Si ambos lo negaron al mismo tiempo [es decir, en el mismo "período de conversación"], ambos son responsables. (Si lo negaron) uno tras otro, [es decir, después del "lapso de conversación"], el primero es responsable y el segundo, no. [Porque desde que el primero lo negó (es decir, que podía testificar), el segundo ya no puede testificar, siendo solo uno.] Si uno de ellos lo negó y el otro lo admitió, el negador es responsable. Si hubiera dos grupos de testigos—Si el primero lo negó y luego el segundo lo negó, ambos son responsables, porque el testimonio puede obtenerse a través de ambos. [La Gemara pregunta: ¿Por qué debería ser responsable el primer conjunto si hay un segundo conjunto? ¿Qué pérdida le causaron por su negación? Y responde que nuestra Mishná está hablando de una instancia en la que los testigos en el segundo set fueron parientes a través de sus esposas, no siendo kasher para testificar cuando el segundo set lo negó, y sus esposas fueron gosesoth (en el momento de la muerte). Podría pensar que, dado que el fallo es: "la mayoría de los gosesim mueren", es como si ya estuvieran muertos, y el primer grupo no debería ser responsable, porque todavía hay un segundo grupo; Por lo tanto, estamos informados (que esto no es así) por ahora (en el momento de la negación) aún no habían muerto. Se descubre, entonces, que solo el primer grupo estaba allí en el momento de la negación, por lo que son responsables.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
כפרו שניהם כאחת – in an interval equivalent to the time of speaking (“Greetings to you, My teacher.”).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
Introduction
Mishnah four discusses how many of the witnesses deny knowledge such that they become liable for swearing a false oath of testimony.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
בזה אחר זה – that there was between [the testimony of] this one and [the testimony of] that one more than an interval equivalent to the time of speaking.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
In order to understand this mishnah it is important to remember that in Jewish law two witnesses are needed to prove a case. A single witness’s testimony is not acceptable in court.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
הראשון חייב – but the second is exempt, for since the first one denied, the second one is furthermore not appropriate to testify because he is an individual (and testimony requires two or more individuals).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If both [persons] denied [knowledge] together, they are both liable. If both witnesses deny knowledge at the same time then they are both liable for false oaths. Since they both equally have caused the litigant to lose his case, they are both liable.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
שתיהן חייבות – in the Gemara (Tractate Shevuot 32b-33a) raises the objection – why is the first [set of witnesses] liable, for the second set [of witnesses] exists? For what have the first [set of witnesses] lost through their denial? And it answers that that the our Mishnah is speaking about q case where the witnesses of the second group were related through their wives (see Rashi’s comment: they married two sisters and are not valid as a singular testimony, and they were not valid to testify when the first set [of witnesses] denied [that they knew anything to testify] and their wives were on their deathbeds, for you might have thought that we hold that most people on their deathbeds will die, it was for them as if they [i.e., their wives) had died and the first set [of witnesses] were exempt but the second set exists. It comes to tell us now however that he is not dead. But it is found that only the first set [of witnesses] alone was there at the time of the denial, and therefore, they are liable.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If one after another, the first is liable, and the second exempt. If one denies knowing testimony and then the second witness also denies, the first witness is liable and the second is not. Since, when the second witness was asked to testify, the only other witness had already sworn that he had no knowledge, the second person’s testimony would not have been accepted in any case. In other words, by denying knowledge he did not cause any loss to the litigant, and he is therefore not liable.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If one denied, and the other admitted, the one who denied is liable. If one person denies knowledge and the other person admits to knowing testimony, the first person is liable since he caused the litigant to lose his case. If he had admitted, there would have been the sufficient two to prove the case.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If there were two sets of witnesses, and the first denied, and then the second denied, they are both liable, because the testimony could be upheld by [either of] the two. If two sets of two witnesses deny knowledge, one after the other, both sets, meaning all four witnesses, are liable. Since the testimony could have been established by either set of witnesses, they have all caused a loss to the litigant by denying knowledge, and they are therefore, all liable.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
Questions for Further Thought: • What is the difference between the scenario in section two and the scenario in section four?
