Mishnah 7 is essentially similar to the previous mishnah: here too we are dealing with a person who took the items he owned and consecrated them, and the Tannaim disagree about the intention of one who consecrates his property and possessions to the Temple treasury - what exactly the money is meant to be used for, according to the nature of each and every item.
The mishnah deals with a person who consecrates his property and his belongings. Similar to the previous mishnah, where we dealt with the example of the spices of the incense, here the property includes animals fit to be offered on the altar, both males and females. It is important to know at the outset: an olah (burnt offering) may be brought only from males, whereas shelamim (peace offerings) may be brought from males and females alike.
The view of Rabbi Eliezer:
Rabbi Eliezer holds that the males are sold to those who need to bring an olah, which comes only from males, and the females among the consecrated property are sold to those who need to bring shelamim, which may come from females as well. The money received for those animals that were sold goes into the funds of the Temple treasury together with the rest of the property and possessions the person consecrated, and all of it goes to bedek habayis - that is, to the general fund of the Temple, which is used for the upkeep of all the Temple's needs.
It emerges that according to Rabbi Eliezer, the intention of the one who consecrates is that the value of everything he consecrated, including those items fit to be used for an olah, will ultimately go to the fund of bedek habayis, to the general treasury.
The view of Rabbi Yehoshua:
Rabbi Yehoshua disagrees on this point and holds that the animals fit to be offered, whether as shelamim or as olos, are themselves - or their value - designated for olos, and only the rest of the person's property goes to bedek habayis. Therefore:
The males among the property - they themselves are offered as olos.
The females, which cannot be brought as an olah because they are females, are sold to someone who needs to bring shelamim, since anything fit to go up on the altar belongs to the altar and must be used for the needs of the altar. However, with the money received for those females that were sold for shelamim, one must bring olos, and not give it to bedek habayis.
The rest of the property the person consecrated - it goes to the general fund of bedek habayis.
Rabbi Akiva's ruling:
Rabbi Akiva weighs the two opinions and prefers the view of Rabbi Eliezer over the view of Rabbi Yehoshua, for the following reason: Rabbi Eliezer is consistent in his position, and he established that everything goes to bedek habayis according to its value - each item is used for whatever it is suited for, but the entire value falls to bedek habayis. Rabbi Yehoshua, by contrast, distinguishes between the items: there are things whose bodies and even whose value are offered as olos, while the value of other things is used for bedek habayis.
The words of Rabbi Papyas:
Rabbi Papyas said that this is what was transmitted to him by tradition - like both of these opinions, except that the matter depends on the manner in which the person consecrated his property:
"B'feiresh" - if at the time he consecrated all his property he used explicit language and said that his animals and his possessions should be consecrated, he thereby distinguished between the animals and the general possessions, and nevertheless he did not say that the animals should go to the altar and the possessions to bedek habayis. Since he distinguished between animals and possessions yet had no interest in distinguishing between them regarding their designation, the assumption is that the animals and the possessions are equal and all of them are designated for the fund of bedek habayis, in accordance with Rabbi Eliezer. And some explain that the term "b'feiresh" in the mishnah means that he explicitly specified that the consecration is for bedek habayis.
"Uv'hekdisham" - if he makes no distinction at all, but simply says "Nechasai yihyu hekdesh" - "my property shall be consecrated" - the presumption is that he consecrated them for whatever each is suited for, and consequently they go by themselves to whatever place they are fit for, in accordance with Rabbi Yehoshua. For we say that the person's intention is for whatever the items will be suited for: the animals are fit for the altar, and therefore they themselves are offered as olos or their value is used to bring olos, while the rest of the items go to bedek habayis.
In summary: in this mishnah the Tannaim disagree about the intention of one who consecrates his property. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the entire value - including the money received for the animals sold for olos and for shelamim - falls to bedek habayis. According to Rabbi Yehoshua, the males themselves are offered as olos, and with the money received for the females sold for shelamim one brings olos, and only the rest of the property goes to bedek habayis. Rabbi Akiva rules like Rabbi Eliezer because of the consistency of his approach, and Rabbi Papyas transmits both opinions as depending on the wording of the consecration: if he specified - like Rabbi Eliezer; if he consecrated without specification - like Rabbi Yehoshua.