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Halachot · Bekhorot 42 · בכורות מ״ב
The Status of Tumtum and Androgynos
How the Talmud resolves gender ambiguity in animal consecration, marital ties, and levirate obligations, from the Gemara to the Shulchan Arukh.
Identifying the Sex of an Animal
The Gemara investigates the legal definition of a טומטום (tumtum - an individual whose genitalia are covered by skin). In sacrificial law, the Torah restricts the sanctity of a בכור (firstborn male animal) exclusively to males. The Gemara asks whether an animal born as a tumtum is categorized as an insoluble doubt or whether its physical biology can be discerned.
Reish Lakish explains that unlike humans, whose male and female urinary tracts open in the same anatomical area, animal anatomy is distinct. Therefore, an animal's sex is revealed by its urination site.
All Sages agree that if the animal urinates from the male position, it is a male. When it urinates from the female position, the Gemara debates whether we must suspect that a male organ was internally inverted toward the female site.
Sanctity of the Firstborn Tumtum Animal
The early authorities disagree on how to apply the Gemara's conclusion to the firstborn animal offering. The Rambam holds that a tumtum animal is always a doubtful firstborn, regardless of which organ site it uses to urinate,. Consequently, the owner retains it until it develops a permanent blemish, without giving it to a כהן (priest).
The Rosh and the Shulchan Arukh reject this view based on the Gemara's explicit conclusion,. They rule that if the animal urinates from the male site, it is a definite firstborn and must be handed over to a כהן. Only if it urinates from the female site does it remain a ספק בכור (doubtful firstborn) eaten by the owner after a blemish.
בכור שהוא טומטום הרי זה ספק בכור ויאכל במומו לבעליו ודוקא במטיל מים במקום נקבות אבל אם מטיל מים במקום זכרות בכור ודאי הוא וצריך ליתנו לכהן.A firstborn animal that is a tumtum is a doubtful firstborn and is eaten with its blemish by its owner; this applies specifically when it urinates in the place of femaleness, but if it urinates in the place of maleness, it is a definite firstborn and must be given to the kohen. (Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 315:2)
Betrothal of Tumtum and Androgynos
In human beings, the anatomical concealment leaves the gender unresolved. The Gemara cites a baraita establishing that if a tumtum betroths a woman or is betrothed by a man, the קידושין (betrothal) takes effect out of uncertainty. An אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס (androgynos - a person bearing both male and female organs) presents a similar legal uncertainty,.
The Shulchan Arukh rules that betrothals involving either individual are doubtful and require divorce. If a tumtum or androgynos marries or is betrothed, a גט (bill of divorce) is required to dissolve the potential marriage,.
The Rema records an alternative view cited by the Tur and the Rosh: unlike a tumtum, an androgynos is definitively considered a male according to some authorities,.
טומטום ואנדרוגינוס או שקידשו או שקידשם איש קידושיהם ספק וצריכין גט מספק וי"א דאנדרוגינוס ודאי זכרA person of ambiguous gender or an androgynous person who betrothed a woman, or received betrothal from a man, are considered to be doubtfully betrothed and require a writ of divorce to remove the doubt. Rem"a: Some authorities say that an androgynous is definitively male. (Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer 44:5)
Levirate Obligations and Physical Defects
The Gemara evaluates how the doubt of a tumtum interacts with יבום (yibum - levirate marriage) and חליצה (chalitzah - release from the levirate bond). If a tumtum dies childless, a baraita rules that his widow performs chalitzah but cannot enter into yibum.
This restriction follows the opinion of Rabbi Akiva regarding a סריס חמה (naturally born eunuch). Because the tumtum's body underwent an abnormal formation, the Sages suspect he is inherently infertile and incapable of procreation.
Codifying this, the Tur explains that a living tumtum brother performs chalitzah not yibum. If the skin is surgically torn open and he is found to be male, the Rambam allows either yibum or chalitzah, whereas the Rosh maintains that he still cannot perform yibum due to the lingering doubt that he may be an infertile eunuch,.
While physical urination determines the definitive male status of a tumtum animal, a human tumtum remains an unresolved doubt requiring stringency in divorce, marriage, and levirate release.