the state: This is an introduction to the rest of the mishnah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
גרב (itch) – a kind of moist boil from without and from within. And the boil mentioned in the Torah is a blemish, for it is a dry boil.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
White spots on the cornea and water [dripping from the eye] which are not permanent, These blemishes were listed in mishnah three. If they are not permanent, the animal may not be slaughtered, although it may not be sacrificed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
יבלת (wart) - on the white of the eye and it has no hair in it. But above (see Mishnah 10 in our chapter) when we considered blemishes that we slaughter [the firstling] we were speaking about when it has hair.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Or molars which have been broken but not torn out [completely]; Problems with the molars were listed in mishnah four. Since they have not been torn out, the blemish is not permanent.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ובעל חזזית – there are two varieties of lichen. The Egyptian lichen is the lichen written of in the Torah which is moist from the outside and dry from the inside, and it is a blemish that does not return to health, and the Master stated (see Talmud Bekhorot 41a) – Why is it called lichen? Because it continues to cling [to the body] until the day of death, but the lichen that is taught here is a kind of boil that has a cure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Or [an animal] affected with garav, a wart, or hazazit. A garav and a hazazit are kinds of boil. Since boils and warts are impermanent, they do not allow the first born to be slaughtered.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ומזוהם – that a bad smells goes out from it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
An old [animal] or a sick one, [an animal] of offensive smell; An old, sick or foul-smelling animal cannot be sacrificed, but since these are not exactly blemishes, they also can’t be slaughtered.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ושנעבד בו עבירה - (see Tractate Zevakhim, Chapter 8, Mishnah 1) that it (the firstling) had sexual relations with a woman or that it put a man to death with the testimony of one witness, for there is only witness - neither with carnal connection with beasts nor with goring.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Or [an animal] which with a transgression has been committed or an animal which is known to have killed a human being on the testimony of one witness or of the owners. If two witnesses see an animal commit a transgression, either having sexual relations with a human or killing a human, the animal must be executed and can obviously not be sacrificed. However, if there is only witness, or if the owners were the witnesses, then the animal need not be executed. However, since it did commit a capital crime, it cannot be sacrificed but neither can it be slaughtered to be eaten.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
או על פי עצמו – that there is no witness there at all, but the owners stated that we saw it (i.e., the firstling) that it had copulated in an unnatural way or that it put someone to death, it (i.e., the animal) is not stoned by their word. For if there were two kosher witnesses testifying in the matter, the bull would be stoned, and it is prohibited to derive benefit from it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
A tumtum or a hermaphrodite cannot be slaughtered, neither in the Temple or in the rest of the state. Rabbi Ishmael however says: there is no greater blemish than that [of a hermaphrodite]. But the sages say: it is not considered a first-born and it may be shorn and worked with. A tumtum is an animal (or human being) with neither male nor female genitalia, whereas a hermaphrodite has both sets of genitalia. There are three opinions as to the status of a first born that is a tumtum or a hermaphrodite. According to the first opinion, while it cannot be sacrificed, because it is blemished, it also cannot be slaughtered and eaten. Rabbi Ishmael holds that it is blemished and therefore it can be slaughtered and eaten. The other sages say that such an animal is not even considered a first born because it may not be a male. They too would hold that it can be slaughtered and eaten.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
וטומטום ואנדרוגינוס – that they are doubtfully male and are Holy, doubtfully female and not holy.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
אין לך מום גדול מזה – it is referring to the beast of double sex, that in the place of females, it is like a blemish, for it is like firstling with a blemish, and it is slaughtered in the provinces, and it is prohibited to use its shearing and its labor.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
וחכמים אומרים אינו בכור – it is a creature of its own kind. And it may be sheared and worked. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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