Commentary for Shevuot 21:9

א"ל אביי והא מר הוא דאמר הקדיש זכר לדמיו קדוש קדושת הגוף לא קשיא הא דאמר לדמי עולה הא דאמר לדמי נסכים

are liable to be trespassed against as soon as they are verbally consecrated; when they are consecrated in the vessel, they become liable also to invalidation by [the touch of] a tebul yom, and one lacking atonement, and by linah, [Hence we may deduce:] When 'they are consecrated in the vessel' - yes, [they become liable to invalidation by linah,] but before they are consecrated in the vessel - no.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This vessel is not the mortar in which the incense is pounded, but the vessel in which it is placed when brought to the altar to be burnt; for, while in the mortar, the Baraitha states, it is invalidated by the touch of a tebul yom, and not by linah, whereas this Mishnah states that when the incense is consecrated in the vessel it is invalidated also by linah; obviously, therefore, this is a different (holier) vessel. The incense, then, before it is placed in this holier vessel is not bodily holy.');">¹⁶</span> He said to him: You argue from [the fact that it is not invalidated by] linah [that therefore the incense is not bodily holy]! Incense is different [it is bodily holy even in the mortar, but is not invalidated by linah], because it retains its form all the year.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Linah does not alter its appearance or freshness as it would, for example, in the case of meat. When consecrated in the vessel, however, it is liable to invalidation by linah (though it still retains its form) , because all other things consecrated in a vessel are liable to invalidation by linah; if incense were not so liable, it might sometimes be erroneously inferred that the others were also not so liable.');">¹⁷</span>

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