כלי מתכות פשוטיהן טמאים (metal vessels: their flat parts are impure) – for there is no analogy to a sack (see Leviticus 11:32; “And anything on which one of them falls when dead shall be impure: be it any article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin or a sack – any such article that can be put to use shall be dipped in water and it shall remain impure until evening; then it shall be pure; also see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 2, Mishnah 1: “Vessels of wood, and vessels of leather, and vessels of bone and vessels of glass: when they are flat, they are clean, and when they form receptacles, they are [susceptible of becoming] unclean.”).

חזרו לטומאתן הישנה – The Sages made a decree regarding metal vessels that he melted them and made from them new vessels, that they return to their former defilement/uncleanness. This is a decree lest they say that the breaking of these utensils purifies them and their immersion [in a Mikveh] purifies them. Just as their breakage does not require the coming of sunset, for behold, we use them the entire day that they were defiled and he broke them and he returned and made of hem new [vessels], so [also] their being immersed does not require the coming of sunset, and it comes to make the heave offering and Holy Things in vessels that their sunset had not as yet arrived (see Talmud Shabbat 16b – this is the ordinance of Shimon ben Shetach).

לא לכל טומאה אלא לטומאת נפש – Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel holds that the reason that they (i.e., the Rabbis) decreed regarding metal vessels that they return to the former uncleanness is not other than a decree lest the law of the waters of purification be forgotten from the vessels, for there isn’t a person that waits seven days but rather he breaks them immediately and makes from them (i.e., the vessels) anew, therefore, they didn’t decree other than regarding defilement from a corpse alone that requires sprinkling [of a mixture of ashes of the red heifer with special water] on the third and seventh days (see Numbers 19:12: “He shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day, and then be pure.”). But the Halakha is not according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.

שיש לו שם בפני עצמו – that is known and recognized and unique with its name.

טמא – whether it has a receptacle or it doesn’t have a receptacle [it is impure].

הנגר (door-bolt, pin fitting into sockets top and bottom) – an iron peg whose one head one wedges into the ground and the other head in back of the door. Alternatively, it is similar to a pillar that closes and bolts the door from one end to the other.

מנעול – anything that locks and closes the door is called מנעול /a lock. And its example in Scripture is in the Song of Songs (5:5): “על כפות המנעול”/”Upon the handles of the bolt.”

פותה (socket of the door-pin/the hole under the hinge) – it is similar to small cup of iron that they affix in the ground and the hinge of the door surrounds it in order that it is easy to open and to close. And an example of this in Scripture (I Kings 7:50): “and the hinge sockets for the doors on the innermost part of the House”/".והפותות לדלתות הבית הפנימית"

והצינור (door-socket/pivot) – KANALI in the foreign tongue.

שנעשו לקרקע – to use the ground. For everything that is attached to the ground is like the ground and is not susceptible to receive ritual impurity.

העשת (wrought metal) –a piece of iron when they remove it from the quarry/mine.

חררה (a ball of iron ore before it is smelted) – after they smelt the iron they make of it a round mold/loaf like a cake.

סובב על גלגל (the iron hoop of a wheel) – the wheel of a wagon of wood, they make around it a foil or other plating material of iron that won’t break on the stony/rugged ground or rocks.

טסין (foil, plate) –(Exodus 39:3): “They hammered out sheets of gold,” which we translate into Aramaic: “And they beat out/hammer foils of gold.”

כני כלים – the bases of utensils. The language of "את כנו" /”and its stand” (Exodus 30:28), which we translate into Aramaic, “and its stand.”

הוגני כלים (basin/אוגני of vessels) – like a necklace/chain that surrounds the rim of the vessels.

אזני כלים – handle that they grab hold of the vessel.

השחלת (metal filings/shavings) – what remains from the vessel after it is made. The language of כמשחל בניתא מחלבא/(One’s death is like) drawing out hair from milk – /in Berakhot 8a and we translate [into Aramaic the passage](Exodus 2:10): “I drew him (Moses) out of the water,” I drew out the lion from the water.

גרודות – that is scraped from the utensil at the time that it is made. The language is stated from Job 2:8): "[ויקח-לו חרש] להתגרר בו [ישב התוך-האפר]."/”[He took a potsherd] to scratch himself [as he sat in ashes].”

טהורים – for we are not concerned in all of these that perhaps they came from an impure vessel and he returned and made from them [another] vessel, they returned to their earlier defilement, for all of these did not appear to be able to receive defilement ever, because they are unfinished vessels [lacking a receptacle], and unfinished metal vessels are not susceptible to receive defilement. And this is taught in the Tosefta (see Tosafot Yom Tov on this entry which referred me to Kelim Bava Metzia 2:17: “And what are the unfinished wooden objects which are unclean? Whatever one is destined to smooth, to scrape, to hollow out or to plane. [If] they lacked a cup, a border, an ear, or a hand, they are unclean. [If] they lacked hollowing, they are clean” (see also Tractate Kelim, Chapter 12, Mishnah 8). And which are those unfinished metal vessels? That which are destined to smooth, to adorn with designs, to scrape/plane, to make a rim by hollowing out the center/rounding off, and to beat with a mallet, that which is missing a chain surrounding the rim of the vessel or a handle is pure.

אף מן הקצוצות (even from the cut metal, strip, wire) – if he cut the vessels in pieces, the vessels that are made from those pieces did not return to their earlier defilement. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri.

גרוטאות – vessels that were broken because of their usage and were made into small pieces after their aging are called גרוטות /fragments of vessels. But they are smaller than shards of vessels/shattered iron.

ומן המסמרות שידוע שנעשו מכלים (and from nails known to have been made from other vessels) – even though we don’t know if they came from pure vessels or from the impure ones.

טמאין – the vessels made from them are impure, for we are concerned that perhaps they came from impure vessels and returned to their former state of impurity.

מן המסמרות – undefined. That we don’t know if they were made from utensils or from the wrought iron.

בית שמאי מטמאין – that they decreed that these are on account of those.

ובית הלל מטהרין – that they didn’t decree.

ברזל טמא – that came from shards of vessels.

שבללו – that he mixed/scraped with each other and smelt them and made from both of them a vessel.

ברזל טהור – that came from the wrought iron or from the ball of iron ore, etc.

אם רוב מן הטמא טמא – that it returns to its original impurity.

חלמא (a sort of cement used for making vessels) – plaster that cleaves like the white of an egg.

ומן הגללים – that he combined the plaster with the excrement of cattle and made from them vessels and smelt them in a furnace/kiln. If a majority are from a sort of cement used for making vessels. For utensils of excrement are not susceptible to receive defilement.

קלוסטרא (fastening, lock/bar) – the door-bolt/pin of the door. And it is a peg that they lock the door with as was explained above, it is customary to make at its head like a kind of apple/door-bolt and it is called a גלוסטרא. But if it was made from iron, it is impure, as it returns to its original state of impurity, because it is appropriate to crush the garlic in the mortar.

מצפה טהורה (plated wood with metal) – if it was from pure iron and covered with impure metal, it is pure, for we follow after that which is essential but not after the covering that is of impure metal.

הפין והפורנא (pivots and the skeleton-key /clutch and cross-piece) – the fixed teeth in the lock (i.e., socket and pivot) and the pivot goes into the lock.

שומטה מפתח זה ותולה בחבירו – through dragging alone, for it is carrying from the side. But complete carrying is not [permitted]. But Rabbi Tarfon permits even complete carrying like his guest, but perhaps the Tanna comes to teach us that here, with the impure lock that is taught in the first clause of the Mishnah, is not the opinion of all but rather the dispute between Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Tarfon, for according to Rabbi Yehoshua it is pure, for in order that he does not compare it [to a vessel] with regard to the Sabbath, so here too, he does not compare it [to a vessel] with regard to defilement.

עקרב של פרומביא (bit of the halter/bridle) – reins and the bridle and the halter are one thing. And the iron that enters in the mouth of the animal is called the עקרב/bit.

ולחיים (the cheeks) – that are attached to the bit like two embroidered foils, one from here and one from there on the cheeks of the animal that are made for beauty. And they are pure when they are on their own, for they are the decorations of the animal, and the decorations of the animal are not susceptible to receive defilement.

פיקה (whorl/spindle knob) – like a small ball that is perforated in the middle that women place at the top of the spindle when they spin with it in order that it becomes heavy.

רבי עקיבא מטמא – for it is a metal vessel that has a designation/name of its own, and it is ritually impure, as it is taught in the Mishnah at the beginning of the chapter (Tractate Kelim, Chapter 11, Mishnah 2).

וחכמים מטהרין – that it doesn’t have a designation/name of its own but rather an epithet, a spindle knob of reed used as a spindle, or a spindle knob of a that same thing that it uses. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

ומצפה (and if it is overlaid) – if it was of wood and it is overlaid with metal, it is ritually impure.

טהורה – that after the essence we follow, but not after the covering/overlaying which is of metal which is ritually impure.

כוש – a spindle that the women spin on.

והמקל (and the staff) – of metal which is rituall impure, for since a person chastises the animal with it, it is considered like a vessel that is made for the use by a person.

סמפוניא (a wind instrument) – a kind of musical instrument, as it is written in Daniel (3:5): "פסנתרין סומפניה [וכל הני זמרא]"/”psaltery, bagpipe, [and all other types of instruments].”

וחליל – even it is a kind of musical instrument, and it is hollowed out and its sound is heard from a [great] distance.

ומצופין אהורים – if it is of wood and is overlaid with ritually impure copper, it is [considered] ritually pure. For we follow after the essence of the vessel which is of wood. And if it has a receptacle, it is not considered, even though it is hollow, since it is not made for the receptacle. ‘

אם יש לה בית קיבול כפנים (if it has a receptacle for the wings [= bags of the bagpipe]) – small thin vessels in the image of wings, which we put into the wind instrument (i.e., bagpipe), that assist in projecting the sound of the music, if they made it within the place of the receptacle of these wings (i.e., the bags of the bagpipe), it is considered a receptacle.

ובין כך ובין כך – whether it is overlaid or whether it is not overlaid, it is ritually impure.

קרן עגולה וקרן פשוטה (a round metal horn and a plain, straight horn) – a trumpet from the horns of cattle that are made attached section by section, but rather that one of them is made round and the other is [made] straight. But the connection of the sections of the round metal horns is hard and requires an artisan more than the connection of the sections of the plain, straight horn, and because of this, they (i.e., the Sages) said that a person who returns a round metal horn on the Sabbath is liable for sin-offering, which is not the case with a plain, straight horn.

קרן עגולה טמאה – that it has a receptacle. But the plain, straight horn is ritually pure, for it lacks a receptacle. And the horns have the law of the boney utensils, for their flat, level surfaces are ritually pure like flat wooden implements.

מצופות (overlaid mouthpiece of a musical instrument) – the place where the mouth is placed, and it is the narrow part of it. It is from the language of "עומדים צפופים" /standing crowded together (see Tractate Avot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 5).

טמאה – for we consider it as a metal vessel, and even though it is plain/straight, it is susceptible to receiving ritual impurity.

הקב שלה (the cavity, the lower part of the trumpet/horn) – the wide side that is on it, if it is made of metal.

ר' טרפון מטמא וחכים מטהרים – But the Halakha is according to the Sages.

קני מנורה טהורים – that they lack a name a name of their own, and it is taught in the Mishnah at the beginning of this chapter (see Tractate Kelim, Chapter 11, Mishnah 2), that metal vessels that have a name of its own is ritually impure.

הפרח – the place where the candle sits that is at the top of the candelabrum, is called by the name of פרח/calyx (an ornament in the shape of a flower).

בסיס – the feet of the candelabrum/Menorah that it sits on them (i.e., the base).

קסדא – the bronze hat that the men of war place on their heads.

ולחיים – tin foil or other plating material of bronze that they place on their cheeks.

ואם יש בהן בית קיבול מים – that they drink water in them during war.

כידון (light spear/javelin) – a small spear that is in the hands of the officers and the kings.

ניקון (iron point of a javelin) – like a canon. It is the language of (II Samuel 21:16): “[And Ishbi-benob tried to kill David – He was a descendant of the Rapha (a race of ghosts)]; his bronze spear [weighed three hundred shekels and he wore new armor].” And it is the bronze that is within the spear.

מגפיים (metal leggings, greaves) – bronze upper part of the leg that men of war carry [into battle].

תכשיטי נשים – even though they are not made for work but rather for beauty/ornamentation, we derive from Scripture as it is written (Numbers 31:23): “and anything that cannot withstand fire you must pass through water.”

עיר של זהב – like a diadem/tiara that women place on their heads in the shape of Jerusalem.

קטליות (necklace – a chain the links of which are of metal and strung on a linen or woolen thread) – golden threads that they (i.e., the women) place around the neck. But because the woman chokes herself with them in order that she should appear with much flesh, therefore, we call them קטליות (that act as something that kills).

ונזמים – there are those of them that are nose rings and there are those of them that are earrings.

בחוט של פשתן – that the links of which are perforated and they filled from them the thread.

החוליות טמאות – each one of them is considered on its own as a working vessel.

של אבנים – that there were jewels/pearls and stones perforated and they filed from them the thread.

טמא – the thread, since it is of metal.

כמלוא צואר קטנה – encompass the neck of a small girl.

כקדרה מלמטה (like a pot-shape from the bottom) – wide from below and it has a receptacle.

וכעדשה מלמעלה – on the top of the earring from the above, it has a globule/kernel of gold or of silver made like a lentil.

ונפרק (dislocated) – the lentil from the pot.

הקדירה טמאה – for it has a receptacle. But not because it is women’s ornaments, for it is not worthy of being an ornament as it is.

צינורא (hook of a detached earring) – the top of the earring that enters into the incision in the ear or the incision of the nose. And because it is made like a fork, it is called a צנורא. The Aramaic translation of מזלגותיו (see Exodus 27:3)/flesh hooks is צנורייתיה/its hooks.

טהורה – because it does not have a name of its own.

העשוי כמין אשכול – an earring made like four or five globules/kernels one on top of another like a kind of cluster.

ונפרק טהור – because each globule/kernel does not have a name of its own and it is not worthy of use from when it became detached.