Comentario sobre Sanedrín 4:3
סַנְהֶדְרִין הָיְתָה כַּחֲצִי גֹרֶן עֲגֻלָּה, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהוּ רוֹאִין זֶה אֶת זֶה. וּשְׁנֵי סוֹפְרֵי הַדַּיָּנִין עוֹמְדִין לִפְנֵיהֶם, אֶחָד מִיָּמִין וְאֶחָד מִשְּׂמֹאל, וְכוֹתְבִין דִּבְרֵי הַמְזַכִּין וְדִבְרֵי הַמְחַיְּבִין. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, שְׁלֹשָׁה, אֶחָד כּוֹתֵב דִּבְרֵי הַמְזַכִּין, וְאֶחָד כּוֹתֵב דִּבְרֵי הַמְחַיְּבִין, וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁי כוֹתֵב דִּבְרֵי הַמְזַכִּין וְדִבְרֵי הַמְחַיְּבִין:
El Sanedrín se sentó en un semicírculo, para que pudieran verse, [está escrito (Canciones de Canciones 7: 3): "Tu ombligo es como la cuenca de la luna (sahar)": "Tu ombligo es como el cuenca (agan) " —Este es el Sanedrín, que se encuentra en el centro del mundo (el sitio del Templo) y defiende (maginah - similar a "agan") el mundo entero. Y es como la luna en que se sienta en un círculo como una media luna. (El Targum de la luna es "sihara".) Y no se sientan en un círculo completo porque los litigantes y los testigos deben entrar y hablar ante todos ellos.] Y dos escribas de la corte se pararon ante ellos, uno a la derecha; el otro a la izquierda, y escribieron las palabras de los absolutistas y las palabras de los acusadores. R. Yehudah dice: (Había) tres. Uno escribió las palabras de los absolutistas; otro, las palabras de los indicters; y un tercero, las palabras de los absolutistas y las palabras de los acusadores, [para que haya dos testigos para los absolutores y dos para los acusadores. La halajá no está de acuerdo con R. Yehudah.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was arranged like the half of a round threshing-floor so that they all might see one another.
Before them stood the two scribes of the judges, one to the right and one to the left, and they wrote down the words of them that favored acquittal and the words of them that favored conviction. Rabbi Judah says: “There were three: one wrote down the words of them that favored acquittal, and one wrote down the words of them that favored conviction, and the third wrote down the words of both them that favored acquittal and them that favored conviction.
The sanhedrin of twenty three that would try capital cases and the sanhedrin of seventy one would sit in a half circle. This was the seating arrangement that would best allow all of the judges to see each other. A full circle would mean that the one testifying before the court would have his back to some of the judges.
The second half of the mishnah describes the court stenographers. According to the first opinion, there were two scribes who recorded the court procedure, one which recorded the opinion of those that favored acquittal and one those that favored conviction. Rabbi Judah claims that there was a third scribe who recorded all of the opinions. In this way there would be two copies of all of the decisions made.