Study Nedarim folio 16A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
גמ׳ מני מתניתין — רבי מאיר היא, דאי רבי יהודה — לא שני ליה ״קרבן״ ולא שני ליה ״הקרבן״.
Talmud: Whose opinion is expressed in the Mishnah? It is apparently the opinion of R' Meir. As, if it is the opinion of R' Yehuda, there is a contradiction, because he does not differentiate whether one takes a vow by saying: An offering, and he does not differentiate whether he takes a vow by saying: This offering. In both cases the vow does not take effect, as he did not use the phrase: Like an offering. The Mishnah, by contrast, indicates that only a vow that is phrased: An offering that I will not eat of yours, or: This offering that I will eat of yours, does not take effect. If it is phrased: An offering I will eat of yours, it takes effect, as it indicates that his eating will be like an offering.
אימא סיפא: ״לקרבן לא אוכל לך״ — מותר. והתנן: ״לקרבן לא אוכל לך״ — רבי מאיר אוסר, ואמר רבי אבא: נעשה כאומר: ״לקרבן יהא, לפיכך לא אוכל לך״.
The Talmud continues its analysis: Say the latter clause of the Mishnah: If he says: That which I will not eat of yours is not an offering, the food is permitted. The Talmud asks: But didn’t we learn in a Mishnah (13a) that if one said: That which I will not eat of yours will be for an offering [lekorban], R' Meir forbids the food to him? And R' Abba said that it is rendered as one who says: Your food will be to me for an offering; therefore, I will not eat of yours. The Mishnah appears to be incompatible with the opinion of R' Meir as well.
The Talmud answers that this is not difficult. That Mishnah is referring to one who said: For an offering [lekorban], and the vow therefore takes effect. This Mishnah is referring to one who said: Not for an offering [la lekorban], where he is saying that it should not be an offering, and therefore the vow does not take effect.