Bechoros 34b

בכורות ל״ד ע״ב

Bekhorot 34b

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Topic

קנסות for blemishing a בכור and cutting off a נגע: how long they last, and whether they pass to a son

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a challenge against רבי אליעזר. He gives an endless קנס to someone who blemishes a בכור, but someone who cuts off his own בהרת only waits until a new נגע appears. רבה and רב יוסף answer that רבי אליעזר is harsh about property, which people are tempted to damage, but not about one's own body. רבא adds that the חכמים also seem inconsistent, and explains that they always penalize the exact act the person did. רב פפא then asks whether רבי אליעזר said 'יטהר' or 'ויטהר', which matters for a חתן who gets a new נגע during his wedding week, and the question ends in תיקו. Next, רבי ירמיה asks whether the קנס on someone who slit a בכור's ear passes to his son after he dies. Two comparisons are set aside. רבי זירא then proves from a field improved during שביעית that the רבנן penalized only the father, not the son. The amud ends as אביי begins a tradition of his own, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. ChallengeThe נגעים source that seems to contradict רבי אליעזר
2. ResolutionProperty versus body
3. ResolutionWhy property needs a stronger penalty
4. Challengeרבא: The Rabbis seem to contradict themselves too
5. ResolutionBoth rulings follow one rule: penalize what he did
6. ResolutionHow the rule plays out with the בכור and the בהרת
7. Questionרב פפא asks how to read רבי אליעזר's word
8. QuestionWhat difference does the wording make?
9. ResponseThe case of a bridegroom who gets a נגע
10. ResponseIf the reading is 'יטהר', the חתן is fully pure
11. ResponseIf the reading is 'ויטהר', the חתן is still impure
12. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
13. QuestionDoes the penalty pass to the son?
14. RejectionThe case of selling a slave to gentiles does not settle it
15. RejectionThe case of planned work on חול המועד does not settle it either
16. QuestionWas the penalty on the man or on his property?
17. Responseרבי זירא points to a משנה about a field in the seventh year
18. ProofThe son may plant the field, so the penalty was on the father only
19. Statementאביי begins a tradition of his own