Talmud - Zevahim 49b זבחים מ״ט ב׳

but other matters in its general category learn halakhot from it; in this case with regard to the halakha of slaughtering a guilt offering in the north, it is well. Although some of the halakhot of the guilt offering of a leper do not apply to the category of guilt offerings in general, it can still serve as the source for the halakha that any guilt offering is disqualified if slaughtered not in the north. But if we hold that in the case of a matter that left its category to teach a new matter, it, the original matter, does not learn halakhot from its general category and its general category does not learn halakhot from it, then this verse is necessary to teach its own halakha.

The Gemara answers: Once the verse returned the halakha of the guilt offering of a leper to the general category by stating “as the sin offering, so is the guilt offering,” it returned it completely. Therefore, when the verse states that it requires slaughter in the north of the Temple courtyard, the phrase is not needed to teach the halakha about the guilt offering of a leper, and it can be used to teach the halakha about guilt offerings in general.

Mar Zutra, son of Rav Mari, said to Ravina: Say that when the verse returned the guilt offering of a leper to the class of standard guilt offerings, that is only with regard to placement of blood on the altar and burning the sacrificial portions, which require priesthood, i.e., only a priest may perform those rites. As the verse states: “For as the sin offering, so is the guilt offering; to the priest” (Leviticus 14:13). But say that slaughter, which does not require priesthood, as even a non-priest may slaughter an offering, does not require that it be done in the north of the Temple courtyard.

Ravina answered him: If so, let the verse state: For as the sin offering, so is it. What is added by the expanded phrase: “For as the sin offering, so is the guilt offering”? It teaches that the guilt offering of a leper will be like the rest of the guilt offerings.

§ The Gemara asks: Why do I need to juxtapose the guilt offering of a leper to a sin offering to teach the halakha that it must be slaughtered in the north, and why do I need to juxtapose it to a burnt offering to teach the same halakha? The verse states: “And he shall slaughter the sheep in the place where they slaughter the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the Sanctuary” (Leviticus 14:13).

Ravina said: It was necessary to juxtapose the guilt offering to both of them, as, if the verse had juxtaposed it only to a sin offering but had not juxtaposed it to a burnt offering, I would say: From where is the requirement to slaughter a sin offering in the north derived? It is from the halakha of a burnt offering, as explained on 48a. I would then assume that a matter derived via a juxtaposition, i.e., the halakha of a sin offering, which was derived via a juxtaposition to the halakha of a burnt offering, then teaches that halakha to another case via a juxtaposition. But there is a principle that with regard to matters of consecration the halakha may not be derived via a juxtaposition from another halakha that was itself derived via a juxtaposition. To prevent this incorrect assumption, the verse had to specifically teach the juxtaposition to a burnt offering.

Mar Zutra, son of Rav Mari, said to Ravina: But let the verse juxtapose the guilt offering of a leper only to a burnt offering and not juxtapose it to a sin offering. The juxtaposition to a sin offering appears superfluous.

Ravina answered: If that had been so, I would still say that a matter derived via a juxtaposition then teaches its halakha via a juxtaposition. And if you would say that if that were to be so, let the verse juxtapose the guilt offering of a leper only to a sin offering, one could answer that it is preferable for the Torah that it juxtaposes the guilt offering to the primary offering about which it states that it must be slaughtered in the north, i.e., the burnt offering, and not juxtapose it to the secondary offering, the sin offering. For this reason, i.e., to prevent the incorrect assumption that a matter derived via a juxtaposition then teaches its halakha via a juxtaposition, the verse juxtaposed it to a sin offering and also juxtaposed it to a burnt offering, to say that a matter derived via a juxtaposition does not then teach its halakha via a juxtaposition.

Rava says: The principle that a matter derived via a juxtaposition cannot then teach its halakha via a juxtaposition is derived from here, as it is written with regard to the sin offering brought by the High Priest: “And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the diaphragm with the liver, which he shall take away by the kidneys. As it is taken off from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make them smoke upon the altar of burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:9–10). One can ask: For what halakha is this offering juxtaposed to that of a peace offering? If it is to teach that the priest must sacrifice the diaphragm with the liver and the two kidneys from the offering, that is written with regard to the offering itself, in the previous verse. This does not need to be derived via a juxtaposition.

It is written due to the fact that the verse wants to teach the halakha of the diaphragm with the liver and the two kidneys, deriving it from the halakha of the offering of the bull for an unwitting communal sin, then teaching it to apply it to the halakha of the goats brought as sin offerings for communal idol worship. It is not written explicitly in the passage discussing the bull for an unwitting communal sin itself, and it is derived from the halakha of the bull for an unwitting sin of an anointed priest, i.e., the High Priest. The offering for an unwitting communal sin is juxtaposed to the sin offering brought by the High Priest in the verse: “So shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this” (Leviticus 4:20).

For this reason it was necessary for the verse to state: “As it is taken off from the ox” (Leviticus 4:10), so that it is as though it wrote explicitly in the passage discussing the bull for an unwitting communal sin itself. One of the hermeneutical principles applied to understanding verses in the Torah is: If the halakha stated is not required for the matter in which it is written, apply it to another matter. When this principle is employed, the halakha written in one context is viewed as if it were written elsewhere. In this case, as it was not necessary for the verse to write the juxtaposition to a peace offering in the context of the sin offering brought by the High Priest, it is applied to the case of the bull for an unwitting communal sin. And therefore it will not be a case of a matter derived via a juxtaposition that then teaches its halakha via a juxtaposition.

Rav Pappa said to Rava: But why not let the Torah write explicitly in the passage discussing the bull for an unwitting communal sin itself that the diaphragm with the liver and two kidneys must be removed from the ox, and not juxtapose it to a peace offering in this convoluted manner?

Rava answered: If the Torah had written it in that passage itself, and not juxtaposed it, I would say that in general a matter derived via a juxtaposition then teaches via a juxtaposition, as one would not have this instance to serve as a counterexample to that principle. And if you would say: If so, why not simply juxtapose the case of the bull for an unwitting communal sin to the case of the bull of the anointed priest, I would answer: It is preferable for the verse that it writes it in the passage itself rather than to juxtapose it alone. It is for this reason that it wrote it and juxtaposed it, to say that a matter derived via a juxtaposition cannot then teach its halakha via a juxtaposition.

§ Before beginning a lengthy discussion concerning derivations via compounded methodologies of the hermeneutical principles, the Gemara presents a mnemonic for its forthcoming discussion: Juxtaposition, verbal analogy, an a fortiori inference.

The principle that a matter derived via a juxtaposition cannot then teach its halakha via a juxtaposition is indicated either from the proof of Rava or from the proof of Ravina, both cited earlier. The Gemara asks: What is the halakha with regard to whether a matter derived via a juxtaposition can then teach its halakha to another matter via a verbal analogy?

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof from a baraita: Rabbi Natan ben Avtolemos says: From where is it derived that if leprosy of garments spreads throughout an entire garment that it is pure? It is derived via a verbal analogy: A bareness within [karaḥat] and a bareness without [gabbaḥat] are stated with regard to leprosy of garments: “And the priest shall look, after that the mark is washed; and behold, if the mark has not changed its color, and the mark has not spread, it is impure; you shall burn it in the fire; it is a fret, whether the bareness be within or without” (Leviticus 13:55); and a bald head [karaḥat] and a bald forehead [gabbaḥat] are stated with regard to leprosy of a person: “But if there be in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague, it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead” (Leviticus 13:42).

Just as there, with regard to a person, if the leprosy spread throughout him entirely he is pure, as the verse states: “Then the priest shall look; and behold, if the leprosy has covered all of his flesh, he shall pronounce the one who has the mark pure; it is all turned white: He is pure” (Leviticus 13:13), so too here with regard to garments, if the leprosy spread throughout the entire garment it is pure.

The Gemara continues its proof: But there, with regard to the head, which serves as the source for this verbal analogy, from where do we derive that if the leprosy spreads throughout the head he is pure? As it is written: “And if the leprosy breaks out on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the mark, from his head to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest” (Leviticus 13:12). And the verse thereby juxtaposes leprosy on his head to leprosy on his foot, teaching the following halakha: Just as there, with regard to leprosy of the body and foot, if its entirety turned white, and it spread all over him, he is pure, so too here, in the case of leprosy of the head, if its entirety turned white and it spread over all his head, he is pure. Evidently, a matter derived via a juxtaposition can then teach its halakha to another matter via a verbal analogy.

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This cannot serve as a proof with regard to the halakhot of consecrated matters. With regard to the entire Torah, one derives a halakha derived via a verbal analogy from a halakha derived via a juxtaposition, apart from with regard to consecrated matters, where one does not derive a halakha derived via a verbal analogy from a halakha derived via a juxtaposition.

Rabbi Yoḥanan explains: As if it were to be so that one could derive a halakha in this manner even concerning consecrated matters, the verse should not state the requirement for slaughter in the north with regard to a guilt offering, as stated from the explicit juxtaposition of a burnt offering and a sin offering, and instead derive it through a verbal analogy. The verse describes a guilt offering as an offering of the most sacred order (see Leviticus 7:1), and its halakha can be derived via a verbal analogy from that of a sin offering, which is described in the same manner (see Leviticus 6:18).

Rabbi Yoḥanan continues: Is this not to say, at least with regard to consecrated matters, that a matter derived via a juxtaposition cannot then teach its halakha to another matter via a verbal analogy?

The Gemara rejects Rabbi Yoḥanan’s proof: But perhaps the requirement to slaughter a guilt offering in the north must be written explicitly because the verbal analogy can be refuted as follows: What is notable about a sin offering? It is notable in that it atones for those sins liable for punishment by karet, which is not so with regard to a guilt offering.

The Gemara rejects this claim: There are additional descriptions of a guilt offering and a sin offering as offerings of the most sacred order written in the verses: “This shall be yours of the most sacred items, reserved from the fire: Every offering of theirs, every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they may offer to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons” (Numbers 18:9). A verbal analogy derived from extra phrases in the verse cannot be refuted with a logical claim. Therefore, Rabbi Yoḥanan’s claim stands, and, at least with regard to consecrated matters, a matter derived via a juxtaposition cannot then teach its halakha to another matter via a verbal analogy.

The Gemara states: That a matter derived via a juxtaposition then teaches its halakha via an a fortiori inference

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Zevachim 49b examines whether the leper's guilt offering fully rejoins general guilt offering rules, focusing on northward slaughter and priestly requirements.