Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 67a

סנהדרין ס״ז ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 67a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 67a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The מסית and the rule of hidden witnesses, the מדיח, and the מכשף: who counts as one and how he is put to death.

Overview

The amud opens with the last words of an earlier discussion: a פסוק was quoted only as a memory sign. Then a משנה describes the מסית, an ordinary person who tries to pull another person into עבודה זרה. It teaches that only for him may בית דין hide witnesses to catch him, and it explains how that trap works. The גמרא asks whose opinion the משנה follows. רבי שמעון seems to fit the beginning and the רבנן seem to fit the end. רבינא and רב פפא each show how the whole משנה can follow the רבנן. A ברייתא describes the hidden-witness setup in detail and tells of בן סטדא in לוד, and the גמרא explains his name. A new משנה then defines the מדיח and the מכשף, who is liable only for real sorcery, not for tricking the eyes. The גמרא teaches that מכשפה includes men and women. רבי יוסי הגלילי and רבי עקיבא then argue whether a sorcerer is killed by the sword or by stoning, and their debate continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

סִימָנָא בְּעָלְמָא.

It is merely a sign.

מַתְנִי׳

MISHNA:

הַמֵּסִית – זֶה הֶדְיוֹט,

The inciter: this is an ordinary person,

וְהַמֵּסִית אֶת הַהֶדְיוֹט.

and one who incites an ordinary person.

The steps (33)

  1. ResolutionThe verse is only a memory sign
  2. StatementWho the inciter is and what he says
  3. StatementOnly for the inciter may witnesses be hidden
  4. StatementHow the inciter is caught
  5. StatementCatching a cunning מסית with hidden witnesses
  6. StatementWhich statements count as persuading
  7. StatementReading the משנה closely: a נביא or a crowd gets חנק
  8. QuestionWhose opinion is the משנה?
  9. ResponseIt is רבי שמעון, as the ברייתא shows
  10. ChallengeThe end of the משנה seems to follow the רבנן
  11. Resolutionרבינא: the whole משנה follows the רבנן
  12. Resolutionרב פפא: 'an ordinary person' is about hiding witnesses
  13. ProofA ברייתא: we hide witnesses only for the מסית
  14. StatementHow the hidden witnesses are set up
  15. StatementA real case: בן סטדא in לוד
  16. ChallengeWhy is he called בן סטדא?
  17. Resolutionרב חסדא: two different men
  18. ChallengeBut the husband was פפוס בן יהודה
  19. ResolutionMaybe סטדא was his mother
  20. ChallengeBut his mother was מרים
  21. Resolutionסטדא is a nickname
  22. Statementמשנה: who is the מדיח
  23. StatementOnly real sorcery makes a sorcerer liable
  24. StatementThe two cucumber gatherers
  25. StatementThe משנה's מדיח includes those who lead a whole city astray
  26. Statementמכשפה includes both men and women
  27. QuestionWhy does the פסוק say 'witch'?
  28. ResponseMost women were involved in sorcery
  29. QuestionHow are sorcerers put to death?
  30. Responseרבי יוסי הגלילי: by the sword, from matching words
  31. Statementרבי עקיבא says a sorcerer is stoned
  32. Challengeרבי יוסי: my words match better than yours
  33. Resolutionרבי עקיבא: I compare Jews to Jews