Bekhorot 2a (ב.) — the Talmud in English

It is written [Exodus 13]: “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among the Children of Israel, of man and beast; it is Mine... And it shall be when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you. Then you shall transfer every first issue of the womb to the Lord, and every first issue of an animal that you possess, the males, shall belong to the Lord. And every first issue of a donkey you shall redeem with a sheep [or with its monetary value]; and if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck. And every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.” And it is written [Exodus 34]: “Every first issue of the womb is Mine, and every first issue of your livestock [that] you shall remember, the first issue of an ox and a sheep [whose male shall open its womb]. And the first issue of a donkey you shall redeem with a sheep, and if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck; every firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.” And it is written [Numbers 3]: “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the Children of Israel in place of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. For every firstborn is Mine; on the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified every firstborn in Israel to Myself, from man to beast; they shall be Mine. I am the Lord.” And it is written [Numbers 8]: “And afterward the Levites shall come to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting... For they are wholly given to Me, in place of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the Children of Israel, I have taken them to Myself. For every firstborn among the Children of Israel, of man and beast, is Mine; on the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them to Myself. And I have taken the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Children of Israel.” And it is written [Numbers 18]: “Every first issue of the womb, of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, of man and beast, shall be yours; but you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of an impure animal [the first issue of a donkey] you shall redeem. And those to be redeemed, from one month old, you shall redeem according to your valuation, for five silver shekels, by the sacred shekel, twenty gera. But the firstborn of an ox, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are sacred. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat, a fire-offering for a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.” And it is written [Deuteronomy 15]: “Every firstborn that is born of your cattle and of your flocks, the male, you shall consecrate to the Lord your God; you shall not work with the firstborn of your ox, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. Before the Lord your God you shall eat it year by year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, you and your household. And if there is in it a blemish, whether lame or blind, any evil blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” “Within your gates you shall eat it, the impure and the pure together, as the gazelle and as the deer.” Our Mishna concerns the first issue of a donkey, which the Torah commanded be redeemed with a sheep [or with its monetary value] and given to a kohen. Our Mishna explains that the obligation applies when the animal and its foetus belong to an Israelite; but if a gentile had a share in the mother or in the firstborn itself, it is exempt from the firstborn status. The law stated in our Mishna is the same for the first issue of a donkey and for the firstborn of a pure animal, as we learned below, 13a, with regard to the firstborn of a pure animal. The reason that the tanna first explained the law of the first issue of a donkey is clarified in the Gemara below, 13a. Mishna:

One who purchases the foetus of his donkey

whose mother is giving birth to her firstborn

from a gentile, and one who sells it to him

the foetus of his donkey whose mother is giving birth to her firstborn,

even though he is not permitted

to sell him the foetus of his donkey, since one may not sell a large animal to a gentile.

And one who enters into a partnership with him

[with the gentile], whether in the mother or in the firstborn.

And one who accepts it from him

from the gentile—the mother, to care for her, and in return he gives him a right to half of her offspring. Thus, the animal itself belongs to the gentile, while the Israelite has a right to half of its offspring, and they are partners in the firstborn.

And one who gives it to him under an acceptance arrangement,

so that the animal itself belongs to the Israelite, while the gentile has a right to half of its offspring, and they are partners in the firstborn.

In all these cases,

he is exempt from the firstborn status, as it is stated

[Numbers 3]: “I sanctified every firstborn

in Israel,”

and we learned from this: the firstborn must be in Israel,

but not among others,

that is, among gentiles. From here it follows that if the firstborn belongs to a gentile, it is not subject to the firstborn obligation.

Gemara:

The Gemara asks:

All these

cases that we learned in the Mishna, in which a gentile has a share in the mother or in the firstborn,

why do I need them?

And the Gemara explains:

They are necessary!

If the tanna taught

only

the purchaser

of the firstborn, who is exempt from the firstborn status,

I might have said:

Only in this case is the Israelite exempt from the firstborn status,

because

by purchasing the firstborn

he brings it into sanctity

[he brings it into sanctity] so that it will rest on Shabbat,

but with regard to one who sells

the firstborn,

who removes it from sanctity

[for it will not rest on Shabbat in the gentile’s possession],

say that we penalize him

so that the Israelite will not be exempt from the firstborn status.

This teaches us. “

And one who enters into a partnership with him”—

why do I need this!?

And we explain:

To exclude the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, who said: A gentile’s partnership is subject to the firstborn obligation,

this teaches us

that it is exempt from the firstborn status. “

And one who receives

And one who accepts

it from him”—the mother belongs entirely to the gentile [apart from the right to half of the offspring], and he is also a partner in the firstborn—

why do I need this!?

And we answer: The law of “one who accepts it from him” was taught only

because

[incidentally]

he wanted to teach “

and one who gives it to him under an acceptance arrangement.”

The Gemara adds an explanation: “

And one who gives it to him under an acceptance arrangement” \-

that the gentile is a partner in the firstborn [and also has a right to half of the offspring in the mother]—

why do I need this!?

And we explain:

It was necessary

for the tanna to teach “and one who gives it to him under an acceptance arrangement,” because

it might enter your mind to say: Since the principal part of the animal

—that is, the body of the animal and half of the offspring—

belongs to the Israelite,

say

that we penalize him

by making him liable for the firstborn obligation,

because perhaps he will come to exchange it with another animal

[perhaps people will come to exempt another animal belonging to an Israelite from the firstborn obligation].

This teaches us

that we do not impose a penalty.

We learned there

in tractate Avoda Zara 14b:

One may not sell large animals to them [to gentiles] [that perform work on Shabbat] calves and foals, whether whole or injured.

Rabbi Yehuda permits an injured animal

that is unfit for work;

Ben Beteira permits a horse

that is intended for riding rather than for work.

They raised a dilemma

[the members of the academy were uncertain]:

A foetus

which is likewise unfit for work—

what did Rabbi Yehuda say? Is he permitting one to sell it to a gentile, as in the case of an injured animal? The sides of the uncertainty are:

Does

the reason Rabbi Yehuda permits

there, in that case

of an injured animal,

is that he permits it only

because the injured animal

is injured

and unfit for work, and if so,

a foetus too

[is like]

an injured animal?

Or perhaps:

The fact that it is unfit for work alone is insufficient, since one must decree against it on account of a whole animal. Rather,

an injured animal is permitted by Rabbi Yehuda because

it is not its ordinary manner

[it is not the ordinary way for an animal to be injured], and this is an unusual matter, so people will not exchange it for a whole animal

; but a foetus, since it is its ordinary manner

[this is its nature and it is not unusual], is as though

it is not injured,

that is, it is not comparable to an injured animal, because one must decree in its case on account of a whole animal, unlike in the case of an injured animal?

Come and hear—that Rabbi Yehuda prohibits the sale of a foetus to a gentile—from our Mishna:

And one who sells it to him

—the foetus of his donkey—

even though he is not permitted, and

the Mishna does not mention that

Rabbi Yehuda disagrees

to say that he is permitted to sell the foetus of his donkey. Thus, it follows that Rabbi Yehuda agrees in this case.

The Gemara rejects this:

But according to your reasoning,

that you prove from the Mishna’s omission that Rabbi Yehuda agrees with the matter stated in the Mishna, “

one who enters into a partnership with him, one who accepts it from him, and one who gives it to him under an acceptance arrangement”

the cases mentioned in our Mishna as exempt from the firstborn status—

since it does not teach

in the Mishna that Rabbi Yehuda disputes this and makes him liable for the firstborn obligation,

so too, he does not dispute it

[could it be that Rabbi Yehuda does not dispute this], yet Rabbi Yehuda imposes the firstborn obligation in a gentile partnership!?

so too, he does not disagree

Rather

you certainly admit that Rabbi Yehuda disagrees

in these cases and imposes the firstborn obligation,

but nevertheless the Mishna does not state this explicitly; if so,

here too—in the sale of a foetus to a gentile—it is possible to say that Rabbi Yehuda

disagrees

with what we learned, “even though he is not permitted,”

but nevertheless the Mishna does not state this explicitly.

Come and hear—that Rabbi Yehuda prohibits the sale of a foetus to a gentile—from the following beraita:

A firstborn of a pure animal, when it is unblemished, is given to a kohen and offered on the altar, and its meat is eaten by kohanim; and when it is blemished and cannot be offered, it is given to a kohen as it is.

the Mishna does not teach

this explicitly.

Come and hear—that Rabbi Yehuda prohibits selling a fetus to a gentile—from the following beraita:

When the firstborn of a kosher animal is unblemished, it is given to a cohen and offered on the altar, and its meat is eaten by the kohanim. When it has a blemish that makes it unfit to be offered, it is given to a cohen as it is.

nevertheless

it does not teach

this explicitly in our Mishna.

Come and hear—that Rabbi Judah prohibits selling a foetus to a gentile—from that which was taught:

A firstborn of a pure animal, when it is unblemished, is given to a priest and offered upon the altar, and the meat is eaten by priests; and when it is blemished, so that it cannot be offered, it is given to a priest as it is.

Rabbi Judah says: One who accepts an animal

that is pure

from a gentile

for half the offspring,

and it gives birth to

a firstborn, since only half of the firstborn belongs to the Israelite, it is a half-firstborn, but it does not possess bodily sanctity, such that it could be offered upon the altar like other firstborn animals, because there is no sanctity for halves, rather:

its value is assessed

[its value is appraised]

and

the Israelite

gives half its value

of the firstborn

to the priest.

And one who gives it to him through the arrangement, even though he is not permitted to do so

since one may not sell a large animal to a gentile:

Thus half of it is sanctified by firstborn status, and

we penalize him

because he sold a large animal to a gentile—to redeem it from the gentile, even

up to ten times its value

[even if the gentile demands ten times its value in exchange for it],

and he gives

the

entire value

of the firstborn

to the priest.