Bechoros 8:1-2

Bechoros 8:1

There is a type of (human) firstborn when it comes to inheritance that is not a firstborn regarding being redeemed from a kohein, a firstborn who must be redeemed from a kohein who is not a firstborn in matters of inheritance, a firstborn regarding both inheritance and redemption, and a firstborn regarding neither inheritance nor redemption. A firstborn regarding inheritance but not redemption is one who was born after a non-viable sibling whose head emerged alive, a viable sibling whose head emerged dead, or a miscarriage that resembled a domesticated or wild animal, or a bird. This is the opinion of Rabbi Meir; the Sages say only if the miscarried fetus had the shape of a human being. If a woman miscarried something resembling a sandal, or expelled a placenta, or a membrane bearing the imprint of a fetus, or if a fetus must be cut up to be removed, the child born afterward is firstborn in matters of inheritance but need not be redeemed by a kohein. If a man with no children married a woman who had already given birth, either while a servant and she was subsequently released or while non-Jewish and she subsequently converted, if she later gives birth again after marrying this man, the child is a firstborn in matters of inheritance but not when it comes to being redeemed. Rabbi Yosi HaGlili says that the child is a firstborn in both matters as per Exodus 13:2, “that opens the womb in Israel” – only that which opens the womb in Israel is counted. If a man who already had children married a woman who had never before given birth, or if she converted or was freed while pregnant, (the child is a firstborn when it comes to being redeemed but not in matters of inheritance). Let’s say that a woman gave birth the same time as a woman from a kohein family, a woman from a Levite family or a woman who had given birth previously (and the children were mixed up), or if a woman didn’t wait three months after her previous marriage dissolved before remarrying and she gave birth to a baby that could either be a full-term birth to her first husband or a premature birth to her second husband, in all of these cases the child is a firstborn in order to be redeemed but not in matters of inheritance. If a woman miscarried a fetus that was full of blood, water or something like worms, or if it resembled fish, locusts, insects or crawling creatures, or if she miscarried on the 40th day from conception – in all of these cases, the child born after is a firstborn both regarding inheritance and being redeemed.

Bechoros 8:2

Neither a baby born via C-section nor the one born after is a considered a firstborn, neither in matters of inheritance nor in order to be redeemed. Rabbi Shimon says that the first one is considered firstborn regarding inheritance and the second one is considered firstborn in order to be redeemed.