Study Eruvin folio 17B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דאית ליה קוברין, דתניא: איזהו מת מצוה? כל שאין לו קוברין. קורא ואחרים עונין אותו — אין זה מת מצוה.
there are people available to bury it. As it was taught in a baraita: Which is the corpse that is considered a met mitzva?Any corpse that has no one available to bury it. If, however, the deceased has friends or relatives to tend to his burial, his corpse is not considered a met mitzva. Likewise, if the body is in a place where if one calls out, others can answer him, this is not a met mitzva. The Tosefta teaches a novel ruling applicable to the case of a military camp: A solider is buried where he was killed, even if the conditions for met mitzva are not met there.
ומת מצוה קנה מקומו? והתניא: המוצא מת מוטל בסרטיא — מפניהו לימין אסרטיא או לשמאל אסרטיא.
With regard to the halakha itself, the Talmud asks: And does a met mitzva actually acquire its place? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: One who finds a corpse laid out on a main street evacuates it for burial either to the right of the street or to the left of the street, but it may not be buried under the main street itself?
שדה בור ושדה ניר — מפניהו לשדה בור. שדה ניר ושדה זרע — מפניהו לשדה ניר. היו שתיהן נירות, שתיהן זרועות, שתיהן בורות — מפנהו לכל רוח שירצה!
If one can move the corpse either to an uncultivated field or to a plowed field, he evacuates it to the uncultivated field. If the choice is between a plowed field and a sown field, he evacuates it to the plowed field. If both fields are plowed, or if both are sown, or if both are uncultivated, he evacuates it to any side that he wishes to move it. Apparently, a met mitzva is not necessarily buried where it is found. It may be moved elsewhere.