(Si uno dijo :) "Seré nazareo cuando tenga un ben" (genéricamente, "un niño"), y un hijo le nació, se convierte en nazareo. Si le nacieron una hija, un tumtum (uno cuyos genitales están ocultos) o un andrógino (un hermafrodita), no se convierte en nazareo. [Porque en el lenguaje común, solo un hombre se llama "ben", y no una mujer, un tumtum o un andrógino.] Si él dijo: ("Seré un nazareo) cuando tenga una valad (descendencia)" incluso si tuviera una hija, un tumtum o un andrógino, se convierte en nazareo. [Incluso una hija, un tumtum y un andrógino se llaman "valad".]
Bartenura on Mishnah Nazir
ונולד לו בן הרי זה נזיר – for in the language of humans one is not called a son other than a male, and not a female nor a child bearing unclear sexual traits or a child bearing the sexual traits of both sexes. A child is called even a daughter/female or a child bearing unclear sexual traits or a child bearing the sexual traits of both sexes.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
Introduction
This mishnah deals with a person who stipulates that he will be a nazirite if he has a son, or, alternatively, if he has a child. The question is, what is the definition of a son or child.
As an aside, we can see from this mishnah that people made nazirite vows as a way of thanking God for things God has given them. The same is true for vows in general.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
[If one says,] “Behold, I am a nazirite when I shall have a son,” and son is born to him, he becomes a nazirite. If the child is a daughter, or a tumtum, or an hermaphrodite, he does not become a nazirite. A “tumtum” is a person who has no signs of being male or female. A hermaphrodite has both male and female genitalia. The mishnah teaches that when the person said “when I shall have a son”, his intention was specifically for a son and not for any of the other three genders, female, the gender-less tumtum or double-gendered. Note that the mishnah has to say this because sometimes the Hebrew word for son “ben” can mean “child.” This is how the word is interpreted in Deuteronomy 25:5, in the context of the laws of levirate marriage.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
If he said, “When I shall have a child,” then even if it is a daughter, or a tumtum, or an hermaphrodite, he becomes a nazirite. However, if he says “child” any child is included, no matter the gender.
