The masechet so far, chapter by chapter

Masechet Bekhorot addresses the sanctification and redemption of firstborn animals and human sons, along with disqualifying bodily blemishes and animal tithes. Having completed the laws of firstborn animals, priestly blemishes, and human inheritance, the masechet now examines the rules of animal tithes in Chapter Nine.

Chapter 1 – הלוקח עובר חמורו: Firstborn Donkeys and Their Redemption

This chapter details the obligation to redeem the firstborn male offspring of a donkey with a lamb or break its neck. Partnership or shared ownership with a gentile frees the animal from firstborn sanctity, and Levites are entirely exempt. If an owner designates a lamb for redemption and it dies, the Rabbis rule he is not financially liable to replace it.

Donkey fetuses owned partly or wholly by gentiles are exempt from firstborn sanctity and redemption.
A firstborn donkey is redeemed with a lamb from sheep or goats, whether male, female, unblemished, or blemished.
If one refuses to redeem a firstborn donkey with a lamb, he must break its neck from behind.

Chapter 2 – הלוקח עובר פרתו: Firstborn Kosher Animals and Fetal Ownership

This chapter discusses firstborn status in kosher livestock like cattle and sheep, which hold inherent altar sanctity. Gentile partnership or investment guarantees exempt the mother's offspring from firstborn sanctity. When twin births create doubt about which male emerged first, the owner and priest divide or assess the animals based on rules of uncertainty.

Gentile ownership in a cow or its fetus exempts the newborn calf from firstborn status.
Pre-blemished consecrated animals hold only monetary sanctity, so their redeemed offspring are subject to firstborn status.
Rabbi Akiva awards the priest the leaner twin lamb when births appear simultaneous, leaving the fatter one.

Chapter 3 – הלוקח בהמה: Purchasing Mothers and Signs of Prior Birth

This chapter examines when a purchased animal is presumed to have given birth previously. Rabbi Akiva rules that signs such as a murky discharge or expelled afterbirth exempt all future offspring from firstborn status. It also regulates shearing prohibitions, allowing wool around a blemish or slaughter site to be plucked only if it remains in place.

A murky uterine discharge or expelled afterbirth confirms prior pregnancy, exempting future births from firstborn sanctity.
An animal seen nursing is presumed to have calved, since animals nurse only their own biological offspring.
Wool shed from a blemished firstborn before slaughter remains forbidden unless it stays intermingled with attached fleece.

Chapter 4 – עד כמה: Caring for Firstborns and Expert Inspectors

Owners must care for small firstborn animals for thirty days and large cattle for fifty days before delivering them to a priest. A firstborn must be inspected by an authorized expert before slaughter outside the Temple, and authorized judges are exempt from restitution for mistaken rulings. Inspectors and judges may accept compensation only for lost labor wages rather than payment for their verdict.

Owners must raise small firstborns for thirty days and large cattle for fifty days before giving them away.
A court-authorized expert judge like Rabbi Tarfon who errs in a ruling is exempt from paying compensation.
Animal inspectors may only accept fixed wages for lost time, regardless of whether they find the animal blemished.

Chapter 5 – כל פסולי המוקדשין: Selling Blemished Firstborns and Intentional Blemishes

Disqualified consecrated offerings are sold in public markets to benefit the Temple, but blemished firstborns may be sold only privately at home by estimate. Causing an intentional blemish permanently forbids that animal from being slaughtered on account of that defect. When an obvious blemish occurs and no expert is available, three regular laymen may authorize its slaughter.

Blemished firstborn meat is sold only privately at home by estimate, rather than publicly by weight.
Intentionally slitting a firstborn animal's ear permanently forbids slaughtering it upon that blemish.
Three laymen may permit slaughtering an animal with an obvious permanent blemish if no expert is available.

Chapter 6 – על אלו מומין: Physical Blemishes Permitting Slaughter of Animals

This chapter catalogs exposed, permanent physical defects that disqualify a sacrificial animal and permit a firstborn to be slaughtered outside the Temple. Disqualifying blemishes include pierced ears, perforated eyelids, cataracts, a tevallul where a white line enters the pupil, and asymmetrical or broken limbs. Hidden defects, transient illnesses, and sexual abnormalities like concealed organs do not permit slaughter.

An ear perforation the size of a bitter vetch or a split eyelid permits slaughtering a firstborn.
A tevallul, a defect where white extends into the pupil, is a permanent blemish permitting slaughter.
A calf's tail must reach the middle thigh joint, or else it is considered permanently blemished.

Chapter 7 – מומין אלו: Blemishes Disqualifying Priests From Temple Service

Blemishes that disqualify sacrificial animals also disqualify priests from performing the Temple service, alongside human-specific bodily anomalies. Such defects include abnormal head shapes, missing eyebrows, sunken noses, mismatched eyes, and amputated digits containing bone. Priests with forbidden marital unions or corpse impurity are likewise barred until they formally resolve their violations.

A priest lacking eyebrows, having a sunken nose, or possessing mismatched eyes is disqualified from Temple service.
Amputating an extra finger that contains bone leaves a priest disqualified as missing a limb.
A priest who married a divorcée is barred from service until he vows to forgo spousal benefit.

Chapter 8 – יש בכור: Human Firstborns for Inheritance and Redemption

This chapter differentiates between a firstborn son regarding the double portion of inheritance and a firstborn regarding redemption from a priest. Sons born by caesarean section and those following certain non-viable miscarriages do not qualify for redemption or inheritance primogeniture. The redemption price must be paid with five Tyrian silver sela coins or equivalent movable property, excluding land, slaves, and promissory notes.

A firstborn son receives a double inheritance only from property his father held at death, excluding uncollected debts.
Redemption of a firstborn son requires five Tyrian silver sela coins, payable in goods but not real estate.
A caesarean-born boy is neither a firstborn for inheritance nor subject to redemption with five sela coins.

Chapter 9 – מעשר בהמה: The Laws of Animal Tithe

Chapter Nine introduces ma'aser behemah, the animal tithe separated from kosher herds and flocks. Sheep and goats combine together under the single biblical designation of flock, but animals born in different years cannot be tithed together. The tithe applies only to unsanctified animals and was rabbinically abolished after the Temple's destruction to avoid illicit consumption.

Sheep and goats combine under the rod for animal tithe, but cattle and flocks do not combine.
Animals born in different years cannot be tithed from one for the other.
Animal tithes were abolished after the Temple's destruction to prevent people from accidentally consuming sacred meat.

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