1If he had half brothers from the first husband and half brothers from the second, not from the same mother but from the same father, he performs ḥalitza or levirate marriage with their widows. If he is indeed their paternal half brother, then the widows are his yevamot ; if not, he may marry them like any other man. And similarly, with regard to them and his wife, one half brother from one father performs ḥalitza and one from the other father performs levirate marriage.
2If one of his two uncertain fathers was an Israelite and one was a priest, he may marry only a woman fit to marry a priest, due to the possibility that he is a priest. And he may not become ritually impure with impurity imparted by a corpse because he might be a priest. But if he became impure, he does not receive the forty lashes, as he might be a non-priest. Likewise, he does not partake of teruma , in case he is a non-priest. However, if he ate teruma he does not pay the principal and the additional fifth, as he might be a priest. And he does not receive teruma at the granary. However, he may sell the teruma of his own produce and the money is his. It cannot be taken away from him due to the uncertainty with regard to his status.
3And he does not receive a share of the sacred of the consecrated offerings, and one may not give him the consecrated offerings to sacrifice. However, the hides of his own offerings may not be appropriated from his possession. And he is exempt from giving a priest the foreleg, and the jaw, and the maw of his non-consecrated animals. And the firstling of his animal should graze until it becomes unfit to be sacrificed because it gets a blemish. And in general, we place upon him the stringencies of priests and the stringencies of Israelites.
4If both uncertain fathers were priests, then if they die he is in a state of acute mourning over each of them, in case the deceased is his father. And if he dies, they are both in a state of acute mourning over him, as one of them is his father. He may not become ritually impure to bury them, as each one may not be his relative, and they may not become ritually impure to bury him for the same reason. He does not inherit from them, as the heirs of both husbands can reject his claims. However, they inherit from him if he has no sons and split his inheritance equally.
5And he is exempt from capital punishment for striking and for cursing both this father and that one. Although one who strikes or curses his father or mother is liable to receive the death penalty, he cannot be held liable, as it is unknown which of the men is his father. He must ascend to the Temple service with the priestly watch of this father and of that one, as he belongs to one of these watches and is obligated to serve with them. However, he does not receive a share of the portion of the offerings that gets eaten, as the members of each watch can claim that he is a member of the other watch. If both uncertain fathers were in one priestly watch, he receives one share, as he certainly belongs to that watch.
6GEMARA: The mishna stated that if the son has paternal half brothers from each of his two uncertain fathers and he dies childless, a half brother from one father performs ḥalitza and the other performs levirate marriage. The Gemara comments that ḥalitza is specifically performed first and only afterward levirate marriage. However, levirate marriage is not performed first, as that would breach the prohibition against a yevama engaging in intercourse with a member of the public in the event that she is not his yevama but rather the yevama of the other half brother.
7Shmuel said that if ten priests were standing in one place, and one of them, who is unidentified, left the group and engaged in intercourse with a woman, and she gave birth, the child is a silenced one, i.e., a child whose father’s identity is not known. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase silenced one [ shetuki ] in this regard? If we say that he is silenced from any claim to his father’s property, this is obvious; do we know who his father is? Rather, it means that he is silenced from the status of priesthood, as well. Although his father certainly is a priest, he is not given this status.
8The Gemara asks: What is the reason for this? The Gemara answers that the verse states: “And it shall be to him and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (Numbers 25:13). It is derived from “and to his seed after him” that we require a priest’s descendants to be attributed to his lineage, and here that is not the case, as there is no certain father.
9Rav Pappa strongly objects to this: However, if that is so, since the same phrase is written with regard to Abraham: “To be a God to you and to your seed after you” (Genesis 17:7), what is the Merciful One warning him there? Can it possibly mean that one who cannot identify his parents is not obligated to serve God as a Jew? The Gemara answers that this is what He said to him: You may not marry a gentile woman or a maidservant, so that the status of your offspring will not follow her status, as the child of a Jewish man and a gentile woman or maidservant receives the status of his mother.
10The Gemara raises an objection: A baraita (37a) teaches that if a priest performed levirate marriage with his brother’s wife within three months of his brother’s death, and she gave birth to a son who is either her deceased husband’s son or her brother-in-law’s son, this first son born after the levirate marriage is fit even to be a High Priest. But don’t we require his descendants to be attributed to his lineage, and that is not so in this case, as the father’s identity is unknown? The Gemara answers: The requirement that his descendants be attributed to his lineage is rabbinic law, and the verse is a mere support, not the actual source. And when the Sages decreed that one whose father’s identity is unknown is not a priest, they did so only with regard to a case of licentious intercourse. With regard to a case of marriage, as is the case in the baraita , the Sages did not apply the decree.
11The Gemara asks: And with regard to a case of licentious intercourse, did the Sages in fact issue a decree? Didn’t we learn in the mishna about a woman who did not wait three months after separating from her husband and remarried and gave birth to a son?
12What is the meaning of the phrase: After separating from her husband? If we say it means after her husband’s death, say the latter clause of the mishna: If they die, he is in a state of acute mourning over each of them, and if he dies, they are both in a state of acute mourning over him. Granted, if they die, he is in a state of acute mourning over them. You find this case with regard to his uncertain father from his mother’s marriage to the second man. If the second husband dies, the child must mourn for him, and he is also in a state of acute mourning following the gathering of the bones of the first husband, who died before he was born. When the bones of a person who was buried are dug up for proper burial in his ancestor’s plot, his relatives mourn for him a second time. But with regard to the statement that if he dies they are in a state of acute mourning for him, how can you find these circumstances? The first husband is already dead.
13And assume the mishna’s statement is rather with regard to a divorcée. And accordingly what is the meaning of the phrase: After separating from her husband? It means: After she received a bill of divorce from her husband. If so, say the latter clause of the mishna: He may not become impure to bury them, and they may not become impure to bury him. Granted, they may not become impure to bury him, as the ruling is stringent, as with regard to each one of them perhaps he is not his son. However, why may he not become impure to bury them?
14Granted, for the second one he should not become impure, as he might not be his son. However, for the first he should be allowed to become impure whichever way you view it: If he is his son, it is appropriate for him to become impure to bury him, as even a priest must become ritually impure to bury his father. And if he is the son of the latter one, it is appropriate for him to become impure to bury him, as he, the son, is a ḥalal . If his mother is a divorcée, his father, the latter husband, is prohibited as a priest to marry her, and a child born from this relationship is a ḥalal , who is unfit for the priesthood. There would then be no prohibition against his becoming ritually impure.
15Rather, is the mishna’s statement not with regard to the licentious intercourse of an unmarried woman? And what is the meaning of the phrase: After she separated from her husband [ ba’ala ]? Is it not: After separating from the man with whom she engaged in intercourse [ bo’ala ], meaning that she engaged in intercourse with a man less than three months before marrying another man, and therefore she does not know the identity of the father? And it is taught in the latter clause of the mishna that the son ascends to the Temple service with the priestly watch of this one and of that one, which implies that he is considered a priest, although the identity of his father is uncertain due to the licentious intercourse of his mother. And this appears to be a conclusive refutation of the opinion of Shmuel.
16Rav Shemaya said: The mishna’s statement pertains to a girl who refused her husband. A minor girl who was orphaned from her father may be married off by her brothers. However, she may subsequently refuse her husband before reaching majority. This nullifies the marriage entirely, so she is not considered a divorcée, for whom it is prohibited to marry a priest. In the case of the mishna, she did not wait three months after her refusal before marrying again, so she does not know who the father of her child is.
17The Gemara asks: Can a girl who refuses her husband give birth? Didn’t Rav Beivai teach before Rav Naḥman that women in three situations may engage in intercourse with a contraceptive resorbent, despite the fact that this practice is generally prohibited: A minor girl, a pregnant woman, and a nursing woman? A minor girl may do so lest she become pregnant and die, as the fetus might endanger her life. A pregnant woman may do so lest she get pregnant a second time and her previous fetus becomes a sandal, i.e., it is squashed by the pressure of the second fetus. A nursing woman may do so lest she wean her child prematurely, as pregnancy will cause her milk to dry up, and he will die of hunger. And who is considered a minor girl in this context? A girl from the age of eleven years and one day until the age of twelve years and one day. If she is younger than this or older than this, she should go ahead and engage in intercourse in her usual manner. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir.
18And the Rabbis say: Both this one and that one, i.e., women in any cases, should go ahead and engage in intercourse in their usual manner, and Heaven will have mercy and prevent them from getting pregnant, as it is stated: “The Lord preserves the simple” (Psalms 116:6). Evidently, a girl who is a minor and therefore young enough to refuse her husband cannot become pregnant without endangering her health.
19The Gemara answers: You find a solution in the case of a mistaken betrothal. For example, if the first husband betrothed her conditionally and the condition was unfulfilled, the marriage is nullified. This woman may marry a priest. If she did so within three months, the identity of her child’s father is uncertain, which fits the statement in the mishna. And this is in accordance with that which Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said, as Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: The verse states with regard to a sota : “Neither was she [ hi ] coerced in the act” (Numbers 5:13). It may be inferred that she is forbidden to her husband only if she was not coerced by the adulterer; if she was coerced she is permitted to him.
20And the superfluous word “she” indicates that you have another woman who, although she engaged in intercourse willingly and was not coerced, is nevertheless permitted to her husband, as the intercourse is not considered adultery. And who is this? This is referring to a woman whose betrothal was a mistaken betrothal, as even if her child is riding on her shoulders, she may refuse her husband and go off on her way. She is considered an unmarried woman, and she is therefore permitted to return to her husband, even if she engaged in intercourse with another man. The mishna may therefore be explained in a way that does not contradict Shmuel.