The oath of testimony. How so? If he said to two: "Come and testify for me" (and they responded:) "We swear that we know no testimony for you"; or if they responded: "We know no testimony for you," (and he said:) "I beswear you," and they said: "Amen," they are liable. If he beswore them five times outside of beth-din, and they came to beth-din and admitted (that they knew testimony), they are not liable, [even if they denied it for every oath outside of beth-din. For denial outside of beth-din is not deemed denial.] If they denied it (in beth-din), they are liable for each one, [it being written (Leviticus 5:5): "And it shall be, if he be guilty for one of these" — to make him liable for each one.] If he beswore them five times before beth-din, and they denied it, they are liable only for one. R. Shimon said: Why is it [that they are liable only for one even if they kept silent and denied it at the end? Why do we not say that the denial applies to all of the oaths, to render them liable for each one?] (The answer:) Since [if they denied it in beth-din the first time], they cannot go back and admit it. [i.e., Since they already said that they know no testimony for him, they cannot go back and testify (otherwise), therefore, even though they denied it only at the end, all of the oaths were superfluous, except the first. For if their silence at the first is regarded as denial, it is no longer fit to beswear them; and if it is not regarded as denial, they are already besworn, and the subsequent oaths are "oaths upon an oath." Perforce, then, "'for one,' to make him liable for each one" speaks of oaths outside of beth-din and denial in beth-din. For oaths by which he beswears them to come and testify in beth-din are not superfluous and lend themselves to division. For if they denied it there at the first, they could be besworn again.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
ובאו לבית דין והודו פטורים – and even if they denied [that they had testimony about so-and-so] outside of the Jewish court on each oath for no denial outside the Jewish court is considered denial.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
Introduction
The first half of mishnah three explains how an oath of testimony is done. The second half of the mishnah discusses a witness who falsely swears five times that he had no knowledge of testimony.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
כפרו בב"ד חייבין על כל אחת ואחת – as the Biblical verse states (Leviticus 5:5): “When he realizes his guilt in any of these matters,[he shall confess that wherein he has sinned],” to be liable for each and every one.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
The oath of testimony: How is it done? If he said to two [persons]: “Come and bear testimony for me”; [and they replied:] “We swear we know no testimony for you”; Or they said to him: “We know no testimony for you”, [and he said:] “I adjure you” and they said, “Amen! “, they are liable. An oath of testimony can be done in one of two ways. The first way is for the litigant to ask the witnesses to come and testify on his behalf and for them to swear that they have no knowledge of testimony. Alternatively the witnesses can state that they know no testimony and the litigant can adjure them that they know no testimony. If they answer amen, they have sworn an oath of testimony. If they have sworn falsely they are liable.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
מה טעם – that they are not liable other than for one [sacrifice] even if they were silent and denied [their knowing anything] at the end, and we don’t say that a denial exists for all of them to make them liable for each and every one (i.e., testimony).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If he adjured them five times outside the court, and the they came to the court and admitted [knowledge of testimony], they are exempt. If they denied, they are liable for each [oath]. If he adjured them five times before the court, and they denied [knowledge of testimony], they are liable only once. Said Rabbi Shimon: “What is the reason? Because they cannot afterwards admit [knowledge]. This section discusses a case where a litigant adjured the witnesses five times. The mishnah asks the question, in what case will they be liable for having sworn falsely five times, in what case they will be liable for having sworn falsely once and in what case will they be exempt. If, he adjured them outside of the court, and then when they came to court they admitted that they knew testimony, they are not liable. As we learned in mishnah one, the denial of knowledge must occur in front of the court. If, after having adjured them five times they come to court and continue to deny knowledge, then they are liable for having sworn five false oaths of testimony. The denial at court makes each oath outside of court a potentially effective oath, and therefore if it was false, it causes them to be liable. If he adjured them five times in front of the court and they denied knowledge each time, they will be liable for having sworn only one false oath. Rabbi Shimon explains that since after the first denial in front of the court they will not be able to change their minds, the subsequent oaths were meaningless. Once a person has in court denied knowing testimony he cannot change his mind and testify. Since, except for the first oath, the other oaths were meaningless, he can only be liable for one false oath.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
הואיל – but whereas if they denied in the Jewish court the first time, they would not be able to retract and confess, for they already stated that they don’t know any testimony about him, and furthermore, they do not retract and state [testimony]; therefore, even though that they didn’t deny [knowing anything about so-and-so] until the end, all of the oaths were abrogated, except for the first one. For he fact that they were silent initially is denial, they are not worthy to be made to take an oath and if it is not denial, they are sworn in as standing witnesses. And what is an oath upon an oath? By force, when it is written (in Leviticus 5:5): “in any of these matters” – to be liable for each and every one, referring to an oath taken outside the Jewish court and they denied it in the Jewish court as it is written [in Scripture] that he would administer an oath to them when they would come to the Jewish court and they would testify and they would not leave in idleness, and it is appropriate for them to divide if they denied there at first, it would be appropriate to retract and to administer to them an oath.
