Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 46a

סנהדרין מ״ו ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 46a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 46a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hanging after execution, judging two cases in one day, a court's emergency powers, and the burial of the executed

Overview

The גמרא first finishes the argument over who is hung after execution. רבנן include only the מגדף and עבודה זרה, while רבי אליעזר, reading the פסוקים as ריבוי ומיעוט, includes all the נסקלין. Next it explains why רבנן do not hang a woman ('באיש', not a woman). It also shows how רבי אליעזר uses the extra words: 'אותו' teaches that the body is hung without clothing, and the double exclusion in 'באיש חטא' includes the בן סורר ומורה. Then the גמרא explains the rule that a court does not judge two capital cases on one day. רב חסדא's view is reworded so that it allows this only for the same death penalty and the same sin. A ברייתא then teaches that a בית דין may punish beyond the תורה when the times demand it, with two stories as examples. A new משנה describes how the body is hung and that it must be taken down right away. It explains 'קללת אלהים', and רבי מאיר teaches that God feels pain even over the wicked. The משנה ends with the burial rules and with the relatives making peace with the דיינים and the עדים.

Opening lines

הַשְׁתָּא דִּמְרַחֲקִי מֵהֲדָדֵי,

Now that they are distant from each other,

אַהֲנִי לְרַבּוֹיֵי עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה,

they serve to include idol worship,

דְּדָמֵי לֵיהּ בְּכֹל מִילֵּי.

which is similar to it in all matters.

וְרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר דָּרֵישׁ רִיבּוּיֵי וּמִיעוּטֵי,

And Rabbi Eliezer interprets by inclusions and exclusions:

The steps (31)

  1. Statementרבנן's reading: distance between the phrases adds idol worship
  2. Statementרבי אליעזר's reading: all who are stoned are hung
  3. QuestionWhy do רבנן say a woman is not hung?
  4. Response'Him' and not 'her'
  5. Resolutionרבי אליעזר uses 'him' for something else
  6. Resolutionרבנן agree, but learn from 'a man'
  7. QuestionWhat does רבי אליעזר learn from 'באיש'?
  8. Responseריש לקיש: it excludes the rebellious son
  9. ChallengeA ברייתא says רבי אליעזר does hang the rebellious son
  10. Resolutionרב נחמן בר יצחק: it includes the rebellious son
  11. ResponseTwo exclusions in a row include
  12. StatementBack to the משנה: שמעון בן שטח hung women
  13. Statementרב חסדא: the rule is only about two kinds of death
  14. ChallengeBut שמעון בן שטח's case was one kind of death
  15. ResolutionRestated: one death penalty but two different sins
  16. ChallengeEven an adulterer and adulteress may not be judged on one day
  17. ResolutionThe ברייתא is about cases with two different death penalties
  18. StatementA court may punish beyond the תורה to protect the תורה
  19. ProofThe man who rode a horse on שבת was stoned
  20. ProofThe man who was with his wife under a fig tree was whipped
  21. StatementHow the stoned man's body is hung
  22. Statementרבי יוסי: the post leans on a wall
  23. StatementThe body must be taken down right away
  24. StatementWhy a hanging body disgraces God's Name
  25. Statementרבי מאיר: the שכינה feels the pain
  26. ConclusionAll the more so for the righteous
  27. StatementNo dead person may be left unburied overnight
  28. StatementException: a delay for the dead person's honor
  29. StatementTwo special graveyards for those executed by the court
  30. StatementMoving the bones to the family plot
  31. StatementThe relatives show they hold no grudge