Commentary for Oholot 9:10
הָיְתָה עוֹמֶדֶת בְּתוֹךְ הַפֶּתַח וְאֵין בֵּינָהּ לְבֵין הַמַּשְׁקוֹף פּוֹתֵחַ טֶפַח, טֻמְאָה בְתוֹכָהּ, הַבַּיִת טָהוֹר. טֻמְאָה בַבַּיִת, מַה שֶּׁבְּתוֹכָהּ טָמֵא, שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ הַטֻּמְאָה לָצֵאת וְאֵין דַּרְכָּהּ לְהִכָּנֵס:
If it was standing in the opening and there was less than a hand-breadth's space between it and the lintel, if there is impurity inside it, the house is pure. If there is impurity inside the house, what is inside it is impure, for the nature of impurity is to go out and not to go in.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
הבית טהור – that the lintel descends and seals/stops up the mouth of the hive, and we are speaking of a case where the hive is not hollowed out. For if it is hollowed out, it is the manner of the hollowing out that the defilement would go out to the house like those mentioned above.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If it was standing upright in the doorway and there was not a space of one handbreadth between it and the lintel: In this scenario, the hive is standing upright in the doorway, and there is no significant space between the lintel and the opening of the hive.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
טומאה בבית מה שבתוכה טהור – we have this reading. That the defilement goes outside and doesn’t enter in into the hive. But in most of the books we have the reading, that what is within it is impure because the defilement leaves from the house via its opening that defiles what is in the hive, and it stand within the doorway.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
If there is uncleanness within it, the house remains clean. If there is uncleanness inside the hive, it protects it from going out and defiling the contents of the house.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
But if there is uncleanness in the house, what is within [the hive] becomes unclean, for the manner of the uncleanness is to go out and not to go in. However, if there is uncleanness inside the house, it will go out the door and travel through the hive on its way. Therefore, the contents of the hive will be defiled. This is similar to the situation in 4:3 see there for a comparison.
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