‘‘Deposited hair’’ — Akavya ben Mahalalel rules it tamei and the Sages rule it tahor. What is ‘‘deposited hair’’? Someone had a baheres with white hair. The baheres disappeared, leaving the white hair in place, and [subsequently] returned. Akavya ben Mahalalel rules ‘‘deposited hair’’ to be tamei, and the Sages rule it tahor. R’ Akiva said: ‘‘I agree that this case is tahor [because it is not ‘deposited hair’]. What is ‘deposited hair’? Someone had a baheres the size of a gris that contained two [white] hairs. [The baheres] receded half a gris, leaving the white hair on the remaining baheres, and [subsequently] returned.’’  They said to him: ‘‘Just like Akavya’s opinion is disregarded, so is your opinion not upheld.“

Any doubt concerning negaim initially is [ruled] tahor, as long as [the afflicted person] has not been confirmed tamei. Once [the afflicted person] has been confirmed tamei, a doubt is [ruled] tamei. How so? Two [people] came to a Kohen, one with a baheres the size of a gris, and the other with [a baheres] the size of a sela. At the end of the week, both [beharos] are the size of a sela, and it is unknown which is the one that spread. Whether [both beharos are] on one person or on two people, [each baheres] is [ruled] tahor. R’ Akiva says: With one person it is tamei; with two people it is tahor.

Once [the afflicted person] has been confirmed tamei, a doubt is [ruled] tamei. How so? Two people came to a Kohen, one with a baheres the size of a gris and the other with [a baheres] the size of a sela. If at the end of the week, both [beharos] are larger than a sela, they both become confirmed tamei. Even if both [negaim] revert to the size of a sela, they both remain tamei, until they both become [as small as] a gris. This is what was said: Once [the afflicted person] has been confirmed tamei, a doubt is [ruled] tamei.

A basic baheres is the size of a Cilician gris squared. The area of a gris is equivalent to nine lentils. The area of a lentil is equivalent to [the area on which] four hairs [grow]. Thus, there are thirty-six hairs [in a nega].

A baheres the size of a gris that contained a michyah the size of a lentil — [if] the baheres spread, it is tamei; [if] it receded, it [becomes] tahor. [If] the michyah expanded, [the baheres] is tamei; [if the michyah] receded, [the baheres] is tahor.

A baheres the size of a gris that contained a michyah less than a lentil — [if] the baheres expanded, it becomes tamei; [if] it receded, it becomes tahor. [If] the michyah expanded, [the baheres] becomes tamei. [If the michyah] receded, R’ Meir renders it tamei and the Sages render it tahor, because a nega does not expand inwards.

A baheres larger than a gris contained more than a lentil of living skin — [if] they grew or receded, [the baheres] is tamei, as long as they do not recede below the minimum size.

A baheres the size of a gris is surrounded by living skin [the width] of a lentil, and [another] baheres is outside the living skin — the inner one is confined and the outer one is confirmed. Said R’ Yose: The michyah is not a symptom of tumah for the outer [nega] since a baheres is inside it. [If the michyah] receded, or disappeared, Rabban Gamliel says: If it diminished on the inner side, it is a sign of expansion for the inner [nega], and the outer [nega] becomes tahor. But if [it diminished] from the outer side, the outer [nega] becomes tahor and the inner [nega] shall be confined. R’ Akiva says: Either case is tahor.

Said R’ Shimon: When [is this true]? When it is exactly [the size of] a lentil; [if] it was larger than a lentil, the extra area is a symptom of expansion for the inner [nega], and the outer one is tamei. [If] it contained a dull white blemish smaller than a lentil, it is a symptom of expansion for the inner one, but not for the outer one.

There are twenty-four extremities on the body that do not become tamei because of michyah: the tips of the fingers and toes, the tips of the ears, the tip of the nose, the tip of the body, and a woman’s nipples. R’ Yehudah says: A man’s [nipples] as well. R’ Eliezer says: Also warts and hanging skin do not become tamei because of michyah.

These are the parts of the body that do not become tamei because of baheres: inside the eye, inside the ear, inside the nose, or inside the mouth; [in] folds [of skin], and [in] folds [of skin] on the neck; under the breast; the armpit; the sole of the foot; the nail; the head, and the beard; a raw boil, burn, or wound [lit. a boil, or a burn, or a wound that are rebellious]. [The above-mentioned parts of the body] do not become tamei because of negaim, nor do they combine with negaim, nor does a nega spread onto them, nor do they become tamei because of michyah, nor do they prevent him from [having the status of] turning completely white. [If] the head or beard became bald, [or if] the boil, burn, or wound developed a scab, they become tamei because of negaim, but they are not combined with negaim; a nega cannot spread into them; and they do not become tamei because of michyah, but they prevent [the status of] someone who turns completely white. The head and the beard before they have grown hair, and hanging skin on the head and on the beard, are judged like skin of the body.

The following are beharos that are tahor: [Beharos] that [a person] had before the Torah was given; [that were] on a gentile who converted; [or] on a new-born child; on a fold [of skin] that became revealed; on the head or on the beard; on a raw boil, burn, or wound [lit. on a boil, or on a burn, or on a wound or on the rebellious ones]. If the head or the beard then became bald, or the boil, the burn, or the wound partially healed, they are tahor. [A nega appeared on] the head or the beard before they grew hair. They then grew hair, and [subsequently] became bald, or a boil, burn, or wound that did not yet scab, then a scab formed, and [the boil, burn, or wound] healed, R’ Eliezer ben Yaakov renders [these cases] tamei, since they began and ended as tamei, but the Sages render them tahor.

Their appearance changed, either leniently or stringently: How ‘‘leniently’’? [If] it was like snow and became like the lime of the Sanctuary, like white wool, or like egg membrane; [it] became a secondary shade [from] a s’eis, or [it became] a secondary shade [from] an intense [white]. How ‘‘stringently’’? It was like egg membrane and became like white wool, like the lime of the Sanctuary, or like snow. R’ Elazar ben Azaryah renders it tahor. R’ Elazar Chisma says: [If it changed] leniently, it is tahor, and [if it changed] stringently, it must be examined anew. R’ Akiva says: Whether [it changed] leniently or stringently, it must be examined anew.