Mishnayos Sotah Perek 9 Mishnah 7
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סוטה פרק ט׳ משנה ז׳
If the killer is found before the heifer’s neck was broken, the heifer shall go out and graze among the herd. It is not considered sacred at all, and it may rejoin the other animals. If the killer is found from the time when the heifer’s neck was broken, even if the rest of the ritual has not yet been performed, it is prohibited to benefit from the animal, despite the killer having been found; it should be buried in its place. This is because the heifer initially came for uncertainty, as the killer was unknown, and it atoned for its uncertainty and left, i.e., it fulfilled its purpose of bringing atonement and is considered a heifer whose neck is broken in all regards. If the heifer’s neck was broken and afterward the killer was found, he is killed. The ritual does not atone for him.
נִמְצָא הַהוֹרֵג עַד שֶׁלֹּא נֶעֶרְפָה הָעֶגְלָה, תֵּצֵא וְתִרְעֶה בָעֵדֶר. מִשֶּׁנֶּעֶרְפָה הָעֶגְלָה, תִּקָּבֵר בִּמְקוֹמָהּ, שֶׁעַל סָפֵק בָּאתָה מִתְּחִלָּתָהּ, כִּפְּרָה סְפֵקָהּ וְהָלְכָה לָהּ. נֶעֶרְפָה הָעֶגְלָה וְאַחַר כָּךְ נִמְצָא הַהוֹרֵג, הֲרֵי זֶה יֵהָרֵג:
Bartenura
תצא ותרעה בעדר. כשאר חולין:
כפרה ספיקה. היא עשתה את שלה:
ואחר כך נמצא ההורג הרי זה יהרג. דכתיב בסוף פרשת עגלה ערופה (דברים כ״א:ט׳) ואתה תבער הדם הנקי מקרבך:
תצא ותרעה בעדר – like other non-holy animals.
כפרה ספיקה – which had performed its own [work].
ואחר כך נמצא ההורגד ה"ז יהרג – as it is written at the end of the portion of the heifer whose neck was broken (Deuteronomy 21:9): “Thus you will remove from your midst guilt for the blood of the innocent.”