Sanhedrin 77b

סנהדרין ע״ז ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 77b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Direct force (כֹּחוֹ) versus indirect causing (גרמא): when someone who causes a death is חייב or פטור

Overview

This amud is about when a person who causes a death counts as the killer, and when it is only indirect causing (גרמא). It opens by finishing the case of turning a vat over someone: under a vat the stifling air starts right away, so it differs from the marble house. Next, a סימן lists four rulings of רבא. In the ladder, shield and herbs cases the attacker is פטור, because at the moment he acted the victim could still escape, be protected, or be healed. רב אשי adds that herbs in the market, or herbs that came by chance, also exempt the shooter. In the fourth case, a stone that bounces off a wall and kills, the thrower is חייב. A ברייתא about ball players supports this, and another ברייתא adds a four-אמות distance rule. The גמרא then defends the idea that a forceful rebound is still the thrower's own force (כֹּחוֹ) against two contradictions from משניות in פרה. Finally, רב פפא rules on killing with a stream of water and on a stone thrown up that veers sideways. מר בר רב אשי's challenge to the sideways ruling continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. RejectionWhy the vat case is different from the marble house
2. StatementA memory aid for the coming rulings
3. StatementPushed into a pit that had a ladder
4. StatementShooting an arrow at someone holding a shield
5. StatementShooting an arrow when the victim had healing herbs
6. StatementEven herbs available in the market
7. QuestionWhat if herbs just happened to come to him
8. ResponseHe left court innocent
9. StatementA stone that bounces off a wall and kills
10. ProofA ברייתא about ball players supports רבא
11. ChallengeWhy say the accidental killers go to exile?
12. ResolutionThe real lesson: intentional players are executed
13. StatementBall players: within four cubits exempt, beyond four cubits liable
14. ChallengeWhy should distance matter?
15. ResolutionBall players want the ball to come back far
16. ChallengeIs a bounce really the thrower's force? A contradiction from פרה אדומה
17. ResolutionThe ashes only trickled down
18. ChallengeA challenge from the needle on the shard
19. ResolutionThe משנה says 'found', not 'sprayed'
20. StatementTying someone up and sending water onto him
21. StatementA stone thrown up that goes sideways
22. ChallengeIf it was his force, it should have gone up