Study Sotah folio 46A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
והכהנים אומרים: ״כפר לעמך ישראל אשר פדית ה׳ ואל תתן דם נקי בקרב עמך ישראל״. לא היו צריכין לומר ״ונכפר להם הדם״, אלא רוח הקודש מבשרתן: אימתי שתעשו ככה — הדם מתכפר להם.
And the priests recite: “Forgive, YHWH, Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of Your people Israel” (Deuteronomy 21:8). They did not have to recite the conclusion of the verse: “And the blood should be forgiven for them,” as this is not part of the priests’ statement, but rather the Holy Spirit informs them: When you should do so, the blood is forgiven for you.
גמ׳ ויהא מום פוסל בעגלה מקל וחומר: ומה פרה שאין השנים פוסלות בה, מום פוסל בה, עגלה ששנים פוסלות בה — אינו דין שיהא מום פוסל בה! שאני התם דאמר קרא: ״אשר אין בה מום״ — בה מום פוסל, ואין מום פוסל בעגלה.
Talmud: With regard to the Mishnah’s statement that the heifer is not disqualified by a blemish, the Talmud suggests: And a blemish should disqualify in the case of the heifer, by means of an a fortiori inference: And if in the case of the red heifer, which is not disqualified by years, as it may be of any age, and yet a blemish disqualifies it, then a heifer for this ritual, which is disqualified by years, as it is valid only until two years of age, is it not logical that a blemish should disqualify it? The Talmud answers: It is different there, in the case of the red heifer, as the verse states: “Wherein [bah] has no blemish” (Numbers 19:2). This serves as an exclusion and teaches that it is only with regard to it [bah] that a blemish is disqualifying, but a blemish is not disqualifying with regard to the heifer of the ritual of the breaking of the neck.
אלא מעתה לא יהו שאר עבודות פוסלות בה.
The Talmud asks: However, if that is so, if the word “bah” precludes a derivation by an a fortiori inference, then any other labor performed with the red heifer, apart from pulling a yoke, should not disqualify it. While the verse disqualifies a red heifer only if it pulled a yoke, as it states: “And upon which never came a yoke” (Numbers 19:2), a similar a fortiori inference could be learned from the heifer whose neck is to be broken to disqualify a red heifer that has performed any labor. However, since the verse states with regard to the heifer whose neck is to be broken: “That has not been worked with [bah]” (Deuteronomy 21:3), this indicates that labor is disqualifying only for “bah,” a heifer whose neck is to be broken, but not for a red heifer.