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Masechet so far · Bekhorot 34 · בכורות ל״ד
The masechet so far, chapter by chapter
Masechet Bekhorot details the laws of firstborn donkeys, humans, and kosher livestock, addressing when their sanctity applies, how they are redeemed, and how blemished animals are handled. The tractate currently stands in the fifth chapter, examining the commercial restrictions on blemished offerings and the consequences of deliberately inflicting blemishes.
Chapter 1 – הלוקח עובר חמורו: Firstborn Donkey Laws and Redemption
A male firstborn donkey must be redeemed with a lamb or have its neck broken. Any partnership with a gentile or ownership by priests and Levites exempts the animal from this sanctity. The chapter also resolves birth uncertainties and details priority rules between competing mitzvot (commandments).
- Gentile partnership or priestly ownership entirely exempts a donkey fetus from firstborn sanctity.
- A firstborn donkey is redeemed with a sheep or goat lamb, regardless of sex, age, or physical blemish.
- An owner who refuses to redeem a firstborn donkey must break its neck and bury the carcass.
Chapter 2 – הלוקח עובר פרתו: Firstborn Kosher Animals and Disputed Births
Male firstborns of kosher animals hold bodily sanctity and must be given to a priest for sacrificial offering. While gentile ownership exempts the offspring, priests and Levites remain fully obligated in this mitzva (commandment). The chapter resolves doubtful twin births, cross-species appearances, and deliveries by caesarean section.
- Gentile partnership exempts kosher cattle from firstborn status, but priests and Levites remain fully obligated.
- Sacrificial animals consecrated with prior permanent blemishes possess only monetary value and their redemptions permit labor.
- When twin male lambs emerge simultaneously, Rabbi Tarfon awards the fatter lamb while Rabbi Akiva gives the leaner.
- Rabbi Akiva rules that neither a caesarean offspring nor its subsequent sibling attains firstborn sanctity.
Chapter 3 – הלוקח בהמה: Womb Discharges, Shearing, and Wool Regulations
Uterine discharges or an afterbirth confirm a prior pregnancy, exempting subsequent births from firstborn sanctity. The Torah strictly forbids shearing a consecrated firstborn, though hand-plucking wool is permitted for inspecting blemishes or clearing the neck for slaughter. The Sages debate whether wool shed from a blemished firstborn remains prohibited after slaughter.
- A murky uterine discharge or afterbirth proves prior pregnancy and exempts subsequent offspring from firstborn sanctity.
- Purchasing a nursing animal proves prior calving, exempting any future offspring from firstborn status.
- Hand-plucking neck hair to inspect a blemish or enable proper slaughter is permitted ab initio (from the outset).
- Wool shed from a live blemished firstborn remains forbidden unless naturally entangled within the attached fleece.
Chapter 4 – עד כמה: Tending Periods, Expert Examiners, and Suspects
Owners must care for a firstborn animal for thirty or fifty days before delivering it to a priest, and it must be consumed within its first year. Blemishes must be evaluated by recognized experts, who may receive compensation only for lost labor wages. The chapter also establishes rules regarding individuals suspected of violating agricultural laws or priestly tithes.
- Owners must care for firstborn sheep for thirty days and cattle for fifty days before delivery.
- Court-authorized expert judges like Rabbi Tarfon are entirely exempt from paying restitution for mistaken rulings.
- Blemish examiners may receive fixed compensation for lost work, but judges taking fees render their judgments void.
- Individuals suspected of violating tithes or the Sabbatical year are invalidated from dealing in those specific items.
Chapter 5 – כל פסולי המוקדשין: Selling Meat and Inflicting Animal Blemishes
Unlike general sacrifices that are sold publicly to benefit the Temple, blemished firstborns may only be sold privately at home and cannot be weighed like regular meat. Beit Hillel permit non-priests and gentiles to partake of a blemished firstborn. Intentionally inflicting a blemish is strictly forbidden, though medical bloodletting is permitted to preserve an animal's life.
- Disqualified Temple sacrifices are sold in public butcher markets, but blemished firstborns may only be sold privately.
- Beit Hillel permit non-priests, ritually impure people, and gentiles to consume the meat of a blemished firstborn.
- An intentionally blemished firstborn cannot be slaughtered until a separate, natural blemish subsequently develops on the animal.
- Penalties for inflicting blemishes target the transgressor, permitting an heir to slaughter an animal his deceased father blemished.