Shevuot 6B

ואם איתא, ״של צמר דיהה הימנה״ מיבעי ליה!

And if it is so that R' Akiva lists the different shades in decreasing order of their degree of brightness, then after mentioning the reddish variation of baheret he should have next said: The reddish variation of a wool-white mark is darker than it, not that the reddish variation of lime is darker than it.

אמרי: אין הכי נמי, והתניא: רבי נתן אומר, לא שאמר רבי עקיבא ״של סיד דיהה הימנה״, אלא ״של צמר דיהה הימנה״.

They said in response to this: Yes, it is indeed so that R' Akiva continues by referring to the reddish variations of a wool-white mark, and it is taught likewise in a baraita that R' Natan says, referring to that Mishnah: It is not correct that R' Akiva said: The reddish variation of lime is darker than it; rather, he said that the reddish variation of a wool-white mark is darker than it.

ומנלן דבהרת עזה היא? אמר אביי, אמר קרא: ״אם בהרת לבנה היא״⁠ – היא לבנה, ואין אחרת לבנה.

§ The Talmud considers the source from which the different shades of marks are derived: And from where do we derive that baheret is an intense white color? Abaye said: The verse states: “And if it is a white baheret” (Leviticus 13:4), which indicates that it alone is a bright white and there is no other as white as it.

תנו רבנן: ״בהרת״⁠ – עמוקה, וכן הוא אומר: ״ומראה עמק מן העור״; כמראה חמה העמוקה מן הצל. ״שאת״⁠ – אין שאת אלא גבוה, וכן הוא אומר: ״על כל ההרים הרמים ועל כל הגבעות הנשאות״. ״ספחת״⁠ – אין ספחת אלא טפילה, וכן הוא אומר: ״ואמר ספחני נא״.

A baraita states: The bright shade of a baheret makes it appear deeper than the surrounding skin, and so the verse states: “And its appearance is deeper than the skin” (Leviticus 13:25). This is like the appearance of an area illuminated by the sun, which appears deeper than the area in the shade. The darker shade of a se’et makes it appear as though it is raised above the surrounding skin; this is indicated by the fact that the word se’et means nothing other than raised, and so the verse states: “Upon all the high mountains and upon all the raised up [hanissaot] hills” (Isaiah 2:14). The words hanissaot and se’et share the same Hebrew root and both refer to something raised up. In the verse: “For a se’et and for a sappaḥat” (Leviticus 14:56), the word sappaḥat means nothing other than secondary, and so the verse states: “And he will say: Append me [sefaḥeni] please to one of the priestly classes to eat a piece of bread” (I Samuel 2:36). This teaches that there is a leprous mark that is secondary and appended to a se’et. This is a mark that is the color of an egg membrane.