Commentaire sur Bekhorot 1:4
אַחַת בִּכְּרָה וְאַחַת שֶׁלֹּא בִכְּרָה וְיָלְדוּ שְׁנֵי זְכָרִים, נוֹתֵן טָלֶה אֶחָד לַכֹּהֵן. זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, מַפְרִישׁ טָלֶה אֶחָד לְעַצְמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות לד), וּפֶטֶר חֲמוֹר תִּפְדֶּה בְשֶׂה, מִן הַכְּבָשִׂים וּמִן הָעִזִּים, זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, גָּדוֹל וְקָטָן, תָּמִים וּבַעַל מוּם. וּפוֹדֶה בוֹ פְּעָמִים הַרְבֵּה. נִכְנָס לַדִּיר לְהִתְעַשֵּׂר. וְאִם מֵת, נֶהֱנִים בּוֹ:
Si un âne a déjà mis bas et un autre ne l'a pas fait, et qu'ils donnent maintenant naissance à deux mâles, il faut donner un agneau à un prêtre. [S'ils ont donné naissance à] un mâle et une femelle, on met à part un agneau pour soi. Un âne premier-né est racheté par un agneau, [que l'agneau ou le chevreau soit] de mouton ou de chèvre, mâle ou femelle, grand ou petit, parfait ou taché. On peut l'utiliser pour racheter plusieurs fois, et s'il meurt, on peut en bénéficier.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
זכר ונקבה מפריש טלה אחד לעצמו – for perhaps that one (i.e., donkey) that did not give birth gave birth to a female.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
The first part of this mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah. In these cases two animals give birth, one which had previously given birth and one which had not.
The second half of the mishnah begins to discuss the lamb used to redeem the donkey.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
שנאמר ופטר חמור תפדה בשה – every young lamb by implication, young lamb of lambs or young goats, a young male or a young female lamb, etc.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one donkey had given birth before and one had not given birth before and they gave birth to two males, he gives one lamb to the priest. Since both donkeys gave birth to a male, it is certain that the donkey that had never given birth before gave birth to a male. So the owner is liable to give one lamb to the priest.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ופודה בו פעמים רבות - if the Kohen returned and they gave him [the redemption animal].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
[If they gave birth to] a male and a female, he sets aside one lamb [which he keeps] for himself. If the two donkeys gave birth to a male and a female, then we don’t know whether the donkey which had never before given birth gave birth to the male, in which case it must be redeemed, or whether the other donkey gave birth to the male, in which case it is not a first-born. This is another case where there is doubt about whether the owner owes a lamb to the priest. As in the cases in yesterday’s mishnah, he sets aside a lamb to redeem the male donkey who might need to be redeemed, but he need not give the lamb to the priest, because the priest cannot prove that the male was a first-born.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
נכנס לדיר להתעשר – as for example, an Israelite who had ten donkeys who were doubtful first issues of the womb and he separated/dedicated ten lambs and they are his, behold they enter the pen to a place where they bring in animals there to be tithed, and we tithe them in the manner that we tithe the rest of the animals, and the same law applies that if he had a doubt regarding one first-born donkey or two [and he separated/dedicated for them one or two young sheep] that it would enter the pen with the rest of his sheep to be tithed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
For it says, “And the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb” (Exodus 34:20), [the lamb can come either] from the sheep or the goats, male or female, large or small, unblemished or blemished. This verse is brought here not to prove the sections which immediately precede it, but to bring Scriptural proof that a first-born of a donkey must be redeemed with a lamb. As long as this lamb is from a sheep or a goat, it can be used, no matter what type of lamb it is.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ואם מת נהנים בו – what he separated/dedicated for redemption of the first-born donkey, if it died at the hand of the owners prior to coming into the hand of the Kohen, the Kohen derives benefit from even though it didn’t reach his hand while living, for from the time that he (i.e., the owner) separated it, it was in the domain of the Kohen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
He can redeem with the same lamb many times. He can use one lamb to redeem as many donkeys as he wants, and thereby derive benefit from the donkey by taking away its sacred status. In other words, if he doesn’t give the lamb to the priest, he can keep using it to redeem other donkeys. However, there is a mitzvah to give the priest a lamb for each donkey being redeemed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
[And the lamb] enters the pen to be tithed. If an Israelite owns a lamb that he used to redeem a donkey, the lamb counts as far as tithing for that year goes. When he goes to count the lambs born in that year, this lamb too enters the pen to be counted.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If it dies [before he gives it to the priest], he can benefit from it. If the lamb dies he can derive benefit from its corpse. According to the Talmud, this means that the priest derives the benefit from the corpse, because from the time the lamb was set aside it belongs to the priest, even though it was still in the Israelite’s house.
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