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Sanhedrin 51b

סנהדרין נ״א ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 51b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 51b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Explaining רבי אליעזר on the בת כהן who sins, and the dispute between רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא over which בת כהן gets שריפה

Overview

The גמרא finishes trying to explain רבי אליעזר's puzzling ruling about a בת כהן who sins: 'with her father' gets שריפה, and 'with her father-in-law' gets סקילה. One reading follows רבי ישמעאל, but רבא rejects it as inconsistent. רבא then reads it according to רבי שמעון, and רבי חנינא rejects that too. רבינא finally says רבי אליעזר follows the רבנן with the wording flipped. רב rules like רבין's explanation, which leads to a debate between רב יוסף and אביי about deciding laws that apply only in the days of משיח. Next, a ברייתא gives רבי ישמעאל's source: only an engaged בת כהן is burned, and her עדים זוממין get חנק, not שריפה. רבי עקיבא holds that a married בת כהן is also burned. He learns this from the extra ו in 'ובת', and he uses a גזרה שוה on 'אביה' to leave out an unmarried woman. The גמרא ends by showing how each תנא learns that the daughter of a blemished כהן is included, and opens a new question about רבי ישמעאל that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְעוֹלָם כְּרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל,

Actually, it is according to Rabbi Yishmael,

וְהָכִי קָאָמַר:

and this is what he is saying:

אֶת אָבִיהָ – בִּרְשׁוּת אָבִיהָ, בִּשְׂרֵיפָה;

'With her father' means under her father's authority, by burning;

וְאֶת חָמִיהָ – מֵחָמִיהָ, בִּסְקִילָה;

and 'with her father-in-law' means with her father-in-law himself, by stoning;

The steps (30)

  1. ResolutionReading רבי אליעזר according to רבי ישמעאל
  2. Challengeרבא: you can't read the two phrases differently
  3. Resolutionרבא's new reading: according to רבי שמעון, raise one level
  4. Challengeרבי חנינא: רבי שמעון says both get burning
  5. Resolutionרבינא: Follow the רבנן and flip the wording
  6. Statementרב rules like the explanation רבין sent
  7. Challengeרב יוסף: Why rule on a law for the days of משיח?
  8. Rejectionאביי: We learn such laws for the reward of learning
  9. Challengeרב יוסף clarifies: This discussion has no halacha to decide
  10. QuestionWhat is the source for רבי ישמעאל?
  11. ProofThe verse speaks of an engaged young woman
  12. QuestionMaybe the verse includes a married woman too
  13. ResponseProof by comparing to the daughter of a non-priest
  14. StatementHer false witnesses and her partner fall under 'as he plotted'
  15. ChallengeHow does 'as he plotted' apply to her partner?
  16. ResolutionHer false witnesses get her partner's death
  17. StatementThe verse behind the rule: 'to his brother' and not 'to his sister'
  18. Statementרבי עקיבא: both engaged and married get burning
  19. QuestionMaybe even an unmarried girl?
  20. ResponseThe word 'her father' shows she must have a husband
  21. Challengeרבי ישמעאל: then copy the whole case, an engaged נערה
  22. Resolutionרבי עקיבא: I learn it from the extra ו in 'ובת'
  23. Challengeרבי ישמעאל says the extra letter cannot pick and choose
  24. Resolutionרבי עקיבא uses two sources working together
  25. ResolutionWhy רבי ישמעאל attacked anyway
  26. QuestionWhat does רבי ישמעאל learn from the extra letter
  27. ResponseThe daughter of a blemished כהן is included
  28. Responseרבי עקיבא's source for the daughter of a כהן with a מום
  29. ResponseWhy רבי ישמעאל needs the ו and not just that פסוק
  30. QuestionOpening a new question about רבי ישמעאל