The style of Mishna and Gemarra TB Shavuot 2-3

Yesterday we began massekhet Shavuot which deals primarily with different kinds of oaths. There are basically two kinds of oaths, personal (e.g. it’s I swear to become a nazir) and court imposed oaths. Some examples of this kind of oath that we have already studied this would be the oath of testimony (שבועת בדיינים), the oath of deposit (שבועת הפיקדון), and the oath of bailees (שבועת השומ רים). Even though other massekhetot cover aspects of oaths, placing Shavuot after massekhet Makkot makes sense because the third chapter touched upon the punishment of lashes oaths can be liable for as well as other aspects of court procedures we began to study in massekhet Sanhedrin.

The first chapter of our massekhet front loads all the mishnayot on daf TB Shavuot 2. Although four distinct and different topics will be discussed in this chapter, to facilitate memorization they all share the same stylistic format of שְׁתַּיִם שֶׁהֵן אַרְבַּע.-two types that are actually four types. The four topics are oaths, awareness of the defiling of the Temple by entering it while one is ritually impure, or defiling its sacrificial foods by partaking of them while one is ritually impure, acts of carrying out that are prohibited on Shabbat, and shades of leprous marks on a person’s skin. (Sefaria.org translation)

As opposed to the three other categories the Mishnah goes into great detail about the disagreements between Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Meir concerning the awareness of the filing of the Temple or eating sacrificial meat a state of ritual unreadiness.

Today’s daf TB Shavuot 3 asks the logical question why doesn’t the Gemara follow the order of the four topics mentioned in the Mishna? Why does it immediately proceed with the cases dealing with the awareness of the defiling of the Temple or eating sacrificial meat in a state of unreadiness? The answer is simple. Since the vast majority of the  massekhet deals with oaths, the Gemara wants to get the topic of defiling of the Temple out of the way. “Since the cases of one’s awareness of the defiling of the Temple or its sacrificial foods are relatively few, the tanna addressed them directly and dispensed with them, and then afterward returned to teach the halakhot of oaths, which have numerous details.” (Sefaria.org translation)