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Sanhedrin 52b

סנהדרין נ״ב ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 52b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the court's death penalties are carried out: wrong ways of doing שריפה, the method and source of הרג by the sword, and the method and source of חנק.

Overview

The גמרא first finishes a parable: a תלמיד חכם starts as gold in the eyes of an עם הארץ, drops to silver, then becomes clay that cannot be fixed. Next comes the story of רב חמא בר טוביה, who burned a בת כהן with branches. רב יוסף says he erred twice: in the method of שריפה, and in judging a capital case when there is no בית המקדש. The גמרא then explains the משנה's story of רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק as a court of צדוקים. It also shows that he told the חכמים about two separate burnings. A new משנה teaches that הרג is done with a sword, and רבי יהודה argues for a cleaver so as not to copy the nations. The גמרא finds a Torah source for killing a murderer by the sword and uses ״ואהבת לרעך כמוך״ to choose the kindest way. Finally, the משנה of חנק describes how strangulation is done. A ברייתא then explains why an unspecified ״מות יומת״, such as for adultery, means חנק.

Opening lines

לְמָה תַּלְמִיד חָכָם דּוֹמֶה

To what is a Torah scholar compared

לִפְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ?

before an ignorant person?

בַּתְּחִלָּה, דּוֹמֶה לְקִיתוֹן שֶׁל זָהָב.

At first, he is like a goblet of gold.

סִיפֵּר הֵימֶנּוּ, דּוֹמֶה לְקִיתוֹן שֶׁל כֶּסֶף.

Once he has chatted with him, he is like a goblet of silver.

The steps (38)

  1. StatementThe scholar and the three goblets
  2. Statementרב חמא בר טוביה burns אימרתא בת טלי
  3. Challengeרב יוסף: he made two mistakes
  4. ProofNo death penalties without a כהן serving
  5. StatementBack to the משנה: רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק's story
  6. Resolutionרב יוסף: it was a court of צדוקים
  7. ChallengeA ברייתא tells the story differently
  8. ResolutionThere were two separate incidents
  9. QuestionWhich story did he tell first?
  10. RejectionThe adult story could not have come first
  11. ResponseFirst the childhood story, then the adult story
  12. Statementמשנה: הרג is done with a sword
  13. Statementרבי יהודה: a sword is degrading, so use a cleaver on a block
  14. RejectionThe חכמים: no death is more degrading than that
  15. Resolutionרבי יהודה explains why he still uses the cleaver
  16. RejectionThe Sages: the sword comes from the Torah, not from the nations
  17. ProofProof from burning items when a king dies
  18. ConclusionBurning for kings is in the פסוקים, so the sword is also allowed
  19. QuestionWhere do we learn that a murderer is killed by the sword?
  20. ResponseThe word 'avenged' points to the sword
  21. ChallengeWhy not stab him with the sword?
  22. ResolutionThe פסוק says the edge of the sword
  23. ChallengeWhy not cut him in half?
  24. ResolutionLove your neighbor: choose a kind death
  25. QuestionWhat about someone who kills a free person?
  26. ResponseA קל וחומר from the slave case
  27. RejectionThe קל וחומר only works if strangling is the lighter death
  28. ResolutionAll murderers are compared to the עגלה ערופה
  29. ChallengeShould the murderer be killed exactly like the עגלה ערופה?
  30. ResolutionLove your neighbor: choose a kind death
  31. StatementHow strangulation is carried out
  32. StatementWho is excluded from the adultery death penalty
  33. QuestionWhich death does 'מות יומת' mean?
  34. Responseרבי יאשיה: an unclear death penalty is read the lenient way
  35. Statementרבי יונתן: unspecified death is always חנק
  36. Statementרבי compares court death to death from Heaven
  37. ChallengeWhy not say burning?
  38. ResolutionThe תורה singles out a בת כהן for burning