Nazir 49b — the Talmud in English

And we explain: “

concerning every”,

to exclude [to teach]

those who are distant.

That is to say: if the verse had said, “Concerning every soul he shall not enter,” I would know that the High Priest does not become impure for those who are distant.

And the verse added and said

“dead”,

to exclude [to teach] concerning

those who are

close relatives.

And the verse said

“souls”

in the plural, in order

to exclude [to teach] concerning the measure of

a quarter-log of blood that came out from two dead persons, which

also

conveys impurity in a tent

just as a quarter-log of blood from one dead person conveys impurity.

As it is stated:

“Concerning every soul of a dead person he shall not enter,”

as was explained above, 38a.

a. We learned in tractate Oholot [chapter 2]: “

These convey impurity in a tent:

A dead person, an olive-bulk from a dead person,

an olive-bulk of netzel [it will be explained in the Gemara], and a full ladle of dust from decay [it will be explained in the Gemara],

the bones of the spinal column and the skull

[when they are complete, and even though there is no flesh upon them].

A limb [complete] from a dead person, and a limb [complete] from a living person, upon which there is flesh as required.

A quarter-[kav] of bones [coming] from the majority of the structure or from the majority of the count [from the bones constituting the majority of the structure or the majority of the count of a dead person].

And the majority of the structure and the majority of the count of a dead person [when complete], even though they do not contain a quarter [kav]—

they are impure.

How much is the majority of its count?—One hundred and twenty-five [bones].

A quarter-log of blood.” “

These convey impurity through contact and carrying, but do not convey impurity in a tent—

a bone [from the dead] the size of a barley-grain.

The land of the nations, and a beit ha-peras [a field that was plowed where there was a grave].

A limb from a dead person and a limb from a living person upon which there is not flesh as required.

The spinal column and the skull that are incomplete.”

b. There are impurities of the dead such that, if the nazir becomes impure through them, he brings an offering for impurity, shaves [in the language of the Mishna: “shaves”], and nullifies the preceding days.

And there are impurities of the dead and other impurities for which he does not shave and does not nullify the preceding days; rather, the days during which he is impure with that impurity do not count for him as days of naziriteship.

Our Mishna explains the impurities for which the nazir shaves; and in the following Mishna, below, 54a [which is the conclusion of our Mishna], the impurities for which the nazir does not shave are explained.

b. All the impurities mentioned in our Mishna convey impurity through contact and carrying and convey impurity in a tent, except for “a bone the size of a barley-grain,” which conveys only impurity through contact and carrying and does not convey impurity in a tent.

c. Of the measures mentioned in our Mishna concerning the nazir’s shaving, some are measures for the impurity itself, and consequently he does not shave for less than that; while some—such as half a kav of bones and half a log of blood—are measures concerning shaving alone, even though the measure of impurity is less than this.

With regard to all those impurities where the measure is for shaving alone, if he became impure through the measure that conveys impurity, he is included among the impurities for which he does not shave.

c. Concerning the reason that, with regard to shaving, there is a different measure from that of impurity, the opinion of the Tosafot is that it is a halakha given to Moses at Sinai concerning shaving, and it is included in what they said [Sukka 6b]: “Measures are a halakha given to Moses at Sinai.”

Mishna:

For these impurities the nazir shaves, that is, he performs a “shaving of impurity” that includes offerings and shaving:

that is, he performs an “impurity shaving,” which includes offerings and shaving:

For the dead

person who is complete, as will be explained in the Gemara.

And for [“or for,” and likewise throughout the Mishna]

an olive-bulk

of flesh

from the dead.

And for an olive-bulk

of netzel

from the dead, and what “netzel” is will be explained in the Gemara.

And for a full ladle [a ladleful]

[a ladleful]

of dust from decay

of the dead.

And the Gemara will explain what dust from decay is and how much the measure of a full ladle is.

And for the spinal column,

and for the skull

of a dead person, when their bones are complete.

And for a limb from the dead.

And for [or for]

a limb from a living person upon which there is—

upon each one of these—

flesh as required.

That is, there is flesh upon it such that, if the limb had been attached to a living person, it could have healed, even if it does not contain an olive-bulk of flesh.

And for half a kav of bones

that were broken, and in that half-kav there is a little of each and every bone that constitutes the majority of the count of the dead person or the majority of the structure of the dead person. But with less than half a kav, although it conveys impurity in a tent even when it contains only a quarter-kav of bones, nevertheless he does not shave for less than half a kav when he became impure through it in a tent, because this is the halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

And for half a log of blood

from the dead.

But with less than this measure, although it conveys impurity both through contact and carrying and in a tent at a quarter-log, nevertheless shaving is only for half a log of blood, because this is the halakha given to Moses at Sinai.

And for their contact,

and for their carrying, and for their tent.

That is: in all those cases concerning which we learned that the nazir shaves, whether he became impure through them by contact and carrying, or whether he became impure through them in a tent.

And

if

for a bone the size of a barley-grain

the nazir shaves

for its contact and for its carrying

only, and in a tent it does not convey impurity at all.

For

all these impurities

that

we learned here,

the nazir—

shaves [brings an offering and shaves].

And he is sprinkled on the third and on the seventh

from the water of the red heifer.

And he nullifies

the

preceding

days that he had already counted.

And he does not begin to count

naziriteship

until he becomes pure.

And in the Gemara it will be explained to which purification the Mishna refers.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: For these impurities the nazir shaves: for the dead and for an olive-bulk from the dead:

The Sages taught:

After the death of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Judah said to his students:

Let the students of Rabbi Meir not enter here, because they are contentious [provoking]

[they provoke others]

They come not to learn Torah, but to overcome me [to distress me]

[to distress me]

They come concerning the halakhot.

Nevertheless,

Sumakhos pressed forward—

who had been among the students of Rabbi Meir—

and entered.

Sumakhos said to them

the students of Rabbi Judah, who were transmitting our Mishna in his name: “For these impurities the nazir shaves, for an olive-bulk from the dead,” and they were not transmitting: “For the dead

”:

“Thus Rabbi Meir taught me: ‘For these impurities the nazir shaves: for the dead and for an olive-bulk from the dead.’”

Rabbi Judah became angry and said to them,

his students:

But

did I not say so:

“Let the students of Rabbi Meir not enter here, because they are contentious”!?

For if

for an olive-bulk

of flesh

from the dead

he

shaves, then

then

for the dead

in its entirety

is it not all the more so

that he shaves; and why do I need to teach: “For the dead