Bechoros 19b

בכורות י״ט ע״ב

Bekhorot 19b

Learn Bechoros 19b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The end of the בכור לדבר אחד debate, and the new משנה about an animal bought from a גוי: when do we rely on רוב?

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an argument about the בכור. רבינא holds that an animal that is first in only one way still counts as a בכור. He reads the extra word 'בכור' as excluding a baby born after a caesarean-born sibling. רב אחא מדפתי brings a case this cannot explain: a female born by caesarean, then a male through the womb. So the גמרא concludes like אביי: a בכור לדבר אחד is not a בכור, and the פרק הלוקח עובר פרתו ends. A new משנה deals with an animal bought from a גוי whose birth history is unknown. רבי ישמעאל decides by the animal's age, while רבי עקיבא says only real knowledge counts, and in a ספק the owner eats the animal once it has a מום. The גמרא asks why רבי ישמעאל doesn't simply follow the רוב of animals, and suggests a difference between a majority in front of us and one that is not. A ברייתא about minors doing יבום challenges that difference, and רבא begins a new answer that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. Statementרבינא explains what the word 'firstborn' comes to exclude
2. Challengeרב אחא grants that רבינא's reading works for one case
3. ChallengeThe case רבינא's reading cannot explain
4. ConclusionConclusion: the ברייתא is explained like אביי
5. Conclusionהדרן: closing the chapter הלוקח עובר פרתו
6. StatementThe new משנה: buying an animal from a non-Jew, and רבי ישמעאל's age rule
7. Challengeרבי עקיבא: signs of a pregnancy also count, so age proves nothing
8. Statementרבי עקיבא's general rule: known, not known, and uncertain
9. ChallengeWhy is the older animal only a ספק? Most animals give birth in their first year
10. ResolutionSuggestion: רבי ישמעאל holds like רבי מאיר, who worries about the minority
11. ResolutionEven the רבנן only follow a majority that is in front of us
12. ChallengeChallenge: the רבנן follow a hidden majority with minors
13. ProofThe ברייתא: minors do not do חליצה or יבום
14. QuestionThe רבנן ask why minors cannot do יבום
15. Responseרבי מאיר worries about the minority who cannot have children
16. ChallengeThe רבנן rely on most minors being normal
17. Resolutionרבא steps in with a new approach