Commentary for Shekalim 4:5
מוֹתַר הַקְּטֹרֶת מֶה הָיוּ עוֹשִׂין בָּהּ, מַפְרִישִׁין (מִמֶּנָּה) שְׂכַר הָאֻמָּנִין, וּמְחַלְּלִין אוֹתָהּ עַל שְׂכַר הָאֻמָּנִין, וְנוֹתְנִין אוֹתָהּ לָאֻמָּנִין בִּשְׂכָרָן, וְחוֹזְרִין וְלוֹקְחִין אוֹתָהּ מִתְּרוּמָה חֲדָשָׁה. אִם בָּא הֶחָדָשׁ בִּזְמַנּוֹ, לוֹקְחִין אוֹתָהּ מִתְּרוּמָה חֲדָשָׁה. וְאִם לָאו מִן הַיְּשָׁנָה:
The surplus of the incense [i.e., what is left over every year] — What is done with it [in order to burn it (in the sacrificial service) the following year? For there is no year where there is no surplus. For there were 368 portions of incense and three portions of which the high-priest would fill his hands on Yom Kippur. And not all of it could be contained in his hands (so that there was a surplus). What is more, there was a surplus every regular year (as opposed to a leap year), there being 354 days in the regular year.] They separate from it [i.e., from the lishkah], the wage of the artisans [the spice mixers. They (the Temple functionaries) take their (the artisans') wage from the terumah of the lishkah, have one of the treasurers acquire it on behalf of the artisans, and it (the money) becomes chullin. And even though hekdesh does not become chullin unless something becomes hekdesh in its stead, the terumah of the lishkah is different, beth-din being empowered to allocate it for several purposes. And after they acquire the money on behalf of the artisans], they redeem it (the incense) for the wage of the artisans. [The money is thus consecrated for the old terumah (that of the previous year)], it (the incense) is given to the artisans as their wage, and it is then re-purchased from them with (the money of) the new terumah. [This procedure is more "modest" (i.e., in keeping with the nature of hekdesh) than simply selling it and re-purchasing it.] If it came in its time, it is taken from the new terumah. [If the new shekalim were brought before Rosh Chodesh Nissan, which is the time for the new terumah, the surplus of the incense is bought from the new terumah through redemption, as explained above.] And if not, from the old. [If the new shekalim had not yet been brought, it (the surplus of the incense) is bought from the old terumah, if it had already been redeemed. And if it had not yet been redeemed, it is burnt (in the sacrificial service), for the new, not having arrived, the old must be used.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
They would separate from it the wages of the craftsmen, and they would exchange it for the wages of the craftsmen, and they would give it to the craftsmen as their wages, and then they would buy it back again out of a new appropriation. This is how they would turn the incense for the previous year into incense for the following year. First they would separate an amount of incense that would be used to pay the wages of those who make the incense. Then they would redeem that incense with money set aside to pay those craftsmen. The money then would become sacred and the incense would be non-sacred. They then would give the non-sacred incense to the craftsmen as their wages and then they would buy back the incense with new shekels. The craftsmen would have their wages, and the incense was bought with new shekels. They could have done all this in a much simpler way they could simply sell the old incense and then buy it back with new money. However, the rabbis thought that the arrangement of using it for the craftsmen’s wages was more appropriate for sacred money.