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Sanhedrin 50a

סנהדרין נ׳ ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 50a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Ranking the four death penalties: the רבנן's order (סקילה first) and רבי שמעון's order (שריפה first)

Overview

The גמרא ranks the four deaths of בית דין: סקילה, שריפה, סייף and חנק. For the רבנן, סקילה is the most severe. A betrothed בת כהן gets סקילה, not שריפה, and they prove the rest of their order the same way. Each time, the גמרא first gives a reason based on who receives a death, such as the מגדף, the בת כהן, or the people of an עיר הנדחת. It then pushes back with אדרבה, pointing to another sinner, like one who strikes a parent. Each push-back is settled by a stronger proof: the Torah moving a case to a harsher death, a גזרה שוה on the word "אביה", or the rule that the מדיח is worse than the people he led astray. Then the גמרא explains רבי שמעון, who puts שריפה first, because he holds that even a betrothed בת כהן is moved from סקילה to שריפה. The proof that שריפה is more severe than סייף for רבי שמעון begins at the end of the amud and finishes on the next amud.

Opening lines

קָסָבְרִי רַבָּנַן:

The Rabbis hold:

נְשׂוּאָה יוֹצְאָה לִשְׂרֵיפָה,

A married woman is taken out for burning,

וְלֹא אֲרוּסָה.

but not a betrothed one.

וּמִדְּאַפְּקַהּ רַחֲמָנָא לַאֲרוּסָה בִּסְקִילָה,

And since the Merciful One took out the betrothed woman for stoning,

The steps (26)

  1. ResolutionThe Rabbis: only a married בת כהן gets burning
  2. ProofProof that stoning is more severe
  3. StatementStoning is more severe than the sword
  4. ChallengeChallenge: maybe the sword is more severe
  5. ResolutionThe one who leads others astray is worse, and he is stoned
  6. StatementStoning is more severe than strangulation
  7. ChallengeMaybe strangulation is more severe, because of honoring parents
  8. ResolutionThe Torah moves the betrothed woman from strangulation up to stoning
  9. StatementBurning is more severe than the sword
  10. ChallengeMaybe the sword is more severe than burning
  11. ResolutionThe word "her father" links burning to stoning
  12. StatementBurning is more severe than strangulation
  13. ChallengeMaybe strangulation is more severe because of parents' honor
  14. ResolutionThe Torah moved the married בת כהן from strangulation to burning
  15. StatementThe sword is more severe than strangulation
  16. ChallengeMaybe strangulation is more severe, because of striking a parent
  17. ResolutionDenying הקב"ה Himself is still worse
  18. Statementרבי שמעון: burning is more severe than stoning
  19. ChallengeChallenge: stoning is given for blasphemy and idol worship
  20. Resolutionרבי שמעון's own view about the betrothed בת כהן
  21. StatementBurning is also more severe than strangulation
  22. ChallengeMaybe strangulation is more severe, since it is for striking a parent
  23. ResolutionThe Torah moved the married בת כהן from strangulation to burning
  24. StatementBurning is also more severe than the sword
  25. ChallengeMaybe the sword is more severe, since the עיר הנדחת also loses its property
  26. ResolutionWho is worse: the one who leads astray or the one who is led astray?