Sanhedrin 17b — the Talmud in English

And what of a snake,

whose stringency is in this,

that it kills

a person and an animal,

and

through this it

increases impurity

in the world—corpse impurity and impurity of carrion—and nevertheless, when it itself dies, it is pure, for a snake is not among the eight creeping things that impart impurity upon their death.

The creeping thing

that is lenient,

that does not kill and

does not

increase impurity—is it not a logical inference that it should be pure?

But this kal va-chomer is rejected:

It is not so!

The measure is not as you say. For the fact that a snake kills and increases impurity is not a “stringency,” but

as is the case with an ordinary thorn,

a snake resembles an ordinary thorn in its bite, for the prick of a thorn, too, can kill and increase impurity, and nevertheless the thorn is pure.

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

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Every city in which there are not two

judges who know

to speak

seventy languages

and

in addition

one

who knows

to hear,

to understand seventy languages,

they do not establish a Sanhedrin in it.

And in

the city of

Beitar there were three

who knew how to speak,

and in

the city of

Yavneh

there were

four,

and these were they:

Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva, and Shimon the Temanite

—he is not called Rabbi, since he was not ordained, because he had not reached old age—who

judged before them

and answered the questions of the elders

by

sitting on the

ground,

and not on the bench like the other elders.

The Gemara brings a beraita in which it is stated that three who know how to speak seventy languages are required, and this is a question against what Rav said, that two suffice.

It was objected

against Rav from what we learned in a beraita:

The third,

a Sanhedrin in which there are three who speak seventy languages is

wisdom,

whereas

the fourth—

there is none above it.

It follows that three are required.

The Gemara answers:

He,

Rav,

said that [the halakha is] like

the opinion of

this tanna. For it was taught,

as we learned in another beraita:

The second,

a Sanhedrin in which there are two judges who know how to speak seventy languages is

wisdom,

whereas

the third—

there is none above it.

Since the Gemara mentioned that Shimon the Temanite judged before the Sages on the ground, the Gemara brings other tannaim who judged before the Sages, and also additional titles by which tannaim and amoraim were designated.

Every place where we learned

“they study before the Sages,”

the reference is to the amora

Levi,

for he studied

from Rabbi

Yehuda HaNasi.

Every place where we learned

“they judge before the Sages,”

the reference is to

Shimon ben Azzai, Shimon ben Zoma, Hanan the Egyptian, and Hanania ben Hakhinai,

who did not reach old age, and would sit on the ground and deliberate on halakha before the Sages.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak taught

that he would recite it as follows: Every place where we learned “they judge before the Sages,” they are

five,

and these are they:

Shimon

ben Azzai,

and Shimon

ben Zoma,

and Shimon

the Temanite,

Hanan

the Egyptian,

and Hanania

ben Hakhinai. That is to say, Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak adds Shimon the Temanite.

“Our Rabbis in Babylonia

are

Rav and Shmuel.

“Our Rabbis in the Land of Israel”—

Rabbi Abba. “

The judges of greatness”

is

Karna.

“The judges of the Land of Israel”—

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi.

“The judges of Pumbedita”—

Rav Pappa bar Shmuel.

“The judges of Nehardea”—

Rav Adda bar Minyomi. “

The elders of Sura”—

Rav Huna and Rav Hisda.

“The elders of Pumbedita”—

Rav Yehuda and Rav Einah.

“The sharp ones of Pumbedita”—

Eifa and Avimi, the sons of Rahava.

“The amoraim of Pumbedita”—

Rabba and Rav Yosef.

“The amoraim of Nehardea”—

Rav Hama.

“The people of Neharbel who taught”—

Rami bar bar Rabbi. “

They say in the house of Rav”—

Rav Huna.

The Gemara asks:

But he said,

for

Rav Huna said: They say in the house of Rav.

It follows that Rav Huna is not “they say in the house of Rav,” since he transmitted laws in the name of “they say in the house of Rav.”

The Gemara answers:

Rather,

every place where we learned “they say in the house of Rav,” it is a designation of

Rav Hamnuna.

“They say in the West”—

Rabbi Yirmeya.

“They sent from there”—

Rabbi Yose bar Hanina.

“They laughed

[they laughed]

at it in the West”—

Rabbi Elazar.

The Gemara asks:

But,

in the passage in the chapter “One who judges capital cases,” we find:

“They sent from there,”

they sent a ruling from the Land of Israel

according to the words of Rabbi Yose bar Hanina,

“find, and so on.” It follows that “they sent from the Land of Israel” is an explanation according to the view of Rabbi Yose bar Hanina, and is not Rabbi Yose bar Hanina himself.

The Gemara answers:

Rather, reverse it,

the version is reversed: “

They sent from there”—

Rabbi Elazar.

Whereas

“They laughed at it in the West”—

Rabbi Yose bar Hanina.

We learned in our Mishna:

And how many must there be in the city for it to be fit for a Sanhedrin—

one hundred and twenty.

The Gemara analyzes:

One hundred and twenty

men of the city—

what is their function!?

What is their purpose? That is to say, what is the reason that there must be one hundred and twenty men in the city for it to be fit for a Sanhedrin?

The Gemara explains:

Twenty-three

men

corresponding to a lesser Sanhedrin.

And

in addition

three rows

of those sitting before the Sanhedrin, each row being

of twenty-three

students. Their purpose in sitting there is that if it becomes necessary to add to the judges—for example, if twelve declare liable and eleven declare innocent—then they ordain the students and add them to the Sanhedrin.

That is

together

ninety-two,

ninety-two.

And

in addition

ten

men who are batlanin

of the synagogue,

who are free from all work so as to be ready for the synagogue morning and evening, and without them it is not called a city,

that is one hundred and two,

one hundred and two,

and

in addition

two scribes

who write in the court the words of those who declare innocent and the words of those who declare liable, and sit before the judges at all times,

and

in addition

two beadles,

servants of the court, to flog the one found liable and to summon the litigants to judgment,

and

in addition

two litigants

who must be judged

, and

in addition

two witnesses

,

and

in addition

two conspiring witnesses,

for without them the witnesses would not fear giving false testimony,

and

in addition

two witnesses who conspire against the conspiring witnesses,

so that if a litigant is found liable on the basis of the witnesses, and he hires false witnesses to discredit the witnesses, these two will be able to discredit the conspiring witnesses, and through this they will fear to discredit them falsely,

that is

together

one hundred and fourteen,

fourteen.

And in addition, two charity collectors who collect money from the townspeople, and in addition three who distribute charity to the poor of the city—for the law is that charity is collected by two and distributed by three—that makes one hundred and nineteen, and in addition one who is a physician, a bloodletter, a scribe, and a teacher of children.

And it was taught,

for we learned in a beraita:

Any city that does not have these ten things—

a Torah scholar is not permitted to dwell in it,

and these are they: the first,

a court that strikes and punishes;

the second,

and a charity fund that is collected by two;

the third,

and distributed by three;

the fourth,

and a synagogue;

the fifth,

, and a bathhouse;

the sixth,

and a lavatory;

the seventh,

a physician

to circumcise infants; the eighth,

and a bloodletter,

who lets blood; the ninth,

and a scribe,

who writes scrolls; the tenth,

and a teacher of children.

In the name of Rabbi Akiva they said,

his students:

Even

if it does not have

fruit varieties,

a Torah scholar is not permitted to dwell in it,

because fruit varieties illuminate the eyes.

This is the calculation of the one hundred and twenty inhabitants of the city, so that it should be fit for a Sanhedrin.

We learned in our Mishna:

Rabbi Nehemiah says: Two hundred and thirty, corresponding to the officers of tens.

In a beraita we learned a third opinion, and it is the opinion of Rabbi.

It was taught,

we learned in a beraita:

Rabbi says: