Komentarz do Szewuot 4:11
אָמַר לִשְׁנַיִם, מַשְׁבִּיעַ אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי וּפְלוֹנִי, שֶׁאִם אַתֶּם יוֹדְעִין לִי עֵדוּת שֶׁתָּבֹאוּ וּתְעִידוּנִי, שְׁבוּעָה שֶׁאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין לְךָ עֵדוּת, וְהֵם יוֹדְעִין לוֹ עֵדוּת עֵד מִפִּי עֵד אוֹ שֶׁהָיָה אֶחָד מֵהֶן קָרוֹב אוֹ פָסוּל, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ פְטוּרִין:
Gdyby powiedział do dwóch: „Błagam was i was, jeśli znacie świadectwo o mnie, przyjdźcie i świadczcie za mnie”. (Oni :) „Przysięgamy, że nie znamy świadectwa o tobie”— i znają świadectwo o nim, jeden świadek za drugim — lub jeśli jeden z nich był krewnym lub pasulem (niezdolnym do składania zeznań) —nie ponoszą odpowiedzialności. [Bo gdyby zeznawali, ich świadectwo nic by mu nie pomogło].
Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
הם יודים לו דות ד מפי ד וכו' פטורים – for if they testified about him, their testimony would not be worth him anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
If he said to two [persons]: “I adjure you, so-and-so and so-and-so, that if you know any testimony for me you should come and bear testimony for me”: [And they replied,] “We swear we know no testimony for you”, and they did know testimony for him, [but it was evidence of] one witness from the mouth of another witness; or if one of them was a relative or [otherwise] ineligible [as a witness], they are exempt. This mishnah teaches that if the witnesses who swore that they do not know testimony did know testimony but that the testimony would not have been accepted in the court, they are exempt for having sworn falsely. The reasons that their testimony might not have been accepted are: 1) the testimony was hearsay (see Sanhedrin 4:5); 2) they were related to one of the litigants (see mishnah one of this chapter); 3) they were otherwise unfit to testify (ibid.). Since their testimony would not have been sufficient to render a verdict in any case, they are not liable for having sworn falsely.
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