Study Bekhorot folio 48A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ מי שלא בכרה אשתו וילדה שני זכרים — נותן חמש סלעים לכהן. מת אחד מהן בתוך שלשים יום — האב פטור.
Mishnah: With regard to one whose wife had not previously given birth and then gave birth to two males, i.e., twin males, and it is unknown which is the firstborn, he gives 5 sela coins to the priest after 30 days have passed. If one of them dies within 30 days of birth, before the obligation to redeem the firstborn takes effect, the father is exempt from the payment due to uncertainty, as perhaps it was the firstborn who died.
מת האב והבנים קיימים, רבי מאיר אומר: אם נתנו עד שלא חלקו — נתנו, ואם לאו — פטורין. רבי יהודה אומר: נתחייבו נכסים. זכר ונקבה — אין כאן לכהן כלום.
In a case where the father died and the sons are alive, R' Meir says: If they gave the 5 sela coins to the priest before they divided their father’s property between them, they gave it, and it remains in the possession of the priest. But if not, they are exempt from giving the redemption money to the priest. R' Yehuda says: The obligation to redeem the firstborn already took effect on the property of the father; therefore, in either case the sons, his heirs, are required to pay the priest. If the wife gave birth to a male and a female and it is not known which was born first, the priest has nothing here, as it is possible that the female was born first.
גמ׳ דמית האב אימת? אילימא דמית לאחר שלשים יום — בהא אמר רבי מאיר כי חלקו פטורין? והא אשתעבדו להו (לנכסי) [נכסי]!
Talmud: The Mishnah teaches that in a case where the father died and the sons are alive, R' Meir says: If they gave the 5 sela coins to the priest before they divided their father’s property, they gave it; but if not, they are exempt from giving the redemption money. The Talmud asks: When did the father die? If we say that he died after the 30 days following the birth of his sons, does R' Meir say in this case that if they divided their father’s property they are exempt from giving the redemption money to the priest? But the property is already on lien for the mitzva of redemption.