Eighteen Treatises from the Mishna, by D. A. Sola and M. J. Raphall, [1843], at sacred-texts.com

p. 29

CHAPTER VIII.

§ 1. It is prohibited to sow kilaim in a vineyard, to allow it to grow if it has sprung up spontaneously, or to receive any benefit therefrom. It is prohibited to sow kilaim of seeds, and to allow it to grow; but it is lawful to eat of it, and, à fortiori, to derive benefit therefrom. Kilaim of clothing may lawfully be applied to any purpose, except that of dressing or clothing one's self therewith. It is permitted to rear kilaim of cattle; but it is unlawful to breed from them; and also to cause them to copulate with each other, [as a mule, gotten on a mare by an ass, with one by a stallion out of a she-ass].

§ 2. It is prohibited to plough with, to cause to draw, or to drive a team composed of domestic animals of diverse kinds, or of wild animals of diverse kinds; or with a team composed of a domestic animal and a wild one, a wild with a domestic one, an unclean beast with a clean one, or a clean with an unclean one.

§ 3. Whosoever drives [a team] of kilaim shall bear the punishment of the forty [stripes]; and whoever sits in the waggon or carriage is also liable to the punishment of forty stripes; but R. Meir absolves the last named [person]. It is also prohibited to fasten to a team a third animal not of the same kind as the other two, [as an ass to a team of two oxen], even though it should not assist in drawing.

§ 4. It is prohibited to tie a horse [in order to break it in], to tine sides of, or behind, a waggon [drawn by oxen], and also [to tie], for the purpose of draught, [a Lybian ass] 1 with a camel. R. Jehudah saith, "Whatever is foaled by a mare may be joined with each other, although the sire should have been an ass; and, in like manner, whatever is foaled by a she-ass may be joined together, although tine sire should have been a horse; but it is unlawful to join what has been foaled by a mare with that which has been foaled by a she-ass."

§ 5. It is prohibited to cause the ‏פרוטיות‎ 2 to copulate; but it is

p. 30

allowed to do so with the ‏רמך‎. 3 The ‏אדני שדה‎ 4 is a wild animal; R. José saith, "its dead carcase, even like that of a human being, causes all that is under the cover of a tent to contract pollution." The porcupine and the ‏חולדת הסניים‎ 5 will, as R. José says, according to Beth Shammai, "cause a person to contract pollution who has carried any portion of their carcases, which has the size of an olive, or who has touched any part of it of the size of a lentil."

The urus, or buffalo, must be considered as a domestic animal; R. José, however, saith, "as a wild animal. The dog as a wild animal;" but R. Meir saith, "as a domestic one." The hog as a domestic animal; the zebra as a wild animal. The elephant and the monkey as wild animals. It is lawful for a human being to draw, plough, or drive [together] with any of these animals.

Footnotes

29:1 Heb. ‏לובדקים‎ The explanation of Maimonides and Bartenora has here been adopted. They state it to be a kind of ass, greatly exceeding the ordinary size, and resembling the camel.

29:2 Mules, of which it cannot be ascertained whether the dam was a mare or a she-ass.

30:3 The term ‏בני הדמכים‎ has, in the English version of Esther, been rendered (viii. 14), "mules and camels," which cannot be meant here; but the true meaning, and which fully applies here, appears to be that given by Aben Ezra, in his Commentaries on Esther, ad loc. cit. "Mules foaled by mares, which are stronger than those foaled by she-asses."

30:4 The description of this animal, given by various commentators of the Mishna, is, that of an absolutely fabulous one, which cannot have been meant by the text. According to Dr. Jost's surmise, "It may be a kind of ape, perhaps an ouran outang, or Chimpanzee."

30:5 Wild weasel. According to others, a Chinese weasel; but, according to the opinion of Maimonides, "a kind of fox or martin."