Gemara Clarity

Shevuos 31a

שבועות ל״א ע״א

Shevuot 31a

Learn Shevuos 31a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 31a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Lessons from ״מִדְּבַר שֶׁקֶר תִּרְחָק״ for students, creditors and judges, then two clauses of the משנה on שבועת העדות: who is 'fit to testify,' and whether an oath outside בית דין counts.

Overview

This amud teaches a long list of lessons from the פסוק ״מִדְּבַר שֶׁקֶר תִּרְחָק״. It first finishes a case about a דיין who may not rule on a case he suspects is crooked and leave the blame on the עדים. Then a סימן lists nine more lessons. Three are about a תלמיד: he must not stay silent, must not delay correcting his רב, and must not even stand silently next to a lone witness. Three are about בעלי חוב who use false claims or false denials to win money that is really owed. Three are about fairness in court: equal dress, and no hearing one side, or speaking to the judge, without the other side present. רב כהנא gives another source for the last rule, and רב and שמואל explain ״וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא טוֹב עָשָׂה״. The גמרא then returns to the משנה. It asks who 'fit to testify' excludes, a מלך or a משחק בקוביא. It then explains that רבי מאיר and the רבנן argue over דון מינה ומינה versus דון מינה ואוקי באתרה.

Opening lines

קוֹלָר תָּלוּי בְּצַוַּאר עֵדִים?

and the chain will hang on the neck of the witnesses?

תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״מִדְּבַר שֶׁקֶר תִּרְחַק״.

The verse teaches: "Distance yourself from a false matter."

(סִימָן: תְּלָתָא תַּלְמִיד,

(Mnemonic: three — student,

וּתְלָת בַּעֲלֵי חוֹב,

and three — creditors,

The steps (23)

  1. StatementA judge cannot just blame the witnesses
  2. StatementA memory list for the coming lessons
  3. StatementA student may not stay silent
  4. StatementA student may not wait in order to take the credit
  5. StatementA teacher asks his student to join a lone witness
  6. ChallengeWhy do we need this verse, if testifying falsely is already forbidden?
  7. ResolutionThe student only stands there silently
  8. StatementA lender may not inflate his claim to force an oath
  9. StatementA borrower may not deny in court and admit outside
  10. StatementThree partners may not turn two of themselves into witnesses
  11. StatementBoth litigants must be dressed alike in court
  12. Statementרבא בר רב הונא makes litigants take off their fancy shoes
  13. StatementA judge may not hear one side before the other arrives
  14. StatementA litigant may not present his case early to the judge
  15. Statementרב כהנא learns it from a different פסוק
  16. StatementWho does 'what is not good among his people'
  17. QuestionWho does 'fit to testify' come to exclude?
  18. ResponseA king, or a dice player
  19. ConclusionHow far each opinion reaches
  20. QuestionWhat are רבי מאיר and the רבנן arguing about?
  21. ResponseThe root of the dispute: how far a comparison reaches
  22. Statementרבי מאיר copies all the details from the deposit oath
  23. StatementThe רבנן take only the main point and keep the details from testimony