Sanhedrin 25b

סנהדרין כ״ה ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 25b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 25b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who is unfit to be a witness: gamblers, lenders with interest, pigeon flyers, שביעית traders, and later rabbinic additions such as robbers, shepherds, and tax collectors.

Overview

The גמרא finishes a צריכא explaining why the משנה lists both the dice player and the pigeon racer as unfit witnesses: each one feels sure he will win, for a different reason. Then it quotes a ברייתא that defines each disqualified group (dice players, lenders with interest, pigeon flyers, שביעית traders) and tells how each can do real תשובה. רבי נחמיה adds that a שביעית trader must also give his profits to the poor. From the ברייתא's word 'animal' the גמרא challenges the view that מפריחי יונים means an ארא, a lure, and answers with the שור הבר. Next, two ברייתות list groups the חכמים added later: robbers of a find from a חרש, שוטה, or קטן, חמסנין, shepherds, tax collectors, and customs officials. For each group the גמרא explains what the חכמים first thought and what changed their minds. רבא includes herders of large animals, and the גמרא shows that the 'three cattle herders' משנה is about judges, not witnesses. רב יהודה rules that an ordinary shepherd is פסול and an ordinary tax collector is כשר. A story about רבי זירא's father, a kind tax collector, begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ResolutionWhy the dice player's case alone would not be enough
2. ResolutionWhy the pigeon case alone would not be enough
3. ChallengeA ברייתא defines the dice player
4. StatementWhen a dice player's תשובה is accepted
5. StatementLenders with interest: both sides are disqualified, and how they repent
6. StatementPigeon flyers: who is included and how they repent
7. StatementTraders in שביעית produce and when they can repent
8. Statementרבי נחמיה: the שביעית trader must also give away the money
9. ChallengeCan an animal really be used as a lure?
10. ResolutionYes: the wild ox, if it counts as a domestic animal
11. StatementRobbers and forced buyers were added to the list
12. ChallengeA robber is already disqualified by the תורה
13. ResolutionThe addition is about taking a find from a חרש, שוטה, or קטן
14. StatementWhy the robber of a deaf-mute, fool, or minor was disqualified only later
15. StatementWhy people who force sales were disqualified only later
16. StatementA ברייתא adds shepherds, tax collectors, and customs officials
17. StatementWhy shepherds were disqualified only later
18. StatementWhy tax collectors and customs officials were disqualified only later
19. Statementרבא: both kinds of shepherds are disqualified
20. ChallengeAnother statement of רבא says cattle herders are kosher
21. ResolutionThat statement was about people who raise animals at home
22. ProofTrying to prove רבא from 'three cattle herders'
23. RejectionNo, the משנה is about judging
24. ProofThe number three shows it is about judges
25. ChallengeIf the משנה is about judges, why mention cattle herders?
26. ResolutionEven people who rarely come to town can be accepted
27. StatementAn ordinary shepherd is disqualified, an ordinary tax collector is kosher
28. Statementרבי זירא's father warns the rabbis to hide
29. StatementHe warns the townspeople that the head collector is coming