Bekhorot 56a — the Talmud in English

What is meant by “your sons”: they are not acquired and not received as a gift

, for acquisition and a gift cannot apply to them, but rather they were born to him,

so too your ox

—with regard to animal tithe—

is not acquired and not received as a gift.

And we raise an objection:

and

behold,

this

verse

is with regard to the firstborn

of an animal that it is

written about, and not about animal tithe!?

And we answer:

And we answer: Behold,

the verse says “

you shall make

for your ox,” which indicates that its sanctity comes about through an act. And

if it does not apply to the firstborn, for

behold,

it has no making [

it is not subject to making],

for it is sanctified from the womb

by itself and there is no need to sanctify it,

apply it to animal tithe

to teach concerning it that it is not acquired and not received as a gift.

And we raise an objection: From where is it established that the verse comes to teach, by means of “if it does not apply,” about animal tithe?

And say: apply it to a sin-offering and a guilt-offering

, to teach that one who is liable for a sin-offering or a guilt-offering does not bring an acquired animal or one received as a gift, but only animals born in his herd!?

And we answer: The meaning of the verse is: “your ox and your flock”

comparable to your son

[“

your sons

”], just as your son does not come because of a sin, so too your flock and your ox do not come because of a sin , and necessarily the verse comes to teach about animal tithe.

And we still raise an objection:

And say: apply it to a burnt-offering and peace-offerings

of voluntary offerings, and not to animal tithe!?

And we answer: We require

comparable to your son; just as your son

who is

obligated

in it

and is not

in a vow and a voluntary offering, so too your flock and your ox

, it speaks of something that does not come through a vow and a voluntary offering, and that is animal tithe.

And we still raise an objection:

And say: apply it to the pilgrimage burnt-offering

[which one is obligated to bring when he appears in the courtyard on the Pilgrimage Festivals], for one is obligated in it and it is not a vow and a voluntary offering!?

And we answer: We require

comparable to your son; just as your son has no fixed time

for his sanctity, for from the moment he is born he is sanctified,

so too your ox and your flock have no fixed time

, whereas you would say this with regard to the pilgrimage burnt-offering, which is something that has a fixed time during the Pilgrimage Festivals.

We raise another objection:

If so, just as your son is not acquired at all

, for acquisition cannot apply to him,

so too your ox and your flock are not acquired at all

, and

why

[why]

did Rabbi Asi say in the name of Rabbi Yohanan:

If one acquired ten fetuses in their mothers’ wombs

before they were fit for animal tithe,

all of them enter the pen to be tithed!?

He said

he explained,

Rava:

Because

the verse says “

you shall make

for your ox,” and it indicates:

at the time of making

[at the time fit for making, that is, to be tithed]

the verse excluded

, but while they are in their mothers’ wombs, when they are still unfit to enter the pen to be tithed, acquisition or a gift does not exempt them.

The substance of the matter: Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: If one acquired ten fetuses in their mothers’ wombs, all of them enter the pen to be tithed.

And we raise an objection:

But did we not learn

in our Mishna:

One acquired or one given to him as a gift is exempt from animal tithe!?

Rabbi Elazar said:

I

saw Rabbi Yohanan in a dream

, and I understood that

I would say a good matter

[I saw Rabbi Yohanan in a dream, and I understood that today I would say a good matter]. And this is what I say:

The verse says “

you shall make

for your ox,” teaching that

the verse excluded [it] at the time of making.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elyakim raised an objection to Rabbi Elazar

, from that which was taught in a beraita:

An acquired animal applies to one lacking time.

That is, even if he acquired the animal before the eighth day, when it lacks the time required for offering, the acquisition exempts it. It is thus explained that an acquired animal exempts even before it is fit to be tithed, for one lacking time is not fit to be tithed, as is explained in the Mishna below, 57a!?

He said to him

, Rabbi Elazar to Rabbi Shimon ben Elyakim:

This

—this beraita—

is not a Mishna.

That is, it is not authoritative.

And if you would find to say that it is a Mishna, it is Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda’s.

For it was taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda says in the name of Rabbi Shimon: One lacking time

—although he is not fit for offering—

enters the pen to be tithed

,

and it is like a firstborn: just as a firstborn is sanctified before its time

when it becomes fit for offering, for it is sanctified from the womb,

and is offered after its time

[after the eighth day],

so too one lacking time

. That is, even animal tithe:

is sanctified before its time and is offered after its time.

Below, 57a, it is explained that although the hire of a prostitute is forbidden for offering, it enters the pen to be tithed. Its law is: If it emerged tenth, it is eaten by its owners with its blemish; and if another emerged tenth, he offers the tenth.

A tanna taught

a beraita

before Rav: What is the hire of a prostitute

that they said about it

that

it

enters the pen to be tithed?

Any one that they gave her

as her hire,

and he then acquired it

[he or another]

from her

, as the Gemara explains below, for if the hire is still in the prostitute’s possession, it is not relevant to discuss its entering the pen to be tithed.

And one who raised the objection raised an objection:

But it was disqualified for being acquired

. That is, although because it has the status of the hire of a prostitute it enters to be tithed, nevertheless it should be exempt because it was acquired!? And the Gemara says concerning this:

It escaped him

—that objector—

that which Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: If one acquired ten fetuses in their mothers’ wombs, all of them enter the pen to be tithed. Thus, one can find a case of the hire of a prostitute that was acquired by the man who had intercourse with her and was not exempt because it was acquired: in the case of the hire of a fetus, which the man who had intercourse with her acquired again while it was still a fetus.

Accordingly, one can find a case of payment acquired by the man who committed the transgression that is not exempt because it was acquired: the payment was a fetus, and the man acquired it again while it was still a fetus.