Sanhedrin 17a — the Talmud in English

“with you.”

And we must be precise as follows: seventy men, they shall be

with you. And you with them.

You too, Moses, shall join together with them. And for what purpose did Moses join with them, if not so that altogether there would be seventy-one in the Sanhedrin.

And Rabbi Judah,

how does he expound the verse? For it is stated here “with you,” implying that there are seventy men besides Moses, and Moses joins them for a total of seventy-one?

And the Gemara explains: The intention of the verse with the word “with you” is not that the seventy men shall join Moses to form the Sanhedrin together. Rather,

“with you”

is stated

because of the Divine Presence.

And this is as it is stated there: “Gather for Me seventy men, and take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with you.” And Rabbi Judah expounds the words of the verse as follows: There, they shall stand with you! That is, they shall stand there with you, outside the Tent, and they shall not enter the Tent, because the Divine Presence rests in the Tent. And Moses too did not enter the Tent of Meeting, as it is stated [Exodus 40]: “And Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud rested upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.”

Another explanation: They shall stand with you so that the Divine Presence may rest upon them through you, as it is stated [there]: “And I shall take from the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them.”

And the Gemara explains:

And the Rabbis!?

What will the Rabbis answer concerning Rabbi Judah’s exposition?

Indeed, “with you” is expounded as being because of the Divine Presence, and there is no proof from here; rather, this must be expounded from another verse.

The verse says,

there

“And they shall bear with you the burden of the people.”

And we expound: They are

with you—

and you with them.

And you are with them.

And Rabbi Judah,

what will he answer concerning the Rabbis’ exposition!?

He expounds:

with you—

like those similar to you,

of distinguished lineage and cleansed of blemish, like you.

And the Rabbis,

from where do they derive that the Sanhedrin must be of distinguished lineage and cleansed of blemish?

Since it is stated in the portion of Jethro, concerning the appointment of the lesser Sanhedrin, that Jethro said to Moses

“And lighten [the burden] from upon you, and they shall bear with you,”

from there

it emerges;

this law of “with you—like those similar to you” is learned. And although this verse was stated concerning the lesser Sanhedrin,

it learns

the law

of the Great Sanhedrin from the lesser Sanhedrin.

After the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to gather seventy elders, it is stated: “And Moses gathered seventy men from the elders of the people, and he stood them around the Tent, and the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took from the spirit that was upon him and placed it upon the seventy elder men, and it was, when the spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied and did not continue. And two men remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad. And the spirit rested upon them, and they were among those written, but they did not go to the Tent, and they prophesied in the camp.”

And now the Gemara brings a beraita that expounds the words of the verse: “And two men remained in the camp”—from what did they “remain”?

The Sages taught:

It is written

“And two men remained in the camp.”

There are

among our Sages

those who say: In the ballot box,

by lot,

they remained.

For when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel,” Moses said: “What shall I do?

If

I select six

elders

from each and every tribe,

and there will be seventy-two altogether, then

two will be found

elders

extra.

And if

I select five from each and every tribe,

there will be sixty, and

ten will be found lacking.

And if

I select six from this tribe and five from that tribe, I will bring jealousy between the tribes.

What did he do? He selected six by six

names of elders from each and every tribe,

and he brought seventy-two

slips.

On seventy

of the slips

he wrote “elder,” and

on these

two

slips he

left blank,

not writing anything upon them.

He mixed them,

he mixed all the slips,

and placed them in the ballot box.

He said to them: Come and take your slips!

Everyone whose hand received

a slip upon which was written

“elder,” Moses said

to him:

Heaven has already sanctified you

to be among the seventy elders! But

the one whose hand received

a

blank

slip, Moses said

to him: If

the Omnipresent does not desire you, what can I do for you!? And Eldad and Medad were afraid lest a blank slip fall to their lot, and therefore they did not come to take a slip. And therefore it is stated “And they remained in the camp”: They did not come to the Tent of Meeting to take their slips by lot. But in truth, “elder” was written on their slips, while the two blank slips fell by lot to two other elders, since they had gone there. And concerning this it is stated “And they were among those written,” meaning, there were slips prepared for them in the ballot box upon which “elder” was written.

And therefore they expounded: “They remained in the ballot box,” for their slips remained in the ballot box. And the meaning is not that Eldad and Medad themselves remained outside the seventy elders.

And Moses made a similar lot concerning the redemption of the Levites.

At first the firstborn were holy to the Lord, from the time that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded [Exodus 13]: “Sanctify to Me every firstborn.” And when they sinned with the calf, the firstborn were exchanged for the Levites, who had not served the calf—and this is called “the redemption of the Levites.” That is, each Levite redeemed one firstborn.

But when they counted the Levites, who numbered twenty-two thousand, and the firstborn, there was a surplus of firstborn over the Levites. And the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded that the firstborn exceeding the number of Levites—two hundred and seventy-three—redeem themselves, at five shekels each for each firstborn.

Similarly,

a similar lot

you say

that Moses our teacher made.

For it is stated in the Torah:

“And you shall take five shekels, five shekels, per head.”

Moses said: What shall I do for Israel?

If I say to him

the firstborn:

Give me your redemption payment

of five shekels,

and go out

and be redeemed,

he will say to me: A Levite’s son has already redeemed me,

and I do not pay five shekels!

What did he do? He brought twenty-two thousand slips, and on them he wrote “son of a Levite,” and on two hundred and seventy-three he wrote “five shekels.” He mixed them and placed them in the ballot box.

He said to them

Moses to the firstborn:

Take your slips!

The one whose hand received

a slip upon which was written

“son of a Levite,” he said to him

Moses:

A Levite’s son has already redeemed you! The one whose hand received “five shekels,” he said to him

Moses:

Give

your redemption payment,

five shekels,

and go out

redeemed.

And the beraita continues and returns to expound the verse “And two men remained in the camp.”

Rabbi Shimon says:

They remained in the camp.

And this means:

When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Gather for Me seventy men

from the elders of Israel, and take them to the Tent of Meeting

,” Eldad and Medad said

out of their great humility:

We are not worthy of that greatness,

and they remained in the camp.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Since you have diminished yourselves—

I shall add greatness to your greatness.

And what greatness did He add to them?

For all the prophets,

all seventy elders, concerning whom it is stated: “And it was, when the spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied,”

prophesied and ceased.

They stopped prophesying, as will be explained below,

but

these

they,

Eldad and Medad,

prophesied and did not cease.

And the beraita continues:

And what,

which

prophecy did

Eldad and Medad prophesy?

They said: Moses is dead—

Joshua is bringing Israel into the Land.

Abba Hanan says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer:

What prophecy did they prophesy?

Concerning the matter of quail, they

were

prophesying,

for the portion of quail was also stated there, and they said:

“Quail upon me! Quail upon me!”

Rav Naḥman says: Concerning the matter of

the war of

Gog and Magog they were prophesying.

As

it is stated

[Ezekiel 38]:

“So said the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in ancient days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years to bring you against them?”

And we expound:

Do not read “for years,” but “two years.” And which are they?

And who are the

two prophets who prophesied

in ancient days

in one period, at one time, one prophecy? You must say: Eldad and Medad.

Now the Gemara explains: From where do we learn that the seventy elders stopped prophesying?

The master said,

we learned in the beraita:

All the prophets prophesied and ceased. But they prophesied and did not cease.

And the Gemara discusses:

From where do we know,

from where do we learn that the seventy elders

ceased

prophesying?

If you say,

if you say that we learn this

from what is written: “And they prophesied, and did not continue,”

and we say that the meaning of the verse is “and they shall not continue,” this is difficult:

Rather,

for if you interpret it so,

from now,

since it is stated in the Torah [Deuteronomy 5], after the Ten Commandments: “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly on the mountain from within the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness,”

“a great voice and it did not continue,”

would

also here

we say that the meaning of the verse is

“I shall not continue,”

that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not continue further to speak to Moses?! But this is not correct!

Rather,

the meaning of the verse

is that it did not cease,

that the voice did not stop speaking to Moses.

And if so, the question returns: From where do we learn that the meaning of the verse “and they did not continue,” stated concerning Eldad and Medad, is that they stopped prophesying?

And the Gemara answers:

Rather, here,

concerning the seventy elders,

it is written “and they prophesied,”

whereas

there,

concerning Eldad and Medad,

it is written “prophesying,”

and its meaning is:

still prophesying

are they

and continuing.

And now the Gemara explains the continuation of the verses there, in order to prove what their prophecy was.

It is stated there: “And the lad ran and told Moses, and he said: Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp! And Joshua son of Nun, the attendant of Moses, from his chosen ones, answered and said: My lord Moses, imprison them! And Moses said to him: Are you jealous for me!? And who would give that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

Granted, according to the one who says

that they were prophesying

“Moses

is dead,” this is why it is written,

that Joshua said properly:

“My lord Moses, imprison them!”

Put them in prison, because in this prophecy they are harming your honor.

But according to the one who says these two,

that they were prophesying concerning the matter of quail or concerning Gog and Magog,

what

why did Joshua say

“My lord Moses, imprison them!”?

What was there in their words that Moses needed to imprison them for!?

And the Gemara answers:

Because

it is not proper conduct.

It is not proper conduct to prophesy while Moses is alive,

for he would be like a student instructing in halakha before his teacher.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

Granted, according to the one who says these two,

that they were prophesying concerning the matter of quail and concerning Gog and Magog, it is properly explained

that this is why it is written

that Moses answered Joshua:

“Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

But

according to the one who says

that they were prophesying

“Moses is dead,”

why did Moses answer Joshua this way!? Did

Moses truly desire it

that they should prophesy concerning his death!?

And the Gemara answers:

They did not finish telling it before him.

They did not finish telling Moses what the content of their prophecy was. Rather, he merely told him: Eldad and Medad are prophesying.

And the Gemara brings another interpretation of “My lord Moses, imprison them.”

What is “imprison them”?—

He said to him

Joshua said to Moses:

Assign public needs to them, and they will be exhausted on their own!

We learned in our Mishna:

And from where is it derived to bring three more

From the implication of what is stated: “You shall not follow the majority to do evil,” I understand that I should follow them for good. If so, why is it stated: “After the majority to incline”? The inclination for good is not like the inclination for evil: the inclination for good is according to one; the inclination for evil is according to two. And a court may not be evenly divided; therefore they add one more to them. There are here twenty-three.

And the Gemara raises an objection concerning what we learned in our Mishna: “Your inclination for evil is according to two.”

Ultimately,

even though we added three to the twenty,

for evil according to two—

you do not find it,

it is impossible! For

if eleven acquit and twelve convict, still,

the inclination for evil is according to

one. If ten acquit and thirteen

convict,

then

it is three,

the inclination is according to three. And if so, this is difficult: When is it the “inclination according to two”!?

And the Gemara answers:

Rabbi Abbahu said:

The Mishna is speaking

when adding

judges. As we learned in the chapter “They Were Examining”: Eleven acquit and eleven convict, and one says, “I do not know,” and there is no decision here, neither for acquittal nor for conviction; two judges are added to decide. And now there are twenty-four judges here—for the judge who said “I do not know” is not included in the count—and if thirteen convict and eleven acquit, he is liable by an inclination of two.

And

this arrangement is

according to everyone.

Even according to the Rabbis, who hold that one does not make a court evenly divided. For the Rabbis hold this far that one does not make a court evenly divided only at the beginning of their sitting in judgment; but they agree that if one says, “I do not know,” two are added, even though from then onward it is an evenly divided court.

Or:

And in the Great Sanhedrin,

if they judge capital cases, such as that of a High Priest,

and

this arrangement is

according to the position of

the opinion of

Rabbi Judah,

who holds that they are seventy, and even initially one makes an evenly divided court. Therefore, if thirty-six convict and thirty-four acquit, he is liable—by an inclination of two.

Rabbi Abbahu says another law:

And Rabbi Abbahu said: When adding,

if judges must be added, for example, when one says, “I do not know,”—

one initially makes an evenly divided court,

and now twenty-four sit.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

It is obvious

what has this come to teach us? It is an explicit Mishna, as we explained.

And the Gemara answers: Had Rabbi Abbahu not taught us this,

it might have been said,

we would say:

this

judge

who says “I do not know” is considered as though he is present

and is deemed so;

he is counted among them,

and if he says something,

if he settles his mind and decides his doubts—whether for acquittal or for conviction—

we would heed him,

they would accept him within the count, and consequently this would not be an evenly divided court—

he teaches us,

Rabbi Abbahu teaches us,

that this one who says “I do not know” is considered as though he is absent,

he is not included in the count, and the court remains evenly divided,

and if he states a reason, we do not heed him,

for he is not included in the count.

And the Gemara now brings another law concerning the laws of the Sanhedrin.

Rav Kahana said: A Sanhedrin whose members all saw [the accused] as liable

and there was not even one judge who saw a merit on his behalf,

they exempt him.

He is exempt from the death penalty.

What is the reason?

Since it has been learned,

that we learned from expositions of the verses [31a] that judges who judge capital cases must perform

postponement of the judgment

until the next day,

in order to make a merit for him,

for perhaps they will be able to find a merit on his behalf.

And

if

these

judges, who all saw liability,

will no longer see for him,

they will no longer see a merit on his behalf.

Another law in the laws of the Sanhedrin.

Rabbi Yohanan said: They seat on the Sanhedrin

only men of stature,

so that their awe will be cast upon the people,

and men of wisdom, and men of appearance

of dignity, so that their awe will be cast upon the people,

and men of old age,

and men knowledgeable in sorcery

who know sorcery, so that if they judge sorcerers who rely upon their sorcery to escape from the hands of the court, the judges will be able to put them to death, and also so that they will be able to expose the sorcerers who incite and lead astray through their sorceries, such as the Egyptians [the Christians],

and who know seventy languages,

so that

the Sanhedrin will not hear

the testimony of people speaking in a foreign language

from the mouth of an interpreter,

for then their testimony would have the status of “testimony from the mouth of a witness,” which is invalid testimony.

Another law in the laws of the Sanhedrin.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: They seat on the Sanhedrin only one who

is so wise

that he knows how to purify the creeping creature

from its impurity, and to bring proof

from the Torah.

And Rav himself learned—seemingly—a kal va-chomer to purify the creeping creature.

Rav said: I will reason

a kal va-chomer,

and purify it

the creeping creature.