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השחין והמכוה מיטמאין בשבוע אחד – if in their place (i.e., the boil or the burning) was born/originated the bright white spot on the skin, we shut him up/quarantine/isolate him and at the end of one week if there is white hair or spreading, he (i.e., the Kohen) declares him to be a certified leper, and if not, he releases him. But with quick flesh he is not defiled, for quick flesh requires live flesh, and this is not live flesh since in its place is boils and burning.

Introduction Chapter nine deals with a nega that forms in a boil or a burn. This is dealt with in Leviticus 13:18-28.

גפת (a pressed hard mass, peat, turf)- refuse of olives, and it is hot on account of itself. And similarly, the hot springs of Tiberias through the heat of their source they are hot and not in consequence of the fire.

A boil or a burn may become unclean in a week and by two signs: by white hair or by a spreading. As we learned in 3:4, when it comes to a nega in a boil or burn, only white hair and spreading are signs of impurity. Quick flesh is not. And there is only one week of isolation, not two as there are with other negaim.

כל שאינו מחמת האש זהו שחין – to include the lead directly from the mine (hot – see Tractate Hullin 8a).

What is a "boil"? An injury received from wood, stone, peat, or the waters of Tiberias, of from any other object whose heat is not due to fire is a boil. What I have translated as "boil" is really an inflammation due to contact with something hot other than fire. "Peat" is the refuse from the pressing of olives and it can be very hot when removed from the press. The waters of Tiberias are hot springs.

רמץ (hot ashes, embers) – the ashes of a portable stove on feet (with caves for two pots). And it is hot on account of the fire.

What exactly is a "burn"? A burn caused by a live coal, hot embers, or any object whose heat is due to fire is a burning. A burn is from contact with something that had contact with fire.

כל שהוא מחמת האש – and it is hot from the effect of/in consequence of the fire. כל שהוא מחמת האש – to include the heat of the fire.

אין מצטרפין – one-half a split [Cilician] bean of boils with one-half a split [Cilician] bean of burning do not combine [to make] a complete split [Cilician] bean.

A boil and a burn do not combine, nor do they spread from one to the other, nor do they spread from there to the skin of the flesh, nor does [a nega] on the skin of the flesh spread to them. If there is a boil the size of a half a split bean and a burn the size of half a split bean, they do not combine to form a nega the size of a split bean. Also, if a boil and a burn are right next to each other and the nega spreads from one to the other, it is not considered as having spread and it is pure. If the nega spreads from the boil or burn to other skin, or if a nega from other skin spreads into the burn or boil, it is not considered to have spread. Rather, the nega must spread within the boil or burn. Put simply: the burn and boil nega are considered completely separately from an adjacent nega.

ואין פושין מזה וזה – that if a boil and a burning are one next to the other, and in one of them is a bright white spot on the skin the size of a split [Cilician] bean, and he was shut up/isolated/quarantined, and at the end of the week, it spread to its neighbor or on the skin of the flesh, we don’t declare him a certified leper. And similarly, if the bright white spot was on the skin of the flesh and spread to the boil or to the burn, it is not considered spreading.

If they were festering they are clean. If the boil or burn is still festering, it is pure. This was explained in 6:8.

היו מורדין – that they didn’t heal properly and the skin did not have a scab on it, and it still produces secretion, we don’t defile it through plagues, as it is written (Leviticus 13:18): “When an inflammation (i.e., boil) appears on the skin of one’s body and it heals.,” but with a burning, it is written (Leviticus 13:24): "והיתה מחית המכוה"/ “and the patch from the burn is a dis-coloration, [either white streaked with rea, or white.]”

If they formed a scale as thick as garlic peel, such is the scar of the boil that is spoken of in the Torah. Leviticus 13:23 states, "But if the boil (inflammation) remains stationary, not having spread, it is the scar of the boil (inflammation); the priest shall pronounce him clean." The rabbis explain that this doesn't refer to a boil (or burn in v. 28) that have healed completely. Rather, a little bit of a scab seems to have formed on it. Since the bright spot didn't spread (see the verse) he is not isolated for a second week, as he would be for other negaim. Rather he is pronounced clean.

אע"פ שנעשה מקומו צלקת (even though spot became the rough, scabby surface/scar) – that it is recognized that there was a boil there or a burn and it is not equivalent to the rest of the skin of the flesh, nevertheless it is judged like the skin of the flesh, for after it became a strong scab.

If they were subsequently healed, even though there was a mark in their place, they are regarded as the skin of the flesh. If the boil or burn completely heals, it is treated like regular skin, even if a mark remains. If a new nega appears there, the nega is treated like a regular nega, and not one that formed in a boil or burn.

אמרו לו למה – [why] should he be shut up/put in quarantine/isolated, but it is impossible for him to give rise to a sign/token of impurity?

Introduction This mishnah contains a fascinating discussion between Rabbi Eliezer and the other sages, which reveals Rabbi Eliezer's personality as the arch-conservative sage.

לגדל שער אין ראויה – for the palm of the hand one never grows hair ever.

They asked R. Eliezer: "[What is the ruling concerning] one who had a bright spot the size of a sela form on the inside of his hand and it covered up the scar of a boil?" The sages ask Rabbi Eliezer about someone who had a nega form on the palm of his hand and it covered up a smaller boil that had already scarred over.

לפשיון אינה פושה – for boils and burning do not spread on the skin of the flesh (as we saw in the previous Mishnah).

He replied: "He should be isolated." Rabbi Eliezer answers that he should be isolated to see if it will develop a sign of impurity.

ולמחיה אינה מטמא – for it is taught in the Mishnah (see Mishnah 1 of this chapter) that with two signs/tokens – with white hair and spreading but not with quick flesh.

They said to him: "Why? Since it is neither capable of growing white hair nor can it effectively spread nor does quick flesh cause it to be unclean?" The other sages point out that this is problematic. Hair does not grow on the palm of one's hand so he can't become impure for that reason. It cannot be considered to have spread for a nega formed in a boil or burn must spread into the area of the burn or boil, and in this case it already fully covers the burn or boil. Nor is quick flesh a sign of impurity inside a burn or boil. Therefore it seems that there is no reason to isolate this person for he cannot become impure.

שמא תכנוס (perhaps it will contract) – like a split [Cilician] bean, and when the Kohen will see it at the end of the week he will release him, but after the release, it will return and spread within the boil whose place is like a Sela and he will declare him to be a certified leper.

He replied, "It is possible that it will contract and then spread again." Rabbi Eliezer says it is possible that after the first week the nega will retract a bit and then the priest will declare him pure. If the nega would then spread back into the burn or boil, he would be impure.

אמרו לו הרי מקומה כגריס – meaning to say, that if it the place of the scar/shriveled surface was like a split [Cilician] bean alone and the bright white spot on the skin was in it, why would he (i.e., the Kohen) isolate/quarantine him, but does it not belong to state here that perhaps it will contract and then spread?

They said to him, "But what about when its only the size of a split bean?' The problem with Rabbi Eliezer's answer is that it only works if the burn/boil underneath the nega was originally the size of a sela, which is larger than a split bean. If the burn/boil was the size of a split bean then when the nega retracts and then spreads it will still spread into regular skin, which doesn't count as spreading. And if the nega retracts to being smaller than a split bean, the nega is considered to have disappeared. The priest will pronounce him pure and if it spreads again, this is not considered "spreading" but rather a new nega.

אמר להן לא שמעתי – meaning to say that he (i.e., the Kohen) should also shut him up/isolate him/quarantine him, but I did not hear the reason regarding it.

He said to them: I have not heard anything. Rabbi Judah ben Batera said to him, "Can I teach something about this?" He replied, "If you would thereby confirm the ruling of the sages, go ahead." He said, "Lest another boil would arise outside it and spread into it. He replied: "You are a great scholar for you have confirmed the words of the sages." To this Rabbi Eliezer has no answer. He knows that the sages said that he should be isolated, but he doesn't know why. Rabbi Judah ben Batera asks permission to give an answer. Fascinatingly, Rabbi Eliezer says that he can give an answer but only if it explains the sages' opinion that he should be isolated. He is not allowed to disagree with this reason. Here we see Rabbi Eliezer's conservative tendencies. He allows a new explanation, but only if it upholds the older halakhah. Rabbi Judah ben Batera says he is isolated lest another boil appears outside of the first boil, and then the latter nega spreads into the former. A nega from one boil can spread into a nega from another boil. Rabbi Eliezer seems to be overjoyed at his student's answer, not for its inherent wisdom, but because it explains the words of the sages.

אלמד בו – permit me that I will teach a thing regarding this law.

אם לקיים דברי חכמים הן – if you find a reason to uphold the words of the Sages that stated that it requires isolation/quarantine, say it, but to teach that it doesn’t require isolation/quarantine, do not say it, for I do not set aside what I received from my Rabbis and listen from you.

שמא יוולד לו שחין אחר חוצה לו ויפשה לתוכו – that boils spread into boils. And this is the Halakha.