Nazir 39a — the Talmud in English

And we challenge:

But

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he raised an objection to it,

Rav Pappa himself challenged Abaye from what they said: “He receives lashes

five.”

And since it was not taught “

five” —

for what reason did he raise an objection to it [what challenge did he initially raise, since “five” was not taught in the beraita]?!

He said

he answered

Rav Pappa:

In truth, we did not teach “five” in the beraita.

Rather,

I thought that it was not a received teaching in Abaye’s possession [he had not received it as a tradition that he receives lashes even for the prohibition of “from anything that he makes from the grapevine”].

And therefore I invented it from my own heart and added to the words of the beraita that it says “five.”

Therefore, I invented it on my own and added to the beraita the word “five.”

And

I challenged him, so that if indeed this teaching was his own and was not a received tradition transmitted to him by his teacher,

he would retract

Abaye would retract because of this challenge and would not force the interpretation of the beraita according to his words.

And I did not know that it was a received teaching in his possession [and I did not know that this teaching was accepted by him as a tradition],

[I did not know that this teaching was accepted by him as a tradition],

and he did not retract [and he would not retract].

[he did not withdraw his position].

That is to say: I tested Abaye in order to know whether it was a received teaching in his possession, and I realized from his answer, in which he forced the interpretation of the beraita, that indeed it was a teaching accepted by him as a tradition.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah says

and so forth.

And these are the zegim: the ḥartzanim are the outer ones, the zegim are the inner ones; these are the words of Rabbi Judah. Rabbi Yose says: So that you should not err, [it is] like the bell of an animal: the outer one is the zug, and the inner one is the clapper.

Rav Yosef said: According to whom do we translate [according to whose view do we translate] the verse “from ḥartzanim to zeg” —

[according to whose view do we translate] the verse “from the ḥartzan to the zag” —

fromatznin

the inner seeds,

and to atzurin

the outer skins, for pressing is called in the Aramaic language itzur, and pressing applies only to the outer skins, which contain some moisture, and not to the seeds —

according to Rabbi Yose

in our Mishna, for he interprets the verse “from ḥartzanim to zeg” in this manner.

Mishna:

A. The measure of

unspecified naziriteship —

one who accepted unspecified naziriteship upon himself, but did not specify the number of days of naziriteship that he accepts upon himself — must observe naziriteship for

thirty days.

B. A nazir who accepted unspecified naziriteship upon himself —

If

the nazir shaved

most of his head,

or bandits shaved him,

he thereby

invalidates

his naziriteship, and continues observing naziriteship until he has hair of

thirty days

the measure of unspecified naziriteship, so that he can fulfill the mitzva of shaving with hair of thirty days. That is, he must wait until he completes thirty days of naziriteship from the time he was shaved, since he must fulfill the mitzva of shaving, and shaving is fulfilled only when he has hair of thirty days of naziriteship, the measure of unspecified naziriteship. B.

A nazir who shaved, whether with a pair of scissors [scissors],

scissors,

whether with a razor, or pulled out [plucked]

[pulled out]

any amount,

even a single hair, thereby

becomes liable

to lashes because he transgressed what the Torah said: “A razor shall not pass over his head.”

Provided that he shaves like a razor, that is, shaving the hair from its root.

Gemara:

They raised a dilemma before them,

they were uncertain in the beit-midrash:

The manner of growth of

this strand [of hair] —

[of the hair] grows—is it

does it grow from below Rabbi, or from above

Rabbi?

Does the hair grow from its bottom, so that what was near the scalp moves farther and farther away as the hair grows, or does the height of the hair increase, while the part of the hair near the scalp does not move from its place?

And we explain:

What practical difference is there?

For a nazir whom bandits shaved

most of his head,

and left on him

on each and every hair

enough to bend its top toward its root,

which is the measure of hair that grows in seven days and has the significance of hair —

Does such shaving invalidate thirty days?

If you say

that the hair

grows from below Rabbi [if the hair grows from its bottom], then

[if the hair grows from its base], then

he has taken away the naziriteship, for it turns out that the hair that was near his head at the time of accepting naziriteship was shaved, and what remains is not that hair, but rather grew afterward; and therefore he invalidates until he has hair of naziriteship of thirty days.

meaning that the hair he had when he accepted naziriteship, which was adjacent to his head, was shaved; what remains is not that same hair, but rather grew afterward. Therefore, he interrupts his naziriteship until he has hair of naziriteship that has grown for thirty days.

But if you say that it grows from above Rabbi [if the hair grows from the height of the hair], then

[if the hair grows by increasing in length], then

what he consecrated remains standing, for it turns out that the hair he had at the time of accepting naziriteship still stands in its place and was not shaved, and therefore he invalidates nothing.

meaning that the hair he had when he accepted naziriteship is still standing in its place and was not shaved. Therefore, he interrupts nothing.

Come and hear

that the hair grows from its height:

From this nit egg [lice eggs], which are formed mainly at the roots of the hair,

[lice eggs], which are formed primarily at the roots of the hair,

that remains

even when the hair grows

at its root [they remain at the root of the hair as at first] —

[they remain at the root of the hair as they did initially]—

and if it enters your mind that it grows from below Rabbi,

then

at the head of the strand

it should have to stand [if you say that the hair grows from its bottom, then the louse egg attached to the hair should rise to the height of the hair].

[if you say that the hair grows from its base, the louse egg attached to the hair should rise to the top of the hair].

And we reject this:

In truth, it grows from below Rabbi [in truth, the hair grows from its bottom],

[the hair grows from its base],

and because of its vitality it descends and goes [indeed, the growth of the hair pulls it from the place where it was formed, but because of the vitality within it, it descends and returns to the place of the hair’s root], so that it can be sustained by the sweat and moisture of human skin.

in order to live from the sweat and moisture of the human skin.

Come and hear

that the hair grows from its bottom: From what we indeed see,

a dead nit egg

that remains

at the head of the strand [when it has no vitality, it remains at the head of the hair], for it is drawn along with the hair to which it is attached as it continually grows —

since it is pulled along with the hair to which it is attached as the hair continues to grow —

And

if it enters your mind that it grows from above Rabbi,

then

at the root of the strand it should have to stand [it should have remained at the root of the hair],

which is the place where it was formed.

And we reject this:

There too, because it has no strength, it becomes entangled and goes [since it has no strength, for it is dead, it slips downward], that is to say: Since the hair bends downward, it slips from the place to which it was attached and descends to the head of the hair.

[since it has no strength, as it is dead, it slips downward]. That is: Since the hair bends downward, the louse egg slips from the place to which it was attached and descends to the top of the hair.

Come and hear

that the hair grows from its bottom:

From the forelock of gentiles,

who leave their forelocks for the sake of idolatry,

which, after they grow it, becomes loose from below [after they braid their hair, the braid becomes loose near the head as the hair grows], which shows that the hair grows from its bottom.

which shows that the hair grows from below.

And we reject this: The reason for the loosening is not the growth of the hair, but rather

since it is wrinkled from the hair lying upon it, it becomes loose [because of the layer of forelock hair lying upon it, it becomes wrinkled and continually loosens],

that is to say: The weight of the hair is what loosens the braid below.

Come and hear

that the hair grows from its bottom:

From meskarta [

a type of red dye]

whose wool becomes loose from below [

whose wool is loose below].

Meskarta is a type of red dye with which they dye the hair of animals, and at the place of the dye in the upper part of the hair, the wool near the body of the animal becomes stronger and afterward the wool near its root becomes loose —

And furthermore,

another proof that the hair grows from its bottom, for

when old men dye their beards

[when they dye their hair black so that they will appear like young men],