Nazir 44b (מד:) — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

A. It is stated in the passage concerning a nazirite: “But if a person should suddenly die beside him, and he defile the consecrated head of his naziriteship, then he shall shave his head on the day of his purification [on the day on which he was sprinkled with the water of the ḥatat offering, and afterward], on the seventh day he shall shave it.”

“And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young doves to the koen, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The koen shall prepare one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him for having sinned through the dead.”

“And he shall consecrate his head on that day. And he shall rededicate himself to God for the days of his naziriteship. And he shall bring a year-old lamb as a guilt-offering, and the previous days shall be void,” and so on.

B. It is stated in the passage concerning the purification of the leper [Leviticus 14:9]: “And it shall be on the seventh day [of the days of his counting] that he shall shave all his hair, his head and his beard and his eyebrows, and all his hair he shall shave.”

“And he shall launder his garments [after his shaving], and bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be pure. And on the eighth day he shall take two unblemished male lambs.”

How is the impurity shaving

performed:

If the

nazirite

was sprinkled

and received the sprinkling of the water containing the ashes of the red heifer

on the third and on the seventh,

as prescribed for purification from impurity imparted by a corpse, and immersed on the seventh day,

and shaves on the seventh day, and brings his offerings on the eighth day.

And if

he delayed his shaving and

shaved on the eighth day,

he

brings his offerings

even

on that same day,

and he need not wait until the day after the shaving, as he does when he shaves on the seventh day,

the statement of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Tarfon said

to Rabbi Akiva: “Now,

what difference is there between this

nazirite

and a leper,

concerning whom the Torah said: ‘And it shall be on the seventh day [of the days of his counting] that he shall shave all his hair. And on the eighth day he shall take two lambs’?”

And if he delayed his shaving until the eighth day, he brings his offerings on the day after his shaving, and not on that same day!?”

Rabbi Akiva said

to Rabbi Tarfon:

The reason that a leper brings his offerings on the day after his shaving, even when his shaving was delayed until the eighth day, is not the shaving itself; rather, it is the immersion, which was necessarily delayed until the eighth day as well, because a leper’s immersion takes place only after the shaving.

This is not so with a nazirite, whose immersion precedes his shaving. And what is the reason for the distinction between them?

Because

this

nazirite

has his purification dependent on his days

[on the sprinkling on the third and seventh days] alone, and not on his shaving. Therefore, he can immerse immediately, even though he will shave only on the following day.

But

if

a leper has his purification dependent on his shaving,

and therefore, until he shaves, he does not immerse. Since the leper’s immersion was on the eighth day, he requires sunset after the immersion; until the sun has set, he remains in the state of “one who immersed that day,”

and he does not bring an offering

for his leprosy

unless he was

fully purified by sunset, when the sun had set in the evening, at the end of the day on which he immersed, and not while he was still “one who immersed that day.” Consequently, he brings his offerings only on the ninth day.

Gemara: The Gemara considers a question:

Gemara:

The Gemara raises a dilemma:

Did he accept it from him,

that is, did Rabbi Tarfon accept Rabbi Akiva’s statement distinguishing between a nazirite and a leper,

or not,

did Rabbi Tarfon not accept Rabbi Akiva’s reasoning and still disagree with him, maintaining that even a nazirite who shaved on the eighth day brings his offerings only on the following day, on the ninth, because the offerings are always brought on the day after the shaving?

Ta shma,

a proof that he did not accept it from him, from that

which Hillel taught

in a beraita:

If the

nazirite

shaved on the eighth day, he brings his offerings on the ninth day.

—that Rabbi Tarfon accepted Rabbi Akiva’s view—then there would be no one who says, “He brings his offerings on the ninth.” If so,

And if it should enter your mind that he accepted it from him,

Rabbi Tarfon, it follows that there is no one who says, “He brings his offerings on the ninth.” If so,

let him bring his offerings on the eighth!

That is, if you say that Rabbi Tarfon accepted Rabbi Akiva’s view, this beraita accords with no opinion.

Rava said

and rejected this:

Rava:

Even if you can say that Rabbi Tarfon accepted it from him, it is nevertheless

not difficult

with regard to the beraita taught by Hillel, because:

This

case, in which Rabbi Tarfon conceded to Rabbi Akiva, is one in which

the nazirite immersed

A. There are three camps: the Camp of the Divine Presence, the Camp of the Levites, and the Camp of Israel.

on the seventh day,

and delayed only his shaving until the eighth day.

This

the case of Hillel’s beraita is one in which

he did not immerse on the seventh day,

but delayed that as well until the eighth day. In that case, even Rabbi Akiva agrees that he brings his offerings on the ninth day, just like a leper, who brings his offerings on the ninth because he immersed on the eighth.

a. There are three camps: the Camp of the Divine Presence, the Camp of the Levites, and the Camp of Israel.

The Camp of the Divine Presence is the Temple and the Temple courtyard surrounding it.

The Camp of the Levites is the Temple Mount, within the wall surrounding it.

In front of the Temple courtyard there was an additional courtyard, called the Women’s Courtyard, and it belonged to the Camp of the Levites.

Between the Women’s Courtyard and the Temple courtyard was the Nicanor Gate. The area of the gate’s entrance was not sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple courtyard; it was not the Camp of the Divine Presence, but the Camp of the Levites.

And Rabbi Yitzḥak Ze’ev Soloveitchik explains, in chapter 3 of the Laws of Atonement, that the area of the entrance to the Nicanor Gate is called “before God,” since it is part of the Temple courtyard, as everything found within the partitions of the courtyard is the place that is “before God.” The partitions enclose the area of the courtyard on their outer side. Nevertheless, this area was not sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple courtyard, so that those who lacked atonement, such as a leper, could stand there for the purpose of their atonement.

b. Some impure persons are sent out from all three camps; some impure persons are sent out only from the Camp of the Levites, but are permitted to remain in the Camp of Israel; and some impure persons are sent out only from the Camp of the Divine Presence.

c. A person who is impure [for example, one who touched a creeping creature] and immersed for his purification is not purified completely. Rather, he must wait until the sun sets on the day of his immersion.

Throughout that entire day on which he immersed, his status is that of “one who immersed that day,” and he is like one with second-degree impurity, who disqualifies teruma through contact.

d. An impure person who requires immersion and the bringing of an offering for his purification need only immerse and wait for sunset in order to become pure from his impurity with regard to contact with teruma and consecrated objects.

However, he is still prohibited from entering the Temple courtyard, which is the Camp of the Divine Presence, until he brings his offering.

e. But regarding a man with a flux who immersed for his purification and whose sun has not yet set, and who is therefore “one who immersed that day due to a flux,” the Gemara below discusses whether he may enter the Camp of the Levites.

Abaye said: I found

that is, I found

his colleagues

the colleagues

of Rav Natan bar Hoshaya, sitting and saying,

they were sitting and saying:

It is stated in the passage concerning the purification of a man with a flux from his impurity [Leviticus 15:13]:

“Now when the man with a flux becomes pure from his flux [when his flux ceases],

he shall count for himself seven days [free of flux], for his purification.

And he shall launder his garments [immersing them to purify them].

And he shall bathe his flesh [he must immerse on the seventh day] in spring water, and he shall be pure.

And on the eighth day [after he has counted seven days free of flux and after he has immersed on the seventh day] he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young doves.

And he shall come before God, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and give them

the two turtledoves or the two young doves

to the koen.”

And they expounded as follows: Since Scripture states regarding a man with a flux who immersed that he must bring his offering on the eighth day, and Scripture added that on the eighth day “he shall come before God, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting”:

When is he

to come

before God, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting?

That is, when may a man with a flux who immersed for his purification enter the Camp of the Levites, the Women’s Courtyard, and stand at the entrance of the Nicanor Gate? Specifically on the day that Scripture mentions at the beginning of the verse, “on the eighth day,” but not on the seventh day, even if he has already immersed on that day for his purification, since he is still “one who immersed that day” and is not purified until sunset!

The hollow of the entrance to the Nicanor Gate was not sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple courtyard, so that those who lacked atonement could come and stand there for the purpose of their purification; its sanctity was only that of the Camp of the Levites. Therefore, a man with a flux could come there even though he lacked atonement, since his offering had not yet been sacrificed, while he was still prohibited from entering the Temple—

When he immersed

already on the previous day, the seventh day,

and the sun had set.

That is, he had already immersed on the seventh day, and the evening marking the beginning of the eighth day had arrived, at which point he became pure from the impurity of his flux with regard to contact with teruma and consecrated objects.

Scripture teaches that only then may he come, on the eighth day, as far as the hollow of the entrance to the Nicanor Gate, which is the Camp of the Levites, bring his offering there with him, and give it to the koen to sacrifice on his behalf.

He is still not permitted to enter the Temple itself until his offering has been sacrificed, as will be explained below.

But if he

did not immerse

on the seventh day

and

did not

have

sunset,

he may not

immerse on the eighth day and then come to the Nicanor Gate and sacrifice his offerings, because he is still “one who immersed that day.”

Rather, if he immersed only on the eighth day, he must wait for sunset on the eighth day and become pure then; afterward, on the following day, the ninth day, he may come to the Nicanor Gate and give his offering there to the koen.

Apparently,

Abaye proved from their statement,

they hold

that the colleagues of Rav Natan bar Hoshaya maintain that the status of

one who immersed that day due to a flux

is like that of a man with a flux!

That is, just as a man with a flux is prohibited from entering the Camp of the Levites, so too a man with a flux who immersed but whose sun has not yet set, called “one who immersed that day due to a flux,” is prohibited from entering the Camp of the Levites. Therefore, he cannot enter the Women’s Courtyard or come to the Nicanor Gate unless he has immersed and the sun has set; then, on the following day, he may enter the Camp of the Levites.

And Abaye added:

I said to them,

I myself stated my view to them:

According to your approach, that you exclude one who immersed that day due to a flux from entering the Camp of the Levites because you expound the verse stated regarding a man with a flux—“on the eighth day he shall come before God, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting”—to mean that only on the eighth day may he come before God, and not on the seventh, even after he has immersed, because you maintain that the meaning of the verse is to prohibit one who immersed that day due to a flux from entering the Camp of the Levites,

But from now,

according to your approach, that you expound the verse in this manner—

Regarding an impure nazirite,

who became impure through impurity imparted by a corpse,

as well, for it is written

regarding the bringing of his offerings after he has purified himself from his impurity, using the same wording as in the passage concerning a man with a flux [Numbers 6:10]:

“And on the eighth day

he shall bring two turtledoves to the koen, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.”

Then, according to your words, the same exposition should be applied to a nazirite purified from impurity imparted by a corpse:

When is he,

the nazirite purified from impurity imparted by a corpse,

to come

to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in order to bring his purification offerings?

Only

when he immersed

previously, on the seventh day,

and the sun had set,

for then he may come on the eighth day to the Nicanor Gate, which is the Camp of the Levites, but not on the seventh day, even after immersing from the impurity imparted by the corpse, since he still lacks sunset.