The Anatomy of a Biblical Wart

How the Talmud defines the biblical defect of a wart and reconciles conflicting rulings regarding sacrificial suitability.

עַוֶּ֩רֶת֩ א֨וֹ שָׁב֜וּר אוֹ־חָר֣וּץ אֽוֹ־יַבֶּ֗לֶת א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת לֹא־תַקְרִ֥יבוּ אֵ֖לֶּה לַיהֹוָ֑ה וְאִשֶּׁ֗ה לֹא־תִתְּנ֥וּ מֵהֶ֛ם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לַיהֹוָֽה׃

Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy—such you shall not offer to GOD; you shall not put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to GOD. (Leviticus 22:22)

The Defect in the Torah Text

In Parashat Emor, the Torah enumerates physical flaws that render an animal unfit for the altar. An animal cannot be dedicated or brought as a fire-offering if it possesses physical deformities.

Among severe conditions such as blindness and fractures, Scripture explicitly includes יַבֶּלֶת (a wart or wen). In its plain context, the verse establishes an overarching category of visible and disqualifying defects that prevent an animal from being accepted before God.

The commentators analyze the precise grammatical terms used here to identify specific types of physical blemish,.

עַוֶּ֩רֶת֩ א֨וֹ שָׁב֜וּר אוֹ־חָר֣וּץ אֽוֹ־יַבֶּ֗לֶת א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת לֹא־תַקְרִ֥יבוּ אֵ֖לֶּה לַיהֹוָ֑ה

Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy—such you shall not offer to God. (Leviticus 22:22)

The Contradiction Across Teachings

The Mishnah on Bekhorot 40a rules that a wart situated in the eye is considered a blemish. However, the Gemara immediately challenges this ruling from a subsequent Mishnah.

That Mishnah states that a ba'al yavelet (an animal bearing a wart) may not be slaughtered either in the Temple or outside of it. This phrasing implies that a wart does not count as a complete, permanent blemish.

The Gemara expresses astonishment at such a premise: Scripture explicitly counts a wart among full-fledged biblical blemishes,.

וְתִסְבְּרָא? הָא כְּתִיבָא ״יַבֶּלֶת״ בְּאוֹרָיְיתָא! אֶלָּא, לָא קַשְׁיָא: הָא — בְּגוּפוֹ, הָא — בְּעֵינוֹ.

And how can you understand that a wart is not a blemish? After all, a wart is written in the Torah! Rather, it is not difficult: this is on its body, that is in its eye. (Bekhorot 40b:11)

Bone Structure Within the Growth

The Gemara first attempts to differentiate locations: a wart on the body is not a full-fledged blemish, whereas in the eye it is,.

Yet the Gemara challenges this distinction. The Torah writes יַבֶּלֶת in an unspecified manner without narrowing its scope to the eye.

Consequently, the Gemara suggests that the biblical verse refers specifically to a wart containing bone. A growth anchored by bone constitutes a permanent biblical blemish, whereas soft tissue growths do not.

מִכְּדֵי קְרָא סְתָמָא, מָה לִי בְּגוּפוֹ וּמָה לִי בְּעֵינוֹ? אֶלָּא לָא קַשְׁיָא, הָא דְּאִית בַּהּ עֶצֶם, הָא דְּלֵית בַּהּ עֶצֶם.

Now consider that the verse is written in an unspecified manner. What difference is it to me if the wart is on its body, and what difference is it to me if the wart is in its eye? Rather, it is not difficult: this is referring to one that contains a bone, and that to one that does not. (Bekhorot 40b:12)

Distinguishing Pupil and White

The Gemara further notes that a wart without bone on the body is merely hanging skin, which is completely permissible in animals.

The Gemara therefore concludes that the primary dispute between the Mishnayot concerns a wart in the eye itself. A wart counts as a full blemish when it impairs the pupil of the eye.

If the wart is located on the white of the eye, Reish Lakish explains that it disqualifies the offering only when it sprouts hair.

וְאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: לָא קַשְׁיָא, הָא — דְּאִית בַּהּ שֵׂעָר, הָא — דְּלֵית בַּהּ שֵׂעָר.

And Reish Lakish says: It is not difficult; this is referring to a case where it has hair, and that to a case where it does not have hair. (Bekhorot 40b:15)

The Halachic Application

Through this close analysis, the Gemara harmonizes the biblical text with rabbinic traditions regarding animal slaughter. A growth is classified as a true biblical blemish only when it forms a substantial anatomical abnormality.

On the body, a wart must contain a bone to disqualify an animal from the altar. Within the eye, it disqualifies the animal if it rests upon the pupil or grows hair on the sclera,.

The biblical disqualification of a wart applies definitively when the growth contains bone or obstructs the vision of the eye.

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