In the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, a mamzer (, , "estranged person"; plural mamzerim) is a person who is born as the result of certain forbidden relationships or incest (as it is defined by the Bible), or the descendant of such a person. Mamzer status () is not synonymous with the traditional Western definition of illegitimacy, since it does not include children born to unmarried mothers.Mishnah Yebamot 4:13; Babylonian Talmud, Yebamot 49a
Definition
Etymology Some have explained the word mamzer as the masculine noun form derived from the root m-z-r, having a meaning of spoilt/corrupt.Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, Charles Augustus Briggs, Edward Robinson, James Strong, Wilhelm Gesenius, The Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew and English lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic : coded with the numbering system from Strong's Exhaustive concordance of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, 2005
According to Strong's Concordance: "from an unused root meaning 'to alienate'; a mongrel, i. e., born of a Jewish father and a heathen mother".Strong's Concordance: #4464
The Talmud explains the term homiletically as consisting of the words mum (defect) and zar (strange/alien), a euphemism for an illicit union in the person's lineage.Yevamot 76b
Hebrew Bible usage The term occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible. The first time is (23:2 in non-Hebrew versions). The Septuagint translates the term mamzer as son "of a prostitute" (Greek: ),Deuteronomy 23:2-4, LXX and the Latin Vulgate translates it as ("born of a prostitute").Augustin Calmet, Dictionary of the Holy Bible 1837 English edition p. 151 Charles Taylor, Edward Robinson editors: "But the Vulgate, the LXX, and the authors of the canon law, take the Hebrew mamzer, (Deut xxiii. 2.) for the child of a prostitute; while some interpreters take it for a generic term, which signifies illegitimate children" In English, it is often translated as "bastard".
The phrase "shall not enter the congregation of the Lord" was interpreted by the Rabbis to mean that the bastard cannot marry a son or daughter of Israel.Shulhan Arukh, Eben ha-Ezer 4:1–ff. Alternatively, the "congregation of the Lord" could have referred to the legislature of ancient Israel. The other time is : "And a bastard (mamzer) shall dwell in Ashdod...".
Halakhic definitions In the Talmud, the term mamzer is applied to the descendants of specific illicit unions. According to the Mishnah, a mamzer is the offspring of a biblically forbidden union for which his progenitors are liable to extirpation at the hands of heaven.Yevamot 4, Mishnah 13: "" An exception to this rule is when a Jewish man cohabits with a menstruant woman: Although he is liable thereby to extirpation, the child born from such union is not a mamzer. The practical bearing of this ruling is that it excludes from such defamation a child born outside of wedlock, and which child is often wrongly called "bastard" under common law. According to the Shulchan Aruch, a new line of mamzerim can only be produced by two Jews but the product of a non-Jew and a mamzeret (female mamzer) is a mamzer.Shulchan Aruch, "Even haEzer" 4:19
There are two categories of mamzerim. A child born of incest, as defined by the Bible, is a mamzer. Note, however, that an incestuous relationship between one or two non-Jews cannot produce a mamzer, and if the product of such a union were to convert, he or she would be the equal of any Jew.Shulchan Aruch, "Even haEzer" 4:21
A child born of a married Jewish woman's adultery is a mamzer. The child of a single woman and a man she could lawfully have married is not a mamzer.Shulchan Aruch Even haEzer 4 It is irrelevant if the man is married or not. If one of the parents is not Jewish, the child is not a mamzer. Any child born to a married woman, even if she is known to have been unfaithful, is presumed to be her husband's, unless she is so promiscuous that such a presumption becomes unsupportable,Shulchan Aruch, "Even haEzer" 4:15 or if she enters a public relationship with another man.Shulchan Aruch, "Even haEzer" 4:16
A child born within 12 months of a woman's most recent meeting with her husband is presumed to be legitimate, since Jewish law believes that in rare cases, a pregnancy can last that long.4:14 However, if more than 9 months have elapsed, and she is known to have been unfaithful, then the presumption does not apply.Even haEzer Rama 4:14 Modern assisted reproductive technology has complicated the issue. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that if a married woman is inseminated by sperm from another man, the child is not a mamzer, since it did not result from an act of adultery; Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum disagreed, and ruled that, since the child is known to be that of a man other than her husband, it is a mamzer.
The status of an abandoned child (Hebrew: asufi) was determined by the state in which it was found. If there were indications that the foundling had been abandoned due to the parents being unable to support it, then, halakhically, the child would not be a mamzer. However, if the unknown parents could have supported the child, it was regarded as potentially being a mamzer. A child whose mother is known, but not the father, was known as "silent one" (Hebrew: shetuki), and fell into the same category as a foundling; this status, however, could be changed if the mother knew and revealed the identity of the father.
The mamzer status is hereditary – a child of a mamzer (whether mother or father) is also a mamzer. However, since these rules are regarded as applying only to Jews, and since traditional Rabbinical law regards Jewish status as only transmitted through the mother, the child of a male mamzer and a non-Jewish woman cannot be a mamzer. However, the child of a female mamzer and a non-Jewish man is a mamzer."Shulchan Aruch, "Even haEzer" 4:19
Marriage restrictions The biblical rule against certain people becoming part of the "congregation of the Lord" (verses 1-3 in some English translations) was interpreted in the Talmud as a prohibition against ordinary Jews marrying such people. Although the biblical passage includes in this up to the tenth generation of the descendants of a mamzer, classical rabbis interpreted this as an idiom meaning "forever". Thus, in traditional Jewish law, a mamzer and his or her descendants are not allowed to marry an ordinary (non-mamzer) Jewish spouse.
The restriction does not prevent a mamzer from marrying another mamzer, nor from marrying a convert to Judaism, or a non-Jewish slave. However, foundlings suspected of being mamzerim were not so free; they were neither permitted to marry a mamzer, nor even to marry another foundling.
This interpretation is not universally shared, with Matthew Poole interpreting the "congregation of the Lord" as being the Israelite government. See columns 345-6.
Social status of mamzerim Although in many historical societies, illegitimacy of birth was a quality which could make a person somewhat of an outcast, this was not the official attitude of Judaism; apart from the marriage restrictions, a mamzer is not officially considered a second-class citizen, and is supposed to be treated with as much respect as other Jews. For example, the Mishnah teaches that a learned mamzer should "take precedence" over an ignorant High Priest of Israel;Horayot 3:8 the meaning of "take precedence" is not explicitly explained by the Mishnah, nor by the Talmud in general, although the preceding part of the Mishnah uses it to refer to the priority in which people should be rescued from danger, while other parts of the Mishnah use the phrase to refer to the priority in which people should receive aliyot.Rabbi Ellie Kaplan Spitz, Mamzerut, Committee of Jewish Law and Standards, EH 4.2000a, pp. 5587-585.
Rabbis in the Talmud, and those in the Middle Ages, saw fit to spell out that, aside from in questions of marriage, a mamzer should be treated as an ordinary Jew. The Talmud insists that a mamzer should be considered as an ordinary relative for the purpose of inheritance,Yevamot 22b including levirate marriage.Yevamot 22a Maimonides and Joseph ben Ephraim Karo see fit to repeat this,Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Mispatim – Laws of inheritance – 1:11Joseph Karo, Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 276:6 and confirm that a mamzer can serve as a judge.Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Shoftim – Sanhedrin – 2:9Joseph Karo, Shulkhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat 7:2 Similarly, a tosafa insists that it is permissible for a mamzer to become a king.Talmud, Yavamot 45b Tosefot
The status of mamzerim could even be relinquished, either by the mamzer marrying a servant or the mamzer becoming a servant themselves, with their status being immediately relinquished upon their release.
Modern investigations into mamzer status
Orthodox Judaism The principal approach in Orthodox Judaism is to require strict evidentiary standards for mamzer status, sufficiently strict that proof of the existence of mamzer status is hard to develop and generally does not arise. Typically, it is impossible to prove either that a prior marriage ever existed, or that a child was born of relations outside that marriage. Orthodox rabbis always allow the suspect child the benefit of the doubt in this matter. This usually leads to the conclusion that at the time of a person's birth, their parents were married, or that the person is the child of a man and woman who were married to each other when the child was conceived.