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שנים טמאים במת אחד טמא טומאת שבעה -the entire Mishnah is explained further on.

Introduction Our mishnah serves as an introduction to the next several mishnayot. As is frequently the case in the beginning of a tractate, the mishnah is based on numbers (see for instance the beginning of Shabbat and Shevuot). It discusses the different levels of impurity that have their source in a corpse.

אדם הנוגע במת, טמא טומאת שבעה – as it is written (Numbers 19:11): “He who touches the corpse of any human being shall be impure for seven days.” Because he has become a primary source of Levitical uncleanness/ritual impurity, as the corpse is a progenitor of the primary sources of ritual impurity/אבי אבות הטומאה.

Two are defiled through a corpse, one being defiled with seven days' defilement and one being defiled with a defilement lasting until the evening. This will be explained below in section four.

אדם הנוגע בו טמא טומאת ערב – as it is written (Numbers 19:22): “[Whatever that impure person touches shall be impure] and the person who touches him shall be impure until evening.” Because he became a secondary source of impurity/ולד הטומאה, has only has ritual impurity until nightfall/טומאת ערב. But the Sages decreed on a person who has contact with a טמא מת/one made unclean through a corpse while he is still connected to the corpse, that he will be ritually impure seven [days] (see Talmud Avodah Zarah 37b).

Three are defiled through a corpse, two being defiled with seven days’ defilement and one with a defilement lasting until the evening. This will be explained in mishnah two.

Four are defiled through a corpse, three being defiled with seven days’ defilement and one with a defilement lasting until the evening. This will be explained in mishnah three.

What [is the case of] two? A person who touches a corpse is defiled with seven days’ defilement and a person who touches him is defiled with a defilement lasting until the evening. Numbers 19:11 explicitly states that one who has contact with a corpse is defiled for seven days. Verse 22 states, "and the person who touches him shall be unclean until evening." "Him" refers to the person who came into contact with the corpse.

כלים הנוגעים במת וכו' – whether metal vessels or vessels or clothing which require only rinsing in order to be restored to Levitical cleanness and clothing, are defiled like the corpse itself, as it is written (Numbers 19:16): “[And in the open, anyone who touches a person] who was killed or died naturally, [or human bone or a grave, shall be impure seven days].” The person who was killed is like a corpse, and this is the law for all the rest of the vessels. Therefore, vessels that come in contact with the corpse become a progenitor of the primary sources of ritual impurity/אבי אבות הטומאה, but vessels [that come in contact] with vessels ae a primary source of ritual impurity for always second-degree of ritual impurity never become like [those vessels] that are first-degree of ritual impurity.

What [is the case of] three? Vessels touching a corpse and [other] vessels [touching these] vessels are defiled with seven days’ defilement. A vessel that comes into contact with a dead body is unclean for seven days. These vessels are "fathers of impurity." The same is true for vessels that come into contact with these vessels. These too are "fathers of impurity" and are unclean for seven days.

The third: whether a person or vessels, is defiled with a defilement lasting until the evening. But the "third" link in the chain, a person or vessel who comes into contact with a vessel that had contact with another vessel that was in contact with a corpse, has a lower degree of impurity. He or it is impure only until the evening with "first degree impurity."

השלישי בין אדם בין כלים – become first-degree of ritual impurity, and are defiled until nightfall.

כיצד ארבעה – vessels that come in contact with a corpse are progenitors of the primary sources of ritual impurity like it (i.e., a corpse). But a person [who is defiled] with utensils [which came in contact with a corpse becomes] a primary source of ritual impurity/אב הטומאה. And vessels [that were defiled by a corpse that came in contact with a person, is also a primary source of ritual impurity, like the person himself, as it is written (Numbers 31:24): “On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes and be pure, [and after that you may enter the camp],” hence you learned that every person who is defiled for seven days of defilement defiles vessels for a defilement of seven days.

What is the case of four? Vessels touching a corpse, a person [touching these] vessels, and [other] vessels [touching this] person, are defiled with seven days' defilement. The fourth, whether a person or vessels, is defiled with a defilement [lasting until the] evening. When vessels come into contact with a corpse, they are defiled for seven days (as in yesterday's mishnah). If a person touches these vessels, he is impure for seven days, for they also are a "father of impurity." And the person too is a "father of impurity" and if other vessels touch him, they are impure for seven days.

הרביעי בין אדם בין כלים -become first-degree of ritual impurity. And the say law applies with “How so- for three?” for one is able to teach that a person who comes in contact with a corpse or vessels with a person are defiled with ritual impurity for seven days; the third, whether a person or vessels are defiled with ritual impurity until nightfall, but from the concluding clause [of the Mishnah] for the fourth who are defiled through contact with a corpse, we understand it, that even a person with utensils that came in contact with a corpse and/or vessels that came in contact with a person is taught that there is a period of defilement for seven days. All the more so, a person with the dead himself, or vessels with a [defiled] person, where there is a defilement of ritual impurity for seven days.

Rabbi Akiva said: I have a fifth, [if] a peg was fixed in a tent, the tent, the peg, a person touching the peg and vessels [touching] the person are defiled with seven days' defilement. The fifth, whether a person or vessels, is defiled with a defilement [lasting until the] evening. They said to him: the tent does not count. However, when it comes to the fourth in the chain, the level of impurity is reduced. So if a person or a vessel has contact with the aforementioned vessel, he or it is impure only until the evening.

שפוד (a spit) – like a kind of column of metal that is fastened in the tent and upon its end they tie the tent.

Rabbi Akiva is getting ambitious! He wants to find a series with five elements. A peg is fixed into the ground next to a tent but it is not part of the tent and there is a corpse in the tent. According to Rabbi Akiva, the peg and the tent count as two separate items. The tent overshadows the peg causing it to be impure and Rabbi Akiva counts it like a vessel that overshadows a dead body or touches it. The person who touches the peg is impure and becomes a father of impurity. Any vessels that touch the person are all impure with seven day's impurity. That's four. The person or vessel that touches the aforementioned vessels is impure but only until the evening. The other sages respond that the tent itself does not count. Both the tent and the peg are impure for they are considered to have shadowed over the corpse, and the peg is not impure because of the tent. Therefore, we don't begin the count from the tent, but rather from the peg, in which case there are only four, not five, in this chain.

אין האוהל מתחשב (the tent does not come into consideration)- because the tent does not defile the spit, therefore it is not considered in the number of the order of the defilements, but rather, all that is placed in the tent of the corpse is like it is touching the corpse itself, and there are only four here. Alternatively, even if the spit is not within the tent, but rather that it touches the tent from outside, nevertheless, the tent does not come into consideration in the number of the order of our Mishnah. And this proved further on/ahead in the Chapter "סכום עבה"/The Thick Coarse Woolen Blanket (Chapter 15), in the Mishnah "טבליות של עץ"/Tables of Wood (Mishnah 2).

שהכלים שלשה – as for example vessels that came in contact with a corpse and vessels [that came in contact] with vessels. And further, vessels are third [degree of ritual uncleanness [which came in contact’ with vessels that are second [degree of ritual uncleanness], all are impure.

[Both] persons and vessels can be defiled through a corpse. While both people and vessels are defiled through a corpse, there are stringencies that apply to one that don't apply to others.

והאדם שנים – as for example, a person [who came in contact] with a corpse and a second person [came in contact] with that person that was defiled [through contact] with a corpse. But a third person who has third [who came in contact] with [a person] with second [degree of uncleanness] is ritually pure.

A greater stringency applies to persons than to vessels and to vessels than to persons. For with vessels [there can be] three [series of defilements], whereas with persons [there can be only] two. There can be a series of three defilements involving only vessels, as we saw in mishnah two. Vessel one touches the corpse, vessel two touches vessel one, and vessel three touches vessel two (but it is impure only until the evening). However, when it comes to people, the second person has only "first degree impurity" and the person who touches him is pure, as we learned in mishnah one.

שהוא באמצע – as for example, vessels and a person and vessels. For the fourth, whether it is a person or vessels defiles until nightfall, as we learned from our Mishnah above (see Mishnah 1).

A greater stringency applies to persons, for whenever they are in the middle of a [series] there can be four [in the series], whereas when they are not in the middle of a [series] there can be [only] three. This refers to the situation in mishnah three. A vessel touches a corpse, a person touches the vessel and the vessel touches that person and all three are impure for seven days. The fourth, whether person or vessel, is also impure. But if the second element is a vessel, then the third element is impure only until the evening and the fourth element is pure, as is the case in mishnah two.

מטמא בגדים – all of this that is not explained [in the Mishnah] as it is written (Leviticus 15:7): “Whoever touches he the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes, [bathe in water, and remain impure until evening],” so we see that he defiles [his] clothing at the time of his contact with the one with the discharge/the person who has gonorrhea.

Introduction Our mishnah is similar to yesterday's mishnah in that it compares the stringency relating to an impure person with the stringency relating to vessels, in this case clothing. The topic of our mishnah is not the impurity caused by a dead body, but rather the impurity caused by a zav, a person who has had an abnormal genital emission.

ואין הבגדים הנוגעים בזב מטמאין בגדים – because the person with the discharge/gonorrhea is a primary source of Levitical uncleanness/אב הטומאה, and the clothes that touch it become first [degree of ritual uncleanness]. But they do not defile other clothing, for a person and vessels do not become susceptible to receiving defilement other than from a primary source of ritual impurity.

Persons and garments can be defiled by a zav. Both human beings and clothing are defiled by contact with a zav, although as we shall see, there are cases in which the law is stricter with regard to the human and other cases in which the law is stricter with regard to the clothing.

והבגדים הנושאין את הזב מטמאין אדם – as for example, lying and sitting of a person with a discharge/gonorrhea which defile a person because they become a primary source of ritual impurity like the person with a discharge/gonorrhea himself As it is written (Leviticus 15:10): “Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be impure until evening.”

A greater stringency applies to persons than to garments and a greater stringency applies to garments than to persons. This is the customary introduction to the next section.

ואין אדם הנושא את הזב מטמא את האדם – and even at the time that he carries him prior to his separating. For he is aught other than first degree of ritual impurity and a nothing that is first [degree of ritual impurity] can defile a person.

For a person who touches a zav can defile garments, whereas garments that touch a zav cannot defile [other] garments. A person who has been in contact with a zav defiles clothing. This is explicit in Leviticus 15:7. However, clothing that come into contact with a zav has first degree impurity. This impure clothing will not subsequently convey impurity to other clothing, for clothing is susceptible to impurity only through contact with a father of impurity.

A greater stringency applies to garments, for garments which form the support of a zav can defile persons, whereas a person who forms the support of a zav cannot defile [other] persons. Something upon which a zav lays or reclines or sits is impure, even if the zav doesn't touch it (see Leviticus 15:5). This includes clothing. This clothing will subsequently defile other people. However, if a zav lays or reclines on a person (without touching that person) that person does not defile other people. We will learn more about this topic in general when we learn Tractate Zavim (yes, there is a whole tractate devoted to this subject!).

עד שתצא נפשו – as it is written (Numbers 19:13): “Whoever touches a corpse, the body of a person who has died, [and he does not purify himself, defiles the LORD’s Tabernacle; that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water of lustration was not dashed on him, he remains impure; his impurity is still upon him],” that Scripture comes to teach that a person does not defile until he dies.

A person does not defile [as a corpse] until he dies. A living person, even an almost dead person, does not defile until he is actually dead.

מגוייד (he who had his arteries opened, bled to death) – cut piecemeal, the language of (Daniel 4:11): “Hew down the tree.”

Even he is cut up or even if he is about to die, he [still] makes levirate marriage obligatory and exempts from levirate marriage, he feeds [his mother] terumah and disqualifies [his mother] from eating terumah. If he is about to die, he is still considered alive. The mishnah lists some consequences (besides his still being pure) for the fact that he still counts as being alive. If his brother died without offspring, the wife is liable for levirate marriage (yibbum) as long as he is alive. If his father died, his father's wife is exempt from yibbum as long as he was alive when his father died. If he is a kohen and his mother is an Israelite who was widowed from his father (also a kohen), his mother eats terumah as long as he is alive (assuming no other offspring). In other words, since he is alive, her status can still follow that of her offspring. If he is an Israelite and his mother is a daughter of a kohen widowed from his father (an Israelite) his mother cannot eat terumah as long as he is alive.

זוקק ליבום – all the while that he is rapidly passing away/lying on his deathbed, his sister-in-law (i.e., widow of his brother who died without issue) is forbidden to get married

Similarly in the case of cattle or wild animals, they do not defile until they die. The carcasses of cattle or wild animals that were not slaughtered defile (nevelah). The same is true of animals categorized as "sheratzim." As is the case of human beings, they do not defile until they are dead.

ופוטר מן היבום – if he (i.e., the brother-in-law) died, and he left a son who is rapidly passing away. His wife is exempt from Halitzah/the ceremony that frees the widow of a man who died without children from the obligation to marry one of her deceased husband’s brothers and allows her to remarry [through the removal of a special sandal from the foot of one of her deceased husband’s brothers].

If their heads have been cut off, even though they are moving convulsively, they are unclean, like a lizard's tail, which moves convulsively. Dead animals can at times move, even if their heads have been cut off. Despite this movement, they are still considered dead. After all, once the head is off, they're not coming back to life. This is similar to the case of a lizard's tail, which might keep moving, even after it has been cut off.

ומאכיל תרומה – if the mother of his mother is an Israelite who was married to a Kohen (see also Mishnah Tractate Yevamot, Chapter 9, Mishnah 5).

ופוסל – he invalidates his mother from [partaking of] the heave-offering/priest’s due if she is the daughter of a Kohen married to an Israelite.

וכן בהמה וחיה אין מטמאין- the ritual impurity imparted by an unslaughtered carcass, until their souls depart

כזנב הלטאה (like the tail of a species of lizard) – meaning to say, what is this spasmatic movement (jerking motion) similar to? To the tail of a species of lizard.

האיברים – there must be upon them flesh and sinews and bones and through this it is considered a limb. And we are speaking of whether the limb was detached from the living or whether a limb from the dead.

Whole limbs [of the body] have no [restriction as to] size: even less than an olive-sized portion of a corpse or less than an olive-sized portion of nevelah (carrion), or less than a lentil-sized portion of a sheretz can defile, [each in the manner of] their respective defilements. Whole limbs that are separated from either a corpse, or the carrion of an animal, or from a sheretz, always defile even if they don't meet the minimums for size. These minimums are usually: an olive's worth for a human corpse, the same size for nevelah (animal carrion), or a lentil-sized piece from a sheretz. The minimum sizes are only relevant when there are pieces that are no full limbs. But if there is a limb that is smaller than that size, it defiles in all cases.

פיסת הרגל (the foot to the ankle) – the sole of the foot is the foot.

There are two hundred and forty-eight limbs in a human body: Thirty in the foot, six for every toe, Ten in the ankle, Two in the shin, Five in the knee, One in the thigh, Three in the hip, Eleven ribs, Thirty in the hand, [that is] six to every finger, Two in the fore-arm, Two in the elbow, One in the upper arm and Four in the shoulder, [For a total of] one hundred and one on the one side [of the body] and one hundred and one on the other. Eighteen vertebrae in the spine, Nine in the head, Eight in the neck, Six in the key of the heart, And five around the genitals.
Each one [of these] can defile by contact, carriage or overshadowing.
When is this so? When they have upon them the appropriate amount of flesh, But if they do not have the appropriate amount flesh upon them, they can defile by contact and carriage but cannot defile by overshadowing.
Today's mishnah defines "limbs." Obviously, the modern use of the word limb is not the same as the rabbinic use of the term. The word "limb" mostly seems to refer to bones, as we shall see.
Section one: The count of 248 likely refers to bones and perhaps a few sinews and ligaments as well, and not what we would call limbs. It does not include the teeth. When I googled how many bones are in the human body, most answers seemed to be 206. The rabbinic answer seems to include some parts that modern anatomists do not consider bones. In any case, the count is not that far off.
Section two: Each of these "limbs" can cause defilement in any of the three ways that a dead body causes defilement: by contact, by being carried (even without contact) and by overshadowing (ohel). However, for it to defile as a "limb" it must have enough flesh such that if it was attached to the body it could heal.
If it does not have this amount of flesh, it still defiles by contact and carriage, but it doesn't defile through overhanging. We shall see more concerning this is 2:3.

ששה בכל אצבע -for five fingers, which are thirty.

קרסול (ankle) – It is the Aramaic translation of כרעיים/leg, (see Leviticus 11:21): “[But these you may eat among the all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours:] all that have, above their feet, jointed legs [to leap with on the ground,” קרסולי. It is the place of the connection of the foot and the foreleg.

קטלת ([club-shaped], the thigh with the knee-pan)- above the top of the knee.

בקנה (forearm) – he bone that is connection to the hand. From the language (Ezekiel 40:5): “The rod that the man held [was six cubits long, plus one handbreadth for each cubit],” that with it they measure the cubit.

מרפק (elbow) – KODO in the foreign language.

מאה ואחד מזה – that all that he counted until now was from one side from the body, such as for example, one hand and one leg and one rib.

מפתח של לב (valve of the heart) -this is the chest. That because of the movement of the chest, the lung causes to blow on the heart, it is found that the chest opens the path that from it the air enters in and goes out to the heart.

בנקוביו (the perforations/organs of the extremities) – the testicles and the membrum virile.

בשר כראוי (when there is an appropriate amount of flesh) – in order that it will rise up in length and be healthy (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 1, Mishnah 5), if it is connected to a living person.

ואין מטמאין באוהל – for defilement from a tent is not other either with a complete person, as it is written (Numbers 19:14): “When a person dies in a tent,” or with a limb that is similar to a person, as it states (Numbers 19:16): “or human bone,” just as a human being that has flesh and sews and bones and defiles in a tent, even a limb that has flesh and sinews and bones defiles in a tent.