החולץ ליבמתו. הוא מותר בקרובותיה – for it is not Halitzah, for surely, she does not require Halitzah and the female and male relatives of our Mishnah, that is that those who are prohibited upon the man on account of his wife, and the male relatives who are prohibited to the wife on account of her husband.

אם אין הולד של קיימא – that he is premature/non-viable birth.

וחייבין בקרבן – for he had intercourse with his brother’s wife not in the place of the Mitzvah, and the offspring is kosher whichever way you turn.

וחייבין אשם תלוי – for everything where people are liable for extirpation for something done willfully, and for something done inadvertently for sin-offering, ae liable for something whether he became conscious [of his transgression] or not, a guilt offering is made when one is in doubt as to the commission of a sinful act (i.e., suspensive guilt-offering).

שומרת יבם = she is waiting and expecting to undergo levirate marriage.

נפלו לה נכסים – from her father’s house.

מה יעשו בכתובתה – the [100] Maneh or the two-hundred and the supplement and the dowry that she brought in to him and he accepted responsibility for the surety (i.e., mortgaged property).

ובנכסים היוצאין ונכנסין – the wife’s estate of which the husband has the fruition/usufruct without responsibility for loss or deterioration when she enters [into the marriage], they enter with her, and when she leaves from her husband, they go out with her.

בש"א יחלוקו יורשי הבעל עם יורשי האב – for she was doubtfully married and the levir takes possession of one-half of her inheritance from doubt for the husband inherits his wife but this case where she is doubtfully married to him, he takes possession of one-half.

נכסים בחזקתן – mort-main (i.e., the wife’s estate held by her husband, which, in case of her death or divorce, he must restore in specie, being responsible with all his landed property for loss or deterioration (see Tractate Yevamot, Chapter 7, Mishnah 1) in their presumptive legal status, but the School of Hillel did not explain whether the properties were in the possession of the inheritors of the woman or whether her properties were in the possession of the inheritors of the husband, for their surety is upon him, but as regards to law, they are divided, even according to the School of Hillel.

כאשתו לכל דבר – that he divorces her with a Jewish bill of divorce and she does not require Halitzah and he restores her when he desires, and is not forbidden to her.

על נכסי בעלה הראשון – that the landed property of her first husband will be responsible and vouched on her Ketubah, and if she lacks a Ketubah from her first husband, the levir writes her a Ketubah on his property which is only a Maneh.

מצוה בגדול ליבם – as we derive from (Deuteronomy 25:6): “The first son [that she bears shall be accounted to the dead brother].”

ובגדול – for the oldest of the brothers was abroad and he assigns the oldest of the brothers that is before us to state that we should wait for him, for he is older than me.

בחרש ובשוטה] – until they recover, we don’t listen to him].

עליך מצוה – even though your brother is abroad, he is older than you. Since you ae the oldest of the brothers in our presence, upon you is the Mitzvah [of levirate marriage] for the delay in the performance of the commandment, we do not delay.

הרי הוא כחד מן האחין – and he did not lose his portion because he performed Halitzah for you might think that I would say that he would be fined for since he caused her to lose from [having] levirate marriage for she was disqualified on [his] brothers.

זכה בנכסי אחיו – and even if he would divorced her on the morrow, for the All-Merciful one stated (Deuteronomy 25:6): “[The first son that she bears] shall be accounted to the [dead] brother,” and he has stood up [and performed his duty].

נכסים של אב – as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:6): “The first son [that she bears shall be accounted to the dead brother],” just he doesn’t have a first-born son during the life of the father, even the levir doesn’t have it during the lifetime of the father, and such is the Halakha but rather, a man who marries his sister-in-law takes possession of the property of his brother, and even in the place of the father.

אסור בקרובותיה – as if she is his wife and all of the female relations that are forbidden [to him] on account of the woman is completely his wife, are forbidden for Halitzah according to the Rabbis.

בזמן שהיא קיימת – it refers to her sister, and not to the rest of the women forbidden on account of consanguinity.

מותר אדם בקרובת צרת חלוצתו – and we don’t say that the rival/co-wife is like the woman who has undergone Halitzah, that he would be forbidden with the sister of the rival/co-wife of the woman with whom he performed Halitzah, like he is prohibited [to be] with the sister of the woman with whom he performed Halitzah.

ואסור בצרת קרובת חלוצתו – Reuven who performed Halitzah with Leah and Rachel is married to a foreign (i.e. unrelated Jewish) man, and she has a rival/co-wife, and the foreign (i.e., unrelated Jewish) man died, that rival/co-wife is prohibited to Reuven. And the reason for this is at the time when Leah had the Halitzah ceremony performed, she brought Rachel her sister with her to the Jewish court, and the entire world doesn’t know to which of them had Halitzah and there are those who think that to Rachel was peformed Halitzah, and when the rival/co-wife of Rachel gets married, that is the rival/co-wife of the the relative of his Halitzah, they say that the rival/co-wife of his Halitzah married, and they think that Rachl and her rival/co-wife were the wives of his brother, because he did Halitzah to Rachel. But, the sister-in-law does not bring her rival/co-wife with her at the time that she has the Halitzah ceremony performed, therefore, when the sister of her rival/co-wife gets married, we don’t say that it the sister of the woman who had Halitzah that married.

וכן המגרש את אשתו וכו' – In the Gemara (Tractate Yevamot 41a), it raises the question and similarly, you might think, but rather, I would say, that a man who divorces his wife, etc., that the sister of the divorced woman from the words of the Torah, and therefore is exempt from Halitzah and from levirate marriage, but the sister of the woman who underwent Halitzah, according to the words of the Scribes/Soferim, so therefore, she engages in Halitzah does not engage in levirate marriage.

שומרת יבם – she is waiting to perform levirate marriage.

שקדש – one of the brothers [who betrothed] her sister after this one fell before them and she became dependent upon all of them.

המתן – from marrying for she made contact [with the sister of] her levirate connection.

עד שישה אחיך מעשה – that your brother will marry the sister-in-law or perform Halitzah to her and uproot her levirate relation from you.

מתה היבמה יכנוס את אשתו – for even if he married her and she died, he is permitted to her sister.

מת היבם – and no brother remains other than this one who betrothed her sister.

מוציא את אשתו בגט ואת אשת אחיו בחליצה – but not perform levirate marriage for she is the sister of his divorced wife, and in the Gemara (Tractate Yevamot 41a), the legal decision is according to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteyra.

לא תחלוץ וכו' - In the Gemara (Tractate Yevamot 41b), it explains the reason, as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:7): “But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, his brother’s widow shall appear [before the elders in the gate and declare, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establish a name in Israel for his brother; he will not perform the duty of the levir’],” but if he desires, he should perform the duty of the levir (i.e., perform levirate marriage). All who go up for levirate marriage go up for Halitzah and all who do not go up for levirate marriage do not go up for Halitzah.

בתולות – we make the decree because of women who have had sexual relations, and betrothed woman because of married women, and such is the Halakha. And these three months are ninety days excluding from it the day her husband died, or when she was divorced from him, and excluding from it the day when she became betrothed to him.

הנשואות יתארסו – that the reason that she is forbidden in order to distinguish between the seed of the first to the seed of the second, so that she should not give birth to a undetermined/doubtful son (i.e., so that we would know who the actual father was), a son of seven months [pregnancy] to the first [husband] or doubtfully a son of seven [months] to the latter [husband] and with regard to betrothed women, one doesn’t not have to say this.

והארוסות ינשאו – for she was not made pregnant from the first [husband].

חוץ מארוסה שביהודה – for they would bring together the bride and the groom in Judea prior to their entrance to the wedding canopy in order that he would be used to her and he would sport with her and they would not be embarrassed one from the other through the commanded act of sexual intimacy; therefore, we suspect that perhaps he had sexual intercourse [with her].

כל הנשים יתארסו – because Rabbi Yehuda does not distinguish between widows to divorcees and permits for the widow to be betrothed even within thrirty days of the days of her mourning; Rabbi Yosi comes to dispute him on this and prohibits the widow to become betrothed within thirty days of her days of mourning.

ארבעה אחים וכו' – and the same law applies even also with many wives, if it is possible to support them, permission is in his bands to marry all of them, and the fact that it (i.e., the Mishnah) took four is good advice: for it comes to teach us, for yes, more than that, no, for just as the duty of marital visits at certain intervals arrives during the month.

ביאתה או חליצתה פוטרת צרתה – and he doesn’t perform levirate marriage with both of them, as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:9): “who will not build up his brother’s house.” One house he builds, but he does not build up two houses. And he doesn’t perform Halitzah with both of them, and whomever does not come up for levirate marrae does not come up for Halitzah, for since that both of them like each other do not go up for lievirate marriage, as we stated, he builds one house,” so also, they don’t go up for Halitzah.

חולץ לפסולה – and he will not disqualify that [woman who is] fit [to marry into] the priesthood, for a woman who has undergone Halitzah is disqualified from the priesthood, and a man should not empty the waters of his cistern and others need it.

מהחזיר את גרושתו – from whom he was married.

והנושא את חלוצתו – since we establish regarding him with the negative commandment (Deuteronomy 25:9): “ [Thus shall be done to the man] who will not build up his brother’s house,” since he did not “build up,” he furthermore will not build up.

והנושא קרובת חלוצתו – since Rabbi Akiva holds that the woman who takes off the shoe and spits in his face (by refusing to perform levirate marriage) is like his wife, and Scripture calls her, “his house,” as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:10): “the family of the un-sandaled one.” And also, Rabbi Akiva holds that there is a Mamzer from those who are liable for violating negative commandments, but this is not the Halakha.

קרובת גרושתו – for his divorced wife is like his wife, and her mother and her sister [if they are subsequently married to him] make him liable for extirpation.

כל שאר בשר שהוא בלא יבא – every nearness which is [a violation of] a negative commandment and even if there is no extirpation [attached to it].

כל חייבי כרת – but not those who are liable [for violating] a negative commandment, and such is the Halakha. For all that whose prohibition is a prohibition of extirpation, the offspring is illegitimate/Mamzer, except from that of a menstruant woman, but with those who violate negative commandments, the offspring are not Mamzerim/illegitimate.