Horayot 6A

אף חטאת לא נאכלת.

so too, this sin-offering is not eaten.

כיוצא בו, אמר רבי יוסי: ״הבאים מהשבי הגולה הקריבו [עלות] לאלהי ישראל פרים שנים עשר וגו׳ הכל עולה״. הכל עולה סלקא דעתך? אפשר שחטאת עולה! אלא הכל כעולה: מה עולה לא נאכלת ⁠– אף חטאת לא נאכלת. דתניא, רבי יהודה אומר: על עבודה זרה הביאום, ואמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: על עבודה זרה שעשו בימי צדקיהו.

Similarly, R' Yosei said that it is stated with regard to those who returned to Zion from Babylonia in the days of Ezra: “The children of the captivity who came out of exile sacrificed burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 goats as a sin-offering; all this was a burnt-offering to YHWH” (Ezra 8:35). The question arises: Does it enter your mind to say: “All this was a burnt-offering”? Is it possible that a sin-offering is a burnt-offering? Rather, say: All this was like a burnt-offering. Just as a burnt-offering is not eaten, so too, this sin-offering is not eaten, as it is taught in a baraita that R' Yehuda says: It was as atonement for idol worship that they brought them; and Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: It was atonement for the idol worship that they practiced during the days of Zedekiah.

בשלמא לרבי יהודה, משכחת לה להני שנים עשר חטאות כגון דחטאו שנים עשר שבטים, דמייתו שנים עשר שעירים. אי נמי דחטאו שבעה שבטים ושארא אינך בגרירה. ולרבי שמעון נמי משכחת לה, כגון דחטאו אחד עשר שבטים, דמייתו אחד עשר שעירים ואידך דבית דין. אלא לרבי מאיר דאמר: בית דין מביאין ולא צבור, שנים עשר היכי משכחת ליה? כגון דחטאו והדר חטאו והדר חטאו, עד תריסר זימני.

The Talmud clarifies: Granted, according to R' Yehuda, whose opinion is cited in the Mishnah, you find liability for these 12 sin-offerings in a case where 12 tribes sinned by engaging in idol worship, as in that case they bring 12 goats. Alternatively, you find liability in a case where 7 tribes sinned, and the rest of these tribes that did not sin are drawn after the majority of tribes that sinned and each brings a sin-offering. And according to R' Shimon as well, you find liability for these 12 sin-offerings in a case where 11 tribes sinned, as in that case they bring 11 goats and the other goat is brought by the court. But according to R' Meir, who says that the court brings an offering and the public does not, and only one bull is sacrificed, how do you find this a case of liability to bring 12 offerings? The Talmud answers: It is in a case where they sinned, and then sinned again, and then sinned again, until they sinned 12 times.