Avodah Zarah 54B

ואלא מכלים, דכתיב: ״ואת כל הכלים אשר הזניח המלך אחז במלכותו במעלו הכנו והקדשנו״, ואמר מר: ״הכנו״⁠ — שגנזנום, ״והקדשנו״⁠ — שהקדשנו אחרים תחתיהן, והא אין אדם אוסר דבר שאינו שלו!

But rather, it is derived from the case of vessels of the Temple that Ahaz used for idol worship, as it is written: “And all the vessels, which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he acted treacherously, we have prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of YHWH” (II Chronicles 29:19). And the Master said: “We have prepared” means that we interred them; “and sanctified” means that we sanctified other vessels in their stead, as the original vessels were prohibited. But how could Ahaz render the vessels of the Temple forbidden, as a person does not render forbidden an item that is not his?

אלא, כיון דעבד בהו מעשה, איתסרו להו; הכא נמי, כיון שעשה בה מעשה ⁠— אסרה.

Rather, since Ahaz performed a sacrificial rite upon them in idolatrous worship, the vessels were prohibited. Here too, when one performed a sacrificial rite upon the animal of another person by slaughtering it in idolatrous worship, he rendered it prohibited.

כי אתא רב דימי, אמר רבי יוחנן: אף על פי שאמרו המשתחוה לקרקע עולם לא אסרה, חפר בה בורות שיחין ומערות ⁠— אסרה. כי אתא רב שמואל בר יהודה, אמר רבי יוחנן: אף על פי שאמרו המשתחוה לבעלי חיים לא אסרן, עשאן חליפין לעבודה זרה ⁠— אסרן.

§ When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that R' Yoḥanan says: Even though the rabbis said that one who bows to the ground does not render it prohibited, if one dug pits, ditches, and caves in it, he rendered it prohibited. When Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that R' Yoḥanan says: Even though the rabbis said that one who bows to animals does not render them prohibited, if one rendered them an item of exchange for an object of idol worship, exchanging the animal for an object of idol worship, he rendered them prohibited.