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Nazir 51b

נזיר נ״א ע״ב

Learn Nazir 51b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The limits of רקב, the decayed dust of a corpse: outside matter mixed in, a ground-up corpse, a corpse missing a part, and decay that began during life.

Overview

The גמרא finishes a list of questions about whether things found with a corpse, such as semen, food waste, skin, phlegm and spittle, count as part of the body or as outside matter that turns its רקב into גלגלין. רב שמואל בר אחא objects that if all of these spoil the dust, טמא רקב could never exist. The גמרא answers with a body that was completely cleaned out inside and out. אביי teaches that a ground-up corpse has no רקב. Whether a corpse that was ground and then decayed has רקב ends in תיקו. עולא בר חנינא teaches that a corpse missing a part has no רקב, no תפוסה and no שכונת קברות. A משנה comparing a מת to a חי is used twice: once to challenge עולא בר חנינא and once to answer רבא's question about a limb that decayed during life. Both times the גמרא answers that the משנה only contrasts the general categories. Finally רבא asks about eating an ant that is missing a part.

Opening lines

שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע בִּמְעֵי אִשָּׁה, מַהוּ?

Semen inside a woman's womb, what is the law?

מִי אָמְרִינַן כֵּיוָן דְּלָא אִיתְּצַר —

Do we say: since no fetus was formed from it,

כִּי גוּפַהּ דָּמֵי,

it is considered like her own body,

אוֹ דִלְמָא כֵּיוָן דְּמֵעָלְמָא קָאָתֵי — לָא?

or perhaps, since it comes from outside, it is not?

The steps (16)

  1. QuestionSemen inside a dead woman's body
  2. QuestionFood waste inside the body
  3. QuestionThe corpse's skin
  4. QuestionPhlegm and spittle
  5. ChallengeIf all these spoil it, when is there ever רקב?
  6. ResolutionA body that was fully cleaned out
  7. StatementA ground-up corpse has no רקב
  8. QuestionGround up, then it decayed
  9. ConclusionThe question stays open
  10. StatementA corpse missing a part loses three special laws
  11. ChallengeA משנה suggests even one decayed limb of a corpse has רקב
  12. ResolutionThe משנה only speaks about the general category of a corpse
  13. Questionרבא asks about a limb that decayed before death
  14. ProofTrying to answer רבא from the משנה about a corpse and a living person
  15. RejectionPushing off the proof: the משנה speaks only in general
  16. Questionרבא asks about an ant that is missing a part