Si su padre quería (que lo declararan ben sorer umoreh), y su madre no; o si su padre no lo quería y su madre sí—no se convierte en ben sorer umoreh, hasta que ambos lo deseen. R. Yehudah dice: Si su madre no fuera similar a su padre [en voz, apariencia y estatura], no se convierte en ben sorer umoreh, [está escrito (Deuteronomio 21:20): "Él no hace caso a nuestro voz." Como no está escrito "nuestras voces", la implicación es que ambos tienen "una" voz. Y dado que sus voces deben ser similares, su apariencia y estatura también deben ser similares. La halajá no está de acuerdo con R. Yehudah.] Si uno de ellos fuera gidem [(si le hubieran cortado la mano)], o cojo, o mudo, o ciego, o sordo, no se convierte en ben sorer umoreh, está escrito (Ibid 19): "Entonces su padre y su madre lo capturarán"—y no gidmin. (Ibid.): "Y lo sacarán"—y no cojo. (Ibid. 20): "Y dirán"—y no mudo (Ibid.): "Este, nuestro hijo" [La implicación es que se lo muestran]—y no ciego (Ibid.): "Él no escucha nuestra voz"—y no sordo [Si él les dijo: "No acepto lo que dices", no lo escuchan. Y a pesar de que luego ven que él no hace lo que le ordenaron, aún así, "Él no hace caso a nuestra voz" implica que dicen que no les hace caso cuando hablan, oyéndole decir que no acepta lo que dicen. ] Se le advierte antes de las tres y se le dan rayas. [Esta es la intención: se le advierte antes de las dos que no persista (en su comportamiento). Y si no los atiende, se le dan rayas antes de un beth-din de tres, como se enseñó anteriormente (1: 2): "Rayas, por tres". Porque "y lo castigarán" con respecto a ben sorer umoreh (Deuteronomio 21:18) se refiere a rayas, está escrito aquí: "ben sorer umoreh" y, en otros lugares (Ibid. 25: 2): "Y lo hará sea, si el cubo de las rayas es el inicuo "]. Si vuelve a sus malos caminos, es juzgado por veintitrés, y no es apedreado hasta que los primeros tres estén presentes, está escrito (Ibid.):" Este nuestro hijo—este, que recibió rayas en tu presencia. [Y a pesar de que esto es necesario para "'Esto' y no ciego" (ver arriba), si la única enseñanza fuera para "rayas recibidas en tu presencia", podría haber sido escrito: "Él, nuestro hijo". ¿Por qué "este, nuestro hijo"? Enseñar a ambos.] Si él huyó antes de que se concluyera su juicio y luego fuera "rodeado por la barba inferior", no es responsable. [Porque si tuviera que cometer su intrusión ahora, no estaría sujeto a la lapidación]. Y si huía después de que su juicio hubiera concluido y luego fuera "rodeado por la barba inferior", es responsable. [Es como "un hombre asesinado", y es responsable incluso después de muchos años.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
ראויה לאביו – equivalent and similar to his father in voice, in appearance and in stature, as it is written (Deuteronomy 21:20): “…he does not heed us,” since it is not written [in the Torah]: “in our voices.” We learn from this, one voice for both. And from the voice, we require that it be equivalent. Appearance and stature also we require equivalence. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Introduction
Mishnah four contains further restrictions with regards to the “wayward and rebellious son”.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
גידם – his hand is lopped off.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
If his father wants [to have him punished], but not his mother; or his father does not want [to have him punished] but his mother does, he is not treated as a ‘wayward a rebellious son’, unless they both desire it. Rabbi Judah said: “If his mother is not fit for his father, he does not become a ‘wayward and rebellious son”. Deut. 21:19 states, “His father and mother shall take hold of him”. On this one verse the Rabbis made a number of restrictions on the applicability of the case of the wayward and rebellious son. First of all, a most basic understanding of this verse states that both the father and mother must agree to the punishment. This is to prevent one parent from punishing the child without the consent of the other parent. Rabbi Judah learns something slightly more complicated from this verse. He states that if the woman was not “fit” for her husband, the child cannot be punished. One explanation for the word “fit” is that the marriage was a forbidden marriage (for instance a Kohen and a divorcee). A different explanation is that the she was not equal to him in height and appearance. This requirement would then make it almost impossible for a child to become a wayward and rebellious son. After all, how many parents look exactly alike.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
בננו זה – implying that we cause to see him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
If one of them [his father or his mother] had a hand cut off, or was lame, mute, blind or deaf, he cannot become a “wayward and rebellious son”, because it says “his father and mother shall take hold of him” (Deut. 21:19) not those with a hand cut off; “and bring him out”, not lame parents; “and they shall say”, and not mute parents; “this our son”, and not blind parents; “he will not obey our voice” (Deut. 21:20), and not deaf parents. This section contains a midrash which excludes children of certain types of parents from being able to be punished as wayward and rebellious. The aforementioned verse states that the parents shall “take hold of him”: this means that a parent who has only one hand cannot fulfill the procedure and therefore his/her child cannot be punished as a wayward and rebellious son. The verse states that the parents must “take him out”: therefore parents with physical disabilities (probably unable to walk) cannot fulfill the procedure. They must make a statement: therefore the parents cannot be mute. They must point him out when they say, “This son of ours”: therefore they cannot be blind. Finally, they must both hear each other’s voice so that they know that he disobeys both of them: therefore they cannot be deaf.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
חרשים – if he said to them: “I don’t accept [this] from you and they do not hear him. And even though they see afterwards, that he does not fulfill their commands. Nevertheless, the Torah stated (Deuteronomy 21:20): “...he does not heed us,” which implies at the time of voice when they speak, that he doesn’t listen, since they heard him say, “I do not accept [this] from you.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
He is warned in the presence of three and beaten. If he transgresses again after this, he is tried by a court of twenty three. He cannot be sentenced to stoning unless the first three are present, because it says, “this our son” (Deut. 21:20), [implying], this one who was whipped in your presence. The Torah states that the wayward and rebellious son had already been disciplined before he is brought to the elders to be stoned. Our mishnah understands this to be a formal beating administered by the court. The idea is to pressure the child to change before it is too late. While disciplining the son by beating him only requires a court of three, executing him requires a court of twenty three, as do all executions. The three in front of whom he was beaten must be present at the subsequent trial and execution. This is learned from the parents’ statement, “This is our son”. The word “this” implies that this same son was already beaten in front of the same judges.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
ומתרין בו בפני שלשה– This is how this should be understood: And they warn him before two [witnesses] that he should not become accustomed, and if he did not listen, they would flog him with a Jewish court of three, as is taught [in the Mishnah] of the first chapter [of Sanhedrin] (Mishnah 2): “Flogging – through a court of three. That (Deuteronomy 21:18): “even after they discipline him,” which is stated in the case of the wayward and defiant son [refers to] flogging. It is written here (Deuteronomy 21:18): “A wayward and defiant son” and it is written there (Deuteronomy 25:2): “If the guilty one is to be flogged…”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
If he [the rebellious son] fled before his trial was completed, and then his pubic hair grew in fully, he is free. But if he fled after his trial was completed, and then his pubic hair grew in fully, he remains liable. We learned in the first mishnah of the chapter that a child cannot be punished as a wayward and rebellious son has reached full puberty. Our mishnah teaches that if the accused child runs away before the trial is over, and by the time he returns he has reached full puberty, he can no longer be punished. However, if the trial is already over and the son was convicted, he can be punished even if he runs away and then achieves full puberty before being brought back. Since the trial is already over and we are only waiting for the punishment to be meted out, it does not matter that he is now too old to be tried as a wayward and rebellious son.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
זה הוא שלקה בפניכם – and even though this is required for excluding blind person, if there is for this thing alone that he comes, for this one that he is flogged in their presence, [the Bible] should have written, “he is our son.” What is “this son of ours” (Deuteronomy 21:20)? You learn two things from it:
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Questions for Further Thought: • Of the strategies for dealing with understanding the laws of the “wayward and rebellious son” that we discussed in the introduction to this chapter, which is employed in this mishnah?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
ןאח"כ הקיף זקן התחתון פטור – since that he had ac ted now, he is not guilty of a capital crime.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
ואם משנגמר דינו ברכח – he is like a man who is to be put to death, and is guilty, even after a few years.
