Sanhedrin 16a

סנהדרין ט״ז ע״א

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Topic

Sources for the cases only the court of seventy-one may judge: a tribe, a נביא השקר, a כהן גדול, and a voluntary war

Overview

The משנה lists cases that only the court of seventy-one may judge, and this amud looks for the reason behind several of them. First it asks what 'a tribe' means. רב מתנה's answer is a sinning נשיא, who is a 'great person'. A reading about land disputes is rejected, and רבינא adds that it can mean a whole tribe led into עבודה זרה. Next, a נביא השקר is linked to the זקן ממרא through the shared word 'דבר', after a link through 'הזדה' is rejected. A כהן גדול goes to the seventy-one because 'הדבר הגדול' means the matters of a great person, a reading that two ברייתות argue about. רבי אלעזר then asks about the כהן גדול's ox, and אביי infers that the כהן גדול's money cases go to an ordinary court. Finally, the גמרא looks for the source that a voluntary war needs the סנהדרין. It turns from a פסוק about יהושע to a story about דוד, and רב יוסף's request for the פסוק behind that story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. ResponseThe 'tribe' means a tribal leader who sinned
2. ProofSupport from the verse about a 'great matter'
3. ResponseAnother answer: tribes fighting over land
4. ChallengeThen we would need lots, אורים ותומים and all Israel too
5. ConclusionBack to רב מתנה
6. Resolutionרבינא: really a tribe led into idol worship
7. ProofProof that a whole tribe goes to the big court
8. QuestionWhere do we learn the rule for a false prophet?
9. ResponseLearning from the word 'presumptuousness'
10. ChallengeThat word is about the death penalty, which needs only twenty-three
11. ResolutionLearning from the word 'word' instead
12. ChallengeWhy not use the 'הזדה' link the other way for the זקן ממרא?
13. ResolutionThis תנא learns only the 'דבר' link
14. QuestionSource for judging the כהן גדול only by seventy-one
15. Responseרב אדא בר אהבה: 'the great matter' means matters of a great person
16. ChallengeA ברייתא reads 'great matter' as 'difficult matter'
17. Resolutionרב אדא follows a different ברייתא
18. ChallengeWhy would the first תנא need two פסוקים?
19. ResolutionOne פסוק is the instruction and the other is the doing
20. QuestionWhy doesn't the other תנא accept this answer?
21. ResponseDifferent words mean two different laws
22. QuestionHow many judges try the כהן גדול's ox?
23. Statementאביי: his money cases are clearly a regular court
24. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
25. ResolutionSomeone might have read 'כל הדבר הגדול' as every case
26. QuestionSource that a voluntary war needs the 71
27. Responseרבי אבהו: 'He shall stand before אלעזר הכהן'
28. ProofEach part of the פסוק matched to a leader
29. ChallengeMaybe the סנהדרין is mentioned only for asking the אורים ותומים
30. ResolutionA new source: the lyre over דוד's bed
31. StatementThe nation needs a living, so דוד sends them to battle
32. ProofBefore war: advice, סנהדרין approval, then the אורים ותומים
33. Questionרב יוסף asks which פסוק the story is based on