Bechoros 56a

בכורות נ״ו ע״א

Bekhorot 56a

Learn Bechoros 56a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 56a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The exemption of bought or gifted animals from מעשר בהמה: its source in the היקש to 'your son,' and its limit to animals bought when fit to be offered (purchased fetuses, אתנן bought back)

Overview

The גמרא finishes a היקש: just as פדיון הבן applies only to your own son, מעשר בהמה applies only to your own animals, not ones bought or received as a gift. It then explains why the verse, which is about בכור, can teach this. The word 'כן תעשה' has no use for a בכור, which is holy from birth, so it is moved to מעשר בהמה. The גמרא tests other possible targets for the phrase: חטאת and אשם, then עולה and שלמים, then עולת ראייה. Each is ruled out because only מעשר בהמה is like 'your son' in every way: it is not for a sin, it is not a נדר or נדבה, and it has no fixed time. Next the גמרא asks why רבי אסי rules that fetuses bought in the womb are tithed. רבא and רבי אלעזר answer that 'תעשה' limits the exemption to animals bought when they are already fit to be offered. A ברייתא that seems to say otherwise is either rejected or assigned to רבי שמעון בן יהודה. Finally, an אתנן that was bought back can be tithed, because it was bought back while still a fetus.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. StatementYour animals are like your son: nothing bought, nothing received as a gift
2. ChallengeBut that verse is about the firstborn
3. Resolution'So you shall do' cannot mean firstborn, so it is applied to animal tithe
4. ChallengeMaybe it should apply to the sin offering and guilt offering
5. ResolutionIt must be like 'your son', which is not brought because of a sin
6. ChallengeMaybe it should apply to the burnt offering and peace offering
7. ResolutionYour son is not a vow or a donation, and neither is animal tithe
8. ChallengeWhy not apply the phrase to the burnt offering of appearance?
9. ResolutionYour son and animal tithe have no fixed time
10. ChallengeIf it is like a son, a purchased animal should never be tithed
11. ResolutionThe exemption applies only at the 'time of doing'
12. Statementרבי אסי's ruling quoted on its own
13. ChallengeThe משנה says purchased animals are exempt
14. ResolutionPurchase exemption applies only once the animal is fit to be offered
15. ChallengeA ברייתא applies the purchase exemption even to an underage animal
16. RejectionThe ברייתא is not a reliable source
17. ResolutionEven if reliable, the ברייתא follows רבי שמעון בן יהודה
18. StatementA ברייתא about an אתנן that is bought back
19. ChallengeBuying back the אתנן should make it exempt
20. ResolutionThe questioner forgot רבי אסי's ruling on purchased fetuses