Study Yoma folio 47A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
הוציאו לו את הכף ואת המחתה, חפן מלא חפניו ונתן לתוך הכף. הגדול לפי גדלו, והקטן לפי קטנו. וכך היתה מדתה. נטל את המחתה בימינו ואת הכף בשמאלו.
Mishnah: They brought out the spoon and the coal pan to the High Priest so he may perform the service of the incense. He scoops his handfuls from the incense and places it into the spoon. The High Priest with large hands fills the spoon with incense in an amount corresponding to the large size of his hands, and the High Priest with small hands fills the spoon with incense in an amount corresponding to the small size of his hands. And this was the measure of the spoon, i.e., it was made to correspond to the size of his hands. He took the coal pan in his right hand and the spoon in his left hand.
גמ׳ מחתה? תנא ליה: נטל את המחתה ועלה לראש המזבח וחותה ויורד! התם מחתה דגחלים, והכא מחתה דקטורת, דתניא: הוציאו לו כף ריקן מלשכת הכלים, ומחתה גדושה של קטורת מלשכת בית אבטינס.
Talmud: The Talmud expresses surprise at the statement of the Mishnah. In an earlier Mishnah, the tanna already taught that the High Priest must bring the coal pan: He takes a coal pan and ascends to the top of the altar and rakes and descends. Why does the tanna mention the taking of the coal pan again? The Talmud explains: There the Mishnah deals with the coal pan of burning coals, and here the Mishnah is referring to the coal pan of incense, which he would later scoop out. As it was explicitly taught in a baraita: They brought out an empty spoon for him from the chamber of vessels, and a coal pan heaped with incense from the Chamber of the House of Avtinas.
חפן מלא חפניו ונותן לתוך הכף. הגדול — לפי גדלו, והקטן — לפי קטנו. וכך היתה מדתה. כף ביום הכפורים למה לי? ״מלא חפניו והביא״ אמר רחמנא!
§ The Mishnah taught: He scoops his handfuls from the incense and places it into the spoon. The High Priest with large hands fills the spoon with incense corresponding to the large size of his hands, and the High Priest with small hands fills the spoon corresponding to the small size of his hands, and this was the measure of the spoon, according to the size of his hands. The Talmud asks: Why do I need a spoon on Yom Kippur? After all, God states: “And he should take a coal pan full of coals of fire from off the altar from before YHWH, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small and bring it within the veil” (Leviticus 16:12). This verse suggests that the handfuls are brought by hand rather than in a vessel.