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Bechoros 39a

בכורות ל״ט ע״א

Bekhorot 39a

Learn Bechoros 39a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 39a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Feeding tests for eye blemishes, blemishes of the nose, lip and gums, and whether a limb missing inside the body disqualifies a קרבן

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a list of questions about how to feed a בכור whose eye blemish is being tested. Each question has one side that clearly works and one side that is unclear. The questions ask whether the feeding happens at every meal, before or after eating and drinking, with the animal tied or untied, alone or with another animal, and in the city or the field. רב אשי adds a question about a garden near the city, and all of these end in תיקו. רב נחמן בר יצחק says that the three checks of רבי חנניא בן אנטיגנוס must be evenly spaced. פנחס asks שמואל whether a blemish confirmed by the three-month test counts from the beginning or only from then on, which matters for מעילה with redemption money. שמואל has no answer and praises the question. New משניות list blemishes of the nose, lip and gums, and the גמרא explains that only blemishes that can be seen count. It also fills in missing words in a ברייתא about the double teeth, which brings out three different opinions. Finally, רב אחדבוי בר אמי asks whether a limb missing inside the body makes an animal unfit for the altar. The גמרא tests this with two ברייתות about an animal with one kidney and works through several ways to reconcile them, ending with a challenge to רבי יוחנן's answer that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אוֹ דִלְמָא בְּכׇל סְעוּדָה וּסְעוּדָה?

Or perhaps at each and every meal?

אִם תִּימְצֵי לוֹמַר בִּסְעוּדָה רִאשׁוֹנָה —

If you say at the first meal,

קוֹדֶם אֲכִילָה אוֹ לְאַחַר אֲכִילָה?

is it before eating or after eating?

קוֹדֶם אֲכִילָה וַדַּאי מְעַלֵּי לֵיהּ כְּסַמָּא,

Before eating, it is certainly effective for it, like a medicine;

The steps (31)

  1. QuestionIs the fodder given at every meal?
  2. QuestionBefore eating or after eating?
  3. QuestionBefore drinking or after drinking?
  4. QuestionTied or untied?
  5. QuestionAlone or with another animal?
  6. QuestionIn the city or in the field?
  7. QuestionA garden next to the city
  8. ConclusionThe questions remain unresolved
  9. StatementThe three checks must be evenly spaced
  10. QuestionDoes a failed test make the blemish count from the start?
  11. QuestionWhy the question matters: misusing the redemption money
  12. Conclusionשמואל has no answer and praises his brother's question
  13. StatementNew משנה: blemishes of the nose and lip
  14. StatementA pierced nose counts only if the hole shows on the outside
  15. StatementThe lip case means the outer edge of the lip
  16. StatementNew משנה: damaged gums, and no checking of the double teeth
  17. StatementA ברייתא about the double teeth, with three opinions
  18. ChallengeThe ברייתא is unclear and seems to repeat itself
  19. ResolutionThe ברייתא is missing words: what the inner gums are
  20. ResolutionHow רבי יהושע בן קפוצאי and רבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס differ
  21. QuestionDoes a limb missing on the inside count?
  22. ChallengeWhat could the question be about?
  23. ResolutionThe question is only about making the animal unfit
  24. QuestionThe two sides of the question about internal missing limbs
  25. ProofTwo ברייתות about an animal with one kidney
  26. ProofSuggesting the ברייתות argue about internal lacks
  27. Rejectionרב חייא בר יוסף: born with one kidney versus losing one
  28. ChallengeOne kidney is listed next to three kidneys, so both are from birth
  29. ResolutionThe argument is whether an animal can be born with one kidney
  30. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: losing the kidney before or after slaughter
  31. ChallengeIs a kidney lost after slaughter but before collecting the blood really allowed?