Study Zevachim folio 67B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תא שמע: חטאת לזו ועולה לזו;
The Talmud suggests: Come and hear a challenge to this principle from a Mishnah in tractate Kinnim (24a). A woman after childbirth must bring two bird offerings: A burnt offering and a sin offering. The Mishnah discusses a case where two women after childbirth, one of whom already brought her burnt offering and one of whom already brought her sin offering, bring their remaining offerings to the Temple, a sin offering for this one and a burnt offering for that one, but confusion has arisen as to which bird is which.
עשה שתיהן למעלה – מחצה כשר ומחצה פסול. שתיהן למטה – מחצה כשר ומחצה פסול. אחת למעלה ואחת למטה – שתיהן פסולות; שאני אומר: חטאת קרבה למעלה, ועולה קרבה למטה.
If the priest sacrificed both of them above the red line, half of the birds, i.e., one of them, is fit, as in any event the burnt offering has been sacrificed properly, and half of the birds, i.e., the other one, is disqualified. Likewise, if he sacrificed both of them below the red line, half are fit, as in any event the sin offering was sacrificed properly, and half are disqualified. If he sacrificed one above the red line and one below, they are both disqualified, as I say that perhaps the sin offering was sacrificed above, and the burnt offering was sacrificed below.
נהי נמי דעולה קרבה למטה, תימשוך ותהוי חטאת העוף!
But according to Rav Adda bar Ahava’s explanation of R' Yehoshua’s principle, the sin offering should be deemed fit in any event; even though the burnt offering was indeed sacrificed below the red line, it should be removed from its status as a burnt offering and become a bird sin offering.
אימור דאמר רבי יהושע – בחד גברא; בתרי גברי מי אמר?!
The Talmud rejects this claim: It is reasonable to say that R' Yehoshua stated his principle with regard to one person, whose offering the priest sacrificed below the red line instead of above it; but did he state it with regard to two people, one of whose offering the priest sacrificed for the sake of the other person? In the case of the two women, the priest sacrificed the offering for the sake of a different person altogether, and R' Yehoshua would concede that such an offering does not become a sin offering.