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Volume 76 › Table of Contents › Article Abstract
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The Blemished First-Born Animal
A Case Study in Tannaitic Sources
Tzvi Novick, Yale University |
Recent synoptic studies comparing the Mishnah with the Tosefta and (to a lesser
extent) with the tannaitic midrashim have shown that the Mishnah, far more often
than has generally been assumed, reworks sources that are attested, in their original
(or at least pre-mishnaic) form, in these other works. The current essay identifies
a more complicated instance of "late" Mishnah. The list of animal blemishes in
m.Bekorot chapter 6 appears to modify an original list, reflected in t.Bekorot chapter
4, by integrating materials attested in Sifre Deuteronomy and especially in the Sifra.
The Mishnah's changes may have been motivated by the desire to adapt the list to
the changed legal circumstances of the post-Temple period, and to synthesize different
traditions about disqualifying blemishes.
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