Bava Batra 102a — the Talmud in English

But if

he found three

dead:

If there is between them,

between the first and the third,

from four

cubits

to eight

cubits,

this is "

a burial ground," and

it is forbidden to move them, for it has thereby become clear that the burial ground was there.

And this tanna holds that the burial chambers were eight cubits long and four cubits wide. And the arrangement of the burial in them was that in the long wall they made six kokhim, one cubit for each kokh, and the remaining two cubits, which are twelve tefachim, served as space between the kokhim: two tefachim between each kokh and kokh. Thus there are ten tefachim for the five spaces between six kokhim, and another two vacant tefachim at the corners of the walls, one tefach for each corner, making altogether eight cubits. And in the width of the chamber there were three kokhim, which are three cubits for the kokhim, and another cubit for the spaces: two tefachim between each kokh and kokh, and one tefach for each corner.

And therefore, when he finds three graves within four cubits, he must be concerned that perhaps there was a burial chamber here, and these three graves were in the widthwise wall of the chamber, which is four cubits. Or perhaps they were in the long wall, but all the remaining kokhim had not yet been filled with burial coffins.

And likewise, if there were eight cubits between them, he must be concerned that perhaps they are from the long wall of the chamber, whose length is eight cubits, and there were other kokhim between them that remained empty; and when the chamber collapsed, the kokhim became filled with earth, and no trace of them remained.

But if there are less than four cubits between the graves, or more, this is not “a burial ground.” For this form of burial is not suitable for ordinary burial inside a chamber, and presumably they were buried there only temporarily, with the intention of moving them afterward; therefore it is permitted to move them from there.

And in addition to the fact that it is forbidden to move these graves, it is also impossible to perform purifications around them, unless

he examines from it and onward twenty cubits.

Perhaps this chamber is part of a family burial ground, and there is another chamber in the vicinity.

For, as stated above, their practice was to make the burial ground like a courtyard measuring six by six cubits in the middle, with burial chambers surrounding it.

It follows that he must examine from the end of the graves he found eight cubits, the length of the chamber, and six cubits of the courtyard, and another eight cubits of the chamber opposite it [and the Gemara will explain immediately that if so, he should have had to examine twenty-two cubits].

And he likewise examines on the other side of the graves twenty cubits, perhaps the courtyard and the additional chamber are on this side.

And if indeed

he found

even one dead person

at the end of

twenty cubits, then

he examines from it and onward

another

twenty cubits,

as he examined with regard to the first three graves, because there is supporting indication that the place is designated for burial grounds.

Had he found it at the outset,

if he had found only this solitary dead person, he would have

taken him and his ground-hold,

according to the law of one who finds a single dead person stated above, who does not have the status of “a burial ground.”

But now that he has already found three graves in the vicinity, and it has been established that this is a burial ground, there is concern that perhaps this solitary grave does not belong to that burial ground, but is itself a burial ground belonging to another family, and they had not yet had time to bury more than only one dead person in it; therefore he must examine another twenty cubits from it and onward.

The Master said [in the preceding Mishna]: He found three: if there is between them

from four

to eight

cubits, this is a burial ground.

And we raised an objection to it:

Who is it?

According to whose view does the Mishna hold?

If it is the Rabbis,

they said

in the previous Mishna that the measure of a chamber is

four cubits by six,

and if so, it should have said: “If there is between them from four to six.” For if there are more than six cubits between the graves, they are certainly not from one chamber.

And if it is Rabbi Shimon, he said

that the measure of a chamber is

six by eight

cubits, and there should have been at least six cubits between them, corresponding to the width of the chamber.

And we answer:

Actually, it is Rabbi Shimon,

who holds that the length of the chamber is eight cubits, but regarding the width, the Mishna in Nazir holds that according to Rabbi Shimon it is only four cubits.

And this is the tanna,

for we find a tanna who disagrees with the tanna of the Mishna, and holds, according to Rabbi Shimon, that the measure of the chamber is four by eight.

For it was taught: He found

many graves when they were

crowded together, and there is not between them from four cubits to eight

cubits—that is, there are less than four cubits between every three graves—

they have ground-hold,

he must take a little of the ground together with them when he moves them,

but they do not have a burial ground,

so it is permitted to move them. Since they are so crowded, they were certainly buried there only temporarily.

It follows that this tanna holds that the measure of the chamber is four by eight, and presumably according to Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda says in the name of Rabbi Shimon

bar Yoḥai:

We regard the

middle

graves as though they were not, and the remainder join together from four cubits to eight.

We regard it as though we remove the graves in the middle, until there is not less than four cubits between every three graves.

And we raised an objection to it:

In what did you establish

the Mishna?

As Rabbi Shimon!

Say the latter clause: “

He examines from it and onward

twenty cubits.”

Who

is the tanna of the latter clause?

If it is Rabbi Shimon?

Behold,

there are twenty-two.

According to him, twenty cubits are not sufficient; he must examine twenty-two cubits: eight cubits for each chamber, since the length of the chamber according to Rabbi Shimon is eight cubits, and another six cubits for the courtyard.

If it is the Rabbis,

who hold that the length of the chamber is only six cubits,

there are eighteen.

He need examine only eighteen cubits: six for each chamber, and six for the courtyard!

And we answer:

Actually, it is the Rabbis.

And it is in a case where he examined diagonally,

that he examines the first chamber, adjacent to the graves, diagonally. And the diagonal of four by six is eight cubits.

And we object:

And since this one is diagonally,

just as he must examine the first chamber diagonally,

this one too is diagonally.

So too he should examine the second chamber diagonally. And if so, again

there are twenty-two!?

And we answer:

We say that one is diagonally. We do not say that two are diagonally.

He must examine only one chamber diagonally, but regarding the second chamber they did not impose stringency upon him to examine it diagonally as well, since he found nothing in the first chamber; rather, he examines it in a straight line. It follows that altogether he examines twenty cubits.