פירוש על סנהדרין 6:9

נגמר הדין. חוץ לבית בין – far from the Jewish court, perhaps all the while that they bring him to the House of Stoning, they will find him for acquittal and he will be freed.

When the trial is completed he [the condemned] is led forth to be stoned.
The place of stoning was outside of the court, as it is says, “Bring out him that has cursed” (Lev. 24:14).
A man was stationed at the door of the court with the handkerchiefs in his hand, and a man on a horse was stationed at a distance yet within sight of him. If one says, ‘I have something [further] to state in his favor’, he [the signaler] waves the handkerchief, and the man on the horse runs and stops them. And even if he [the convict] himself says, ‘I have something to plead in my own favor’, he is brought back, even four or five times, providing, however, that there is substance in his assertion.
If then they find him innocent, they discharge him.
But if not, he goes forth to be stoned, and a herald precedes him [crying]: so and so, the son of so and so, is going forth to be stoned because he committed such and such an offense, and so and so are his witnesses. Whoever knows anything in his favor, let him come and state it.”
The sixth chapter of Sanhedrin deals with the execution by stoning of a person convicted of a capital crime. Although stoning sounds like quite a brutal death, and it certainly must have been painful, as we read the chapter try to keep in mind that execution was an acceptable punishment in all societies in the ancient world. It is also mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Stoning as a mode of execution is also mentioned many times in the Bible. It would be anachronistic of us to expect the Rabbis to exclude the possibility of execution. On the other hand, you should note how cautious the Rabbis were in even theoretically punishing someone through execution. The possibility of the convict’s being exonerated always remained open, even until the last moment. Even while performing the execution the Rabbis were extremely concerned for the respect shown to the convict’s body, as we will see in later mishnayoth. Finally, we must keep in mind that the requirements for proper testimony were so strict that convicting someone would be extremely difficult. Indeed, execution was probably rarely, if ever, carried out, at least according to the rules of Jewish law.
Our mishnah describes the process of stoning, one of the four methods of execution which the mishnah describes. The other three will be described later.
The stoning was not done at the place of the trial, but rather further away from the city. This is proven from a verse in Leviticus which describes taking out the person who cursed God, a capital crime according to the Torah. According to our mishnah “taking out” implies that they took him out of the city.
There are two functionaries described in our mishnah: one who would hold a handkerchief, or flag of some sort and would stay near the court, and one who would ride on a horse and stand some distance from the first man, but still be able to see him. If someone came and offered testimony that would exonerate the convict, the man with the handkerchief would wave and the man on the horse would see the sign and ride out and halt the execution. Even if the convict himself brought up new testimony they would halt the execution, provided he made a substantial claim. If at any time they found in his favor, he would be immediately dismissed. Although this might be a rare occurrence, being so late in the process, nevertheless the mishnah considers it important to remind us that it is never to late to change a verdict from guilty to innocent.
As they are bringing the convict out to be stoned a herald would walk in front of him announcing who he was and why he was being executed. We might have assumed that the purpose of such a custom would be to make an example of the accused, and thereby prevent others from repeating his crime. However, the mishnah does not describe this as the reason for the herald’s crying out. Rather, this is yet another opportunity to find someone to exonerate the convict, and thereby prevent an innocent person’s blood from being shed.

והסודרין בידו – to wave, and it is a sign to return him.

ובלבד שיהא ממש בדבריו – but if there is no substance in his words, the first and second time alone they return him, perhaps as a result out of fright he declared that he had nothing to say (i.e., he was intimidated), and perhaps his mind became clearer and he would remember his pleas; more than this, we don’t return him, and we transmit to him two Sages who would investigate if there is substance to this words, and then they would return him four or five times.

ופלוני ופלוני עדיו – that he transgressed such-a-sin on a certain day at a particular time and in a certain place; perhaps there are those who would refute them as false witnesses.

היה רחוק מבית הסקילה – since near to the House of Stoning, lest his mind would become unbalanced and he would be unable to confess.

Introduction Mishnah two discusses the confession that the convict is to make before he is executed. In Rabbinic theology, the confession allows the execution to expiate the convict of his crime, thereby causing him to die clean of all sins.

תן לו תודה – and even though a person is not killed by his own [admission], the killing of Achan (Joshua 7:19-20) was a special dispensation (i.e., a decision under an emergency).

When he is about ten cubits away from the place of stoning, they say to him, ‘confess’, for such is the practice of all who are executed, that they [first] confess, for he who confesses has a portion in the world to come. For so we find in the case of Achan, that Joshua said to him, “My son, pay honor to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. [Tell me what you have done, do not hold anything back from me.” And Achan answered Joshua and said, “It is true, I have sinned against the Lord the God of Israel, and this is what I have done” (Josh. 7:19-20). And how do we know that his confessions made atonement for him? As it says, “And Joshua said, “What calamity have you brought upon us! The Lord will bring calamity upon you this day” (Josh. 7:35), [meaning] this day you are a calamity, but you are not to be a calamity in the next world. And if he does not know how to confess, they say to him, “Say, may my death be an expiation for all my sins.” When the convict reaches ten cubits distance from the place where he is to be stoned, he is asked to confess of his crimes. The mishnah teaches that anyone who confesses, no matter how heinous their crime, has a place in the world to come. This lesson is based the story of Achan in the book of Joshua. When Joshua conquered Jericho, the people were not supposed to take anything from the city. Rather they were supposed to kill anything that was alive and bring only the silver and gold to the treasury. Achan violated this ruling and took from the proscribed property of Jericho. As a punishment God causes Israel to lose their subsequent battle at Ai (Joshua, chapter 7). When Joshua figures out that their loss was due to Achan’s taking from the proscribed property, he sentences Achan to death for having violated God’s word not to take from the property of Jericho. Joshua requests of Achan to confess his crime, which he subsequently does. The innovation that our mishnah makes is that this confession expiates Achan of his crime and Achan therefore has a place in the world to come. Joshua says to Achan, “What calamity have you brought upon us! The Lord will bring calamity upon you this day”. The simple sense of the verse is that God is punishing Achan and carrying out the punishment today. The midrashic reading of our mishnah is that God is punishing Achan only today, and he will not punish him tomorrow. Achan, therefore, has a place in the world to come. Even one who does not know how to confess is taught how to do so. The Rabbis are concerned that although the criminal’s time in this world is drawing to a close, he should still be able to have a share in the world to come.

וכזאת וכזאת עשיתי – In the Gemara (Sanhedrin 47b) it explains that he committed a religious sacrilege with the devoted objects in the days of Moses.

Rabbi Judah said: “If he knows that he is a victim of false evidence, he can say: may my death be an expiation for all my sins but this.” They [the sages] said to him: “If so, everyone will speak likewise in order to clear himself.” The mishnah ends with a dispute between Rabbi Judah and the Sages. According to Rabbi Judah, if the convicted person does not believe that he was guilty, he need not ask for forgiveness for this sin. Rather he can make a general statement, asking for forgiveness from other sins. The Sages disagree with Rabbi Judah. If convicted people were allowed to make such a confession, everyone would do so, in order to give the impression that they were dying innocent. Rather, if he will not confess to this crime he is not allowed to confess to any crime.

שהוא מזומם – that his witnesses were plotting/scheming witnesses (i.e., false witnesses).

Questions for Further Thought:
• Section two: Why are the Sages so afraid of the convicted person not confessing to this specific sin? What do they mean when they say “everyone will speak likewise in order to clear himself?”

לנקות את עצמן – from creation and they will discredit the judges and the witnesses. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

מפשיטין את בגדיו – as it is written (Leviticus 24:14): “[Take the blasphemer outside the camp; and for all who r within hearing lay their hands upon his head,] and let the whole community stone him,” but not his clothing.

Introduction Mishnah three deals with whether or not the person should wear clothing while being stoned.

מכסין אוצו מלפניו – one limb that is to say, a bit from him from the front, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

When he is about four cubits distant from the place of stoning, he is stripped of his clothing. A man is covered in front and a woman both in front and behind, according to Rabbi Judah. But the Sages say: “A man is to be stoned naked and a woman is not to be stoned naked. According to the Sages a man is stoned naked while a woman is stone clothed. According to Maimonides explanation of this mishnah, the reason that the man is stoned naked is to hasten his death. The clothing would present a barrier that would prolong his death and therefore prolong his suffering. Both the Sages and Rabbi Judah agree that a woman is stoned while clothed. Evidently this is out of a sense of modesty. Note, that even while executing a person, the Rabbis are concerned with issues of personal modesty. According to Rabbi Judah, this sense of modesty requires that even the man be clothed, although he need only be covered in the front, while the woman must be clothed from both sides

היה גבוה שתי קומות – and we throw him down from there to the ground.

Introduction Mishnah four describes how the person was to be stoned. The mishnah also discusses the hanging mentioned in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. We should mention that we don’t really know exactly how this hanging was to be performed. The JPS translation translates it as “impaling” but this is not the literal meaning of the word. The purpose of such an action was to expose the body, and it was a common practice in the ancient and indeed also the modern world. The Torah states that while this type of action may be done, the body may not be left overnight. The Torah is concerned for the respect due to the human body and therefore it states that leaving a body hanging overnight is strictly forbidden.

הופכו על מתניו – for when he is lying on his back, it is more reprehensible.

The place of stoning was twice a man's height. One of the witnesses pushed him by the hips, [so that] he was overturned on his heart. He was then turned on his back. If that caused his death, he had fulfilled [his duty]; but if not, the second witness took a stone and threw it on his chest. If he died thereby, he had done [his duty]; but if not, he [the criminal] was stoned by all Israel, for it is says: “The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people” (Deut. 17:7). According to the Rabbis, stoning was not carried out by throwing stones at the person until he dies, which would seem to be the normal way that one would understand stoning. Rather the person is pushed off a two story platform and then stones are dropped on him. The first witness is the one who pushes him off and if he dies then the execution is over and no further stoning is done. If the person is still alive then the second witness throws a stone on him. If he dies the execution is over, but if he remains alive the rest of Israel throws stones at him. This process is based on a biblical verse. We should note two things. First of all the mishnah is careful to stone the person only until he dies. Once he dies, the Rabbis forbade further disfiguration of his body. Second, the Torah requires the witnesses to take part in the stoning. A witness must believe his testimony firmly enough to actually carry out the execution himself. In some cases this might discourage false testimony.

מגדף – because he blasphemes God.

All who are stoned are [afterwards] hanged, according to Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: “Only the blasphemer and the idolater are hanged.” A man is hanged with his face towards the spectators, but a woman with her face towards the gallows, according to Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: a man is hanged, but not a woman. Rabbi Eliezer said to them: “But did not Shimon ben Shetah hang women at ashkelon?” They said: “[On that occasion] he hanged eighty women, even though two must not be tried on the same day. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the Torah commands that all executed people are hung after their execution. However, the Sages say that this is done only to the blasphemer (of God) and to the idol worshipper. Rabbi Eliezer states that both men and women are to be hung, whereas the Sages say that only men are hung. Note that even though Rabbi Eliezer believes that women are hung, he is still concerned with their modesty. In order to prove his point that women are also hung, Rabbi Eliezer brings up the precedent of Shimon ben Shetach, an early Sage, who hung 80 women in Ashkelon. (We don’t know why he hung them). The Sages retort that this hanging was not done according to the law, for Jewish law forbids convicting even two people on one day. According to the Sages the incident of Shimon ben Shetach was an unusual, one time affair, and does not set precedent for future cases.

ועובד עבודה זרה – he is also a blasphemer, as it is written (Numbers 15:30): “But the person, [be he citizen or stranger] who acts defiantly reviles the LORD…” and this portion speaks of idolatry.

How is he hanged? The post is sunk into the ground with a [cross-] piece branching off [at the top] and he brings his hands together one over the other and hangs him up [thereby]. R. Jose said: the post is leaned against the wall, and he hangs him up the way butchers do. He is immediately let down. If he is left [hanging] over night, a negative command is thereby transgressed, for it says, “You shall not let his corpse remain all night upon the tree, but you must bury him the same day because a hanged body is a curse against god” (Deut. 21:23). As if to say why was he hanged? because he cursed the name [of god]; and so the name of Heaven [God] is profaned. Rabbi Yose and the Sages dispute how a person is to be hung. Note that the hanging described by the mishnah is not done by the person’s neck but rather by their hands. This is, of course, closer to what we would call crucifixion. However, according to the Rabbis hanging is not a form of the death penalty but is to be performed after the execution has been carried out. The body must be let down immediately. Indeed according to other sources, one hand puts the body up and another lets it down. The disgrace done to the body is indeed only momentary. The verse in Deuteronomy states that a hanged body is a disgrace to God. Our mishnah understands that the verse comes to teach that people who see the body hanging will realize that it was because he cursed God, either by explicitly doing so or by worshipping idols, as we learned in section two.

ואין דנין שנים ביום אחד – in one Jewish court, because it is not able to restore each of one of them to their innocence, but the hanging of these women was a special dispensation, and we don’t learn from it. And the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.

Questions for Further Thought:
• Why are the Rabbis so concerned about not disfiguring the body of the executed criminal? What value lies behind their laws?

משקיעין – wedged in.

והעץ יוצא ממנו – like a peg that would come out from the beam near its top.

ומקיף – supports this near, like to take Terumah out of a mass which is not in a close neighborhood of those products which are to be redeemed (Talmud Eruvin 32a).

ותולין אותו – by his hands.

הקורה מוטה על הכותל – it was not wedged into the ground but one head is on the ground and one head leans and is supported on the wall, and the reason of Rabbi Yosi is because the tree is that he is hung upon is buried with him, for the Torah said (Deuteronomy 21:23): “[You must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight,] but must bury him the same day…,” he who is not requiring anything other than burial, we exclude that which requires digging, plucking/being detached and burial. But for the Rabbis, digging is not considered anything, and the Torah did not exclude other that the tree should be attached from its root. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

בזמן שאדם מצטער – for retribution comes upon him for his transgression.

Introduction Mishnah five deals with several subjects: 1) God’s sorrow at seeing one of His children die; 2) the commandment to bury all people on the day they die; 3) the process of burying the executed criminal.

מה לשון אומרת – in which language does God’s presence bewails and laments on him?

R. Meir said: “When man suffers, what expression does the shechinah (God’s use? “My head is too light (a euphemism for for me, my arm is too light (a euphemism for for me.” If god is so grieved over the blood of the wicked that is shed, how much more so over the blood of the righteous! Throughout this chapter we have seen that although the Rabbis did allow executions to take place, after all the Torah talks in many places about executions, they were troubled by this punishment and went to lengths to make sure that no innocent man was ever executed. Furthermore, according to the Rabbis, execution expiates the criminal of his sin, thereby allowing him a place in the world to come. Our mishnah continues with this trend by stating God’s pain at the loss of even a criminal. According to Rabbi Meir as the execution is being carried out, God exclaims that his head and arms are too heavy to bear. We learn from this that if God mourns so greatly for the death of the wicked, all the more so will He mourn at the bloodshed of the righteous.

קלני מראשי – my head is heavy upon me and my arm is heavy upon me as a person who is tired.

And not only of this one [a criminal did the sages not to leave him overnight] but whosoever lets his dead lie over night transgresses a negative commandment. If he kept him over night for the sake of his honor, to procure for him a coffin or a shroud, he does not transgress. We learned in mishnah four that one is not allowed to leave the body of the executed man hanging over night. Rather the court must bury him that very day. In mishnah five we learn that not only are criminals to be buried on the same day they die but every Jew should be buried on the same day that he dies. Although most Jews do not still observe this custom, mostly due to people having to travel to make the funeral, and many funerals are delayed by a day or two, Jews in Jerusalem are still usually buried on the same day that they die. Furthermore, Jewish law prohibits the use of chemicals to preserve the body, making a quick burial all the more imperative. The mishnah adds that if the delay was for the sake of the dead person, to arrange a proper burial, then no negative commandment is transgressed.

קלני – I am not light-headed.

And they did not bury him [the executed person] in his ancestral tomb, but two burial places were prepared by the court, one for those who were decapitated or strangled, and the other for those who were stoned or burned. In this section and in the following mishnah we return to the subject of the executed criminal. Jewish burial, and indeed many forms of ancient burial, was a two stage process. First the person was buried and allowed to lie in the ground until his flesh deteriorated. When this occurred they would collect the bones and put them into an ossuary with the bones from other deceased members of his family. According to our mishnah the initial burial of the criminal was in a special grave reserved for those executed by the court. There were two graves, one for those decapitated and strangled, and one for those burned and stoned. (These are the four types of execution mentioned in the mishnah, as we will learn in the next chapter).

ולא זה בלבד – he transgresses the negative commandment of (Deuteronomy 21:23 – “you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury him the same day…”) if you delayed his burial.

Questions for Further Thought:
• What is the connection between section one and section two? In other words, why does the mishnah discuss the need for a speedy burial of non-criminals here as opposed to mishnah four?

לא היו קוברין אותו בקברות אבותיהן – because we do not bury a wicked person next to a righteous one.

שני קברות היו מתוקנין לבית דין – because we don’t bury a person who was liable for a more stringent death penalty near one who was liable for a lesser death [penalty], and the Halakha is known well by two and not by four.

נתעכל הבשר – he already was pardoned by his death and his disgrace.

When the flesh was completely decomposed, the bones were gathered and buried in their proper place.
The relatives then came and greeted the judges and witnesses, as if to say, we have no [ill feelings] against you, for you gave a true judgment.
And they observed no mourning rites but grieved [for him], for grief is in the heart alone.
Mishnah six discusses the process which occurs a year or so after the initial burial of the criminal. At this time formal reconciliation is made between the family of the criminal and the court, thereby restoring proper order to society.
When the flesh was decomposed the bones were allowed to be returned to their ancestral burial place. This is the first step of reconciliation: allowing the criminal’s bones to rejoin the bones of his family. The mishnah then prescribes a procedure in which the relatives of the criminal were to greet the judges and witnesses, thereby tacitly admitting that the verdict had been correct. This second process of reconciliation and admission to the authority of the court allows society to return to some sense of normalcy, after the severe disruption of an execution. Finally, although the family may not observe proper mourning rites, which would involve elaborate eulogies and public rituals, inappropriate for a criminal, they were allowed to observe the private ritual of grief. While the mishnah cannot allow the public ritual, it is sensitive to the private needs of the mourning family. This too is a form of reconciliation, as if the court is saying to the family that although your relative was a criminal, the moral stain is not borne by his entire surviving family. They are to return to regular members of society.

מלקטין את העצמות – and bury them in the graves of their ancestors.

ולא היו מתאבלים – in order that their disgrace is atonement for them. And there are those who say: because the mourning devolves upon whomever closes the tomb with the stone placed on top of a burial cave.