Study Zevachim folio 5A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לא ידע במאי; כתב רחמנא ״זאת התורה״. ואי כתב רחמנא ״זאת התורה״ – הוה אמינא ליפסלו; כתב רחמנא ״מוצא שפתיך״.
that we do not know what requirement does not disqualify the offering if not fulfilled. Therefore, God writes the verse: This is the law, juxtaposing all offerings with a peace offering, which must be performed for its own sake. And if God had written only the verse: This is the law, I would say that offerings sacrificed not for their sake should be disqualified. Therefore, God writes the verse: That which is gone out of your lips, teaching that they are accepted, though they do not satisfy their owners’ obligations.
רמי ריש לקיש על מעוהי בי מדרשא, ומקשי: אם כשרים הם – ירצו! ואם אין מרצין – למה באין?
§ Reish Lakish raised a difficulty while lying on his stomach in the study hall: If offerings that were sacrificed for the sake of the wrong type of offering or someone other than the owner are fit, let them propitiate God, i.e., let them satisfy the obligation of their owners; and if they do not propitiate God, why are they brought as offerings at all?
אמר לו רבי (אליעזר) [אלעזר]: מצינו בבאין לאחר מיתה, שהן כשרין ואין מרצין. דתנן: האשה שהביאה חטאתה ומתה – יביאו יורשין עולתה. עולתה ומתה – לא יביאו יורשין חטאתה.
R' Elazar said to him: We have found a precedent for this in the case of offerings brought after the death of their owners, as they are fit, but they do not propitiate God, as they do not have owners requiring atonement. This is as we learned in a Mishnah (Kinnim 2:5): With regard to a woman after childbirth who brought her sin offering and then died, the heirs should bring her burnt offering. If she brought her burnt offering and then died, the heirs should not bring her sin offering. Evidently, a burnt offering is sacrificed even if it does not satisfy its owner’s obligation.