Sanhedrin 50a — the Talmud in English

? And we answer:

The Rabbis hold:

only a daughter of a priest

who was married

and committed adultery

goes out

from the category of an Israelite daughter who committed adultery, whose punishment is strangulation,

to burning;

but

not one betrothed.

A betrothed daughter of a priest who committed adultery did not go out from the category of a betrothed Israelite daughter who committed adultery, whose law is stoning.

And from the fact that the Merciful One excluded,

from the fact that Scripture excluded

a betrothed

daughter of a priest from the category of a married daughter of a priest, for the law of the betrothed one is not burning but

stoning—

infer from it that stoning is more severe.

For the betrothed one is more severe than the married one, for the betrothed one profanes and commits adultery against her father’s household, and Scripture made her law more severe, for a married Israelite daughter has the law of strangulation, which is the lightest death of them all, whereas a betrothed Israelite daughter has the law of stoning .

And likewise,

stoning is more severe than the sword—

for

the death of stoning

was assigned to a blasphemer and to one who worships idolatry.

And what is the severity

of these transgressions?—

as we said,

as we said above: for in these transgressions he rebels against the Lord, blessed is He.

And if we find that in these severe transgressions he is judged by stoning, it is a sign that stoning is a severe death.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say that

the sword is more severe

than stoning,

for it was assigned to the inhabitants of a condemned city. And what is the severity,

what is the severity of a condemned city?

For their property

of the inhabitants of the condemned city

was destroyed!

For all their property is burned . And if the inhabitants of a condemned city are judged by the sword, it is a sign that the sword is a severe death. If so, from where do the Rabbis know that stoning is more severe than the sword?

You said,

say in order to resolve it:

Which power is greater?

That is to say, which transgression is more severe: whether

the power of the inciter or the power of the incited? You must say,

certainly,

the power of the inciter

is more severe.

And it was taught in a beraita: The inciters of a condemned city are subject to stoning,

which implies that stoning is more severe than the sword, for the inciters, who committed a transgression more severe than that of the incited, are judged by stoning.

And likewise,

stoning is more severe than strangulation—

for

the death of stoning

was assigned to a blasphemer and to one who worships idolatry, and what is the severity

of these transgressions?—

as we said,

as we said above: for in these transgressions he rebels against the Lord, blessed is He.

And if we find that in these severe transgressions he is judged by stoning, it is a sign that stoning is a severe death.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

strangulation is more severe

than stoning,

for

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or his mother.

For it is stated concerning him [Exodus 21:15]: “He shall surely be put to death,” without specifying which death; and we have a general principle that wherever the Torah does not specify which type of death is intended, the reference is to strangulation.

And what is the severity,

and what is the severity of the transgression of one who strikes his father or his mother?

For their honor was compared with the honor of the Omnipresent!

For it is stated concerning his father and his mother [Exodus 20:11]: “Honor your father and your mother,” and concerning the Holy One, blessed is He, it is written [Proverbs 3:9]: “Honor the Lord with your wealth.”

And if one who strikes his father and his mother is judged by strangulation, it is a sign that strangulation is a severe death . If so, from where do the Rabbis know that stoning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Merciful One excluded

from the fact that Scripture excluded

a betrothed Israelite woman from the category of a married Israelite woman, from strangulation to stoning,

and behold, a betrothed woman who committed adultery is more severe than a married woman who committed adultery, for she is evil toward Heaven, toward other people, and toward herself, since she damages her honor and the honor of her family, and there is more disgrace in her than in a married woman who has already been disgraced; and from the fact that the Torah took her out from the category of strangulation, which is stated concerning a married woman [Leviticus 20:10]: “And a man who commits adultery with a married woman, who commits adultery with his fellow’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” [and wherever the type of death is not specified, they are judged by strangulation], and the betrothed woman, too, was included in “his fellow’s wife” for liability to strangulation, and Scripture explicitly took her out for liability to stoning, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 22:23–24]: “If there be a young woman, a virgin, betrothed to a man, etc., then you shall stone them with stones”]]

infer from it that stoning is more severe .

infer from this that stoning is more severe.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than the sword—

for

the death of burning

was assigned to a daughter of a priest who committed adultery. And what is the severity

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?—

for she profanes her father.

And since we find that she is judged by burning, it is a sign that burning is severe.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

the sword is more severe

than burning,

for

the sword

was assigned to the inhabitants of a condemned city, and what is the severity

of a condemned city?

For their property

of the inhabitants of the condemned city

was destroyed!

For all their property is burned. And if the inhabitants of a condemned city are judged by the sword, it is a sign that the sword is a severe death. If so, from where do they know that burning is more severe than the sword?

And we answer: Burning was compared with stoning, for

“her father” was stated concerning stoning,

regarding a betrothed young woman who committed adultery [Deuteronomy 22:21]: “And they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house, and they shall stone her”]]

and “her father” was stated concerning burning,

regarding a daughter of a priest who committed adultery [Deuteronomy 21:9]: “She profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.”

From this we compare burning with stoning:

Just as “her father,” stated concerning stoning,

stoning is more severe than the sword,

as the Gemara explained above, for the transgression of the inciter is more severe than that of the incited, and the incited has the law of the sword, whereas the inciter has the law of stoning,

so too “her father,” stated concerning burning,

burning is more severe than the sword.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than strangulation—

for

the death of burning

was assigned to a daughter of a priest who committed adultery. And what is the severity

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?—

as we said,

as we said above: for she profanes her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, it is a sign that burning is severe.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

strangulation is more severe

than burning,

for

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or his mother, and what is the severity,

and what is the severity of the transgression of one who strikes his father or his mother?

For their honor was compared with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father and his mother is judged by strangulation, it is a sign that strangulation is a severe death. If so, from where do we know that burning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Merciful One excluded

from the fact that Scripture excluded

a married daughter of a priest from the category of a married Israelite woman, from strangulation to burning—

infer from it that burning is more severe.

And likewise, according to the Rabbis,

the sword is more severe than strangulation—

for

the sword

was assigned to the inhabitants of a condemned city, and what is the severity

of a condemned city?—

for their property

of the inhabitants of the condemned city

was destroyed,

for all their property is burned. And since we find that they are judged by the sword, it is a sign that the sword is a severe death.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

strangulation is more severe

than the sword,

for

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or his mother, and what is the severity,

and what is the severity of the transgression of one who strikes his father or his mother?

For their honor was compared with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father and his mother is judged by strangulation, it is a sign that strangulation is a severe death. If so, from where do we know that the sword is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

Even so,

even though we find the death of strangulation concerning a severe transgression such as striking one’s father and mother, nevertheless the sword, which we find concerning a condemned city, is more severe, because

one who stretches out his hand against the Essence is preferable,

for the condemned city rebels against the Lord, blessed is He, and this is more severe than one who sins against his father and mother.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon says:

Their degrees of severity are not as the first tanna stated; rather, the most severe among them is burning, followed by stoning, followed by strangulation, and execution by the sword is the lightest among them. For in his view, burning is more severe than stoning, and strangulation is more severe than execution by the sword.

According to Rabbi Shimon, the death of

burning is more severe than stoning—

for

the death of burning

was assigned to a daughter of a priest who committed adultery. And what is the severity

and what is the severity of the transgression of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?—

for

she

profanes

her father.

And since we find that she is judged by burning, it is a sign that burning is severe.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

stoning is more severe, for

stoning

was assigned to a blasphemer and to one who worships idolatry, and what is the severity

and what is the severity of the transgression of a blasphemer and one who worships idolatry?—

for he stretches out his hand against the Essence,

for he rebels against the Lord, blessed is He. If so, from where does Rabbi Shimon know that burning is more severe than stoning?

Rabbi Shimon follows his reasoning, for he says

that one should learn from the verse that

one

daughter of a priest,

both

a daughter of a priest

who was betrothed and one

daughter of a priest who was married, went out to burning.

And from the fact that the Merciful One excluded a betrothed daughter of a priest from the category of a betrothed Israelite daughter, from stoning to burning,

certainly Scripture did not take her out from stoning to burning in order to make the punishment lighter, but in order to make it more severe;

infer from it that burning is more severe.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than strangulation—

for

the death of burning

was assigned to a daughter of a priest who committed adultery. And what is the severity

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?—

as we said,

as we said above: for she profanes her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, it is a sign that burning is severe.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

strangulation is more severe

than burning,

for

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or his mother. And what is the severity,

and what is the severity of the transgression of one who strikes his father or his mother?

For their honor was compared with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father and his mother is judged by strangulation, it is a sign that strangulation is a severe death. If so, from where do we know that burning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Merciful One excluded

from the fact that Scripture excluded

a married daughter of a priest from the category of a married Israelite woman, from strangulation to burning—

infer from it that burning is more severe.

Burning is more severe than the sword—

for

the death of burning

was assigned to a daughter of a priest who committed adultery. And what is the severity

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?—

as we said,

as we said above: for she profanes her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, it is a sign that burning is severe.

And we challenge:

On the contrary,

one may say

the sword is more severe

than burning,

for

the sword

was assigned to the inhabitants of a condemned city, and what is the severity

of a condemned city?

For their property

of the inhabitants of the condemned city

was destroyed!

For all their property is burned. And if the inhabitants of a condemned city are judged by the sword, it is a sign that the sword is a severe death. If so, from where do we know that burning is more severe than the sword?

You said,

say to resolve it:

And is it so? Which power is greater?

That is to say, which transgression is more severe: whether

the power of the inciter or the power of the incited?