Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: The private altar is permitted only by means of a prophet. What is the source? “Beware, lest you offer up your burnt offerings [in any place that you see]” (Deuteronomy 12:13), but Elijah sacrificed during the period of the prohibition of private altars.33See I Kings chapter 18. Rabbi Simlai said: The Holy One blessed be He told him to, as it is stated: “And by Your word I have performed” (I Kings 18:36); by Your statement.
Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Marei cites it from this: “Then Joshua built [an altar]” (Joshua 8:30).34Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Marei is proving from here that when the Israelites entered the Land of Israel and arrived at Gilgal, private altars became permitted once again (see Yerushalmi, Megilla 1:12). I have derived only regarding Gilgal, from where is it derived regarding Givon? It is as it is stated: “It was on that night that the Lord said to him: Take your father's large bull” (Judges 6:25).35The text of the midrash here is difficult, as this verse is stated regarding Gideon, who did not live during the time when the Tabernacle was at Givon.
Some suggest that the text should state Gideon instead of Givon. If so, the meaning would be that Gideon was permitted to sacrifice on an private altar by God even though at the time this was generally forbidden. For another interpretation, see Etz Yosef. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Seven transgressions were violated with Gideon’s bull: Ashera trees, invalid stones, designated a bull of worship, a non-priest, at night, and it was not at the proper time.36The altar Gideon used was made from trees and stones that had been used for idolatrous worship and were disqualified for use for an altar.
The bull had been worshipped, designated for idolatrous sacrifice, and it was seven years old; each of these factors is sufficient to disqualify an animal from use as an offering. I have derived only regarding Givon, from where is it derived regarding Shilo?37From where is it derived that although private altars were prohibited while the Tabernacle was at Shilo, they were permitted again once the Tabernacle was no longer there? (Etz Yosef).
“Samuel took one suckling lamb [and offered it up in its entirety as a burnt offering to the Lord]” (I Samuel 7:9).38This occurred after the destruction of the Tabernacle at Shilo, and proves that private altars became permitted once again. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Three transgressions were violated with Samuel’s bull: It [was burned] with its hide, it was not at its proper time,39It was less than eight days old. and he was a Levite.
Rabbi Yosei said: If it is from that verse, you cannot derive anything. Rather, derive it from this [proof brought] by Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani: “His return was to Rama, as his home was there. [There he would judge Israel, and he built an altar there to the Lord]” (I Samuel 7:17).