Rabbinic JudaismSifrei Devarim 147HOLYMAP · SACRED TEXTS
Sifrei on DeuteronomySifrei Devarim 147

Sifrei on Deuteronomy

Sifrei Devarim 147

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim 17:1) "You shall not sacrifice to the L-rd your G-d an ox or a sheep in which there is a blemish": R. Yehudah says: I might think that if one slaughtered a sin-offering in the south (instead of the north) he transgresses a negative commandment; it is, therefore, written "You shall not sacrifice to the L-rd your G-d a sin-offering in which there is a blemish. For (slaughtering a sin-offering with) a blemish he transgresses a negative commandment, but not for slaughtering it in the south. The sages say: Even for slaughtering a sin-offering in the south he transgresses a negative commandment.

2
English · Shraga Silverstein

I might think that if one sacrificed (contrary to the prescribed order) a burnt-offering before a sin-offering, a Pesach offering before a daily offering (tamid), additional offerings (mussafim) before daily offerings, he transgresses a negative commandment; it is, therefore, written "You shall not sacrifice to the L-rd your G-d an ox or a sheep in which there is a blemish." For this he transgresses a negative commandment and not for the others.

3
English · Shraga Silverstein

"in which there is a blemish": This tells me only of a blemish. Whence do I derive (the same for) one that is scrofulous, warty, or scabbied? From "any unseemly thing."

4
English · Shraga Silverstein

Whence do I derive (the same for) one that is sick, old, or malodorous? From "any unseemly thing."

5
English · Shraga Silverstein

And whence is it derived that if one slaughtered them outside of their (proper) time or place that he transgresses a negative commandment? From "any thing (davar)," connoting anything which is dependent upon speech (dibbur [like "davar"], e.g., if one says: "I am slaughtering to perform this and this sacrificial service outside of its time or place").

6
English · Shraga Silverstein

And whence do I derive (the same for) an animal which was the active or the passive agent in sodomy, or set aside for idolatry, or served idolatrously, or received as a harlot's hire or the exchange of a dog, or kilayim (hybrid), or treifah, or of Caesarian birth? From "for it is the abomination of the L-rd your G-d." R. Yehoshua says: "it" is an abomination, but its offspring is not an abomination.

7
English · Shraga Silverstein

R. Shimon says: I might think that just as being the active or passive agent of sodomy renders an animal unfit as an offering, so it renders a Cohein unfit to offer a sacrifice; it is, therefore, written "for it is the abomination of the L-rd your G-d" — the reference is to the sacrifice, and not to the sacrificer.

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Sifrei Devarim 147English
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Sifrei Devarim 1470%

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Public-domain Hebrew editions, digitized by Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

Mechilta, Sifra and Sifrei, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein. CC BY. Text from Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

English translation: Sifrei Devarim, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, via Sefaria (sefaria.org). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Changes: footnotes and HTML formatting removed.

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