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 mealoffering is designated a sin-offering: as a sinoffering requires the north, so does a mealoffering require the north; (5) and as a mealoffering [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 south (10) 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 blood (14) 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,

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(1). ↑ For whatever they had to do, e.g., sprinkle the blood or arrange the wood pile.
(2). ↑ By the left. V. Suk. 48b.
(3). ↑ I.e., they returned the same way as they came.
(10). ↑ Lev. V, 11. This refers to a sinner's mealoffering brought in extreme poverty instead of a bird sin-offering.
(4). ↑ Since the latter can be a substitute for it.
(5). ↑ Rashi maintains that the text is faulty, because a bird sin-offering did not require the north, nor did a sinner's 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.
(6). ↑ I.e., its blood is sprinkled there.
(7). ↑ Lev. VI, 7. This refers to a meal-offering, and ‘before the Lord’ means at the altar.
(8). ↑ Which faced the Hekal, and so might appropriately be described as ‘before the Lord’.
(9). ↑ Ibid. ‘Front’ is the south, where the ascent ran.
(10). ↑ For variant reading v. Men. 19b.
(11). ↑ Hence the south of the altar ended opposite the door leading to the Hekal, and so that too would be called ‘before the Lord’.
(12). ↑ It cannot be meant as it stands, for if it was fit in any place, why insist on a particular spot?
(13). ↑ Sh. M. deletes the bracketed passage.
(14). ↑ The first blood which gushes forth.
(15). ↑ This is apparently self-contradictory, as the first states that it is valid if sprinkled anywhere, and then states that it must be sprinkled below the scarlet line.