Keilim 23:2 - 23:3

זריז האשקלוני (the Ashkelonian saddle) – a wide belt in which harness/saddle the cattle. It is the Aramaic translation of (Genesis 22:3): “And he (i.e., Abraham) saddled his ass,” and he saddled it. And in Ashkelon they make it of wood, and it is called the Ashkelonian saddle on account of their place.

מדוכה המדית (a Median mortar – on the protruding handles of which the pounders ride when at work) – a mortar that is made in Median. They take a large, thick, and long piece of wood, and they hollow it out/shape a receptacle in its middle, and ride upon it from here and from there and pound it/crush it. Therefore, it has upon it the law of מרכב/riding upon it.

עביט של גמל (the cushion on the camel’s back) – It is the Aramaic translation of the camel bearing for the first time, the cushion on the camel’s back (Genesis 31:34): “[Rachel, meanwhile, יhad taken the idols and placed them] In the camel cushion [and sat on them].”

טפיטן של סוס (horse-cloth, housing) – the saddle that is upon the horse in the language of eh Mishnah it is called טפיטן/horse-cloth, housing, and for a camel, its name is a cushion/עביט, and of a נאקה/camel it is called a saddle, each one has its name upon it. And all of them are for riding, but there are from them that sometimes they are made to sit upon them.

טפיטן של סוס טמא משום מושב – but it is not ritually impure through riding other than which is designated for riding through spreading of the feet, but it is not made for sitting at all.

בקונפון (plain for exercise and amusement – because soldiers and sports stand upon it) – a field that the kings play there, and they regularly sit on the horse-cloth/housing of the horse to see the playing of the king, therefore it is impure through sitting. קןנפון is a field, KANPO in the foreign tongue. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

אבל אוכף של נאקה טמא – Maimonides explained, that it is impure through sitting. And the first Tanna/teacher said it, for he argues concerning the horse-cloth of a horse, but agrees regarding the saddle of a camel that it is ritually impure through sitting. But my teachers/Rabbis explained, but a saddle of a camel is impure through riding. But Rabbi Yossi stated that, for he agrees with the first Tanna/teacher regarding the saddle of a camel that it is not designated other than for riding.

חלק מגעו ממשאו (distinguished touching it from carrying it) – for a person who carries [something] defiles clothing but the one who touches it does not defile clothing.

תפית של חמור (saddle of a sumpter-ass – consisting of wooden frames) wood that we place on top of the donkey to attach and to tie upon them the load, but they are not appropriate either for riding nor for sitting.

שינה אתת הנקבים (if one changed the width between the spaces) – that through the change of their incisions/spaces, one gives place for a person to sit there.

או פרצן (or broke them into one another) – that he removed them from their places and put them one at the side of the other. And there are those who interpret: the saddle of a sumpter-ass is pure because there isn’t a handbreadth of width, and all where there isn’t a handbreadth of width is not appropriate for sitting, and when he changed the width between the spaces, that is, that he widened the place for sitting or that he broken them into one another, and it became a place of sitting that was a handbreadth wide, it is ritually impure.