Kommentar zu Shevuot 4:11
אָמַר לִשְׁנַיִם, מַשְׁבִּיעַ אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי וּפְלוֹנִי, שֶׁאִם אַתֶּם יוֹדְעִין לִי עֵדוּת שֶׁתָּבֹאוּ וּתְעִידוּנִי, שְׁבוּעָה שֶׁאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין לְךָ עֵדוּת, וְהֵם יוֹדְעִין לוֹ עֵדוּת עֵד מִפִּי עֵד אוֹ שֶׁהָיָה אֶחָד מֵהֶן קָרוֹב אוֹ פָסוּל, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ פְטוּרִין:
Wenn er zu zwei sagte: "Ich trage dich und dich, wenn du Zeugnis für mich weißt, dass du kommst und für mich aussagst." (Sie :) "Wir schwören, dass wir kein Zeugnis für Sie kennen"— und sie kennen Zeugnis für ihn, ein Zeuge über einen anderen — oder wenn einer von ihnen verwandt oder pasul war (nicht aussagenfähig) —Sie haften nicht. [Wenn sie aussagen würden, würde ihr Zeugnis ihm nichts nützen.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
הם יודים לו דות ד מפי ד וכו' פטורים – for if they testified about him, their testimony would not be worth him anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If he said to two [persons]: “I adjure you, so-and-so and so-and-so, that if you know any testimony for me you should come and bear testimony for me”: [And they replied,] “We swear we know no testimony for you”, and they did know testimony for him, [but it was evidence of] one witness from the mouth of another witness; or if one of them was a relative or [otherwise] ineligible [as a witness], they are exempt. This mishnah teaches that if the witnesses who swore that they do not know testimony did know testimony but that the testimony would not have been accepted in the court, they are exempt for having sworn falsely. The reasons that their testimony might not have been accepted are: 1) the testimony was hearsay (see Sanhedrin 4:5); 2) they were related to one of the litigants (see mishnah one of this chapter); 3) they were otherwise unfit to testify (ibid.). Since their testimony would not have been sufficient to render a verdict in any case, they are not liable for having sworn falsely.
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