והפשיט את העולה מצוה שיפשיטנה כולה ואחרי כן ינתח אותה ואמר והפשיט ונתח כי בבעל הקרבן ידבר כאשר אמר (ויקרא א׳:ד׳) וסמך ושחט כי ההפשט והנתוח אינן עבודות וכשרות בזר ולכך חזר אחר כך ואמר ונתנו בני אהרן (ויקרא א׳:ז׳) וכן רחיצת הקרבים כשרה בזר ולכך אמר וקרבו וכרעיו ירחץ במים (ויקרא א׳:ט׳) בעל הקרבן ואחרי כן והקטיר הכהן ואמר לשון רבים ונתנו וערכו כי בכל מצות הכהונה יאמר כן בעבור שהכהנים רבים יאספו בבית השם לעשות העולה וברב עם הדרת מלך (משלי יד כח) אבל איננו עכוב שהרי לימד למטה (ויקרא א׳:י״ב) וערך הכהן אותם: AND HE SHALL FLAY THE BURNT-OFFERING. He is commanded to flay it while it is whole and afterwards he sever it. The expression and he shall flay … and he shall sever refers to the owner of the offering [even if he is a non-priest], just as He said, and he shall lay his hand …88Above, Verse 4. and he shall slaughter89Verse 5. [which may also be done by a zar — a non-priest], for flaying and severing are not functions relating to the actual offering and are therefore valid if done by a zar. This is why [in the following verse] He says again, And the sons of Aaron [the priest shall put fire upon the altar].90Verse 7. Similarly, it is valid that the washing of the inwards be done by a zar. Hence He says, But its inwards and its legs he shall wash in water,91Verse 9. that is, the owner of the offering, and afterwards, and the priest shall cause all to ascend in fumes.91Verse 9. He states it in the plural, and they shall put …90Verse 7. and they shall set the pieces,92Verse 8. because all duties performed by the priests are commanded in this form, since there are many priests gathered in the House of G-d to attend to the burnt-offerings, and in the multitude of the people is the King’s glory,93Proverbs 14:28. but it is not indispensable, since further on He taught, and the priest shall set them in order94Verse 12. [thus showing that even a single priest may perform all the acts].95Ibn Ezra, however, states that they must be performed by a minimum of two priests. This he bases upon the plural expression in Verse 7: and they shall put fire. It is thus clear that Ramban’s intention here is to exclude Ibn Ezra’s opinion, since it is not the accepted law.
והפשיט ונתח ונתנו בני אהרן אש אין זה הסדר שהראוי שיערכו הכהנים המערכה ואחרי כן ינתחו העולה וכך היה סדר המערכה בתמיד (יומא לג) וכן מה שאמר (ויקרא א׳:ח׳) וערכו בני אהרן הכהנים את הנתחים את הראש ואת הפדר על העצים אשר על האש ואחרי כן והקרב והכרעים ירחץ במים (ויקרא א׳:ט׳) אין הצואה שיעשה כסדר הזה כי העריכה היא הקטרת הנתחים שצוה למטה (ויקרא א׳:ט׳) והקטיר הכהן את הכל ואם כן אין הסדר שיעלה הנתחים והראש והפדר על האש שבמזבח ואחרי כן ירחץ הקרב והכרעים ויקטירם אבל תחלה ינתח וירחץ ואחרי כן יעלה הכל על האש ויקטיר אבל ענין הכתוב שהקדים זריקת הדם ללמד שהיא קודמת לכל דבר ואחרי כן צוה בהקטרת האברים ואמר שיפשיט וינתח להעריך אותם על האש אחרי רחיצת הקרב והכרעים ואז יקטיר הכל כאחת וזהו שאמר "את הכל" והכונה ששנה הכתוב באברים לומר וערכו על האש והקטיר ללמד שאחר שיסדרם על האש לא יניחם עד שיבער בהם האש ויאכל אותם ותעלה מהם הקטורת וכן מה שהקדים הפשט ונתוח למערכת האש ללמד שאין בעולת הנדבה חובה להקדים לה מערכה כעולת התמיד שנצטוינו (ויקרא ו׳:ה׳) ובער עליה הכהן עצים בבקר בבקר והיא קודמת לכל דבר המזבח כמו שמפורש במסכת יומא (יומא ל״ג): AND HE SHALL FLAY … AND HE SHALL SEVER … AND THE SONS OF AARON THE PRIEST SHALL PUT FIRE UPON THE ALTAR.90Verse 7. This is not the correct order of these actions, for the right way is that the priests should first put fire upon the altar, and only then should they sever the limbs. Such indeed was the order of the arrangement of the Daily Offering.96Yoma 33. Similarly, the verse stating, And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall set the pieces, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire,92Verse 8. and afterwards, But its inwards and its legs he shall wash in water91Verse 9. — does not mean to command that it be done in that order, for “the setting” [mentioned in Verse 8] refers to “the burning” of the pieces which He commanded further on [in Verse 9]: and the priest shall cause all to ascend in fumes. If so, the correct order of performance cannot be that he should bring up the pieces, and the head and the fat, and set them upon the fire that is upon the altar, and only afterwards should he wash the inwards and the legs and burn them! Rather, he first severed it and washed it, and then he brought everything up and set them on the fire to be burnt. The reason [for the order] of the verses is thus as follows: First He mentioned the sprinkling of the blood89Verse 5. in order to teach that this comes before everything else. Then He gave the commandment concerning the burning of the limbs, stating [in Verse 6 before us] that he should flay [the animal] and sever it in order to set the pieces upon the fire after washing the inwards and the legs, and then he should burn them all at one time, this being the sense of the expression and the priest shall cause ‘all’ to ascend in fumes.91Verse 9. The reason why Scripture repeated [the commandment] concerning the limbs, stating, and they shall set them…upon the fire,92Verse 8. and the priest shall cause all to ascend in fumes,97Verse 9. — That is to say, in view of the fact that the expression and they shall set the pieces in order … [Verse 8] means the burning thereof, as explained above, the question appears why in Verse 9 it repeats the command concerning the limbs, and they shall set them upon the fire? is in order to teach us that after he arranges them upon the fire, he should not depart until the fire has taken hold of them and consumed them so that the fumes thereof ascend. Similarly, the reason why He preceded to mention the flaying and severing to that of making the fire, is in order to teach us that in a freewill burnt-offering [discussed in this section], there is no obligation to set the fire upon the altar before [these activities] as is the case with the Daily Offering, concerning which we were commanded, and the priest shall kindle wood on it every morning,98Further, 6:5. this being the first thing of all that was done in everything that pertaineth to the altar99Numbers 18:7. Actually the removal of the ashes from the altar (see further, 6:3) preceded the kindling of the wood. But Ramban’s intent here is obviously to everything that pertaineth to the altar as far as the burning of the offering is concerned. as is explained in Tractate Yoma.96Yoma 33.