תלמוד על נזיר 5:1

It was stated: “All substitute names for nazir vows are like nazir vows, and one whips because of them.” Even though Rebbi Joḥanan said, one does not whip for prohibitions⁷Nedarim 1:1, Note 36., he agrees in this case that he is whipped⁸If somebody makes a vow using unapproved language and does not keep it, he cannot be accused of transgressing a biblical prohibition. But if he refers, if only obliquely, to the biblical laws of the nazir, such an infringement is punishable by law.. Even though Rebbi Simeon said, he does not bring a sacrifice⁹In Mishnah 5:7, R. Simeon holds that for a questionable vow of nazir one cannot bring a sacrifice since the Temple does not accept questionable sacrifices., he agrees in this case that he be whipped¹⁰Since the vow is not questionable.. Even though Rebbi Jehudah said, a questionable nazir vow is permitted¹¹In Halakhah 4:6; based on Num. 6:2., he agrees in this case that he be whipped¹⁰Since the vow is not questionable.. Where do we hold? If he has the intention of becoming a nazir, even if he only said, I shall be a nazir if I mention bread, he is a nazir. Similarly, if he had no intention of becoming a nazir, even if he mentioned nazir, he is no nazir; for example if he was reading the Torah and mentioned nazir,naziq. But we hold about one who says, I declared my vow of nazir by any of these expressions. If one of them is a valid expression of a vow of nazir¹²From the list mentioned in the Mishnah., it will fall on him, otherwise, will the vow of nazir not fall on him? One tells him: keep the discipline¹³Deut. 12:28; if he had the intention of becoming a nazir, even if he did not use exactly the prescribed language. The same expression is used in the Babli, Menaḥot 81b, regarding a person who makes an irregular vow of a sacrifice..

Unless the cow stood up, unless the door was opened⁴⁴Under which circumstances will the House of Shammai insist that the maker of the vow is a nazir? If the cow does stand up or if she never stands up?? Let us hear from the following⁴⁵Mishnah 5:6: “If people dispute facts; A says that he will be nazir if a fact is true, B says that he will be nazir if it is not true, C says that he will be nazir if both A and B are wrong. The House of Shammai say, …”: “The House of Shammai say, they are all nezirim. But the House of Hillel say, only those are nezirim whose words turned out not to be true.” So is the Mishnah⁴⁶The text is garbled here (and somewhat garbled in Halakhah 6:6): “So is the Mishnah: ‘Whose words turned out to be true;’ it is formulated in the opposite, so as not to bury her son.” The rancher’s statement, that his cow said, “I shall be a nezirah if I be standing up”, for the House of Shammai has to be interpreted as a vow of nazir if the cow never stands up, since the cow standing up is the desired outcome; just as a woman who is afraid her son might die will formulate it saying her son certainly will not die. (It is possible to read a similar interpretation into the text of the Babli, 10b.): “Whose words turned out not to be true;” it is formulated in the opposite, as not to say that she should not bury her son. Even if the cow did not stand up, even if the door was not opened⁴⁷For the House of Shammai, he is a nazir in any case..

HALAKHAH: There⁸⁵Mishnah Nazir 5:1. The entire Halakhah is copied from Nazir, Halakhah 5:1., we have stated: “The House of Shammai say, dedication in error is dedication.” Rebbi Jeremiah said, if he intends to say “profane” and he says “fire sacrifice”, he dedicated it⁸⁶This is his interpretation of the House of Shammai’s position.. Rebbi Yose said, we consider only if he intended to dedicate but he erred because of something else⁸⁷The full text of Mishnah Nazir5:1 is: “The House of Shammai say, dedication in error is dedication, but the House of Hillel say, it is no dedication. How is that? If he said, the black bull coming out first from my house shall be dedicated [as sacrifice] and a white one came out, the House of Shammai say, it is dedicated, but the House of Hillel say, it is not dedicated.” R. Yose restricts the opinion of the house of Shammai to the case when he wanted to dedicate some animal for a certain kind of sacrifice and the only error is in the individual selected.. What is the status of this Mishnah⁸⁸The Mishnah here in Terumot. For R. Jeremiah, it only follows the House of Hillel.? In the opinion of Rebbi Jeremiah it is in dispute, in the opinion of Rebbi Yose it is everybody’s opinion.