They were the slaves of the Kohanim; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. R’ Yose says: They were the families of Beis Hapegarim and Beis Tzipporiah, and from Emmaum, from which Kohanim would marry. R’ Chananya ben Antignos says: They were Levites.

We [keep] no less than six inspected lambs in the Chamber of the Lambs, sufficient for the Sabbath and for the two festive days of Rosh Hashanah. And we may add any number. We [take] no less than two trumpets, and we may add any number. We [take] no less than nine harps, and we may add any number, but there is only one cymbal.

We have no fewer than twelve Levites standing on the platform, and we may add any number. A minor may not enter the Temple Court for the service except when the Levites are standing in song. And they would not join in the song with lyre and harp but by mouth, in order to add harmony to the melody. R’ Eliezer ben Yaakov says: They do not count in the number, and they do not stand on the platform, but they would stand on the ground, with their heads between the legs of the Levites, and they were called the Levites’ tormentors.

There is to [the law of] arachin an [element of] leniency, as well as an [element of] stringency; [there is] to [the law of] the ancestral field an [element of] leniency, as well as an [element of] stringency; [there is] to [the law of] the muad bull that killed a slave an [element of] leniency, as well as an [element of] stringency; [and there are] to [the laws of] the violator, the seducer, and the defamer [elements of] leniency, as well as [elements of] stringency. There is to [the law of] arachin an [element of] leniency, as well as an [element of] stringency. How so? Whether he vowed the erech of the handsomest in Israel or the ugliest in Israel, he gives fifty selaim. But if he said, ‘I take upon myself [to give] his worth’ — he must give his worth.