תלמוד על מדות 3:1

Rebbi Zeïra asked, why do we not enumerate all for what they are: As we have stated⁶Tosephta 5:13.: “A dedicated tree one colors with vermilion, houses of idol worship one blackens with charcoal, a leprous house one indicates by burned ashes, the place of a slain person by blood, the place where the neck of a calf was broken⁷To atone for an unsolved murder case, Deut. 21:1–9. The place is permanently forbidden for agricultural use, v. 4. by a stone enclosure.” Is one not afraid that it will be said it is a tree which sheds its fruits⁸The tree painted vermilion; one might come to profanely use its fruits.? Did we not state⁹Ševi‘it Chapter 4, Notes 65–69; cf. Babli Šabbat 67a, Ḥulin 77b.: “If a tree sheds its fruits, one colors it red with vermilion, loads it with stones, and frightens it into producing.” They said, there that it should not loosen its fruits, here that it should start to produce¹⁰This sentence is copied from Ševi‘it; it makes no sense here. The correct answer is given in the next sentence.. Rebbi Jonah asked: Why do we not teach “a line”, like the vermilion line as remembrance of the altar, as we have stated there¹¹Mishnah Middot 3:1, describing the altar in the courtyard of the Temple. The blood of burnt offerings and animal purification offerings has to be poured on the upper wall of the altar; the blood of all other sacrifices goes on the lower part. The borderline is indicated by a red line, one cubit below the walkway around the altar. R. Jonah proposes to make the dedication mark narrow in contrast to the coloring of a misbehaving tree.: “A vermilion line is like a belt in the middle to distinguish between upper and lower blood.” Rebbi Ḥiyya stated, one writes on it with vermilion: “dedicated.”