that he [subsequently] cut it away, (1) [surely] ‘unhewn [whole] stones’ are prescribed! (2) — They placed a plank there, and then removed it. (3) For if you will not say thus, when R. Kahana said: The horns (4) were hollow, for it is written, And they shall be filled like the basins, like the horns of the altar, (5) here too [you may object that] the Divine Law prescribed ‘whole stones’? (6) But [you must answer] that something was [first] placed there (7) and then removed; so here too, planks were [first] placed there and then removed. Raba lectured: What is meant by the verse, [And he asked and said: ‘Where are Samuel and David?’] And one said: ‘Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah’: (8) What connection then has Naioth with Ramah? It means, however, that they sat at Ramah and were engaged with the glory [beauty] of the world. (9) Said they, It is written, Then shalt thou arise, and ascend unto the place [which the Lord thy God shall choose]: (10) this teaches that the Temple was higher than the whole of Eretz Israel, (11) while Eretz Israel is higher than all other countries. They did not know where that place was. Thereupon they brought the Book of Joshua. (12) In the case of all [tribal territories] it is written, ‘And the border went down’ ‘and the border went up’ ‘and the border passed along’, (13) whereas in reference to the tribe of Benjamin ‘and it went up’ is written, but not ‘and it went down’. (14) Said they: This proves that this is its site. They intended building it at the well of Etam, which is raised, but [then] they said: Let us build it slightly lower, (15) as it is written, And He dwelleth between his shoulders. (16) Alternatively, (17) there was a tradition that the Sanhedrin (18) should have its locale in Judah's portion, while the Divine Presence (19) was to be in Benjamin's portion. If then we build it in the highest spot, (20) [said they,] there will be a considerable distance between them. Better then that we build it slightly lower, as it is written: ‘And He dwelleth between his shoulders’. And for this Doeg the Edomite envied David, (21) as it is written, Because envy on account of Thy house hath eaten me up. (22) And it is written, Lord, remember unto David all his affliction; how he swore unto the Lord, and vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob: ‘Surely I will not come into the tent of my house, nor go up into the bed that is spread for me; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids; until I find out a place for the Lord, a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it as being in Ephrath; we found it in the field of the forest.’ (23) ‘In Ephrath’ means in the Book of Joshua, (24) who [Joshua] was descended from Ephraim. ‘In the field of the forest’ alludes to [the territory of] Benjamin, as it is written, Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth. (25) MISHNAH. THE PEACE-OFFERINGS OF THE CONGREGATION (26) AND THE GUILTOFFERINGS (THESE ARE THE GUILTOFFERINGS: THE GUILT-OFFERING FOR ROBBERY; (27) FOR TRESPASS; (28) FOR A BETROTHED BONDMAID; (29) A NAZIRITE'S GUILT-OFFERING; (30) A LEPER'S GUILTOFFERING; (31) AND THE GUILT-OFFERING OF SUSPENSE) (32) ARE SLAUGHTERED IN THE NORTH, AND THEIR BLOOD IS RECEIVED IN A SERVICE VESSEL IN THE NORTH, AND THEIR BLOOD REQUIRES TWO SPRINKLINGS, WHICH CONSTITUTE FOUR. AND THEY ARE EATEN WITHIN THE HANGINGS, (33) BY MALE PRIESTS, PREPARED IN ANY MANNER, A DAY AND A NIGHT, UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

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(1). ↑ After the base was built, a cubit was cut away on the south side.
(2). ↑ Deut. XXVII, 6. Cutting away from the base would inevitably cut into the stones, so that they would not be whole.
(3). ↑ In the first mould planks were placed on the south and the east sides, a cubit from the edge, so that when the stones, etc. were poured in, these strips would be left empty; subsequently they were removed.
(4). ↑ So emended by Sh. M.
(5). ↑ Zech. IX, 15. — That implies that the horns were hollowed out to form a receptacle.
(6). ↑ Whereas if the horns were hollowed or perforated after they were made, the stones would have to be cut into.
(7). ↑ Thin laths formed the hollow or channels before the stones, etc. were poured into it, and these were not filled in.
(8). ↑ I Sam. XIX, 22.
(9). ↑ Connecting Naioth with Na'eh, beautiful, glorious. The reference is to the Temple-they sought to determine its exact site.
(10). ↑ Deut. XVII, 8.
(11). ↑ Since one had to ‘ascend’ to it from wherever he might be.
(12). ↑ To study the topography of Eretz Israel.
(13). ↑ Cf. Josh. XV-XVIII.
(14). ↑ The border of other tribes ran in a southerly direction from the well of Etam, and the north as far as the well of Etam constituted Benjamin's boundary. Now, the boundaries of other tribes as they proceeded south from the well of Etam are described as going down, whereas the boundary of Benjamin as it proceeded to the well of Etam is described as going up. Hence the well of Etam must have been the highest spot of all. Rashi identifies the well of Etam with ‘the waters of Nephtoah’ (ibid. XVIII, 15.) V. also J.E. art. ‘Etam’.
(15). ↑ Sc. in Jerusalem.
(16). ↑ Deut. XXXIII, 12. ‘Shoulders’ but not ‘head’ implies that it should not be at the very highest point.
(17). ↑ An alternative reason why they did not build it at the well of Etam.
(18). ↑ The Supreme Court of seventy-one; v. Sanh. 2a. Its seat was in a special chamber (‘Chamber of Hewn Stone’) in the Temple court.
(19). ↑ The Temple.
(20). ↑ Lit., ‘if we raise it’.
(21). ↑ I.e., because David had thus decided the site of the Temple.
(22). ↑ Ps. LXIX, 10. E.V., ‘zeal for Thy house, etc.’
(23). ↑ Ps. CXXXII, 2-6.
(24). ↑ Emended text (Aruk).
(25). ↑ Gen. XLIX, 27. Being a ‘wolf’, he would naturally be found in the forest
(26). ↑ The lambs offered on Pentecost, Lev. XXIII, 19.
(27). ↑ V. Lev. V, 20-25.
(28). ↑ V. p. 176, n. 10.; ibid 15f.
(29). ↑ V. ibid. XIX, 20 seq.
(30). ↑ A Nazirite who became defiled through a corpse, v. Num. VI, (9) seq.
(31). ↑ At his purification, v. Lev. XIV, 12.
(32). ↑ V. p. 240, n. 8.
(33). ↑ V. supra 53a p. 266, n. 6.