Sanhedrin 42b

סנהדרין מ״ב ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 42b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 42b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Leading the condemned person out to סקילה: saving him until the last moment, and the source that the בית הסקילה is outside three camps

Overview

The משנה teaches that once the trial ends, the condemned person is led out to be stoned at a place outside the בית דין. Along the way, a man waving cloths and a rider on a horse can stop the procession if anyone finds a reason to acquit, even the condemned person himself, as long as his words have substance. The גמרא asks how this fits with a ברייתא that places the בית הסקילה outside the three camps. It answers that both are true: the stoning place is outside the three camps, and it must also be away from the court itself, so the court won't look like killers, or so the condemned person has time to be saved. A ברייתא then learns the three camps through a גזרה שוה from פרים הנשרפין. Those bulls are shown to go outside three camps from extra words in the פסוקים. The גמרא asks why we don't learn instead from שחוטי חוץ, which needs only one camp. After weighing the similarities, it says going outside to make the act proper is the decisive match. רב פפא gives another source taken straight from the story of the מקלל. The גמרא's defense of his proof continues onto the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. StatementAfter the verdict, he is taken outside the court to be stoned
2. StatementA signal system that can stop the execution
3. ChallengeWas the stoning place only just outside the court?
4. ResolutionBoth are true: even outside the camps, keep distance from the court
5. ResolutionA second reason: time for a chance to be saved
6. QuestionWhat is the source for 'outside three camps'?
7. ResponseThe ברייתא reads 'outside the camp' as outside three camps
8. QuestionMaybe it means outside just one camp
9. ProofLearning from the burned bulls
10. QuestionHow do we know the bulls go outside three camps?
11. ResponseThe ברייתא says the bull goes outside three camps
12. QuestionAgain: maybe only one camp
13. ProofThe extra words by פר העדה add a second camp
14. ProofThe extra words by the ashes add a third camp
15. ChallengeWhy not learn from offerings slaughtered outside?
16. ResolutionIt makes more sense to learn from the burned bulls
17. ProofThree ways stoning is like the burned bulls
18. RejectionOn the contrary, learn from offerings slaughtered outside
19. ProofFour ways stoning matches slaughtering outside the Temple
20. ResolutionGoing out to make it proper is the stronger match
21. Statementרב פפא learns the camps straight from the מקלל story
22. ChallengeMaybe the second verse just says they obeyed
23. ResolutionThe obeying is written clearly elsewhere