Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 53a

סנהדרין נ״ג ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 53a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The source for the four death penalties and for stoning the other נסקלין; the משנה listing the נסקלין and רבי יהודה's view on one's mother

Overview

The גמרא first asks how רבי יאשיה knows that חנק exists at all, since the תורה never mentions it. רבא answers that all four death penalties are a received tradition. The גמרא then explains that רבי יונתן said 'not because it is lenient' because he holds like רבי שמעון, for whom סייף is lighter than חנק. Next, רבי זירא asks אביי which phrase links the other stoned sinners to אוב וידעוני. אביי answers that the link is ״דמיהם בם״, and the phrase ״מות יומת״ teaches something else: a murderer may be killed in any way when the written death is not possible. Later, רבינא explains that linking through ״מות יומת״ would have pointed to אשת איש and her lighter death, חנק. A new משנה then lists everyone who is stoned and discusses the double prohibitions for one's mother, father's wife and daughter-in-law. The גמרא explains that רבי יהודה's view follows רבי עקיבא, that קידושין do not take effect in a relationship forbidden by a לאו. רב אושעיא begins a challenge from a משנה about יבום, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בִּשְׁלָמָא לְרַבִּי יוֹנָתָן,

Granted, according to Rabbi Yonatan,

כִּדְקָא מְפָרֵשׁ רַבִּי טַעְמָא.

it works as Rabbi explains the reason.

אֶלָּא לְרַבִּי יֹאשִׁיָּה,

But according to Rabbi Yoshiya,

מִמַּאי דְּאִיכָּא חֶנֶק בָּעוֹלָם?

from where do we know there is strangulation in the world at all?

The steps (23)

  1. ChallengeHow does רבי יאשיה know strangulation exists at all?
  2. ResolutionThe four death penalties are a received tradition
  3. QuestionWhat does 'not because it is lenient' mean?
  4. ResponseIt depends on the רבי שמעון and רבנן dispute
  5. QuestionWhich phrase teaches stoning for the other sinners?
  6. Responseאביי: the link comes from the phrase 'their blood is upon them'
  7. ChallengeBut then 'they shall surely be put to death' would be pointless
  8. Resolution'They shall surely be put to death' has its own job
  9. Questionרב אחא of Difti: What was the problem with learning from 'they shall surely be put to death'?
  10. QuestionMaybe the adulteress was the worry
  11. RejectionA married woman cannot be stoned anyway
  12. QuestionMaybe striking a parent was the worry
  13. RejectionStriking a parent would be compared to the married woman instead
  14. Responseרבינא explains what really bothered רבי זירא
  15. StatementThe משנה lists those who are executed by stoning
  16. StatementOne who sins with his mother: two prohibitions or one
  17. StatementOne who sins with his father's wife
  18. StatementOne who sins with his daughter-in-law
  19. Statementרבי יהודה: liable only for mother if she was not fit for the father
  20. QuestionWhat does 'not fit for him' mean?
  21. ChallengeIt cannot mean a כרת or death-penalty relationship
  22. ResolutionIt means a relationship forbidden by a לאו, following רבי עקיבא
  23. Challengeרב אושעיא challenges from the משנה about איסור מצוה and איסור קדושה