Study Kiddushin folio 55B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תהי בה רבי יוחנן: וכי אומרים לו לאדם: עמוד וחטא בשביל שתזכה? אלא אמר רבי יוחנן: ממתין לה עד שתומם, ומייתי שתי בהמות ומתנה.
R' Yoḥanan wondered about R' Oshaya’s explanation of the Mishnah: And does one say to a person: Arise and sin in order that you may gain? Even if consecrated property can be desacralized intentionally, one is not allowed to redeem an animal designated to be an offering. Rather, R' Yoḥanan says: The Mishnah does not refer to redeeming an unblemished animal but to a case where the one who found the animal waits for it until it develops a blemish. At that point it would no longer have inherent sanctity but merely sanctity that inheres in its value, so the animal may be redeemed. And he brings two unblemished animals of the same value, and stipulates that if the animal he found was a burnt-offering, the first animal should be a burnt-offering in its stead while the other should be a voluntary peace-offering. And if the animal he found was a peace-offering, the second animal should be a peace-offering in its stead and the first should be a voluntary burnt-offering. After doing so he may eat the animal he found.
The Talmud continues to clarify the Mishnah. The Master says (55a): Males are presumed to be burnt-offerings, as only males may be brought as burnt-offerings. The Talmud asks: Why should a male necessarily be a burnt-offering; perhaps it is a thanks-offering, which can also be brought from a male animal? The Talmud answers: The Mishnah means that he must also bring a third animal and make a similar stipulation, that it should be either a thanks-offering in its stead or a voluntary one. The Talmud asks: But if he brings a third animal as a thanks-offering, doesn’t a thanks-offering require the bringing of bread as well? The Talmud answers: He brings bread as well.