“And a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of high quality flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread smeared with oil, and their meal offering, and their libations” (Numbers 6:15). “And a basket of unleavened bread,” there is a mitzva to bring it in a basket. I have only a basket, from where is it derived to include other vessels? The verse states: “A basket [sal],” “and a basket [vesal].”132The extra vav is expounded to include other vessels.
“And a basket of unleavened bread”; a generalization, “loaves…and wafers of unleavened bread”; a detail; the generalization includes only what is in the detail. It teaches that it does not require four different types, like the thanks offering. “Unleavened bread, loaves of high quality flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread smeared with oil” – why was it necessary to mention unleavened bread in relation to the wafers?
It is because otherwise, I could have applied smearing to the loaves or mixing to the wafers. The verse states: “Unleavened bread,” regarding unleavened bread they are equal, but are not equal regarding mixing and spreading. “And wafers of unleavened bread smeared with oil,” is it, perhaps, performed in the manner of the smearers?133They typically smear the entire wafer. The verse states: “With oil,” enough to fulfill the mitzva of oil.
How does he do so? He dips his finger and places one annointment on this one and one anointment on that one.134One anointment per wafer, but he does not smear the entire wafer. “And their meal offering, and their libations” – for the burnt offering and for the peace offering, or, is it even for the sin offering and the guilt offering? Just as it is stated regarding the leper, who brings a meal offering with his sin offering, his guilt offering, and his burnt offering, as it is stated: “On the eighth day he shall take two unblemished lambs, and one unblemished ewe…[and three-tenths of an ephah of high quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering, and one log of oil]” (Leviticus 14:10).
He would bring three-tenths of an ephah, one-tenth for each and every kind. Is is, perhaps, the same regarding a nazirite? The verse states: “And the ram he shall prepare as a peace offering…[and the priest shall perform its meal offering, and its libation]” (Numbers 6:17). Was the ram not included in the generalization “and their meal offering and their libations”?
But it emerged from the generalization and taught regarding the generalization: Just as the ram, which is a peace offering, is unique in that it comes as a vow and as a gift offering and requires libations, so, too, everything that comes as a vow or as a gift offering requires libations.135This excludes sin offerings and guilt offerings that were brought only if one sinned.