Si deux personnes deviennent impures à cause d'un cadavre, l'une devient impure pendant sept jours et l'autre devient impure jusqu'au soir. Si trois personnes deviennent impures à cause d'un cadavre, deux deviennent impures pendant sept jours et une devient impure jusqu'au soir. Si quatre personnes deviennent impures à cause d'un cadavre, trois deviennent impures pendant sept jours et une devient impure jusqu'au soir. Comment deux [deviennent-ils impurs]? Une personne touche un cadavre et devient impure pendant sept jours, et toute personne qui le touche devient impure jusqu'au soir.
Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
שנים טמאים במת אחד טמא טומאת שבעה -the entire Mishnah is explained further on.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
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.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
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.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Oholot
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).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
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.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Oholot
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.
