Study Bekhorot folio 20A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
It is clear, as was suggested initially, that R' Yishmael holds in accordance with the opinion of R' Meir, who says that one must be concerned for the minority.
Ravina says: You may even say that R' Yishmael holds in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. When the Rabbis follow the majority, it is with regard to a majority that is not dependent upon an action but is simply the nature of reality. But in the case of a majority that is dependent upon an a
§ A baraita states: If one purchased a goat within its first year from a non-Jew and does not know whether or not it had previously given birth, the subsequent male offspring certainly is given to the priest; from that point forward an offspring’s status as a firstborn is uncertain. If it was a ewe
The baraita continues: When these matters were stated by the students before R' Yehoshua, he said to them: Go out and say to R' Yishmael: You erred. Were an animal exempted only by giving birth to an offspring and in no other manner the halakha would be in accordance with your statement. But the Rab
R' Yehoshua added: That is the opinion of the Rabbis, but I myself do not say so. Rather, I hold that a goat that expelled a murky discharge from the womb at the age of 6 months can give birth within its first year, and a ewe that expelled a murky discharge in its first year can give birth within