Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nashim/Tractate Nedarim/Chapter 11/3

Hebrew Text

קונם שאיני נהנה לבריות,
אינו יכול להפר,
ויכולה היא להנות בלקט ובשכחה ובפאה.

קונם כהנים ולוים נהנים לי, יטלו על כרחו.

כהנים אלו ולוים אלו נהנים לי, יטלו אחרים.

English Translation

[If a wife vows,] “Konam, if I might benefit from [other] people,”
[Her husband] cannot annul [his wife’s vow],
But she can [nonetheless] benefit from the gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field.

[If one vows,] “Konam be the benefit that Priests and Levites have from me,” they can seize [their dues] against his will.

[If one vows,] “Konam be the benefit [that] these Priests and Levites have from me,” others take [the Priestly dues].

Explanation

In the Babylonian Talmud, the discussion of Mishnah Nedarim 11:3 begins on Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 83b.

The laws of gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field appear at:

• Leviticus 19:9: “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, neither shall you gather the gleaning of your harvest.”
• Leviticus 23:22: “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, neither shall you gather the gleaning of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor, and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.”
• Deuteronomy 24:19: “When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”