The virgin oil from each years first pressing was sent to the Temple as tribute, cf. Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 18:12; Mishnah Menachot 8:3. Gentile oil was forbidden to Jews, Mishnah Avoda Zara 2:6. For oil trade with the Jewish diaspora, see, for example, Josephus accusations against John of Gischala, who allegedly sold his oil at an exhorbitant price to Jews in Syria ( The Jewish War 2.591592 and Vita 7475).
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