Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

8028

Mishnah, Niddah, 9.5

nan If three women slept in one bed, and blood was found under the middle one, they are all unclean. If it was found under the inner one, the two inner ones are unclean while the outer one is clean. If it was found under the outer one, the two outer ones are unclean while the inner one is clean. Rabbi Judah said: when is this so? When they passed by way of the foot of the bed, but if they passed across it, they are all unclean. If one of them examined herself and was found clean, she remains clean while the two others are unclean. If two examined themselves and were found to be clean they remain clean while the third is unclean. If the three examined themselves and were found to be clean, they are all unclean. To what may this be compared? To an unclean heap that was mixed up with two clean heaps: If they examined one of them and found it to be clean, it is clean while the two others are unclean; If they examined two of the heaps and found them to be clean, they are clean while the third one is unclean; And if they examined the three and they were all found to be clean, they are all unclean, the words of Rabbi Meir, For Rabbi Meir used to say: any object that is presumed to be unclean remains unclean until it is known to you where the uncleanness is. But the sages say: one continues the examination of the heap until one reaches bedrock or virgin soil."

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

None available Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
ammonites	Porton (1988) 65
blood	Porton (1988) 65
bones	Balberg (2014) 232
carrying	Porton (1988) 65
clothes/garments	Porton (1988) 65
crops	Porton (1988) 65
seminal emissions	Balberg (2014) 232
thought (mahshava),role of in purity system	Balberg (2014) 232
visibility,implications of for im/purity'	Balberg (2014) 232