Zevachim

THEN THEY WENT ROUND [THE ALTAR]1 AND DESCENDED BY THE LEFT, EXCEPT FOR THESE THREE, WHO ASCENDED AND DESCENDED BY RETRACING THEIR STEPS.2 GEMARA. Whence do we know it? — Said R. Joshua, Scripture saith: He shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin-offering:3 a sin-offering is designated a meal-offering.4 and a meal-offering is designated a sin-offering: as a sin-offering requires the north, so does a meal-offering require the north;5 and as a meal-offering [is presented] at the south-west horn, so is a [bird] sin-offering [offered] at the south-west horn.6 And how do we know this of the meal-offering itself? — Because it was taught: [The sons of Aaron shall offer it] before the Lord:7 You might think, at the west [of the altar];8 therefore it states, in front of the altar.9 If [it is to be] ‘in front of the altar’, you might think, in the south; but Scripture says, ‘before the Lord’. How then was it done? He presented it at the south-west horn, opposite the edge of the horn, and that is sufficient. R. Eleazar said: You might think that he presents it on the west of the horn or the south of the horn; but you can rebut [this], [for] wherever you find two texts, one confirming itself and the other, whereas the second confirms itself but annuls the other, you abandon the one which confirms itself and annuls the other, and accept that which confirms itself and the other too. Thus, if you say ‘before the Lord’ [means] in the west, how can you confirm ‘in front of the altar’? But when you say, ‘in front of the altar’, means in the south, you confirm before the Lord as meaning the south10 But how can you confirm this? — Said R. Ashi: This Tanna holds that the whole altar stood in the north.11 NOW. IT WAS FIT [IF DONE] IN ANY PLACE etc. What does this mean?12 — Said R. Ashi, This is what it means: Any place is fit for its melikah, but this was the place for its sprinkling. We have thus learnt here what our Rabbis taught: If he nipped it by any part of the altar, it is valid; if he sprinkled its blood on any part [of the altar], it is valid. (If he sprinkled [the blood] but did not drain it out, it is valid)13 provided that he applies some of the life blood14 below the scarlet line. What does this mean?15 — This is what he means: If he nipped it by any part of the altar, it is valid; if he drained the blood at any part of the altar, it is valid, extreme poverty instead of a bird sin-offering. meal-offering. He conjectures as an emendation: as a (bird) sin-offering is invalid if offered under a different designation, so is a (sinner's) meal-offering invalid in similar circumstances. R. Hayyim in Tosaf. emends: as the blood of a bird sin-offering must be poured out at the base, so must a sinner's meal-offering be presented at the base. Lord’. must be sprinkled below the scarlet line.