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Nazir 31b

נזיר ל״א ע״ב

Learn Nazir 31b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

הקדש בטעות in בית שמאי's view, רב חסדא on ox colors, and the בית הלל–בית שמאי debate over a mistaken consecration.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a quote from a later משנה about travelers who make נזיר vows about a stranger. בית שמאי say they are all נזירים even though some must be wrong. The גמרא answers that בית שמאי do hold a mistaken consecration (הקדש בטעות) counts, but the black-ox משנה rests on a different reason. אביי instead explains the black-ox case as a man speaking at noon about the past who got the facts wrong. The future-tense wording of the משנה is then read as past tense to fit his explanation. Next, רב חסדא's statements about which ox color is better are tested against the משנה. The idea that people consecrate 'with a stingy eye' holds once we know that in the גליל wine is worth more than oil. רב חסדא's view is limited to the קרמנאי breed. A new משנה then teaches what happens when a חכם upholds or dissolves a נזיר vow. That leads to a debate between בית הלל and בית שמאי over whether a mistaken consecration takes effect, using the case of מעשר בהמה. The debate continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאֶחָד בָּא כְּנֶגְדָּן,

And one person was coming toward them,

וְאָמַר אֶחָד: ״הֲרֵינִי נָזִיר שֶׁזֶּה פְּלוֹנִי״,

and one said: 'I am a nazir if this is so-and-so,'

וְאֶחָד אָמַר: ״הֲרֵינִי נָזִיר שֶׁאֵין זֶה פְּלוֹנִי״,

and one said: 'I am a nazir if this is not so-and-so,'

״הֲרֵינִי נָזִיר שֶׁאֶחָד מִכֶּם נָזִיר״,

'I am a nazir if one of you is a nazir,'

The steps (22)

  1. ChallengeThe travelers' vows: everyone becomes a נזיר even though some must be wrong
  2. Resolutionבית שמאי does hold mistaken consecration counts, but not as the reason here
  3. Statementאביי: the man spoke at noon about an ox that had already gone out
  4. ChallengeChallenge: the משנה uses future tense, 'a dinar that will come up'
  5. ResolutionAnswer: read it as 'that came up'
  6. ChallengeSecond challenge: 'a barrel of wine that will come up'
  7. ResolutionAnswer: read it as 'that came up'
  8. Statementרב חסדא: white oxen are the better kind
  9. ChallengeThe black-ox case seems to show white is worse
  10. ChallengeTesting the idea that people consecrate generously
  11. ChallengeProblem for the stingy view: oil is better than wine
  12. ResolutionIn the Galilee, wine is worth more than oil
  13. ChallengeThe black-ox case is still hard for רב חסדא
  14. Resolutionרב חסדא meant only קרמנאי oxen
  15. Statementרב חסדא: what each ox color is good for
  16. ChallengeBut רב חסדא said a black ox among white ones is inferior
  17. ResolutionThat was only about the קרמונאי breed
  18. Statementמשנה: a נזיר who asks a חכם about his vow
  19. Challengeבית הלל: you agree a mistaken consecration is not holy here
  20. Challengeבית שמאי: the animal tithe case where a mistaken 'tenth' is holy
  21. Rejectionבית הלל: the rod alone does not make it holy
  22. ResolutionThe verse that makes the tenth holy also makes the ninth holy