Nazir 8b — the Talmud in English

Rather, this is what Rabbi Yohanan said:

that Rabbi Yehuda—

held in accordance with Rabbi.

As we learned

in our Mishna:

Rabbi says: This is not so:

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

shaves once every thirty days,

because here there is no acceptance of many nazirut.

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

The one who says: Behold, upon me is nazirut like the hair of my head, and like the dust of the earth, and like the sand of the sea.

And according to Rabbi’s method, the same is true if he said, “Behold, I am a nazir as much as the capacity of the basket”: this is not an acceptance of several nazirut, but one nazirut.

And we object:

And Rabbi Yehuda, did he hold in accordance with Rabbi?

Does Rabbi Yehuda indeed hold in accordance with Rabbi!?

But we learned

in our Mishna: the one who says, “

Behold, I am a nazir according to the number of the days of the sun,”

Rabbi Yehuda said: There was an incident, and when he completed them, he died.

Granted, if you say

according to Rabbi Yehuda’s view, that

many

nazirut

he accepted upon himself, this is the reason for

“when he completed them, he died.”

The wording of the Mishna, “when he completed them, he died,” is understandable.

But if you say

that Rabbi Yehuda holds in accordance with Rabbi, and

one nazirut

long, lasting a year,

he accepted upon himself,

as it is according to Rabbi—for he did not say, “Behold, upon me is nazirut”—

is there any completion at all!?

What relevance is there to saying, “when he completed them, he died”? For this wording implies that he accepted upon himself to conduct himself with nazirut for a long period of time, and when he finished completing it, he died. But if he accepted upon himself one nazirut according to the number of the days of the sun, and in one year he completed his nazirut, the wording “when he completed them, he died” does not apply to this.

Furthermore,

there is an objection to Rabbi Yohanan’s answer:

Did he hold

Rabbi Yehuda

in accordance with Rabbi!?

But it was taught: Rabbi Yehuda says:

The one who says:

“Behold, I am a nazir according to the number of summer harvests” [

piles upon piles of figs that are standing to dry ]—

And

the one who says: “Behold, I am a nazir

according to the number of the paths of the Sabbatical year” [

during the Sabbatical year, when the fields are not sown, people walk through them and many paths are made in them ]—

he

counts nazirut

many,

according to the number of the summer harvests and according to the number of the paths of the Sabbatical year.

It follows that according to Rabbi Yehuda, even though he did not say, “Behold, upon me is nazirut,” he does not count one long nazirut, as Rabbi does, but several nazirut, like the Sages; and how can you say that Rabbi Yehuda held in accordance with Rabbi!?

And we answer: the one who says

“according to the number”

is different,

for even if he did not say, “Behold, upon me is nazirut,” he counts many nazirut, according to the number of that thing about which he spoke.

And we still object:

And does Rabbi regard

“according to the number”

as different? Is Rabbi—for according to your view Rabbi Yehuda holds like him—distinguishing between one who says “according to the number” and one who does not say “according to the number,” as you say according to Rabbi Yehuda!?

But it was taught

in a beraita that according to Rabbi, even when he said “according to the number,” his words are not interpreted as referring to many nazirut, so long as he did not say, “Behold, upon me is nazirut”:

For it was taught: the one who says: “

Behold, I am a nazir according to the number of the days of the sun,”

he

counts nazirut

many

according to the number of the days of the sun [

a solar year ], namely, 365 days.

And if he said, “Behold, I am a nazir

as

many as the number of

the days of the moon,”

he counts

nazirut

as many as the number of

the

days of the moon [

a lunar year ], namely, 354 days.

Rabbi says:

He conducts himself as a nazir for one year only—solar or lunar, according to what he said.

Until he says: “

Upon me is nazirut according to the number of the days of the sun and according to the number of the days of the moon,”

for only then, even according to Rabbi, does he conduct himself with many nazirut.

It follows that according to Rabbi, even when he said “according to the number,” he conducts himself with only one long nazirut, since he did not say, “Nazirut is upon me according to the number”; and how did you say that Rabbi Yehuda holds according to Rabbi!?

And we answer:

Rabbi Yehuda held like him

Rabbi

in one matter, and disagreed with him

Rabbi

in one matter.

He held like him

Rabbi

in one matter:

in that

one nazirut

alone

he accepted upon himself

if he did not say, “Behold, upon me is nazirut,” and did not say, “according to the number.”

And he disagreed with him

Rabbi

in one matter, for Rabbi Yehuda distinguishes

between whether he said

“according to the number”

or did not say “according to the number”; for when he said “according to the number,” he concedes to the Sages that he accepted many nazirut upon himself.

And

if

Rabbi did not distinguish for him

“according to the number,”

then in either case, so long as he did not say, “Nazirut is upon me,” he conducts himself with only one.

The Sages taught [

this is the beraita brought above, 7a ]:

The one who says: “

Behold, I am a nazir all the days of my life,”

which is not a fixed measure, since he does not know how many days the years of his life will be, or if he said, “

Behold, I am an eternal nazir,”

he is an eternal nazir.

And if he fixed the duration of his nazirut,

even

if he said, “Behold, I am a nazir

one hundred years,”

even

if he said

“one thousand years,”

he is not an eternal nazir

who may lighten his hair from time to time,

but a nazir forever,

who never lightens the hair of his head.

The Sages taught:

The one who says: “

Behold, I am a nazir and one,”

he

counts two.

And if he said, “Behold, I am a nazir and one,

and furthermore,”

he

counts three

nazirut.

He added and said, “Behold, I am a nazir and one, and furthermore,

and again,”

he

counts four

nazirut.

And we object:

Is it not obvious!?

And we answer: “And again” was necessary for him.

For

it might have been said that

“and again”

does not mean one additional nazirut, but that he should conduct himself with nazirut again

like all of them,

according to the number of nazirut that he had already accepted,

and there would be six

nazirut: namely, three before he said “and again,” and three additional ones through his saying “and again”—there would thus be six.

It teaches us that it is not so,

for “and again” adds only one nazirut.

The Sages taught:

The one who says

“Behold, I am a nazir”—

Sumakhos says:

If he said, “Behold, I am a nazir

hen” [

which is “one” in the Greek language ], he conducts himself with

one nazirut. “

Behold, I am a nazir

dიგon” [

two in the Greek language ], he conducts himself with

two.

“Behold, I am a nazir

trigon,”

he conducts himself with

three,

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

tetragon” [

four ]—he conducts himself with

four. “

fontigon” [

five ]—

five.

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

The Sages taught: A house

that is

round,

without corners, or a house that was

digon [

having only two corners ], or

trigon [

triangular ], or

fontigon [

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

выше,

above,

in that same passage,

it says “

wall, walls.”

That is to say: twice the verse says in the passage concerning afflictions of houses, “the walls of the house,” and not “the wall of the house.”

Here there are four

walls, to teach that the house must have four walls, neither fewer nor more.

We shall return to you, chapter “All the Designations of Nazirut.”