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. An exception to this rule is when a Jewish man cohabits with a menstruant woman, which 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 "mamzer" can only be produced by two Jews.