Nazir 60a — the Talmud in English

Gemara:

The tanna

in the beraita that explains the Mishna:

When are these words spoken

that he waits sixty days before eating sacrificial food and one hundred twenty days before the prohibitions of the naziriteship are permitted?

With regard to a short naziriteship

of thirty days.

But with regard to a naziriteship of one year,

this is the case:

he eats sacrificial food after two years,

corresponding to the measure of two naziriteships [and as was explained in our Mishna],

and drinks wine and becomes impure from the dead after four years,

corresponding to the measure of four naziriteships, [and as was explained in our Mishna].

a. The leper brings for his purification at the end of the days of his confinement: two living, pure birds; one is slaughtered, and the priest dips the living bird, together with cedar wood, crimson wool, and hyssop, into its blood and sprinkles it upon the leper, and afterward he sends the living bird away over the open field. All this action is not performed in the Temple courtyard but outside the Israelite camp. On the following day, at the shaving of the “days of his counting,” if he is wealthy, he brings for his atonement a sheep as a guilt-offering, a sheep as a burnt-offering, and a female sheep as a sin-offering; and if he is poor, a sheep as a guilt-offering and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering. The wealthy person cannot bring the offering of the poor person, but he can declare his property ownerless.

b. The two birds prevent the leper from beginning to count the “days of his counting”; and the sin-offering prevents him from eating sacrificial food, but not the burnt-offering. As for the law of the guilt-offering, whether it prevents him, this will be explained later in the sugya.

c. A nazirite who became impure through contact with the dead brings an offering on the eighth day: two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering, and a sheep as a guilt-offering. And when his days of naziriteship are completed, every nazirite brings a sin-offering, a burnt-offering, and peace-offerings from animals.

d. According to this beraita: only the sin-offering prevents the impure nazirite from having pure naziriteship take effect upon him; and one of the offerings of the pure nazirite prevents him from shaving, and afterward he is permitted with regard to all the prohibitions of a nazirite.

e. A sin-offering is not brought as a voluntary offering, and an animal sin-offering is also not brought in a case of uncertainty; but a bird sin-offering is brought in a case of uncertainty. A bird or animal burnt-offering may also be brought as a voluntary offering, and when one is uncertain whether he is obligated or not, he can bring a burnt-offering on condition. A guilt-offering is not brought as a voluntary offering, and Rabbi Shimon and the Sages disagree whether he can bring a guilt-offering on condition that if he is not obligated in it, the offering will be a voluntary peace-offering.

And it teaches

another beraita

about it: And he shaves four times [

as was explained]:

At the

shaving

the

first—

on the thirtieth day of his naziriteship, when he is uncertain with regard to all the uncertainties—whether he is a leper in a confirmed state, an impure nazirite, or a pure nazirite—he

brings:

birds,

because of the uncertainty whether he is a leper in a confirmed state and requires birds for his purification.

And a bird sin-offering,

which is brought in a case of uncertainty because of the uncertainty whether he is an impure nazirite.

And an animal burnt-offering,

on condition that it is a voluntary offering, because of the uncertainty whether he is entirely a pure nazirite. At the shaving the

second—

on the sixtieth day, when he is uncertain whether he has just now completed the pure naziriteship if he was one who became impure through contact with the dead and not a leper, and he is uncertainly a leper at the end of the days of his counting—he

brings [

part on the day of the shaving and part on the day following the shaving]:

A bird sin-offering,

which is brought in a case of uncertainty concerning his leprosy, he brings on the day following the shaving.

And an animal burnt-offering

he brings—on the day of the shaving and before it—for pure naziriteship, and he brings it on condition that if he is not required to bring it, it shall be a voluntary offering. At the shaving the

third

third—

when it is uncertain whether he is now obligated in the offerings of an impure nazirite, if he had been a leper and one who became impure through contact with the dead, and he is an uncertain pure nazirite, if he had been a leper and not one who became impure through contact with the dead—he

brings

on the day of the shaving:

a bird sin-offering

brought in a case of uncertainty for his naziriteship of impurity,

and an animal burnt-offering

on condition that it is a voluntary offering for his pure naziriteship, if he had been a leper and not one who became impure through contact with the dead. At the

shaving the

fourth,

when there is now only the uncertainty of a pure nazirite, he

brings: a complete purification offering,

the burnt-offering he brings on condition that it is a voluntary offering, since perhaps he already fulfilled his obligation with one of his earlier burnt-offerings, and his remaining offerings he brings to complete his obligation.

You said [

the Master said] in the beraita:

At the first shaving he brings

birds, a bird sin-offering, and an animal burnt-offering:

And the Gemara explains:

In any event—

on every side of the uncertainties—

he does well by bringing [

he does well by bringing these three offerings at the first shaving]!

For if he is certainly a leper and not

one who became impure

through contact with the

dead:

The Rashash had difficulty with the wording “and not one who became impure,” since all the words of the Gemara here are also correct if he is both a leper and one who became impure through contact with the dead.

Then

the birds are his obligation, and the bird sin-offering is uncertain—

which he brought for his naziriteship of impurity—

goes for burial [

it goes for burial],

and the burnt-offering

that he brought for pure naziriteship

becomes a voluntary offering,

since a burnt-offering is brought as a voluntary offering.

And to shave him

the second shaving of a leper,

at the end of seven

days from the first shaving until thirty days

is impossible, for perhaps he is not a leper in a confirmed state,

but rather had been one who became impure through contact with the dead, and if so, he is now a pure nazirite,

and the Merciful One

has

said: “

A razor shall not pass over his head until the completion.”

And here the Gemara returns to the matter of the offerings that he brings for every side of the uncertainties:

And if he is certainly not a leper,

that is, if he is not a leper,

and

however

he is impure

through contact with the dead: then

the bird sin-offering

that he brought is

his obligation, and the birds

that he brought even though he did not require them cause no loss, since

they are performed outside [

they are performed outside]

and are not unconsecrated animals in the Temple courtyard, and the animal burnt-offering

that he brought

becomes a voluntary offering.

And if he is neither a leper nor one who became impure

through contact with the

dead,

but rather he is a pure nazirite:

The birds

are

performed outside [

they are performed outside and are not unconsecrated animals in the Temple courtyard].

The bird sin-offering

that he brought

goes

for burial.

The animal burnt-offering

that he brought

is his obligation.

The Gemara raises an objection:

But he requires—

at the second shaving at the end of the “days of his counting”

—

a guilt-offering

of a leper, and it prevents him from eating sacrificial food; so how was this not mentioned in the beraita?! And we answer: This that you say, that the guilt-offering prevents him from being permitted to eat sacrificial food, is only Rabbi Shimon,

alone,

who says: He brings and stipulates [

a person brings a guilt-offering and stipulates that if he is not obligated in a guilt-offering, it shall be a peace-offering], for according to his view, indeed it prevents him.

But according to the Sages, who cannot bring a guilt-offering and stipulate, if you should say that the guilt-offering prevents him, it follows that there is no remedy for this person. Necessarily, the guilt-offering does not prevent him from eating sacrificial food.

And the Gemara continues to explain the beraita: At the

second and third shavings,

which we learned in the beraita that he brings a bird sin-offering, and birds were not mentioned as well, as at the first shaving, this is because

birds are not required, for he already performed them [

he already performed them at the first shaving]!

And

what is there

left to be uncertain about at the second and third shavings?

Perhaps he was certainly a leper in a confirmed state,

for then he lacks a bird sin-offering for his leprosy at the second shaving and a bird sin-offering for his impurity at the third shaving, and therefore he brings:

one

bird sin-offering at the second shaving

for the uncertainty of his counting, and one

bird sin-offering at the third shaving

for the uncertainty of his impurity.

And at the

fourth shaving he brings

he

an offering

of

pure

naziriteship, namely, a burnt-offering for his pure naziriteship,

and stipulates

concerning it: