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Text Excerpt
מנין שלא יאמר אדם ״לה׳ עולה״, ״לה׳ מנחה״, ״לה׳ תודה״, ״לה׳ שלמים״ — תלמוד לומר: ״קרבן לה׳״.
From where is it derived that a person should not say: To YHWH a burnt-offering, or: To YHWH a meal-offering, or: To YHWH a thanks-offering, or: To YHWH a peace-offering, but should mention the offering first and then state that it is for YHWH? The verse states: “An offering to YHWH” (Leviticus 1:2). The reason for this is that if one first says: To YHWH, perhaps he will change his mind and not complete the sentence in order to avoid consecrating the offering, and he will have uttered the name of God in vain.
וקל וחומר: ומה זה שלא נתכוון אלא להזכיר שם שמים על הקרבן — אמרה תורה ״קרבן לה׳״, לבטלה — על אחת כמה וכמה.
And it is an a fortiori inference: Just as with regard to this individual discussed in the baraita, who intended to mention the name of Heaven only upon an offering, the Torah said that he should say: An offering to YHWH, in order to avoid possibly mentioning the name of God in vain, with regard to one who actually mentions the Divine Name in vain, all the more so it is clear that he has committed a severe transgression.
לימא כתנאי, בית שמאי אומרים: כינויי כינויין — אסורין. ובית הלל אומרים: כינויי כינויין — מותרין.
The Talmud suggests: Let us say that this dispute between R' Yoḥanan and R' Shimon ben Lakish is parallel to a dispute between tanna’im, as it was taught in a baraita that Beit Shammai say: If one expresses a vow with substitutes for the substitute terms mentioned in the Mishnah, the vow takes effect and the items are forbidden. And Beit Hillel say: If one expresses a vow with substitutes for the substitute terms mentioned in the Mishnah, the vow does not take effect and the items are permitted.