If a harlot gets a sheep as a renumeration for her services, this sheep cannot be brought as a sacrifice in the Temple. What are the particulars? If one says to a harlot, “Take this lamb for your wage,” but gives her a hundred sheep, they are all forbidden for the Altar. Even though he promised only one sheep, and we could think that the other sheep are just a disinterested present, this teaches us that there is no such thing, and all sheep are her wage.
Similarly, if one says, “Take this lamb and let your slave-woman spend a night with my slave,” then Rabbi Yehudah the Prince says that this is not “harlot's wage,” but the Sages say that it is. “Similarly” refers only to the Sages. How are we to understand this disagreement? The Sages say, “The man really means himself and 'my slave' is just a refined language for his male member.” Using refined language is praiseworthy. And what is the reason of Rabbi Yehudah? He says that we are talking about a Hebrew slave, who is permitted to live with a slave-woman, and furthermore, the prohibition of harlot's wage apply only to prohibited women.
Art: Jean-Francois Millet - Seated Shepherdess
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