Temurah 6:3-4

Temurah 6:3

The price of a dog (in mishna 6:1) means that one person gave another a sheep in exchange for a dog. Similarly, if two partners dissolved their partnership so one took ten sheep and the other took nine sheep plus a dog, the sheep that were taken against the dog are prohibited as offerings while the ones that were taken with the dog are permitted. An animal used as payment to mate a dog and one that was exchanged for a prostitute (i.e., to acquire her as a servant) are permitted, so only two of four possible cases are prohibited, hence the use of “two” in Deuteronomy 23:19. The offspring of these prohibited cases are permitted, hence those “two” but not their offspring.

Temurah 6:4

If a man paid a prostitute with money, it may be used to buy an offering. If he paid her with wine, oil, flour or anything else used on the altar, it is prohibited as an offering. If he gave her consecrated property, it is permitted; if he gave her (unconsecrated) birds, they are prohibited. One might assume that since the wages of prostitution and the price of a dog don’t apply to consecrated animals, which are made unfit by blemishes, that they also shouldn’t apply to birds, which are not made unfit by blemishes. Deuteronomy 23:19 therefore states that these prohibitions apply “to any vow,” i.e., including birds.