Bekhorot 8a — the Talmud in English

The dolphins [

he explains them and proceeds]

breed and multiply from human beings,

if a human has intercourse with them, they become pregnant.

Before the beraita was concluded, the Gemara explains it:

What are “dolphins”?

Rav Yehuda said:

These are

the sea-people [

the people of the sea], fish that are in the sea, half of them having the form of a human and half the form of a fish; and these are the dolphins.

And the Gemara continues to bring the words of the beraita:

Any creature whose testicles are outside

is

one that gives birth [

its female gives birth], and it does not lay eggs.

And any creature whose testicles are

inside,

is

one that lays eggs.

Before the beraita was concluded, we raise an objection against it:

Is that so? But didn’t Shmuel say: A goose

of settlement

and a goose—

wild—

are

kilayim with one another,

and it is forbidden to mate them?

And we inquire concerning it: What is the reason!?

But it is one species!?

A

nd

he answered:

Abaye

explained: Because the males do not resemble one another, for

this one [

the wild goose]

has its testicles outside, and this one [

the goose of settlement]

has its testicles inside.

And now there is a difficulty:

A

for

both of them lay eggs,

so it is clear that there is one whose testicles are outside and it lays eggs!?

Rather,

say this:

Any creature whose

male organ

is outside,

it

gives birth;

and any creature whose male organ is

inside,

it

lays eggs.

The beraita continues:

Any creature whose

mode of

intercourse is during the day,

it

gives birth [

its females give birth]

during the day.

Any creature whose mode of intercourse is

at night,

it

gives birth at night.

Any creature whose intercourse is both during the day and during the night gives birth both during the day and during the night.

And the Gemara explains:

Its intercourse is during the day

a

nd it gives birth during the day—

this is

a rooster.

Its intercourse is

at night

a

nd it gives birth at night—

this is

a bat.

Its intercourse is both during the day and during the night

a

nd it gives birth both during the day and during the night—

this is

a human being and anything similar to it [

and anything resembling it].

Before the beraita was concluded, the Gemara asks:

What practical difference does it make,

when their time of birth is?

And we explain: There is a practical difference in the fact that a hen gives birth only during the day,

in accordance with what Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana, taught! For Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana, said:

If one examined the coop of chickens on the eve of a Festival

at twilight

and did not find an egg in it, and on the next day he arose early

before dawn

and found an egg in it,

it is

permitted to eat it on the Festival,

and he need not be concerned lest it be an egg that was born on the Festival, which is forbidden to eat, because a hen does not give birth at night.

And we object:

But he did examine it,

so how can we say that it was already there!?

And we explain:

Say: He did not examine it very carefully,

or

say:

Perhaps

it had mostly emerged and then returned—

perhaps it emerged and also returned before the Festival—

And if so, it is permitted,

and in accordance with Rabbi Yohanan! For Rabbi Yohanan said: An egg that mostly emerged before the Festival

and returned,

it is

permitted to eat it on the day

of the Festival.

The beraita continues:

Any creature whose intercourse and gestation are equal,

two species that have intercourse in the same manner—which will be explained later in the beraita—and whose gestation period is also equal, these

give birth

to one another

and raise one another [

they nurse each other’s offspring].

And any creatures whose intercourse and gestation are not equal do not give birth to one another and do not raise one another.

All creatures have intercourse

when the

face

of the male

is opposite the nape

of the female,

except for three that have intercourse face to face, and these are: fish, human beings, and snakes.

The Gemara asks:

And what is different about these three [

why specifically do these three have intercourse in this manner]?

When Rav Dimi came

from the Land of Israel to Babylonia,

he said: They say in the West [

in the Land of Israel] concerning the reason for the matter:

Since the Divine Presence spoke with them,

for the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with the fish in the episode of the prophet Jonah, and He spoke with the snake in the episode of the Tree of Knowledge.

The tannay

in a beraita:

A camel

has intercourse

back to back.

The Sages taught: A hen

gives birth

after twenty-one days,

after it became pregnant from the rooster, its egg remains until it is completed for twenty-one days—

And corresponding to it among trees—

the fruit remains from the time it blossoms until the completion of the fruit—

the almond.

A dog, after fifty days,

from the time of conception until the form of the offspring is completed—

and corresponding to it among trees: the fig.

A cat, after fifty-two days, and corresponding to it among trees: the mulberry.

A pig, after sixty days, and corresponding to it among trees: the apple.

A fox and all types of creeping creatures, after six months, and corresponding to them among trees: grain.

A small pure animal, after five months, and corresponding to it among trees: the vine.

An animal

a large pure animal, after nine months—

and corresponding to it among trees: the olive.

An impure large animal, after twelve months—

and corresponding to it among trees: the date palm.

The wolf, the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the cheetah

and the elephant, the monkey, and the kippof [

it is a type resembling a monkey]

after three years—

and corresponding to them among trees: the bnot shuah.

The af'ae

does not conceive until

seventy years

after it is born—

and corresponding to it among trees: the carob,

for

this carob, from the time of its planting until the time its fruit is completed, takes seventy years.

And its gestation period

And its gestation period,

of the af'ae, is

three years.

A snake

A snake

gives birth

after seven years

from conception,

and for that wicked one [

which is the snake]

we have not found a counterpart

among trees—

And some say:

Its counterpart among trees is

muksasim [

a species of bnot shuah, but not literally bnot shuah].

The Gemara asks:

From where are these words

that the snake’s gestation is seven years?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, and they attributed it to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hanania:

As it is stated

in the statement of God to the snake in the episode of the Tree of Knowledge [Genesis 3:14]: “

Cursed are you”—

during the duration of your gestation—“

more than every animal and more than every beast of the field.”

And why was it necessary to say “and more than every beast of the field”?

If from an animal

—whose gestation period is longer than that of the beast—

he was cursed,

the snake,

from a beast

—whose gestation period is shorter than that of an animal—

is it not all the more so!?

Rather,

thus the verse said: “Cursed are you more than every animal,” just as it is cursed more than the beast, a

nd to tell you:

Rashi explained : For a goat takes five months and a cat fifty-two days. And it cannot be said that “more than every beast” refers to a lion or an af'ae [whose gestation period is longer than that of an animal], for if so, let it write “more than every beast” and not require “animal.”

Just as an animal was cursed by one beast sevenfold [

seven times], a

nd what is it

—that is, an impure large animal—

by a cat,

for the gestation period of an impure large animal is twelve months, which is seven times the gestation period of a cat, which is fifty-two days—

so was he cursed [

the snake]

by an animal,

an impure large animal that conceives once every twelve months,

one to seven, which comes to

sevenfold—

seven years [

seven years].

And we object:

Say,

but it may be said that the meaning of the verse is:

Just as a beast was cursed by an animal one to three, and what is it—a lion

—a beast—

by a donkey [

an impure large animal], for the lion’s gestation period is three years and the donkey’s is twelve months,

so was he cursed [

the snake]

by a beast [

by the lion]

one to three, which comes to—

the snake’s gestation—

nine years!?