Si él (uno de los hermanos) lo relegara (yibum) a un (hermano que era) menor de edad, cuando fuera mayor de edad, o al hermano mayor, cuando regresara del extranjero [es decir, si el mayor de los hermanos estaban en el extranjero, y el mayor de los hermanos antes que nosotros lo relegó a él, diciendo: "Espérenlo, porque él es mayor que yo"] o a un sordomudo o un tonto [hasta que estuvo "curado"], no le hacen caso; pero le decimos: "¡La mitzvá te incumbe!—o dale chalitzah o llévala en yibum. "[Aunque tu hermano que está en el extranjero es mayor que tú, ya que eres el mayor de los hermanos antes que nosotros, la mitzvá te incumbe"; para mitzvoth no se retrasan.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
ובגדול – for the oldest of the brothers was abroad and he assigns the oldest of the brothers that is before us to state that we should wait for him, for he is older than me.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Introduction
This mishnah is a direct continuation of the previous one.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
בחרש ובשוטה] – until they recover, we don’t listen to him].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If he wished to suspend [his decision] until a minor becomes of age, or until the eldest returns from a country beyond the sea or [until a brother who was] a deaf-mute or an imbecile [should recover], he is not to be listened to, but is told, “the commandment is upon you; either perform halitzah or yibbum.” . If the eldest brother does not want to perform halitzah or yibbum, but rather wait until a younger brother becomes old enough to have yibbum with this woman, he is not listened to. Rather he is told that he must either perform yibbum or halitzah. The mishnah teaches that it is not fair to the woman to keep her waiting for halitzah. She has the right to be released now, so that she can go and marry whomever she wants. Similarly, if one of the younger brothers wants to wait for an older brother to return from abroad, or recover from deafness or from being an imbecile (this may be some sort of temporary insanity), they do not listen to him and force him to do yibbum or halitzah immediately. Note that a deaf-mute and an imbecile cannot contract yibbum or any type of marriage because they are considered to lack intelligence. As I have pointed out before, in mishnaic times real sign language did not exist, and therefore deaf-mutes could not really communicate. Now that sign language has been developed it is recognized that deaf-mutes do not inherently lack intelligence and they may contract marriage.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
עליך מצוה – even though your brother is abroad, he is older than you. Since you ae the oldest of the brothers in our presence, upon you is the Mitzvah [of levirate marriage] for the delay in the performance of the commandment, we do not delay.
