With regard to one who says to his pregnant Canaanite maidservant: You are hereby a free woman but your offspring shall remain a slave, the offspring is emancipated like her. This is the statement of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili. And the Rabbis say: The master’s statement is upheld, because it is stated: “The wife and her children shall be her master’s” (Exodus 21:4). הָאוֹמֵר לְשִׁפְחָתוֹ הֲרֵי אַתְּ בַּת חוֹרִין וּוְלָדִךְ עֶבֶד הַוָּלָד כְּמוֹתָהּ דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים דְּבָרָיו קַיָּימִים מִשּׁוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ תִּהְיֶה לַאדֹנֶיהָ
The Gemara expresses surprise at this ruling: What is the biblical derivation here? How do the Rabbis learn from here that the child of an emancipated maidservant remains a slave in this case? Rava said: The proof from the verse beginning with: “The wife and her children,” is not the source of the opinion of the Rabbis. Rather, this is referring to the statement of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, who claims that the children follow their mother, as indicated by this verse. Consequently, if she is emancipated, her offspring do not retain the status of slaves. מַאי תַּלְמוּדָא אָמַר רָבָא אַדְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי
MISHNA: Rabbi Tarfon says: Mamzerim can be purified, so that their offspring will not be mamzerim. How so? With regard to a mamzer who married a Canaanite maidservant, their offspring is a slave. If his master subsequently emancipates him, that son is found to be a freeman, rather than a mamzer. Rabbi Eliezer says: This method is not effective, as this son is a mamzer slave. מַתְנִי' רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן אוֹמֵר יְכוֹלִין מַמְזֵרִין לִיטָּהֵר כֵּיצַד מַמְזֵר שֶׁנָּשָׂא שִׁפְחָה הַוָּלָד עֶבֶד שִׁיחְרְרוֹ נִמְצָא הַבֵּן בֶּן חוֹרִין רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר הֲרֵי זֶה עֶבֶד מַמְזֵר
GEMARA: A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Did Rabbi Tarfon state his halakha ab initio, i.e., a mamzer is permitted to marry a maidservant, or did he state it only after the fact, but he does not permit a mamzer to marry a maidservant ab initio? The Gemara answers: Come and hear proof from a baraita: The other Sages said to Rabbi Tarfon: You have thereby purified the male offspring of a mamzer, but you have not purified the female children of mamzerim, as your solution does not apply to them. גְּמָ' אִיבַּעְיָא לְהוּ רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן לְכַתְּחִילָּה קָאָמַר אוֹ דִיעֲבַד קָאָמַר תָּא שְׁמַע אָמְרוּ לוֹ לְרַבִּי טַרְפוֹן טִיהַרְתָּ אֶת הַזְּכָרִים וְלֹא טִיהַרְתָּ אֶת הַנְּקֵיבוֹת
The Gemara explains the apparent proof from this baraita. And if you say that Rabbi Tarfon stated his halakha ab initio and permitted a mamzer to marry a Canaanite maidservant, a mamzeret should also be allowed to marry a Canaanite slave and her child can then be emancipated as well. The Gemara answers: A slave has no lineage. Even if she were to marry a slave, their child would not be considered his, but would be a Jewish mamzer like her. Consequently, this source provides no proof with regard to the Gemara’s question. וְאִי אָמְרַתְּ לְכַתְּחִילָּה קָאָמַר מַמְזֶרֶת נָמֵי תִּינְּסִיב לְעַבְדָּא עֶבֶד אֵין לוֹ חַיִיס

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The Gemara further suggests: Come and hear, as Rabbi Simlai’s host was a mamzer, and Rabbi Simlai said to him: Had I found out about your status earlier, before you married and had children, I would have purified your sons by advising you to marry a Canaanite maidservant, as suggested by Rabbi Tarfon. The Gemara explains the proof: Granted, if you say that Rabbi Tarfon spoke ab initio, it is well that Rabbi Simlai would suggest this. But if you say that he meant only that this method is effective after the fact, what was the advice that Rabbi Simlai would have given his host? תָּא שְׁמַע דְּאוּשְׁפִּיזְכָּנֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי שִׂמְלַאי מַמְזֵר הֲוָה וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ אִי אַקְדֵּמְתָּךְ טַהַרְתִּינְהוּ לִבְנָךְ אִי אָמְרַתְּ בִּשְׁלָמָא לְכַתְּחִילָּה שַׁפִּיר אֶלָּא אִי אָמְרַתְּ דִּיעֲבַד מַאי נִיהוּ
The Gemara answers that Rabbi Simlai would have advised him by saying: Go steal, and be sold as a Hebrew slave, which would mean you could marry a Canaanite maidservant and your offspring would be slaves. The Gemara asks: But in the days of Rabbi Simlai, was the halakha of a Hebrew slave observed in practice? But didn’t the Master say: The halakha of a Hebrew slave is practiced only when the Jubilee Year is practiced, and Rabbi Simlai lived many years after the observance of the Jubilee Year ceased. Rather, isn’t it correct to conclude from it that Rabbi Tarfon spoke ab initio, i.e., it is permitted for a mamzer to marry a Canaanite maidservant? The Gemara affirms: Indeed, conclude from the baraita that this is the case. Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Tarfon. דְּמַנְסֵיב לֵיהּ עֵצָה וְאָמַר לֵיהּ זִיל גְּנוֹב וְאִיזְדַּבַּן בְּעֶבֶד עִבְרִי וּבִשְׁנֵי דְּרַבִּי שִׂמְלַאי עֶבֶד עִבְרִי מִי הֲוָה וְהָאָמַר מָר אִין עֶבֶד עִבְרִי נוֹהֵג אֶלָּא בִּזְמַן שֶׁהַיּוֹבֵל נוֹהֵג אֶלָּא לָאו שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן לְכַתְּחִילָּה קָאָמַר שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל הֲלָכָה כְּרַבִּי טַרְפוֹן
§ The mishna teaches that Rabbi Eliezer says: This son is a mamzer slave. Rabbi Elazar said: What is the reason of Rabbi Eliezer? As the verse states with regard to a mamzer: “Even to the tenth generation none of his shall enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:3), which indicates that in the case of the child of a mamzer and a Canaanite maidservant, one follows his parent with the flawed lineage, and the child is a mamzer. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר הֲרֵי זֶה עֶבֶד מַמְזֵר אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר מַאי טַעְמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר דְּאָמַר קְרָא לוֹ הַלֵּךְ אַחַר פְּסוּלוֹ
The Gemara asks: And how do the Rabbis, i.e., Rabbi Tarfon, respond to this claim? Rabbi Tarfon maintains that this verse is referring to a Jew of unflawed lineage who married a mamzeret. It might enter your mind to say that as it is written: “By their families, by their fathers’ houses” (Numbers 4:2), the child should follow his father’s lineage rather than that of his mother. Therefore, the term “of his” in the previously cited verse comes to exclude him from his father’s lineage, as it indicates that his lineage follows his mother when she is a mamzeret. וְרַבָּנַן הַהוּא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנָּשָׂא מַמְזֶרֶת סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ אָמֵינָא לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם כְּתִיב אֲתָא לוֹ אַפְּקֵיהּ
And how does Rabbi Eliezer respond to this claim? Is it not the case that even though the Torah wrote: “By their families, by their fathers’ houses,” nevertheless, the term “of his” comes and excludes him? Here too, although it is written: “The wife and her children shall be her master’s” (Exodus 21:4), from which it is derived that the child of a Canaanite maidservant is like her, nevertheless the term “of his” comes and excludes him. And how do the Rabbis, Rabbi Tarfon, respond to this claim? They say: Any offspring in the womb of a Canaanite maidservant is considered like the offspring in an animal’s womb. Consequently, her children do not inherit the father’s status, even if his is the flawed lineage. וְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר לָאו אַף עַל גַּב דִּכְתַב לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם אֲתָא לוֹ אַפְּקֵיהּ הָכָא נָמֵי אַף עַל גַּב דִּכְתִיב הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ תִּהְיֶה לַאדֹנֶיהָ אֲתָא לוֹ אַפְּקֵיהּ וְרַבָּנַן כׇּל וָלָד בִּמְעֵי שִׁפְחָה כְּנַעֲנִית כְּוָלָד בִּמְעֵי בְּהֵמָה דָּמֵי
May we return to you, chapter “the one who says”

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