Bechoros 47b

בכורות מ״ז ע״ב

Bekhorot 47b

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Topic

Who counts as a בכור: the בן חלל, a son of uncertain fatherhood, miscarriages, and a caesarean birth

Overview

The amud opens with an argument about a בן חלל, the son of a כהן and a גרושה, whose כהן father died before redeeming him. The גמרא explains that if the father died after thirty days, everyone agrees the son is exempt. If the father died within thirty days, רב חסדא obligates the son, and רבה בר רב הונא exempts him because he stands in his father's place. A challenge from a pregnant convert is answered: a גוי has no legal lineage. ריש לקיש then rules like רב חסדא. Next, the גמרא discusses a son of uncertain fatherhood born to a widow who remarried within three months. רבי ירמיה explains that the son born after him loses the double portion. The גמרא adds, citing רבי ינאי, that a הרשאה cannot help sons who were never identified. Finally, a new משנה teaches which miscarriages do not cancel firstborn status. It then records the dispute between תנא קמא and רבי שמעון about a caesarean baby and the child after him, and the גמרא explains the פסוקים and reasoning behind each side.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. StatementThe dispute about a חלל son whose כהן father died
2. StatementIf the father died after thirty days, everyone agrees
3. StatementThe real dispute: father died within thirty days, and רב חסדא's reason
4. Statementרבה בר רב הונא's reason: the son stands in his father's place
5. ChallengeChallenge from the pregnant convert
6. ResolutionA גוי has no legal lineage
7. Statementריש לקיש rules like רב חסדא
8. StatementQuoting the next case: a widow who remarried within three months
9. ChallengeHow can the son of uncertain fatherhood inherit anything at all?
10. Resolutionרבי ירמיה: 'not a firstborn for inheritance' refers to the next son
11. ChallengeWhy not have the two sons give each other authorization?
12. RejectionBlocking the answer that the משנה has no authorization
13. ResolutionThe משנה supports רבי ינאי: no authorization if the sons were never known
14. StatementA miscarriage of a non-baby does not stop the next child from being firstborn
15. StatementA caesarean baby and the child after him: neither is firstborn
16. Statementרבי שמעון splits the two kinds of firstborn
17. StatementWhy the caesarean baby is not a בכור in either way
18. StatementWhy the son after the caesarean baby is not a בכור either
19. StatementWhy רבי שמעון makes the caesarean baby the בכור for inheritance
20. StatementWhy רבי שמעון makes the second son the בכור for redemption