Talmud - Zevahim 53a זבחים נ״ג א׳

He ascended the ramp of the altar and turned right to the surrounding ledge and he continued east, and he came to the southeast corner and sprinkled the blood of the sin offering there and then to the northeast corner and sprinkled the blood there, and then to the northwest corner and sprinkled the blood there, and the southwest corner, where he performed the fourth sprinkling and descended from the altar. He would pour the remainder of the blood on the southern base of the altar. And the meat portions of the offering are eaten within the curtains, i.e., in the Temple courtyard, by the males of the priesthood. And they are eaten prepared in any form of food preparation, on the day the offering is sacrificed and during the night that follows, until midnight.

GEMARA: How does the priest perform the rite of sprinkling the blood on the corners of the altar? There is a dispute between Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Elazar. One says that the priest places the blood within a cubit on this side or a cubit on that side. He places the blood wherever he wants, provided that it is within one cubit of the corner of the altar. And one says that he sprinkles the blood on the outer edge of the corner of the altar, and it flows down on both sides of the altar.

The Gemara comments: According to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who says that the sprinkling of the blood of a sin offering itself is performed only on the actual corner, the one-by-one-cubit projection above each corner of the altar, everyone agrees that the blood may be sprinkled anywhere on the corner, and this will be a fulfillment of the verse: “And put it upon the corners of the altar of burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:25). When they disagree is only according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who holds that the blood may be sprinkled anywhere above the red line on the edge of the altar. One Sage holds that the blood may be sprinkled on the cubit on either side of the edge, because a cubit on this side and a cubit on that side is still considered to be on the corner. And one Sage holds that on its edge, yes, it is fit, but any further on either side is not.

The Gemara raises an objection to the opinion that one cubit on either side of the edge is still considered on the edge, from a baraita: With regard to communal sin offerings and individual sin offerings, how is the placement of their blood on the altar performed? The priest would ascend the ramp of the altar and turn right to the surrounding ledge and continue east, and he would come to the southeast corner. And he would then dip with his right [haymanit] finger, the most dexterous [hamyumenet] of the right hand, i.e., the index finger, of the blood that is in the bowl, and would gather the blood with his thumb above and his smallest finger below, so that it would remain on his finger. And he would sprinkle the blood and move his hand down on the outer edge of the corner, until he would finish sprinkling all the blood that was on his finger. And he would act similarly at each and every corner. This baraita states explicitly that the blood must be sprinkled on the actual edge.

The Gemara answers: This is what the baraita is saying: The optimal manner to perform the mitzva is to sprinkle the blood on the edge of the corner. But if he did the sprinkling on the cubit on this side, or the cubit on that side, we have no problem with it, and he has still fulfilled the mitzva.

The Gemara discusses the aforementioned dispute. What is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and what is the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon? This is as it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 6:11): The blood that must be placed on the upper half of the altar, e.g., the blood of a sin offering, is placed anywhere from the red line that circumscribed the middle of the altar and above. The blood that must be placed on the lower half of the altar is placed anywhere from the red line or below it. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.

The baraita continues: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon says: In what case is this statement said? It is said with regard to a bird burnt offering, as its blood may be placed anywhere above the red line. But with regard to an animal sin offering, the placement itself may be performed only on the actual corner of the altar. This is based on the verse that states: “And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the corners of the altar of burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:25).

Rabbi Abbahu says: What is the reason for the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? As it is written: “And the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and above there shall be four corners” (Ezekiel 43:15). The Gemara asks: Was the altar only four cubits wide? Rav Adda bar Ahava said: And the total area of the four corners, which were each one square cubit, was four cubits. The Gemara asks: Was the area of the corners four square cubits? If the four corners would be placed together the area would be only two square cubits. Rather, say that the domain of the corners is four cubits. In other words, the verse means that the blood may be sprinkled up to four cubits beneath the actual corners of the altar.

We learned in a mishna there (Middot 35b): A red line circumscribed the altar in the middle, to separate between the area for the blood that must be placed on the upper part of the altar and the area for the blood that must be placed on the lower part of the altar. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rav Aḥa bar Rav Ketina said it is derived from a verse, as it is stated: “And you shall put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, and the net will reach halfway up the altar” (Exodus 27:5). The Torah provided for a separation on the altar, to separate between the area for the blood placed on the upper part of the altar and the area for the blood placed on the lower part of the altar.

§ The mishna teaches: He would pour the remainder of the blood on the southern base of the altar. The Sages taught in a baraita: Concerning the phrase: “At the base of the altar” (Leviticus 4:30), mentioned with regard to pouring the remainder of the blood of the sin offering of a king, this is referring to the southern base of the altar. The baraita challenges: Do you say that this is referring to the southern base, or is it referring only to the western base?

The baraita suggests: And one can derive the meaning of this unspecified phrase from the meaning of the explicit phrase, as follows: You said that one can derive the location of the priest’s descent from the ramp of the external altar after sprinkling blood of the sin offering by comparing it to his exit from the Sanctuary with the blood that remained after having sprinkled blood inside the Sanctuary. The verse states with regard to the bull offering of the High Priest: “And all the remaining blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 4:7). Just as upon his exit from the Sanctuary the priest pours the remainder of the blood on the side closest to him, the western side, so too, upon his descent from the ramp of the external altar after sprinkling blood from the sin offering, he pours the blood on the side closest to him, which is the southern side.

It is taught in another baraita: Rabbi Yishmael says: This and that, both the remainder of the blood sprinkled inside the Sanctuary and the remainder of the blood sprinkled on the external altar, are poured on the western base of the altar. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: This and that are poured on the southern base of the altar.

The Gemara clarifies: Granted, according to the one who says that the blood is poured on the western base of the altar, it is clear how he derived his halakha. He holds that one can derive the meaning of an unspecified phrase from the meaning of the explicit phrase. Therefore, just as the remainder of the blood sprinkled inside the Sanctuary is poured on the western base of the external altar, the same is done with the remainder of the blood sprinkled on the external altar.

But according to the one who says that the blood is poured on the southern base of the altar, what is the reason? Rabbi Asi said: This tanna holds that the entire external altar stands in the north of the Temple courtyard. Therefore, the southern base is in the center of the courtyard, opposite the entrance to the Sanctuary. This is what the verse is referring to when it states: “At the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 4:7). The Gemara presents another formulation of Rabbi Asi’s explanation: The entire entrance of the Sanctuary stands in the south of the altar. Accordingly, when the priest exits the Sanctuary the southern base is the first one he encounters.

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

Zevachim 53a details the priestly rite of sprinkling sin offering blood on the altar's four corners and debates the precise placement method among the sages.