Introduction This mishnah deals with a company of people who had set aside a lamb/kid for their pesah and then the animal wandered off and got lost. One person searched for the animal and found it and slaughtered while at the same time the company slaughtered another animal as their pesah, assuming that the person looking for it would not return in time. The main question is which animal can be eaten and by whom.
A company lost their pesah and they said to one [who was registered with them], “Go and seek it, and slaughter it on our behalf”; and he went, found, and slaughtered it, and they [also] took an animal and slaughtered [it]: If his was slaughtered first, he eats of his and they eat with him. And if theirs was first slaughtered, they eat of theirs, while he eats of his. And if it is unknown which of them was first slaughtered, or if they slaughtered both of them at the same time, he eats of his, but they may not eat with him; while theirs goes forth to the place of burning, and they are exempt from keeping the second Pesah. In this case the company sent one of its people to go and slaughter a new pesah on their behalf, after their original one was lost. However, instead of just relying on him to slaughter the original animal on their behalf, they also find their own new pesah and slaughter it as well. If his was slaughtered both he and they may eat of the pesah which he slaughtered. He may eat of it because he slaughtered it for himself and they may eat of it because they instructed him to do so. Their pesah is invalid since no one can eat it and it must be burned. If their pesah was slaughtered first they may eat of their pesah because we consider them as having withdrawn from being registered for the original pesah. He may eat of his own pesah, even though theirs was slaughtered first because he never told them to slaughter a new pesah on his behalf. If it is unclear whose pesah was slaughtered first or perhaps they both slaughtered at the same time he may eat his own pesah, because he never told them to slaughter one on his behalf. In other words, from his perspective, their pesah is irrelevant. However, they may not eat either pesah. They can’t eat his because theirs might have been the first offered in which case they weren’t registered for his. They can’t eat theirs because his might have been the first offered in which case theirs is invalid. Since no one can eat their pesah it must be burned. Despite the fact that they do not eat a pesah, they still are not liable for observing Pesah Sheni because there was a pesah slaughtered on their behalf and its blood was sprinkled on the altar.
He said to them, “If I delay, go forth and slaughter on my behalf,’, [and] then he went and found it and slaughtered [it], while they took [another] and slaughtered [it]: If theirs was slaughtered first, they eat of theirs while he eats with them; And if his was slaughtered first, he eats of his and they eat of theirs. And if it is unknown which of them was slaughtered first, or if they slaughtered both of them at the same time, they eat of theirs, but he may not eat with them, while his goes forth to the place of burning, and he is exempt from keeping the second Pesah. In this case, the group does not appoint the individual person to be their agent but rather he tells them that he is going to go look for the lost lamb but that if he is late in returning they should offer one on his behalf. They are now his agent but he has not been appointed to be their agent. Again, he finds the original pesah and they slaughter a new one. The mishnah again runs through all of the variations. This case is the mirror image of the previous section. If theirs was slaughtered first, they and he may eat of it. They slaughtered it for themselves and they also acted as his agent. In such a case, his must be burned. If his was slaughtered first he may eat of it because he slaughtered it for himself. They may not eat of it because they did not appoint him to be their agent. Rather, they eat their own pesah even though it was slaughtered second. If it is unclear which was slaughtered first or both were slaughtered at the same time they may eat theirs because to them his pesah is irrelevant they did not appoint him to act as their agent. He, however, may not eat his because he appointed them to act as his agent and theirs might have been slaughtered first. He also may not eat theirs lest his came first. His pesah must therefore be burned but he need not observe pesah sheni, as we explained above.
He said to them, and they said to him: they all eat of the first [to be slaughtered], and if it is unknown which of them was slaughtered first, both go forth to the place of burning. In this case, he appointed them to act on his behalf and they appointed him to act on his behalf. In such a case, both he and they always eat from the first one slaughtered. If it is unclear which was slaughtered first or if both were slaughtered at the same time, then neither he nor they may eat of either pesah. Both pesahim are burned and no one must observe pesah sheni.
If he did not say to them and they did not say to him, they are not responsible for each other. If neither of them appointed the other to act as an agent, then they are all on their own. He eats his own and they eat their own no matter the order in which the animals were slaughtered.