משנה: הַסָּרִיס לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא מְייַבֵּם וְכֵן אַיילוֹנִית לֹא חוֹלֶצֶת וְלֹא מִתְייָבֶּמֶת. הַסָּרִיס שֶׁחָלַץ לִיבִמְתּוֹ לֹא פְסָלָהּ בְּעָלָהּ פְּסָלָהּ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא בְּעִילַת זְנוּת. וְכֵן אַייְלוֹנִית שֶׁחָֽלְצוּ לָהּ אַחִין לֹא פְסָלוּהָ. בְּעָלוּהָ פְּסָלוּהָ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבְּעִילָתָהּ בְּעִילַת זְנוּת. MISHNAH: The castrate does not perform either ḥalîṣah or levirate; similarly, the she-ram does not perform either ḥalîṣah or levirate216This Mishnah overrules the previous one even though usually the statement that a certain action had been executed determines practice.. The castrate who performed ḥalîṣah for his sister-in-law did not disable her217All he did was an empty gesture.; if he copulated with her he disabled her because it is incestuous218Since levirate is permitted only if the couple can have children (Deut. 25:6). Therefore, if one of the partners is certified sterile, the sister-in-law is under the incest prohibition of Lev. 18:16.. Similarly, if the brothers performed ḥalîṣah for a she-ram, they did not disable her; if they copulated with her they disabled her because it is incestuous.
הלכה: אָמַר רִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ שָׁמַעְתִּי כול׳. הַסָּרִיס לֹא חוֹלֵץ כול׳. וְכֵן אַייְלוֹנִית שֶׁחָֽלְצוּ כול׳. אֵי זֶהוּ סְרִיס חָמָּה. רִבִּי חִייָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. כָּל־שֶׁלֹּא רָאָתוֹ הַחַמָּה בְכוֹשֶׁר אֲפִילוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת. הוֹשִׁיט יָדוֹ וְסִירְסוֹ מִבִּפְנִים. דִּבְרֵי הַכֹּל אָסוּר לָבוֹא בַקָּהָל וְאֵינוֹ לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא מְייַבֵּם. נוֹתְנִין עָלָיו חוּמְרֵי סְרִיס אָדָם וְחוּמְרֵי סְרִיס חַמָּה בַּמַחֲלוֹקֶת. HALAKHAH: “Rebbi Joshua said, I heard,” etc. “That the castrate does not perform ḥalîṣah” etc. “Similarly, if the brothers performed ḥalîṣah for a she-ram,” etc. What is a sun-castrate? Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, anybody whom the sun did not see qualified even for one hour219The same argument in the Babli, 79b/80a.. If somebody stretched out his hand and castrated [the not yet born baby] in the womb, everybody agrees that [when born] he is prohibited from marrying into the congregation and he cannot perform either ḥalîṣah or levirate. One imposes upon him the restrictions of both castrate by human action and sun-castrate220Since he is both. in this disagreement.
מִחְלְפָא שִׁיטָּתֵיהּ דְּרִבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר. תַּמָּן הוּא אוֹמֵר. לֹא כִי אֶלָּא סְרִיס חַמָּה חוֹלֵץ וְחוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ. וְאַתְּ אָמַר הָכֵין. אָמַר רִבִּי אִינִיָּא. לֹא אָמַר רִבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אֶלָּא לְעוֹנְשִׁין. The argument of Rebbi Eliezer is inverted. There, he says “it is not so, but a congenital castrate performs ḥalîṣah and one performs ḥalîṣah for his wife,” and you say so? Rebbi Iniah said, Rebbi Eliezer referred only to criminal responsibility221This paragraph is copied from the lost fifth chapter of Tractate Niddah. In the Mishnah there, the House of Hillel say that 20 year olds of both sexes who have not developed pubic hair should prove their age and then are declared as congenital castrate or she-ram and unable to perform either ḥalîṣah or levirate. The House of Shammai puts the age limit at 18 and R. Eliezer at 18 for the female and 20 for the male. From his silence about levirate one concludes that he agrees that the congenital castrate cannot perform either ḥalîṣah or levirate, in contradiction to his statement here in Mishnah 4.
The answer, given in the Babli 80a by the Amora R. Eleazar, is that R. Eliezer only refers to the declaration of adulthood for the sun-castrate and the she-ram; for all other persons adulthood starts with the development of pubic hair..
רִבִּי חִייָה בְשֵׁם רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן. זוֹ דִבְרֵי רִבִּי לִיעֶזֶר וְרִבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרִבִּי עֲקִיבָה. אֲבָל דִּבְרֵי חֲכָמִים אֶחָד סְרִיס אָדָם וְאֶחָד סְרִיס חַמָּה אֵינוֹ לֹא חוֹלֵץ וְלֹא חוֹלְצִין לְאִשְׁתּוֹ. לֹא מְייַבֵּם וְלֹא מְייַבְּמִין אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ. דּוּ מַתְנִיתָא. הַסָּרִיס שֶׁחָלַץ לִיבִמְתּוֹ לֹא פְסָלָהּ. בְּעָלָהּ פְּסָלָהּ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא בְּעִילַת זְנוּת. אַנְדְּרוֹגִינֹס שֶׁחָלַץ לִיבִמְתּוֹ לֹא פְסָלָהּ. בְּעָלָהּ פְּסָלָהּ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא בְּעִילַת זְנוּת. וְכֵן אַייְלוֹנִית שֶׁחָֽלְצוּ לָהּ אַחִים לֹא פְסָלוּהָ. בְּעָלוּהָ פְּסָלוּהָ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא בְּעִילַת זְנוּת. Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: These are the words of Rebbi Eliezer, Rebbi Aqiba, and Rebbi Joshua. But the words of the Sages are that neither the castrate by human action nor the congenital castrate is able to perform ḥalîṣah nor does one perform ḥalîṣah for his wife222The Babli, 80b, disagrees and holds that Mishnah 5 explains Mishnah 4 and refers only to the congenital castrate who parallels the she-ram, following R. Aqiba.. He cannot perform levirate, nor does one marry his wife in levirate. That is the Mishnah: “The castrate who performed ḥalîṣah for his sister-in-law did not disable her; if he copulated with her, he disabled her because it is incestuous.” The hermaphrodite who performed ḥalîṣah for his sister-in-law did not disable her; if he copulated with her, he disabled her because it is incestuous223The Tosephta, 2:6 and 11:2, equates all rules of the hermaphrodite with those of the congenital castrate. It seems that this tradition (ascribed to Rebbis Yose and Simeon in the next Mishnah) considers the hermaphrodite as a congenitally infertile male.. “Similarly, if the brothers performed ḥalîṣah for a she-ram, they did not disable her; if they copulated with her, they disabled her because it is incestuous.”