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Text Excerpt
בודק הימנו ולהלן עשרים אמה, מצא אחד בסוף עשרים אמה — בודק הימנו ולהלן עשרים אמה. שרגלים לדבר. שאילו תחילה מצאו — נוטלו ואת תפוסתו.
One must therefore examine from that spot outward for 20 cubits. If one finds another corpse at the end of 20 cubits, he examines from that spot outward 20 cubits, as there is a basis for anticipating the matter. It is likely that he has stumbled upon an ancient gravesite. He is not permitted to relocate the corpses, despite the fact that if he had found the single corpse by itself at first he could have removed it and its surrounding earth.
גמ׳ אמר רב יהודה: מצא — פרט למצוי. מת — פרט להרוג. מושכב — פרט ליושב. כדרכו — פרט לשראשו מונח בין ירכותיו.
Talmud: Rav Yehuda said the following inferences from the Mishnah: The phrase: He found, excludes a corpse that already had been found. If it was known that there was one corpse buried in a certain place, the discovery of two previously unknown corpses does not raise the concern that perhaps it is a forgotten graveyard. Similarly, the term corpse [met] excludes a killed [harug] person. Even if there were 3 corpses found, if there are signs that these people were killed, the area is not assumed to be a graveyard, as they may have been buried where they were found killed. Likewise, the term lying excludes a sitting person, as Jews were not generally buried in a seated position. The phrase: In the usual manner, excludes one whose head was placed between his thighs, as that is not the way Jews are buried.
תני עולא בר חנינא: מת שחסר, אין לו תפוסה ולא שכונת קברות. וכל הני מאי טעמא לא? אמרינן דילמא גוי הוא.
Ulla bar Ḥanina taught a baraita (Tosefta, Oholot 16:2): A corpse that is lacking a part of his body indispensable to life has no halakha of surrounding earth, i.e., there is no need to remove the nearby earth along with the corpse. Nor does it have the halakha of a graveyard, i.e., it does not join with two other corpses to establish this site as a cemetery. The Talmud asks: And with regard to all these listed above, i.e., a corpse that was buried in a sitting position or with its head between its thighs, what is the reason that they are not considered part of a graveyard? The Talmud answers: We say that perhaps the deceased was a non-Jew, as Jews are not usually buried in these ways.