Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 10b

סנהדרין י׳ ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 10b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 10b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The limit of מלקות, three readings of 'עיבור החדש בשלשה', and the stages of judges for עיבור השנה

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a discussion about מלקות. Someone asks why the court doesn't give one more lash, since the man is still alive when it lands. רב אשי answers from 'ונקלה אחיך לעיניך': after the whipping he must still be 'your brother', meaning alive. Next the גמרא asks why the משנה says 'עיבור החדש בשלשה', since a month gets longer by itself if nobody declares the new month. אביי changes the wording to 'קידוש החדש', but רבא objects. Three readings that keep the word 'עיבור' follow. רבא says קידוש on the 30th day needs three, like רבי אלעזר בן צדוק. רב נחמן says קידוש on the 31st day needs three, like פלימו. רב אשי says the משנה means only the calculation, like רבי אליעזר, who holds that months are never formally sanctified. Then a ברייתא explains רבן שמעון בן גמליאל's stages for עיבור השנה: three judges begin, five debate, and seven decide, with a majority 'no' ending the process at any stage. The numbers three, five and seven are tied either to ברכת כהנים or to the king's officials, and רב יוסף's ברייתא backs the second view. A short exchange between אביי and רב יוסף follows. The amud ends with a memory aid and the start of a ברייתא on when a year may be extended, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לִמְחֲיֵיהּ עֶשְׂרִים וַחֲדָא,

Let them strike him twenty-one lashes,

וְכִי מָיֵית בְּהָךְ חֲדָא – לֵימוּת,

and if he dies from that one, let him die,

דְּהָא כִּי מָחֵי

for when they strike

אַגַּבָּא דְּחַיָּיא קָא מָחֵי.

it is on the back of a living person that they strike.

The steps (29)

  1. ChallengeWhy not give one more lash?
  2. ResolutionHe must still be 'your brother' after the lashes
  3. StatementQuoting the משנה: lengthening the month needs three judges
  4. ChallengeWhy would lengthening a month need judges?
  5. Resolutionאביי: read it as 'sanctification of the month'
  6. ProofA ברייתא supports אביי
  7. Challengeרבא: but the משנה says 'עיבור'!
  8. Resolutionרבא: three judges for קידוש on the 'day of עיבור'
  9. QuestionWhose opinion is this?
  10. ResponseIt follows רבי אלעזר בן צדוק
  11. Resolutionרב נחמן flips רבא's reading
  12. QuestionWhose view matches רב נחמן
  13. ResponseIt follows פלימו
  14. Resolutionרב אשי: the משנה means calculation
  15. QuestionCalculation yes, sanctification no: whose view
  16. ResponseIt follows רבי אליעזר: years are sanctified, not months
  17. StatementQuoting רבן שמעון בן גמליאל in the משנה
  18. StatementThe three stages: begin, debate, finish
  19. StatementWhen the first three judges disagree
  20. StatementA two-to-one vote moves the process to five judges
  21. StatementAmong five judges, a three-to-two vote against stops the process
  22. StatementA three-to-two vote in favor brings the court to seven
  23. QuestionWhat do the numbers three, five and seven stand for?
  24. ResponseTwo views: ברכת כהנים or the king's officials
  25. Proofרב יוסף's ברייתא matches the royal officials view
  26. Questionאביי asks רב יוסף why he never explained this before
  27. Responseרב יוסף: I did not know you needed it
  28. StatementA memory aid for the next teachings
  29. StatementA new ברייתא begins: when a year may be extended