Sons of Aaron and the Priestly Taking of the Handful

"And he shall bring it to the sons of Aaron, and he shall take a handful" — the sons of Aaron, and not the daughters of Aaron. "And he shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense upon it and bring it" — this teaches that the pouring and blending are valid when done by any person. "And he shall bring it" — that he not bring it in halves; thus if he said "I take upon myself a meal offering of two tenths," he may not bring them in two vessels but in a single vessel. "To the sons of Aaron" — even if they are myriads, and so it says, "in a multitude of people is the king's glory" (Proverbs 14:28). "The priests, and he shall take a handful" — this teaches that the taking of the handful is a commandment of the priests. For consider the argument: if slaughter, for which the north side was fixed, did not have a priest fixed for it, then the handful, for which the north was not fixed, surely should not have a priest fixed for it. The pinching of the bird's neck proves otherwise, for the north was not fixed for it yet a priest was fixed for it. The cases are then distinguished, and the verse says "the priests, and he shall take a handful," teaching that the taking of the handful is a commandment of the priesthood. One might think it is a commandment that the priest take the handful, yet if a non-priest took it, it would be valid; the verse says again, "and the priest shall lift up," establishing that if a non-priest took the handful it is invalid. "And he shall take a handful" — one handful for one tenth, and one handful for sixty tenths. For consider: it requires a handful and it requires frankincense; just as the frankincense is one handful for one tenth and one handful for sixty tenths, so the handful is one for one tenth and one for sixty tenths. Or go the other way: it requires the handful and it requires oil; just as oil is one log for one tenth and sixty log for sixty tenths, so too the handful. Let us see which it resembles: we reason about a thing wholly given to the fires from a thing wholly given to the fires, and oil, not wholly given to the fires, shall not prove otherwise. Or go this way: we reason about a thing whose minimum is indispensable to its bulk from a like thing, and frankincense, whose minimum is not indispensable to its bulk, shall not prove otherwise. The verse says "and he shall take a handful": one handful for one tenth, and one handful for sixty tenths.