Study Yevamot folio 61A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
קברי גוים אינן מטמאין באהל, שנאמר: ״ואתן צאני צאן מרעיתי אדם אתם״. אתם קרויין אדם, ואין הגוים קרויין אדם.
The graves of non-Jews do not render items impure through a tent, as it is stated: “And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men [adam]” (Ezekiel 34:31), from which it is derived that you, the Jewish people, are called men [adam] but non-Jews are not called men [adam]. Since the Torah introduces the halakha of ritual impurity of a tent with the words: “When a man [adam] dies in a tent” (Numbers 19:14), this halakha applies only to corpses of Jews but not those of non-Jews.
מיתיבי: ״ונפש אדם ששה עשר אלף״! משום בהמה.
The Talmud raises an objection based upon the verse with regard to captives taken during the war against Midian: “And the persons [nefesh adam] were 16,000” (Numbers 31:40), which indicates that non-Jews are also referred to as adam. The Talmud answers: They are given this title due to the need to distinguish the people taken captive from the animals that were taken as spoils of war.
״אשר יש בה הרבה משתים עשרה רבוא אדם אשר לא ידע בין ימינו לשמאלו (ובהמה רבה)״! משום בהמה.
The Talmud raises another difficulty based upon a verse with regard to the city of Nineveh: “Wherein are more than 120,000 men [adam] that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle” (Jonah 4:11). The Talmud answers: There, too, the non-Jews are given this title due to the need to distinguish them from the animals mentioned in the verse.
״כל הורג נפש וכל נוגע בחלל תתחטאו״! דלמא איקטיל חד מישראל. ורבנן: ״לא נפקד ממנו איש״. ורבי שמעון בן יוחי: ״לא נפקד ממנו איש״ — לעבירה.
The Talmud continues to question R' Shimon’s ruling based upon a verse pertaining to the war against Midian: “Whoever has killed anyone, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves” (Numbers 31:19). This indicates that non-Jew corpses convey ritual impurity. The Talmud answers: Perhaps a Jew was killed, and the concern was for impurity caused by his corpse. And the Rabbis reply that the verse attests: “Not one man of us is missing” (Numbers 31:49). No Jewish soldiers fell in battle, and therefore the concern for impurity must have been due to the corpses of non-Jews. And R' Shimon ben Yoḥai responds: The intent of that verse is that not one man of us is missing due to transgression, i.e., none of them sinned.