Sanhedrin 61b

סנהדרין ס״א ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 61b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Liability for words alone after being incited to idol worship, and whether worshipping out of love or fear makes one liable

Overview

This amud opens at the end of an answer to a contradiction between two משניות. One משנה makes a person liable just for saying 'I will worship' an idol. The other suggests that saying 'yes' to a מסית is not enough. First the גמרא finishes an earlier point: when someone asks people to worship him, their 'yes' is only mockery. Then, turning to the משניות, one answer splits the cases into an incited individual and an incited crowd, and רב יוסף supports it with a פסוק. אביי knocks this answer out with a ברייתא showing that the two cases differ only in body and property. אביי, רבא, רב אשי and רבינא then each give their own resolution. Next comes a new מחלוקת: אביי says someone who worships out of love or fear of a person is חייב, while רבא says he is פטור unless he accepted the idol as a god. אביי brings proofs from a משנה and from the ברייתא about המן, and רבא deflects both. אביי then begins a proof from a כהן משיח who sinned by mistake with עבודה זרה, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (24)

1. ResolutionThe 'yes' was only mockery
2. ResolutionIndividual versus crowd
3. ProofA פסוק supports the individual being liable
4. Challengeאביי: individual and crowd are one category
5. ChallengeThe ברייתא lists how a single person and a crowd are treated differently
6. ChallengeThey differ only in these matters and are the same in everything else
7. Resolutionאביי's answer: deciding on your own versus being talked into it
8. Proofאביי brings a verse to back up his distinction
9. Resolutionרבא's different way to settle the two משניות
10. Proofרבא's verse: from the gods nearby you learn about the gods far away
11. ConclusionThe verse must be about a מסית who praised the idol's powers
12. Resolutionרב אשי: the later משנה is about an apostate
13. Resolutionרבינא: the משנה teaches 'not only this, but also that'
14. StatementWorshipping out of love or fear: אביי says liable, רבא says exempt
15. StatementThe reasons: the act itself versus accepting it as a god
16. StatementA memory sign for אביי's proofs
17. Proofאביי's proof from the repeated word in the משנה
18. Rejectionרבא reads the משנה like רבי ירמיה
19. Proofאביי's proof from bowing to המן
20. Rejectionרבא explains the Haman case differently
21. Proofאביי brings a new source about the anointed priest
22. QuestionWhat could a mistaken act of idol worship be?
23. ResponseThe case is bowing to a statue of a person
24. RejectionAccepting the statue as a god would be on purpose, not a mistake