It happened that the lower jaw [of an animal] protruded beyond its upper jaw; Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel sent to the Sages, and they said: It is a blemish. [If] a kid’s ear was doubled —- the Sages said: In the instance that it is one body, it is a blemish; but if it is not one body, it is not a blemish. R’ Chanania ben Gamliel says: A kid’s tail that resembles that of a pig, or [a tail] that does not have three vertebrae, is a blemish.

R’ Chanina ben Antignos says: [If] it has a wart on its eye, or the bone of its foreleg or hind leg is notched, or the bone in its mouth is split, [or] one eye is large or one is small, [or] one ear is visibly large and one is small, [it is a blemish,] but not if it must be measured. R’ Yehudah says: [Also, if] one of its testicles is twice the size of the other, but the Sages did not concur with him.

[If] a calf’s tail does not reach the knee joint —- the Sages said: The growth of all calves is in this manner, as long as they grow they stretch out. Concerning which knee joint did they speak? Said R’ Chanina ben Antignos: Concerning the knee joint that is in the middle of the thigh. By reason of these blemishes a bechor may be slaughtered, and unfit consecrated animals may be redeemed because of them.

On account of the following [blemishes] one may not slaughter either in the Temple or in the provinces: White flecks or water that are not permanent, or back teeth that were notched but were not uprooted; or an [animal] that has scabs, a wart, or boils; [or] an aged [animal], a sick one, one emitting an offensive odor, one with which a sin was committed, or that killed a person (by the testimony of one witness or by the confession of the owner); an animal of undetermined gender, or an androgynous [animal] —- [one may not slaughter these] either in the Temple or in the provinces. R’ Yishmael says: There is no blemish greater than this; the Sages say: It is not a bechor, and it may be sheared and worked with.

These blemishes, whether permanent or temporary, render a man unfit. To them [must be] added in the case of man: One whose head is wedge shaped, or turnip shaped, or hammer shaped, or whose head is sunken, or whose occiput is flat. Hunchbacks —- R’ Yehudah declares them fit, but the Sages declare them unfit.

A bald-headed man is unfit. Who is regarded as a bald-headed man? Whoever has no ring of hair circling from ear to ear; but if he has, he is fit. [If] he has no eyebrows, [or] if he has but one eyebrow —- he is the gibben mentioned in the Torah. R’ Dosa says: [It is] one whose eyebrows hang down. R’ Chananiah ben Antignos says: One who has two backs and two spines.

The charum is unfit. What is a charum? One who can paint both his eyes with one movement. Both his eyes are [set] high, or both eyes are [set] low, [or] one eye is [set] high, or one eye is [set] low, [or] he focuses on the lower story and the upper story simultaneously, [or] one who cannot bear the sun, [or] one who has unmatched limbs, or watery eyes [is unfit]. One whose eyelashes fell out is unfit for reasons of unsightliness.

[One] whose eyes are as large as a calf’s, or as small as those of a goose; [or] whose body is too large for his limbs, or too small for his limbs; [or] whose nose is too large for his limbs, or too small for his limbs; [or] the tzimmem, or the tzimmea. What is a tzimmea? One whose ears are [too] small. And the tzimmem? One whose ears resemble a sponge.

[If] his upper lip protrudes beyond the lower one, or the lower one protrudes beyond the upper one, this is a blemish. One whose teeth have been extracted is unfit for reasons of appearance. [One] whose breasts hang down like a woman’s, [or] whose belly bulges, [or] whose navel protrudes, [or one] who is subject to epileptic seizures even rarely, [or] who is prone to severe melancholy, [or] one who has an enlarged scrotum, or an oversized membrum [is unfit]. One who has no testicles, or who has but one testicle, is the mero’ach ashech mentioned in the Torah. R’ Yishmael says: One whose testicles were crushed. R’ Akiva says: One who has wind in his testicles. R’ Chananiah ben Antignos says: One who has a dark complexion.

One who is bowlegged, or knock-kneed, or one who has a pikkah, or who is an ikkel. Who is an ikkel? Anyone who draws his feet together, and his knees do not touch each other. [One who has] a lump growing out of his thumb, [or] his heel protrudes backward, [or] his sole is wide like that of a goose, [or] his fingers lie one upon the other, or they are grown together [is unfit] —- [if it is only] until the joint, he is fit; [if it was] below the joint and he separated it, he is fit. [If] he had an additional [digit], and he amputated it: If it has a bone, he is unfit; if not, he is fit. [If he had] an additional digit on his hands and feet, six each, totaling twenty-four —- R’ Yehudah declares him fit, and the Sages declare him unfit. One [who] is ambidextrous —- Rabbi declares him unfit, and the Sages declare him fit. [If] he is black-skinned, or red-skinned, or an albino, or lanky, or a dwarf, or a deaf person, or a mental incompetent, or a drunk, or those afflicted with negaim that are adjudged tahor —- these are unfit in men, but fit in animals. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: An animal that is mentally deficient is not [an offering] of choice. R’ Eliezer says: Also those with dangling flesh are unfit in man but fit in animals.

These are fit in man but unfit in animals: A father and son, a tereifah, one delivered by Caesarean section, one with whom a sin has been committed, or one that has killed a person. One who marries forbidden women is unfit, until he pronounces a vow pro-hibiting him from deriving benefit [from them]. One who contaminates himself with [the tumah of] dead bodies is unfit, until he pledges not to contaminate himself with [the tumah of] dead bodies.

There is a bechor in regard to inheritance who is not a bechor in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen, [one who is] a bechor in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen and [yet] not a bechor in regard to inheritance, [one who is] a bechor in regard to both inheritance and [redemption from] a Kohen, [and] there is one who is not a bechor either in regard to inheritance or [redemption from] a Kohen.  Who is a bechor in regard to inheritance who is not a bechor in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen? One who follows a nonviable fetus whose head emerged alive, or a nine-month fetus whose head emerged dead, or if she [had previously] aborted something resembling an animal, a beast, or a bird; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. The Sages, however, say: Until he has something of a human form. [If a woman] aborts a sandal, or an amniotic sac, or an embryo which had begun to take shape, or if a fetus comes out in pieces —- [the child] that follows [any of] them is a bechor in regard to inheritance but not in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen. [If] one who had no children married a woman who had previously given birth, [even if she had given birth] when she was a slave and she was the emancipated, [or] when she was a non-Jewess and she then converted, [and] after she became a Yisraelis she gave birth [again] —- he is a bechor in regard to inheritance but he is not a bechor in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen. R’ Yose HaGlili says: He is a bechor both in regard to inheritance and to [redemption from] a Kohen, as it says (Exodus 13:2): [Whatever] opens every womb among the Children of Israel —- until they open a Yisraelis’ womb.  [If] one who had children married a woman who had never given birth; [or if a woman] converted while pregnant, [or] was emancipated while pregnant; [or one who] bore a child together with a Kohen’s daughter, [or] with a Levi’s daughter, [or] together with a woman who had already given birth; and similarly, [a woman] who did not wait three months after her husband but married and gave birth, and it is not known whether [the child] is the nine-month child of the former or the seven-month child of the latter —- [he is] a bechor in regard to [redemption from] a Kohen but he is not a bechor in regard to inheritance.  Who is a bechor both in regard to inheritance and [redemption from] a Kohen? [If a woman] aborts a mass full of blood, full of water, [or] full of a variegated substance; [or if] she aborts something resembling fish, locusts, abominable creatures, or creeping things; [or] if she aborts on the fortieth day —- the one following them is a bechor in regard to [both] inheritance and [redemption from] a Kohen.