One who makes a bald spot on his head, one who rounds off the corners of his head, one who destroys the corners of his beard, and one who makes one laceration (in his flesh) for a dead person are liable to stripes. [These are adduced in our Mishnah, for there is liability for each bald spot, each cutting, and each corner, as opposed to eating forbidden fats one piece after the other. But other (transgressions of) negative commandments alone, where there is no novelty, are not adduced. ("a bald spot":) for a dead person, viz. (Deuteronomy 14:1): "And do not make baldness between your eyes for the dead." And even though in respect to Cohanim (Leviticus 21:5), it is not written "for the dead," this is derived by identity: "baldness" - "baldness" — Just as with an Israelite, for the dead, so with Cohanim, for the dead. And the size of "baldness" is as a garis ( a bean). ("one who rounds off the corners of his head":) aligning the hair of one's temples with that behind his ears and that of his forehead. Even for cutting with scissors, where there is no "destruction," one is liable for the corners of the head. For "destruction" (hashchathah) is written only re the beard, and obtains only with a razor. But re the corners of the head, "rounding off" (hakafah) is written; he is liable for any manner of rounding off.] If one makes one laceration for five dead persons or five lacerations for one dead person, he is liable for each one individually, [it being written (Leviticus 19:28): "And a laceration for a (dead) person you shall not make," implying liability for each laceration and for each person, even if there were only one warning and all five lacerations were made at the same time.] For (rounding off the corners of) the head, he is liable (to stripes) twice, once for one side [the right], once for the other [the left]. For (destroying the corners of) the beard, (he is liable to stripes) twice for one side, twice for the other, and once for the bottom. [the juncture of the chin and the bone: one to the right of the chin, one to the left, and the beard-point in the middle —- three; and the temple junctures on either side — five. The upper cheekbone attached to the temples, and the lower cheekbone on the right; and the upper and lower cheekbone on the left — two on one side, two on the other, and the point of the beard, from which the hair issues like an ear (of corn, shibboleth, for which reason it is called "the shibboleth of the beard") — five.] R. Eliezer says: If he takes it off all at once, he is liable (to stripes) only once. [For since it is only one negative commandment, it is as if he eats two olive-sizes of forbidden fats at one warning.] And he is not liable unless he shaves it with a razor. [This refers to the corners of the beard, in respect to which "shaving" and "destruction" are written.] R. Eliezer says: Even if he took it off with pinchers or with a plane he is liable.
Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
הקורח קרחה – because he is liable for each act of making a bald spot (Tractate Makkot 20a) and for each act of making an incision for a dead person and for every corner of his head that he mars, which is not the case when one eats forbidden fat repeatedly, and because of this, it is taught in our Mishnah, but the rest of the mere negative commandments which lack a novel [lesson], it did not teach.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Introduction
Mishnah five discusses the various prohibitions of shaving one’s head either as a sign of mourning (Leviticus 21:5, Deuteronomy 14:1) or in general (Leviticus 19:26). These prohibitions are punishable by flogging.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
קרחה – of the dead, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:1): “or shave the front of your heads because of the dead.” And even though that concerning the Kohanim, it is not written, “on the dead,” we have already learned through an analogy from [the repetition of the word]: "קרחה" "קרחה" (see Leviticus 21:5 –“They shall not shave smooth any part of their heads, or cut the side-growth of their beards, or make gashes in their flesh” together with Deuteronomy 14:1); just as Israelites are commanded because of the dead, so too are Kohanim, and the measure of the “shaving smooth” is the size of a bean.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a man makes a baldness on his head, or rounds the corner of his head, or mars the corner of his beard, or makes one cutting [in his flesh] for the dead, he is liable [to a flogging]. If he makes one cutting for five dead, or five cuttings for one, he is liable for each one. On [rounding] the head [he is liable] for two corners, one for one side and one for the other; On [marring] the beard [he is liable] for two [corners] on one side, for two on the other side, and for one lower down. Rabbi Eliezer says: “If they were all taken off at the same time he is liable only on one count.” Making a baldness on one’s head as a sign of mourning is prohibited in Deuteronomy 14:1 and Leviticus 21:5. Rounding the corner of one’s head and marring the corner of one’s beard are prohibited in Leviticus 19:27. Cutting one’s flesh for the dead is prohibited in Leviticus 19:28. All of these transgressions are punishable by flogging. Our mishnah now proceeds to list how many violations are contained in each of these commandments.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
המקיף את ראשו – He who makes his temples as hairless as the spot back of his ears (Makkot 20b), and his forehead, and even on shaving with scissors where there is no destruction [of the head], he is liable regarding the corner of his head, and specifically on his beard (i.e., “or cut the side-growth of their beards” – Leviticus 21:5 and Leviticus 19:27: “You shall not round off the side-growth on your head”), it is written “destroy” only with a razor, but regarding the corner of the head, [the word] "הקפה"/”rounding” is written (Leviticus 21:5 – “they shall not shave smooth any part of their heads”), in every matter in which he “rounds” – he is liable.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a man makes a baldness on his head, or rounds the corner of his head, or mars the corner of his beard, or makes one cutting [in his flesh] for the dead, he is liable [to a flogging]. If he makes one cutting for five dead, or five cuttings for one, he is liable for each one. On [rounding] the head [he is liable] for two corners, one for one side and one for the other; On [marring] the beard [he is liable] for two [corners] on one side, for two on the other side, and for one lower down. Rabbi Eliezer says: “If they were all taken off at the same time he is liable only on one count.” Section one, clause a: With regards to cutting one’s flesh, each cut for each dead counts as a violation. If he cuts once for five dead he receives five sets of lashes. Likewise, if he cuts five times for one dead he receives five sets of lashes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
שריטה אחת על חמשה מתים או חמש שריטות על מת אחד – as it is written (Leviticus 19:28): “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead” to be liable for each and every gash and for each and every dead person, and even though there wasn’t anything other than one warning, all five gashes at one time, one is liable [for each and every one].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a man makes a baldness on his head, or rounds the corner of his head, or mars the corner of his beard, or makes one cutting [in his flesh] for the dead, he is liable [to a flogging]. If he makes one cutting for five dead, or five cuttings for one, he is liable for each one. On [rounding] the head [he is liable] for two corners, one for one side and one for the other; On [marring] the beard [he is liable] for two [corners] on one side, for two on the other side, and for one lower down. Rabbi Eliezer says: “If they were all taken off at the same time he is liable only on one count.” Section one, clause b: Rounding one’s head is considered two violations, one for each side of the head. Therefore he will receive two sets of lashes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
על הראש שתים – one on the right and one on the left
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a man makes a baldness on his head, or rounds the corner of his head, or mars the corner of his beard, or makes one cutting [in his flesh] for the dead, he is liable [to a flogging]. If he makes one cutting for five dead, or five cuttings for one, he is liable for each one. On [rounding] the head [he is liable] for two corners, one for one side and one for the other; On [marring] the beard [he is liable] for two [corners] on one side, for two on the other side, and for one lower down. Rabbi Eliezer says: “If they were all taken off at the same time he is liable only on one count.” Section one, clause c: Marring the corners of one’s beard is considered five violations, two for marring each side and one for marring the chin. Therefore he will receive five sets of lashes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
ועל הזקן שתים מכאן ושתים מכאן – the place of the attachment of the jaw to the bone, one on the right of the chin and the other on its left, and the pointed ends of the chin (i.e., the lower jawbones and the chin proper) in the middle, that makes “three.” And the attachment of the temples from one side and the other makes “five.” The upper cheekbone which is attached to the temples and the lower cheekbone on the right, and the upper cheekbone and the lower cheekbone on the left – these are two from here and two from there, and finally the beard and the hair coming out from it like a spike/ear of corn; therefore, it is called "שיבולת"/like an ear of corn/a spike, that makes “five.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a man makes a baldness on his head, or rounds the corner of his head, or mars the corner of his beard, or makes one cutting [in his flesh] for the dead, he is liable [to a flogging]. If he makes one cutting for five dead, or five cuttings for one, he is liable for each one. On [rounding] the head [he is liable] for two corners, one for one side and one for the other; On [marring] the beard [he is liable] for two [corners] on one side, for two on the other side, and for one lower down. Rabbi Eliezer says: “If they were all taken off at the same time he is liable only on one count.” Section one, clause d: Rabbi Eliezer disagrees with the previous opinion. In his opinion just because there are separate areas of the head to round or beard to mar does not mean that one is obligated lashes for each section. What causes a person to receive multiple sets of lashes is his having violated the prohibition on different occasions. If he mars one part of the beard today and another at a later time, for instance tomorrow, he will be obligated for two sets of lashes. However, if he violates the prohibition in one sitting he is only obligated for one set of lashes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
אינו חייב אלא אחת – for since it is one negative commandment, it is like someone who eats two olives of forbidden fat with [only] one warning.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
And he is only liable if he takes off with a razor; Rabbi Eliezer says: “Even if he picks off the hairs with tweezers, or with pincers, he is liable. According to the first opinion in the mishnah he is only liable for having marred his beard if he does so with a razor. Rabbi Eliezer holds that marring even with pincers or tweezers is a violation of the commandment.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
עד שיטלנו בתער – it refers to the corner of the beard, as it is written [in the Torah] concerning shaving and destroying (Leviticus 19:27 – “nor destroy the side-growth of your beard” and Leviticus 21:5 – “or cut the side-growths of their beards”).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Questions for Further Thought: • Section two: What might be the basis of Rabbi Eliezer’s disagreement with the previous opinion?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
מלקט – an instrument that is made like tongs, to remove the hair.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
רהיטני – in the language of the Bible, it is an adze. It is an instrument that a carpenter uses to separate the face of the board.
