Comentário sobre Bechorot 5:4
הָיָה בְכוֹר רוֹדְפוֹ, וּבְעָטוֹ וְעָשָׂה בוֹ מוּם, הֲרֵי זֶה יִשְׁחוֹט עָלָיו. כָּל הַמּוּמִין הָרְאוּיִין לָבוֹא בִידֵי אָדָם, רוֹעִים יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶאֱמָנִים, וְרוֹעִים כֹּהֲנִים אֵינָן נֶאֱמָנִים. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, נֶאֱמָן הוּא עַל שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ וְאֵינוֹ נֶאֱמָן עַל שֶׁל עַצְמוֹ. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, הֶחָשׁוּד עַל דָּבָר, לֹא דָנוֹ וְלֹא מְעִידוֹ:
Se alguém é perseguido por um primogênito, e o chuta e causa um defeito, pode-se matá-lo nessa base. Os pastores israelitas são confiáveis [em relação a] todas as manchas que poderiam ocorrer pela causa humana, mas os padres [que são] pastores não são confiáveis. Rabban Shim'on ben Gamliel diz: [O padre] é confiável em relação ao [primogênito de] um amigo, mas não é confiável em relação ao próprio [do padre]. O rabino Meir diz: Quem é suspeito de algo não pode julgar [casos a respeito] e não pode testemunhar [sobre].
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
היה בכור רודפו כו' הרי זה ישחט עליו – but the law only applies when he kicked it (i.e., the animal) at the time that of the chase [by the animal of the person], but not when it was not at the time of the chase.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If a first born was running after him and he kicked it and thereby blemished it, he may slaughter it on account of this. Since this person did not intentionally blemish the first born in order to slaughter it and eat it, it can be slaughtered on account of this blemish.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
הראויין לבוא בידי אדם – that one can say that a person make them (i.e., the blemishes) in it (i.e., the animal), such blinding its eye, cutting off his hand, or slitting its ear.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Any blemish which might have been made by a person, Israelite shepherds are trustworthy whereas shepherds who are priests are not trustworthy. The mishnah now returns to the issue of trustworthiness. An Israelite shepherd is trusted if he says that a blemish that could have been done by a person happened naturally, because the Israelite does not get to eat the animal himself. The assumption is that a person won’t lie in order to provide benefit to another person. However, the priest shepherd is not trusted because he himself could benefit from his lie.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
רועים ישראל נאמנים – a Jew who is shepherd of the cattle belonging to a Kohen is believed to state o the blemishes that befell the Kohen’s cattle that they happened on its own, and the Kohen, its owner can consume it with its blemish. But we do not suspect him that perhaps through a person this blemish came intentionally and that this shepherd is lying and he comes to permit it in order that his master the Kohen will slaughter it and feed him from it, for an Israelite/Jew is permitted to eat from the firstling with a blemish when the Kohen gives him [food] from it, for in this we do not suspect him, for a small amount of quaffing like this, we do not suspect that the shepherd would lie and transgress the sin in order for this small quaffing alone (see Talmud Bekhorot 35a – that they are so dependent upon their employers for their bread and butter).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: he is trustworthy with regard to somebody else's first born, but he is not trustworthy with regard to his own. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel refines the previous section. The priest shepherd can be trusted if he is testifying concerning another priest’s first born. His lack of trustworthiness is limited to his own animals, where has a vested stake in their being deemed blemished.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
רועים כהנים – shepherds who are Kohanim, are not believed when they shepherd the cattle of Israelites/Jews. For this Kohen is suspected that he himself placed a blemish in it, that this shepherd would say, My master did not leave it to me and I will give it to an other Kohen. And the same law applies that the Kohen shepherd is not believed to testify on a firstling of another Kohen, for we are suspicious of doing good to each other, for he held that I will testify for him now and he will do do me a favor when an Israelite gives me a pure firstling, and I will place a blemish in it and this Kohen will testify on my behalf that the blemish befell it on its own.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Rabbi Meir says: one who is suspected of neglecting a religious matter must not issue judgment on it or give evidence concerning it. Rabbi Meir disagrees with Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel and says that if a person is not trusted with regard to a certain matter, such as first born blemishes, then he is not trusted to testify with regard to any issue that is connected with that matter. Thus if a priest is not trusted with regard to his own first borns, then he can’t be trusted to testify with regard to other priest’s first borns.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
רבן גמליאל אומר נאמן הוא על של חבירו ואינו נאמן של עצמו – Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel disagrees with the first Tanna/teacher, for he holds that the Kohanim were not suspected other than on the firstling itself for was already given to him by an Israelite, but on that of his fried, whether, his Master/teacher or another, they were not suspected concerning them.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
רבי מאיר אומר כל החשוד בדבר לא דנו ולא מעידו – and there is a [difference] between the first Tanna/teacher and Rabbi Meir, for according to Rabbi Meir, a firstling belonging to a Kohen that blemish befell it, two from the marketplace have to testify upon it, but one witness, even one who is not a Kohen, does not help. But according to the first Tanna/teacher, especially a Kohen is not believed to testify on the firstling of a Kohen, for we are concerned for doing good to one another, but one who is not a Kohen, even one who testifies is believed to permit it. But Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel states that even the children and the members of the household of a Kohen are believed, for specifically, only on what is his he is not believed. And his wife is also not believed because she is like is body. And the Halakha is according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.
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