Following the slaughter and the collection of the blood, the preparation of the offering shifts to a highly structured physical process before it ascends the altar. This stage involves carefully removing the animal's outer layer and dismantling its body. While certain offerings, such as specific bulls and goats, are burned entirely with their skin and waste, the burnt offering requires the removal of the skin and hair first. This act is compared to taking off a person's clothing [ביאור יש״ר], marking a clear distinction from other sacrificial procedures [הטור הארוך, דעת זקנים וחזקוני].
Interestingly, the responsibilities of this physical preparation do not demand the exclusive service of a priest. The primary approach among commentators is that unlike the sacred acts of sprinkling blood or burning the limbs on the altar, flaying and cutting the animal can be performed by any non-priest, including a Levite or the owner of the offering [רמב״ן, רלב״ג, אבן עזרא, רש״ר הירש ופרדס יוסף]. In fact, there is a specific expectation for the owner to personally take on this effort and perform the labor themselves [העמק דבר].
The procedure demands a strict sequence. An animal cannot be flayed and cut limb by limb. Rather, the entire creature must be completely stripped of its skin before any cutting begins [מלבי״ם, תורה תמימה, אדרת אליהו ורד״צ הופמן]. This requirement applies universally to all burnt offerings. Whether the offering is obligatory or voluntary, brought from the cattle or the flock, and whether it is presented by a man, a woman, or a convert, it must undergo this process of flaying and cutting [רש״י, מזרחי, בכור שור ומלבי״ם]. However, this rule only applies to a valid offering. If an animal becomes disqualified during the process but is mistakenly brought to the altar, it is not flayed. Instead, it is burned whole, skin included, because the priests do not have the right to claim the skin of an invalid sacrifice [מזרחי ותורה תמימה].
When it comes to dismantling the animal, the procedure is far from an arbitrary chopping of meat. It requires a systematic separation based on the animal's natural anatomy [רד״צ הופמן ומלבי״ם]. The body is divided into its primary anatomical parts, which tradition identifies as ten specific sections. Crucially, these main parts must remain whole and cannot be chopped into smaller pieces [רש״י, תורה תמימה ורש״ר הירש]. Beyond the physical precision, this anatomical division holds profound spiritual significance. The exact separation allows the person bringing the offering to focus their intentions, symbolically returning each individual part to its ultimate spiritual root [רקנאטי].
Within the broader sequence of the sanctuary service, the instructions for flaying and cutting are presented before the command to arrange the fire on the altar, even though in practice the fire was prepared first. This specific ordering teaches a practical law regarding voluntary burnt offerings. Unlike the daily public sacrifices, the presence of a fully prepared fire on the altar is not an absolute prerequisite to begin the initial preparation and flaying of the animal [רמב״ן].