Study Nazir folio 52B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואי סלקא דעתך או שדרה או גולגולת, הני שבעה הויין! כי קתני (סימן: יחיד, שהוא, גילח, ואחד) —
And if it enters your mind that the halakha applies to either a spine or a skull and they are two separate halakhot, these are 7 cases, rather than 6. The Talmud rejects this claim: No proof can be brought from here, as when the tanna teaches this tally he lists 7 items. However, only 6 are fully relevant here, and therefore he said they were 6. The Talmud inserts a mnemonic device for the ensuing suggestions as to which item in the list is not necessary in this context: An individual disagrees with him; that he; a nazirite shaves for it; and 1/4th-log.
כל היכא דפליגי עליה רבים. לאפוקי עצם כשעורה, דיחיד הוא דפליג עליה. דתניא: עצם כשעורה שנחלק לשנים, רבי עקיבא מטמא ורבי יוחנן בן נורי מטהר.
The first explanation is: R' Akiva listed the spine and skull as separate items, but the 6 include anywhere that many rabbis disagree with him, to the exclusion of the case of a bone that is a barley-grain-bulk, as here it is an individual who disagrees with R' Akiva, as it is taught in a Mishnah (Oholot 2:7): If a bone that is a barley-grain-bulk was divided into two, R' Akiva deems it impure and R' Yoḥanan ben Nuri deems it pure. In this case, only one Sage disagrees with R' Akiva.
ואי בעית אימא: כי קתני, אבר מן המת, אבר מן החי לא קתני.
And if you wish, say a different item on the list that is omitted from the tally: When he teaches 6, he includes a limb severed from a corpse, but he does not teach a limb severed from a living person, and that was the case that was not listed.
ואיבעית אימא: כי קתני, כל היכא דנזיר מגלח על אהילו, לאפוקי עצם כשעורה דלא.
And if you wish, say a different item on the list that is omitted from the tally: When he teaches 6, he mentions anywhere that a nazirite shaves for his overlaying, i.e., he formed a tent over the remains of a corpse, to the exclusion of the case of a bone that is a barley-grain-bulk, as it does not impart ritual impurity in a tent. As stated in the Mishnah, this bone imparts impurity only through contact and carrying.