Makkos 7a

מכות ז׳ ע״א

Makkot 7a

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Topic

Guarantor's relatives as witnesses, retrying a condemned fugitive, courts in and outside ארץ ישראל, how rarely to execute, and the start of the laws of גלות

Overview

The amud opens with a short story. Two witnesses were relatives of a ערב (guarantor), and רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע shows רב פפא that the guarantor is a side in the loan, so his relatives cannot testify. Then a new משנה teaches that a condemned man who fled is not retried, and that a סנהדרין functions both in ארץ ישראל and outside it. The same משנה records how rarely the תנאים think a court should execute anyone. The גמרא resolves an apparent contradiction in the משנה: according to אביי and a ברייתא, a verdict from abroad is reopened in ארץ ישראל, but a verdict from ארץ ישראל stands everywhere. It finds a פסוק showing that courts apply everywhere, and explains that בשעריך requires a court in every city only in ארץ ישראל. It leaves one question as תיקו: what רבי אלעזר בן עזריה means by 'once in seventy years'. It then explains how רבי טרפון and רבי עקיבא would avoid executions through very demanding questions to witnesses, while the other חכמים follow שמואל. Finally the chapter ends with a הדרן, and the next chapter's משנה begins listing which accidental killers go into גלות. Its contrasting cases continue on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. StatementThe guarantor's relatives sign as witnesses
2. RejectionThe lender can collect from the guarantor
3. StatementA condemned man who fled is not retried
4. StatementA Sanhedrin functions in Israel and outside it
5. StatementHow often may a court execute?
6. StatementInference: another court would retry him
7. ChallengeThe later clause says he is executed anywhere
8. Resolutionאביי: One clause is about Israel, the other is about abroad
9. ProofA ברייתא supports אביי's split between Israel and abroad
10. QuestionWhere do we learn that a סנהדרין works outside Israel?
11. ResponseThe source: "for your generations" applies everywhere
12. ChallengeBut the Torah says courts are "in your gates"
13. ResolutionEvery city in Israel, but only every district abroad
14. QuestionWhat does 'once in seventy years' mean?
15. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
16. QuestionHow would רבי טרפון and רבי עקיבא avoid executions?
17. ResponseThey would ask: was the victim a טריפה?
18. StatementEven a healthy-looking body proves nothing
19. QuestionWhat about cases of forbidden relations?
20. ResponseThey would demand very exact testimony
21. QuestionHow do the other חכמים judge such cases?
22. ResponseSeeing them act like adulterers is enough
23. Conclusionהדרן: closing the chapter כיצד העדים
24. StatementAccidental killings that lead to exile
25. StatementContrasting cases: pulling a roller or lifting a barrel