A new mishnah on today’s daf dives deeper into the logistics of peter chamor, the redemption of a firstborn donkey, and how one deals with cases of uncertainty:
In the case of a female donkey that had not previously given birth and now gave birth to two male offspring, its owner gives one lamb to the priest. If it gave birth to a male and a female, he designates one lamb for himself.
As we’ve learned, only male firstborns have special status and (in the case of donkeys) require redemption with a lamb. Therefore, if one’s donkey gave birth to two males for the first time, even if the owner is uncertain which emerged first, one of them surely has the status of a bekhor (firstborn). Therefore, the owner designates a lamb to redeem the firstborn and gives it to a priest.
But if the donkey gave birth to both a male and female and it’s not known which was born first, there might not be a bekhor here at all: If the female was born first, she’s not a bekhor because she’s female, and the male isn’t a bekhor because he didn’t emerge first from his mother’s womb. Because we’re uncertain as to whether the male has bekhor status, the owner separates a lamb as its redemption just in case. But, crucially, unlike certain other gifts owed to the priests — such as terumah — the lamb through which a firstborn donkey is redeemed does not have special sacred status. The priests have a monetary claim upon the lamb, but there are no limits regarding who can use the animal itself. Therefore, in this case of uncertainty, the owner is allowed to keep the lamb and do whatever they wish. This is because of the principle hamotzi mechavero alav hara’ayah: one who comes to take from their fellow, the burden of proof is on them. If a priest wishes to claim the lamb for himself, the burden of proof is on him to demonstrate that the male donkey was born first. Since that’s basically impossible, no priest can claim the lamb, and the owner keeps it for herself.
The mishnah goes on to list several other scenarios where there is uncertainty as to whether any offspring was a bekhor, and in each case the rule is the same: the owner separates a lamb, but is able to keep it. The mishnah then goes on to explain how we even know the firstborn donkey is redeemed by a lamb, and the logistics of this redemption that we’ve already spent nine pages talking about:
As it is stated: “And you shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb (seh)” (Exodus 34:20). The owner may give a lamb either from sheep or from goats; from males or females, from older or younger animals, and from unblemished or blemished animals. And he may redeem firstborn donkeys with it many times. It enters the pen in order to be tithed with the other non-sacred animals (see Leviticus 27:32), and if it dies, one may derive benefit from its carcass.
Any flock animal will do — either goat or lamb — and of any age or gender. And in a case where either the priest returns a lamb to the owner (as Rashi suggests) or one of the cases of uncertainty above, where the owner gets to keep the lamb from the get-go, this lamb can become your go-to redemption animal! There isn’t a necessary one-to-one ratio for redeeming firstborn donkeys onto lambs. And notably, while we’ll see a debate in the Gemara as to whether it’s permissible to benefit from a firstborn donkey before it’s redeemed (the majority opinion says no), that status isn’t transferred to the lamb. Rather, the lamb is treated like any other livestock.
Read all of Bekhorot 9 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 27, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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