(Se uno dicesse :) "Sarò un nazirita quando avrò un ben" (in genere "un bambino"), e un figlio gli nacque, diventa un nazirita. Se gli è nata una figlia, un tumtum (uno i cui genitali sono nascosti) o un androgino (un ermafrodito), non diventa un nazirite. [Nel linguaggio comune, solo un maschio si chiama "ben", e non una femmina, un tumtum o un androgino.] Se dicesse: ("Sarò un nazirita) quando avrò un valad (prole)," anche se avesse una figlia, un tumtum o un androgino, diventa un nazirita. [Persino una figlia, un tumtum e un androgino sono chiamati "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.
