Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 84a

סנהדרין פ״ד ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 84a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 84a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Sources and punishments for people who may not do the עבודה: אונן, sitting, בעל מום, מעילה, and a זר who served

Overview

The גמרא goes through a ברייתא that lists people who may not do the עבודה in the מקדש. For each one it finds a source and asks how serious the punishment is. It finishes the פסוק about an ערל. It learns the אונן by inference from the כהן גדול's פסוק, and רבא explains why a גזרה שוה cannot give the אונן מיתה. A sitting כהן is disqualified because he was chosen 'to stand and serve.' For a בעל מום and for deliberate מעילה, רבי gives מיתה through word-links: for the בעל מום the source ends up being a טמא ששימש. The רבנן use the word ״בּוֹ״ to limit death and give only an אזהרה. For a זר who served, רבי ישמעאל says death בידי שמים, רבי עקיבא says סקילה, and רבי יוחנן בן נורי says חנק. The גמרא explains the roots of these disputes and settles a contradiction about רבי עקיבא's view. Then the פרק אלו הן הנשרפין ends.

Opening lines

וְעֶרֶל בָּשָׂר לֹא יָבוֹא

"And one uncircumcised in flesh shall not enter

אֶל מִקְדָּשִׁי (לְשָׁרְתֵנִי)״.

My Sanctuary (to serve Me)."

אוֹנֵן מְנָלַן?

An acute mourner, from where do we derive it?

דִּכְתִיב: ״וּמִן הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לֹא יֵצֵא

As it is written: "And from the Sanctuary he shall not go out,

The steps (30)

  1. ProofEnd of the verse that disqualifies an uncircumcised כהן
  2. QuestionWhere do we learn that a mourner may not serve?
  3. ResponseLearning the mourner from the High Priest's verse
  4. Challengeרב אדא: learn the death penalty from תרומה
  5. Resolutionרבא: something learned by inference cannot make a גזרה שוה
  6. QuestionSource that a sitting כהן is disqualified
  7. ResponseChosen to stand, not to sit
  8. StatementBlemished כהן: death or only a prohibition
  9. QuestionWhy does רבי say death?
  10. Responseגזרה שוה of חילול from תרומה
  11. ChallengeWhy not learn from נותר, which gives כרת?
  12. Resolutionתרומה is the closer match
  13. ChallengeOn the contrary, נותר has more in common
  14. Resolutionרבי learns from an impure כהן who served
  15. ResponseThe רבנן exclude a בעל מום with the word ״בּוֹ״
  16. StatementNew case: deliberately misusing holy property
  17. QuestionWhat is רבי's reason for misuse?
  18. Responseרבי learns "חטא" from "חטא" by תרומה
  19. ResponseThe רבנן exclude מעילה with the word ״בּוֹ״
  20. Statementרבי ישמעאל: a non-priest who served dies at the hand of Heaven
  21. Statementרבי עקיבא: the non-priest is stoned, like the false prophet
  22. Statementרבי יוחנן בן נורי: the זר is strangled
  23. QuestionWhat is the root of the argument between רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא?
  24. ResponseMatching words versus matching people
  25. Resolutionרבי עקיבא: a prophet who led people astray is just an ordinary person
  26. QuestionWhat is the root of the argument between רבי עקיבא and רבי יוחנן בן נורי?
  27. ResponseThey follow the argument about a prophet who led people astray
  28. ChallengeBut a משנה quotes רבי עקיבא as saying strangulation
  29. ResolutionTwo students report רבי עקיבא's view differently
  30. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter of those who are burned