Nazir 8b (ח:) — the Talmud in English

Rather, this is what Rabbi Yohanan said:

Rabbi Yehuda—

he agrees with Rabbi.

As we learned

in our Mishna:

Rabbi says: This is not so:

one who says, “I am a nazirite like the hair of my head,”

shaves once every thirty days,

because here he has not accepted multiple naziriteships.

And who is it who shaves once every thirty days?—

One who says: I hereby accept naziriteship corresponding to the hair of my head, to the dust of the earth, and to the sand of the sea.

According to Rabbi, the same is true if he said, “I am a nazirite like the capacity of the basket”: this is not acceptance of several naziriteships, but one naziriteship.

And we challenge this:

But did Rabbi Yehuda agree with Rabbi?

Does Rabbi Yehuda indeed hold like Rabbi?!

But we learned

in our Mishna: One who says, “

I am a nazirite corresponding to the number of days in a solar year,”

Rabbi Yehuda said: There was such an incident, and once he completed it, he died.

Granted, if you say

according to Rabbi Yehuda that he

accepted

many

na ziriteships, this is the reason for the wording: “

Once he completed it, he died.”

The wording of the Mishna, “Once he completed it, he died,” is understandable.

But if you say

that Rabbi Yehuda agrees with Rabbi, and he

accepted one

long naziriteship lasting a year,

he accepted it, as he does according to Rabbi, since he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteship”—

was there any completion at all?

What relevance is there to saying, “Once he completed it, he died”? This wording implies that he accepted upon himself to conduct himself with naziriteships for a long period, and when he finished completing them, he died. But if he accepted one naziriteship corresponding to the number of days in a solar year, and completed his naziriteship in one year, the wording “once he completed it, he died” does not apply to this.

Furthermore,

there is another difficulty with Rabbi Yohanan’s answer:

Did

Rabbi Yehuda

agree with Rabbi?!

But it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda says:

One who says:

I am a nazirite corresponding to the number of dried-fig heaps

heaps upon heaps of figs that are standing to be dried] —

And

one who says: I am a nazirite

corresponding to the number of Sabbatical-year paths [in the Sabbatical year, when the fields are not sown, people walk through them, and many paths develop]—

he

counts naziriteships

many,

corresponding to the number of dried-fig heaps and corresponding to the number of Sabbatical-year paths.

Thus, according to Rabbi Yehuda, even when he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships,” he does not count one long naziriteship, as Rabbi maintains; rather, he counts several naziriteships, as the Sages maintain. How, then, can you say that Rabbi Yehuda agrees with Rabbi?!

And we answer: One who says “

the number”

is different,

for even if he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships,” he counts many naziriteships, corresponding to the number of the thing to which he referred.

The challenge remains:

But does Rabbi distinguish the word “

number”?

Does Rabbi—for, according to you, Rabbi Yehuda agrees with him—distinguish between one who says “number” and one who does not say “number,” as you claim regarding Rabbi Yehuda?!

But it was taught

in a beraita that according to Rabbi, even when he said “number,” his statement is not interpreted as referring to many naziriteships, so long as he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships”:

As it was taught: One who says: “

I am a nazirite corresponding to the number of days in a solar year,”

he

counts many naziriteships

corresponding to

the number of days in a solar year

a solar year, namely, 365 days].

And if he said: “I am a nazirite

corresponding to the

number of

lunar days,” he

counts

naziriteships

corresponding to the

number of

lunar days

[a lunar year, namely, 354 days].

Rabbi says:

He observes naziriteship for only one year—solar or lunar, according to what he said.

Unless he says: “

I hereby accept naziriteship corresponding to the number of days in a solar year and corresponding to the number of days in a lunar year,”

for only then, even according to Rabbi, does he observe many naziriteships.

Thus, according to Rabbi, even when he said “number,” he observes only one long naziriteship, since he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships corresponding to the number.” How, then, can you say that Rabbi Yehuda agrees with Rabbi?!

And we answer:

Rabbi Yehuda agrees with him

with regard to Rabbi

in one matter, and disagrees with him

with regard to Rabbi

in one matter.

He agrees with him

with regard to Rabbi

in one matter:

namely, that

one naziriteship

alone

he accepts upon himself

if he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships,” and did not say “number.”

And he disagrees with him

with regard to Rabbi

in one matter: Rabbi Yehuda distinguishes

between whether he said

“number”

and whether he did not say “number,” for when he said “number,” he concedes to the Sages that he accepted many naziriteships upon himself.

And

if

Rabbi did not distinguish between

“number,”

then in either case, so long as he did not say, “I hereby accept naziriteships,” he observes only one naziriteship.

The Sages taught

this is the beraita cited above, on page 7a]:

One who says: “

I am a nazirite all the days of my life,”

which is not a fixed measure, since he does not know how many days his lifetime will last; or if he said: “

I am a permanent nazirite,”

he is a permanent nazirite.

But if he fixed the duration of his naziriteship,

even

if he said, “I am a nazirite for

one hundred years,”

even

if he said

one thousand years,

he is not a permanent nazirite

who may lighten his hair from time to time,

but he is a nazirite forever,

who never lightens his head.

The Sages taught:

One who says: “

I am a nazirite and one,”

he

counts two.

And if he said, “I am a nazirite and one,

and furthermore,”

he

counts three

naziriteships.

If he added and said, “I am a nazirite and one, and furthermore,

and again,”

he

counts four

naziriteships.

And we challenge this:

Isn’t it obvious?!

And we answer: The word “and again” was necessary.

For

it might have been said that

“and again”

does not mean one additional naziriteship, but that he should observe naziriteship again

like all of them,

corresponding to the number of naziriteships that he had already accepted,

making six

naziriteships: three before he said “and again,” and three additional ones by his saying “and again,” for a total of six.

It teaches us that this is not so,

for “and again” adds only one naziriteship.

The Sages taught:

One who says

“I am a nazirite”—

Sumakhos says:

If he said, “I am a nazirite

hen”

which means “one” in Greek], he observes

one naziriteship. “I am a nazirite

”

digon”

two in Greek], he observes

two.

“I am a nazirite

trigon,”

he observes

three,

for that is the meaning of this word in Greek. “

Tetragon”

four]—he observes

four. “

Pentagon”

[five]—

five.

The Gemara brings a beraita concerning the afflictions of houses, in which these numbers also appear:

The Sages taught: A house

that is

round,

with no corners, or a house that was

digon

[with only two corners], or

trigon

[triangular], or

pentagon

[pentagonal],

does not become impure through afflictions

[the afflictions of houses].

Only a house that is

tetragon

[an ordinary house, having four walls and four corners]

becomes impure through afflictions.

What is the reason?

For

below,

in the passage concerning afflictions,

it says: “

wall, walls,” and

above,

in that same passage,

it says: “

wall, walls.”

That is, twice the Torah says in the passage concerning the afflictions of houses, “the walls of the house,” rather than “the wall of the house.”

There are four

walls here, teaching that the house must have no fewer and no more than four walls.

We have completed Tractate Nazir, chapter: All Designations of Naziriteship