Sanhedrin 45b

סנהדרין מ״ה ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 45b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 45b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Carrying out stoning, the witnesses' hands and קרא כדכתיב, and who is hung after execution

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a derivation from the doubled verb סקול יסקל. It then explains how the stoning is carried out: both witnesses lift the heavy stone, but the second witness throws it alone so it lands with force. The משנה gives the law for when all of ישראל must join in, even though in practice the first stone always killed. A new stone was prepared after each execution, because the tools are buried near the executed person. שמואל rules that if the witnesses' hands were cut off after the trial, the person is not executed, because the פסוק requires the witnesses' hand to be first. The גמרא defends this rule. The murderer and the גואל הדם may be handled 'in any way', but they are two פסוקים that teach the same thing, so they are exceptions and do not set a general rule. Proofs for קרא כדכתיב are then tried from בן סורר ומורה and from עיר הנדחת, and the גמרא concludes that the question is a dispute between תנאים, as seen in the מצורע missing a right thumb. Finally, a new משנה asks which executed people are hung after death. The גמרא begins explaining that רבי אליעזר and the חכמים read the פסוקים with different methods, כלל ופרט against ריבוי ומיעוט, and this explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (38)

1. ResponseThe doubled verb teaches the final point
2. ChallengeHow can one witness take a stone that needs two men?
3. RejectionThe ברייתא has the same problem inside it
4. ResolutionBoth lift it, but one throws it
5. ChallengeWas a second stone ever needed?
6. ResolutionThe משנה only says what would happen if needed
7. ChallengeWas the same stone really used every time?
8. ResolutionA new stone was brought each time
9. ChallengeAre the tools buried with him or not?
10. Resolution'With him' means near him
11. StatementIf the witnesses' hands were cut off, he is not executed
12. ChallengeWould witnesses without hands be disqualified?
13. ResolutionThe פסוק means hands they already had
14. ChallengeA משנה seems to allow execution without the original witnesses
15. Resolutionשמואל: the משנה speaks about the same witnesses
16. ChallengeA murderer may be killed in any possible way
17. ResolutionThe murderer is different because the Torah says so
18. ChallengeWhy not learn a general rule from the murderer?
19. ResolutionTwo פסוקים teaching the same thing do not teach a general rule
20. QuestionWhich two verses make up the pair?
21. ResponseThe court appoints a blood redeemer
22. ChallengeDon't we need the verse exactly as written?
23. ProofEach disability comes from a word in the verse
24. ChallengeIsn't the reason that we follow the verse exactly?
25. ResolutionThe rebellious son is special because the whole verse is extra
26. ProofA city with no open square
27. ProofBoth sides need the square the פסוק describes
28. ResolutionIt is a dispute between תנאים: the מצורע missing a right thumb
29. StatementNew משנה: which executed people are hung
30. StatementHow a man and a woman are hung, and whether a woman is hung at all
31. Proofרבי אליעזר brings proof from שמעון בן שטח
32. RejectionThe חכמים reject the proof: that was not a normal court ruling
33. ProofThe source for hanging: רבי אליעזר learns from the מגדף that all who are stoned are hung
34. StatementThe חכמים learn from the מגדף that only those who deny God are hung
35. QuestionWhat is the root of their argument?
36. ResponseTwo methods of reading the Torah: כלל ופרט versus ריבוי ומיעוט
37. ResponseThe חכמים label one phrase as general and the other as a detail
38. StatementIf the general statement and the detail were next to each other, only the detail's case would be hung