Study Nazir folio 59B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ מת אחד מהן, אמר רבי יהושע: יבקש אחד מן השוק שידור כנגדו בנזיר.
Mishnah: The previous Mishnah described how two nazirites sacrifice offerings of impurity and purity, in a situation in which one of them has become impure but they do not know which one. This Mishnah discusses what must be done if one of them dies before bringing his offerings. R' Yehoshua said: The surviving nazirite asks someone in the marketplace, a non-nazirite, to vow to be a nazirite corresponding to him, i.e., under the same conditions as his own naziriteship, so that he can bring offerings together with him.
ואומר: אם טמא הייתי — הרי אתה נזיר מיד, ואם טהור הייתי — הרי אתה נזיר אחר שלשים יום. וסופרין שלשים, ומביאין קרבן טומאה וקרבן טהרה. ואומר: אם אני הוא הטמא — קרבן טומאה שלי, וקרבן טהרה שלך. ואם אני הוא הטהור — קרבן טהרה שלי, וקרבן טומאה בספק.
And he says to him as follows: If I was impure, you are hereby a nazirite immediately; and if I was pure, you are hereby a nazirite after 30 days. And they both proceed to count 30 days and bring an offering of impurity and an offering of purity. And the nazirite who was defined as having uncertain impurity says: If I am the impure one, the offering of impurity is mine and the offering of purity is yours; and if I am the pure one, the offering of purity is mine and the offering of impurity we brought should be of uncertain status.
וסופרים שלשים יום, ומביאין קרבן טהרה, ואומר: אם אני הטמא — קרבן טומאה שלי, וקרבן טהרה — שלך, וזה קרבן טהרתי. ואם אני הוא הטהור — קרבן טהרה שלי, וקרבן טומאה בספק, וזהו קרבן טהרתך.
And they subsequently count another 30 days and bring an offering of purity, and the first nazirite says: If I was the impure one, the offering of impurity that we sacrificed at the end of the first 30 days was mine, and the offering of purity we brought then was yours; and this offering I am bringing now is my offering of purity. And if I was the pure one, and the deceased nazirite was impure, the offering of purity we brought 30 days ago was mine, and the offering of impurity we brought earlier was of uncertain status, and this is your offering of purity.