Bechoros 4a

בכורות ד׳ ע״א

Bekhorot 4a

Learn Bechoros 4a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 4a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why כהנים and לוים are exempt from פדיון הבן and פטר חמור: the משנה's קל וחומר, the debate between אביי and רבא, and רב ספרא's challenges about who is included in the exemption.

Overview

The משנה taught that כהנים and לוים are exempt from פדיון הבן and פטר חמור by a קל וחומר: if they exempted the firstborns of ישראל in the מדבר, they should surely exempt their own. The גמרא objects that, according to the פסוק, people exempted people and animals exempted animals. אביי answers that the קל וחומר is about the Levites' animals. רבא rejects this from the wording of the משנה. He adds that אביי's logic would also exempt kosher firstborn animals, which another משנה says are not exempt. רבא instead explains that the לוים themselves are exempt. A פסוק that links בכור אדם to בכור בהמה טמאה extends this exemption to their donkeys. רב ספרא then challenges the idea that the exemption comes from the exchange in the מדבר, with several cases: a לוי who had no lamb, a לוי under one month old, the son of a לויה, and אהרן, who was not counted. The גמרא answers that בכורה follows the mother's womb, and that the word "הלוים" links the whole tribe together. רבי יהושע בן לוי shows that כהנים are also called לוים, so they are included.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. ChallengeDid the Levites themselves exempt the animals?
2. Resolutionאביי reads the קל וחומר as being about the Levites' animals
3. Challengeרבא: the משנה says 'they' exempted
4. Challengeרבא's second objection: they would also be exempt from kosher firstborn animals
5. Resolutionרבא's new reading: the Levites themselves are exempt
6. QuestionWe have a source for people; what about non-kosher animals?
7. ResponseThe verse links firstborn people to firstborn non-kosher animals
8. Challengeרב ספרא: what about a Levite who owned no lamb?
9. Challengeרב ספרא: what about a Levite younger than one month?
10. ChallengeWhy is the son of a female Levite exempt?
11. ResolutionFirstborn status depends on the mother's womb
12. Challengeאהרן was not in the count either
13. ResolutionAll Levites are linked together as one group
14. QuestionHow do we know כהנים are included?
15. Responseכהנים are called לוים in 24 places