Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 46b

סנהדרין מ״ו ע״ב

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

Open Sanhedrin 46b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hanging the executed, why the body is taken down, the source and purpose of burial, and the purpose of a הספד.

Overview

This amud opens with the last line of the משנה: the relatives of an executed person do not keep formal אבילות, but they may grieve in their hearts. The גמרא then teaches from the פסוק that the person is executed first and hung only afterward, right before sunset, and untied at once. The tree used must already be cut from the ground; רבי יוסי adds that it may not even be set back into the ground. Next the גמרא explains why the body must come down: רבי מאיר's parable of the twin king shows that a hanging body disgraces God, and אביי and רבא explain how the word קללת shows God's distress. The גמרא concludes that קללת teaches two lessons at once. It then learns from כי קבור תקברנו that leaving any dead person unburied overnight breaks a לא תעשה, and tells how King שבור asked רב חמא for a Torah source for burial. Finally the גמרא asks whether burial is for preventing disgrace or for atonement, and whether a הספד honors the living or the dead. For each question it tests several פסוקים, and every proof is turned away.

Opening lines

וְלֹא הָיוּ מִתְאַבְּלִין,

And they would not mourn,

אֲבָל אוֹנְנִין,

but they would grieve,

שֶׁאֵין אֲנִינוּת אֶלָּא בַּלֵּב.

since grief is only in the heart.

גְּמָ׳

GEMARA:

The steps (53)

  1. StatementNo formal mourning, but grief in the heart
  2. StatementFirst execution, then hanging
  3. StatementHow the hanging is done in practice
  4. StatementThe tree must already be cut from the ground
  5. Statementרבי יוסי: the tree may not even be stuck in the ground
  6. ResolutionWhy the רבנן allow a post set in the ground
  7. StatementThe משנה's first reason: people will ask why he is hanging
  8. Statementרבי מאיר's parable of the twin brothers
  9. QuestionHow does רבי מאיר get 'distress' from the word 'קללת'?
  10. Responseאביי: 'קללת' means 'I am not light'
  11. Challengeרבא objects: then it should have said 'heavy'
  12. Responseרבא: like saying 'the world is light for me'
  13. ChallengeIsn't 'קללת' needed for its plain meaning?
  14. ResolutionIf only for the law, it would say 'מקלל'
  15. ChallengeThen maybe the whole פסוק is only about God's distress
  16. ResolutionIf only for distress, it would say 'קלת'
  17. ConclusionThe word teaches two lessons
  18. StatementLeaving any dead person overnight breaks a לא תעשה
  19. StatementA second version: the verse hints that burial itself is required
  20. QuestionKing שבור asks רב חמא for a Torah source for burial
  21. Responseרב אחא בר יעקב says רב חמא should have quoted the verse
  22. RejectionThe king could say the verse only means a coffin
  23. ChallengeBut the verse doubles the word: 'תקברנו'
  24. ResolutionThe king does not learn from a doubled word
  25. ChallengeWhy not prove burial from the burial of the צדיקים?
  26. ResolutionThat was just a custom
  27. ChallengeWhy not prove it from God burying משה?
  28. ResolutionGod simply did not change from the custom
  29. ChallengeA proof from all Israel burying אביה
  30. ResolutionThey buried him only to follow the custom
  31. ChallengeA proof from ירמיהו's curse on the wicked
  32. ResolutionThe curse was that they would be different from the custom
  33. QuestionWhy is burial needed: disgrace or atonement?
  34. QuestionWhat difference does the reason make?
  35. ResponseThe case of someone who said not to bury him
  36. ProofProof from the burial of the righteous
  37. RejectionEven the righteous need atonement
  38. ProofProof from the burial of אביה son of ירבעם
  39. RejectionOnly the righteous son deserved atonement
  40. ProofProof from ירמיהו's curse
  41. RejectionThe curse was to deny them atonement
  42. QuestionIs a eulogy for the living or for the dead?
  43. QuestionWhat is the practical difference?
  44. ResponseWhen the dead man asked not to be eulogized
  45. ResponseMaking the heirs pay for the eulogy
  46. ProofProof from אברהם coming to eulogize שרה
  47. Rejectionשרה herself wanted אברהם to be honored
  48. ProofProof from the הספד for ירבעם's son
  49. RejectionThe righteous are happy when others are honored through them
  50. ProofProof from the curse that the wicked will not be eulogized
  51. RejectionThe righteous do not want honor through the wicked
  52. ProofProof from the promise to צדקיהו
  53. RejectionThe promise was that Israel would be honored through him