A bullock is offered up with twenty-four (priests): the head and the leg — the head with one and the leg with two; the tail and the leg — the tail with two and the leg with two; the chest and the gereh — the chest with one and the gereh with three; two forelegs, with two; two rib cages, with two; the entrails, the flour, and the wine, with three each. When is this so? [that all of these priests are required for each beast, and a lottery is required]? With communal offerings. But with individual offerings, if he [one priest] wishes to offer it [all] up [and without a lottery], he may do so. The flaying and cutting of both [individual and communal offerings] are alike. [They may be performed by a non-priest, not requiring a Cohein.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
במה דברים אמורים – that we require all these Kohanim for all the animals and that we need an arbitration.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
Introduction
The final mishnah of this chapter teaches that sacrificial bulls, who were far larger than the rams and young sheep mentioned in the previous mishayot, and whose sacrifice required more flour and wine, were offered by twenty-four priests, instead of the nine for a sheep and eleven for a ram.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
אם רצה להקריב – an individual Kohen [who offers] everything without an arbitration.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
A bull was offered by twenty-four: The head and [right] hind-leg: the head by one and the [right] hind-leg by two. The tail and [left] hind-leg: the tail by two and the [left] hind-leg by two. The breast and neck: the breast by one and the neck by three. The two fore-legs by two, The two flanks by two. The innards, the fine flour, and the wine by three each. This section delineates how the twenty-four priests divided up the offering of the bull.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
הפשתן ונתוחן – of an individual and of the community, they are equivalent to be considered fit with a “foreigner” (i.e., a non-Kohen) and they do not require a Kohen.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
To what does this refer? To communal offerings. But individual offerings, if a single priest wants to offer [all], he may do so. This section refers to all of the above mishnayot in which priests divide the task of offering various parts of a young sheep, a ram or a bull. The mishnah now teaches that this division refers to public offerings, such as the tamid or the musaf (the additional offering). However, if any of these animals are brought by individuals a single priest may perform all of the tasks himself. Assumedly, although the mishnah does not state this, the individual who brings the sacrifice is the same one who is allowed to decide which or how many priests offer it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
But as to the flaying and dismembering [of both communal and individual sacrifices] the same regulations apply. When it comes to the flaying and cutting up (dismembering) of both communal and individual sacrifices, the same rules apply. This refers to the fact that both of these tasks may be performed by non-priests and do not require any priestly count.
