הַגַּבָּאִין שֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ לְתוֹךְ הַבַּיִת, וְכֵן הַגַּנָּבִים שֶׁהֶחֱזִירוּ אֶת הַכֵּלִים, נֶאֱמָנִין לוֹמַר, לֹא נָגָעְנוּ. וּבִירוּשָׁלַיִם נֶאֱמָנִין עַל הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וּבִשְׁעַת הָרֶגֶל אַף עַל הַתְּרוּמָה:
Collectors [Jews, amei ha'aretz, who are deputed by the king to collect taxes from other Jews], who entered the house [to take the pledge], and likewise, thieves, who returned [earthenware] vessels [that they stole] are believed to say: "We did not touch them" [on the inside. This, if they returned them in voluntary penance, but not out of fear.] And in Jerusalem they are believed in respect to kodesh. [They are believed for all earthenware, both large and small, to say that they are clean for kodesh; for they do not make (potters') ovens in Jerusalem. For this reason they believed them and did not decree against them.] And, during the time of the festival, (they were believed) even for terumah, [it being written (Judges 20:11): "And all the men of Israel gathered together against the city as one man, chaverim." When they are all gathered together, Scripture calls them "chaverim." And a festival is a time of gathering.]
Tosefta Chagigah
If tax collectors entered a house and wrote on the outside [that] everything that is in the house is [ritually] pure, they are believed as to the purity of [articles involved in] the purification rite [of the red heifer], but they are not believed about the purity of Terumah, and in Jerusalem they are believed as to the purity of all the consecrated utensils but not about Terumah, and during the season of the pilgrimmage festival, [they are even believed] about Terumah. One who buys utensils from am ha'aretz skilled craftspersons, and one who sells utensils to am ha'aretz skilled craftspersons are believed about the purity of [articles involved in] the purification rite, but are not believed about the purity of Terumah.
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Mishnah Tahorot
If tax collectors entered a house, the house is unclean. If a Gentile was with them they are believed if they say, "we did not enter" but they are not believed if they say "we didn't touch anything." If thieves entered a house, only that part in which the feet of the thieves have stepped is unclean. And what do they cause to be unclean? Food and liquids and open earthenware, but couches and seats and earthenware that have tightly fitting covers remain clean. If a Gentile or a woman was with them, all is unclean.
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