Study Sanhedrin folio 63A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אמר רבי אמי: זיבח וקיטר וניסך בהעלם אחד, אינו חייב אלא אחת. אמר אביי: מאי טעמא דרבי אמי? אמר קרא ״לא תעבדם״, הכתוב עשאן כולן עבודה אחת.
R' Ami says: If one sacrificed an animal as an idolatrous offering and burned incense and poured a libation, all in the course of one lapse of awareness, he is obligated to bring only one sin-offering. Abaye says: What is the reason for the opinion of R' Ami? The verse states: “Nor worship them” (Exodus 20:5). The verse renders all the various rites of worship as one rite.
The Talmud asks: And does Abaye actually say this? But doesn’t Abaye say: Why are there 3 mentions in the Torah of the prohibition against bowing to an object of idol worship? The prohibition against bowing to an idol appears 3 times: “You should not bow to them nor worship them” (Exodus 20:5), “You should not bow to their gods nor worship them” (Exodus 23:24), and “For you should bow to no other god” (Exodus 34:14).
אחת לכדרכה, ואחת שלא כדרכה, ואחת לחלק.
The reason is that one mention is for an idol for which bowing is its standard manner of worship, and one mention is a prohibition against bowing to an idol even if bowing is not its standard manner of worship, and one mention is to divide idol worship into categories, as one is obligated to bring an offering for every type of worship that he performed. Evidently, Abaye’s opinion is not in accordance with R' Ami’s statement that one is obligated to bring one sin-offering for all of his acts of idol worship.
לדבריו דרבי אמי קאמר, וליה לא סבירא ליה.
The Talmud answers: Abaye stated his reason in accordance with the statement of R' Ami, but he himself does not hold accordingly.