Zevachim 53a (נג.) — the Talmud in English

He ascended

the priest

by the ramp

with the blood bowl in his hand,

and turned [

by means of the small ramp leading]

to the “sovev,”

and when he reached the place of the sovev, he turned right, as the Gemara proceeds to explain.

The “sovev” was the place where the width of the altar was reduced by one cubit on each side, thereby creating a walkway on which the priests would walk around the altar when they came to place the blood of sin-offerings on the altar’s horns. The height of the sovev was five cubits above the base, which was six cubits above ground level. The top of the altar was three cubits higher than the sovev. At the four corners at the top of the altar, the horns projected upward; each horn occupied an area of one cubit by one cubit.

And he came

first

to the southeastern horn,

which he encountered first when turning right. For the ramp stood to the south of the altar, so that one ascending the ramp faced north, with his right side toward the east. And since we hold that “all turnings that you make should be only toward the right,” he had to turn right, toward the east. The first horn he encountered was therefore the southeastern horn, and he placed the first application of blood on it with his finger.

After placing the blood on the southeastern horn, he continued circling the altar, facing the altar. Therefore, his next turn to the right was toward the northern side of the altar, until he reached the horn

northeastern,

and placed the second application of blood on it. From there he continued, facing the altar, and turned to his right, toward the western side of the altar, proceeding until he reached the horn

northwestern,

and placed some of the blood on it. From there he turned right and reached the fourth horn,

southwestern,

and placed some of the blood on it.

The remnants of the blood—

he would pour

on the southern base

of the altar.

And they are eaten

the flesh of the sin-offerings

within the curtained area

of the courtyard of the Tabernacle, and in the Temple, within the wall of the Temple courtyard.

And they are eaten

only by male priests

.

And their eating is permitted

in every

form of

food,

whether roasted or cooked.

The time for eating them is

for one day and one night

until

midnight.

By Torah law, the time for eating them extends until morning; however, the Sages decreed that they be eaten only until midnight, so that one would not come to transgress if he ate them on the following day and thereby become liable to karet for the prohibition against eating notar.

Gemara:

We inquire concerning this law of placing the blood of a sin-offering:

How does he perform

the application with his finger on the horn?

And we answer: They disagree about it,

Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Elazar.

One said:

The place for placing the blood on the horn is not specifically at the actual point of the horn. Rather, he

places

it on the altar wall in the area adjacent to the point of the horn,

one cubit in this direction

on one side,

and one cubit in that direction

on the other side [that is, on either of the two sides of the horn].

And one said: “He performs the sin-offering application”

[the placing of the blood of a sin-offering is called this, as in the verse: “The priest who performs its sin-offering application”]

and descends opposite the point of the horn.

The Gemara explains their dispute:

According to Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon, who said

that the mitzva of placing the blood is on the horn projecting above the top of the altar, and not on the walls of the altar, in the words of Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon: “

It itself

[that is, the essential mitzva of placing the blood of a sin-offering]

is performed only on the body of the horn”; everyone agrees

that he places it on the entire projecting horn, and not specifically at the point of its angle, since the entire surface of the projecting horn is called a “horn.”

They disagree

whether Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Elazar require that he place it on the point of the horn or whether he may place it on the cubit adjacent to the point of the horn,

according to Rabbi,

who deemed it valid to place the blood also on the altar wall beneath the projecting horn, which is likewise called a horn [provided that it is above the red line]. They disagree concerning the significance of that “horn” on the walls of the altar:

One master holds

that he may place it

one cubit in this direction and one cubit in that direction

from the point of the angle, because that entire cubit on the altar wall beneath the projecting horn, which is directly

opposite the “horn”

above it,

is also a “horn.”

And one master holds—

opposite the point, yes; beyond that, no,

because only the point of the angle of the altar walls is called a horn [apart from the horn projecting above the top of the altar, and no more].

He raises an objection

from that which is taught in a beraita:

“The communal and individual sin-offering: how

is the order of applying their blood?

He would ascend the ramp and turn to the sovev, and he would come

first

to the southeastern horn, and dip his right finger,

the finger

skilled

[the finger adjacent to the thumb, with which one can perform a task independently, without the assistance of the other fingers, such as extending it and dipping it]

of the

hand

right,

and with his dipped finger he would take

from the blood in the bowl, and draw

[pull] the blood

upward with his thumb

[his thumb]

and downward with his little finger,

so that all the blood would fall onto the altar.

And he would perform the sin-offering application and descend opposite the point of the horn, until he had used up all the blood on his finger. And so

he would do

at each and every horn.

Thus it is proven from this beraita that he places the blood on the point of the horn, presenting a difficulty to the one who says that he may place it one cubit in either direction!?

And we answer:

This is what

the tanna of the beraita

means:

The

ideal mitzva is initially to place the blood of the sin-offering

at the point

of the horn; but if he performed the rite one cubit in either direction, there is no concern, and the offering remains valid after the fact.

it is valid after the fact.

And now we explain:

What are Rabbi and what is Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon,

where do we find that they disagreed on this matter?

As it is taught in a beraita: “The upper blood,”

of offerings whose blood is placed above the red line,

is placed

on the wall of the altar beginning

from the red line and above,

including the blood of a sin-offering, which is placed above the red line.

The lower blood

of offerings whose blood is placed below the red line

is placed from the red line and below—

the words of Rabbi.

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon says: In what case is this statement said,

that upper blood is valid when placed on the altar wall above the red line?

With regard to the bird burnt-offering,

for the word “horn” was not stated with regard to it.

But with regard to an animal sin-offering,

with regard to which “horn” is written,

it itself

[its essential mitzva] of applying its blood

is performed only on the body of the horn

[the horn projecting from the top of the altar].

Rabbi Abbahu said: What is the reason of Rabbi?

As it is written in Ezekiel [chapter 43], in the description of the altar:

“And the Ariel”

[this is the name of the altar in the Book of Ezekiel]

“four cubits. And from the Ariel upward, four.”

We inquire concerning this verse: Could the height or width of the altar

really be four cubits!?

Rav Adda bar Ahava said: The place of the horns

is

four

cubits, since each horn is one cubit by one cubit.

And we question this: Is

the place of the horns

“

four

cubits”? This wording implies that the horns occupy an area of four by four cubits, whereas in fact they occupy only two by two cubits. Therefore we prove instead:

Rather, say—

the domain of the horns

is

four.

That is, the entire area beginning at the top of the horn and extending downward along the altar wall, until the red line, is fit for the application of the blood of an animal sin-offering. This area, from the top of the altar to the red line, is four cubits high, in accordance with the words of Rabbi.

We learned there:

A red line

encircles

the altar around

the middle

of its height,

to distinguish between the upper blood and the lower blood.

We inquire concerning this:

From where are these matters

derived, namely, that the altar is divided in two with regard to the place for the blood?

And we answer:

Rav Aha bar Rav Katina said: For it is stated, “And the grating shall extend to the middle of the altar,”

and we derive from the fact that we see that the Torah was particular about the middle of the altar:

The Torah established a partition to distinguish between the upper blood and the lower blood.

We learned in the Mishna:

“The remnants of the blood”

he would pour on the southern base.

The Sages taught:

“To the base of the altar,”

which is stated with regard to pouring the remnants of the blood of an external sin-offering—

this is the southern base.

You say that this is the southern base; or perhaps it is only the western base, and one should derive the concealed from the explicit,

from the internal sin-offerings, with regard to which it is explicitly stated “which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” referring to the western base!?

You have said: Derive its descent from the ramp

with the remnants of the blood in his hand

from his departure from the Sanctuary

with the remnants of the blood in his hand.

Just as at his departure from the Sanctuary

he pours the blood on the western base, which is

near it

at the place of his departure,

so too, at his descent from the ramp

he shall pour it on the southern base, which is

near it

at the place of his descent, since the ramp is to the south of the altar.

It is taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yishmael says: Both this and that,

the remnants of the blood of the internal sin-offerings and of the external sin-offerings, shall be poured onto the

western base.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says:

Both this and that onto the

southern base.

We inquire concerning this:

Granted, according to the one who says that both this and that go to the western base,

it is understandable, for

he holds that one derives

the blood of the external sin-offerings, which is

concealed,

since its remnants’ place of pouring is not stated,

from the explicit,

from the blood of the internal offerings, concerning which it is stated, “to the base of the burnt-offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” referring to the western base.

But according to the one who says that both this and that go to the southern base,

there is a difficulty:

What is the reason?

Is it not written with regard to pouring the remnants of the internal blood, “to the base which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” referring to the western base!?

And we answer:

Rav Asi said: This tanna holds that the entire altar stood in the north

of the Temple courtyard

and was situated there,

with the result that when the High Priest emerged from the entrance of the Sanctuary with the remnants of the blood of the internal sin-offering, he first encountered the southern base of the altar, and not the western base. Consequently, the verse that says to place the blood on the base “which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” refers to the southern base. From here we also learn with regard to external sin-offerings that their remnants are to be poured on the southern base.

Alternatively:

The entire

entrance

of the Sanctuary

stood in the south

of the altar

and was situated there,

so that the entire altar was north of the entrance to the Sanctuary, and one emerging from it encountered the southern side of the altar. [According to this version, it is the same as the first version, but expressed in different words.]