Exécution par décapitation: Ils lui coupaient la tête avec une épée, à la manière de (exécution par) la monarchie. R. Yehudah dit: C'est dégradant. [Car il est tué debout et il tombe.] Au contraire, sa tête est placée sur un bloc et elle est coupée avec une hachette. [Le baraïta explique que R. Yehudah est en désaccord avec les rabbins en raison de (Lévitique 18: 3): "Et dans leurs statuts, vous ne marcherez pas." Et les rabbins rétorquent: Puisque la mort par l'épée est mentionnée dans la Torah, à savoir. (Exode 21:20): "La vengeance sera prise", ils (leurs statuts) ne sont pas notre source. La halakha est en accord avec les sages.] Exécution par étranglement: Ils le trempaient dans les ordures jusqu'à ses cuisses, plaçaient un tissu dur dans un tissu doux et le nouaient autour de sa gorge; et l'un tiré d'un bout, l'autre de l'autre, jusqu'à ce qu'il meure.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
רבי יהודה אומר ניוול הוא זה – that he kills him while standing and he falls.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Introduction
Mishnah three describes the final two forms of execution: slaying by the sword and strangulation.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
סדן – a thick piece of wood inserted into the ground like that of smiths, and they explained it like the Baraitha (Talmud Sanhedrin 52b), that the reason that Rabbi Yehuda disputes the Sages, since the Torah states (Leviticus 18:3): “…nor shall you follow their laws,” to which the Rabbis responded to him since it is written with a sword in the Torah and the Biblical verse stated (Exodus 21:20): “[When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod, and he dies there an then], he must be avenged,” so we don’t derive it from them, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Slaying by the sword was performed thus: they would cut off his head by the sword, as is done by the civil authorities. R. Judah says: “This is a disgrace! Rather his head was laid on a block and severed with an axe. They said to him: “No death is more disgraceful than this.” According to the Sages execution by sword was done by decapitating the condemned, as is the practice amongst the non-Jewish authorities. Rabbi Judah says that this is a disgrace. Rather they should lay his head on a block of wood and chop it off with an axe. The Sages reply to Rabbi Judah that this is even more disgraceful. Although it is hard for us to understand why one form of decapitation is more disgraceful than the others, the important issue in this mishnah is that both sides want to prevent a disgraceful execution. As we have already stated, in the ancient world it was common to search for the most disgraceful execution possible. The Rabbis took a totally opposite approach. Even while executing the man the court must look for the least disgraceful way of ending his life.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Strangulation was performed thus: the condemned man was lowered into dung up to his armpits, then a hard cloth was placed within a soft one, wound round his neck, and the two ends pulled in opposite directions until he was dead. Strangulation was done by tying a rope around the condemned man’s neck and pulling it from both sides until he dies. Again, we see in this mishnah that the Sages tried as much as possible to prevent disfiguration to the body. This is accomplished in our mishnah by putting the rough rope inside a soft rope. Although in either way the condemned will die, the soft rope will leave less damage on the body. It is also important to note that while all of the other forms of execution are mentioned specifically in the Torah, strangulation is not. It is probably a new form of execution, created by the Rabbis, specifically with the intent of causing as little physical damage to the body as possible.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Questions for Further Thought: • What is the basis for the dispute between Rabbi Judah and the Sages?
