Sanhedrin 50a (נ.) — the Talmud in English

And we answer:

The Rabbis hold:

only a married daughter of a priest

who is married

and committed adultery

is removed

from the category of a Jewish woman who committed adultery, whose punishment is strangulation,

to burning;

but

not a betrothed woman;

a betrothed daughter of a priest who committed adultery was not removed from the category of a betrothed Jewish woman who committed adultery, whose punishment is stoning.

And from the fact that the Torah singled out

—from the fact that Scripture excluded

the betrothed woman

a betrothed daughter of a priest from the category of a married daughter of a priest, so that a betrothed woman is not punished by burning but

by stoning—

infer from this that stoning is more severe.

For the betrothed woman is more severely culpable than the married woman, because the betrothed woman disgraces and commits adultery against her father’s household, and Scripture imposed a more severe punishment upon her. For a married Jewish woman is punished by strangulation, which is the lightest of all the deaths, whereas a betrothed Jewish woman is punished by stoning.

And likewise,

stoning is more severe than decapitation—

as

the death by stoning

was assigned to one who blasphemes and to one who worships idolatry.

And what is the basis for the greater severity

of these transgressions?

As we said

above: In these transgressions one rebels against God, may He be blessed.

And if we find that one who commits these severe transgressions is judged by stoning, this is an indication that stoning is a severe form of execution.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

decapitation is more severe

than stoning,

as it was assigned to the inhabitants of an apostate city. And what is the basis for the greater severity?

What is the severity of the apostate city?

As their property

of the inhabitants of the apostate city

is destroyed!

For all their property is burned. And if the inhabitants of the apostate city are judged by decapitation, this is an indication that decapitation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do the Rabbis know that stoning is more severe than decapitation?

You have said

—say in order to resolve the matter:

Which force is greater?

That is, which transgression is more severe: Is it

the force of the inciters or the force of those incited? The answer is

certainly

the force of the inciters

is more severe.

And it was taught in a baraita: The inciters of an apostate city are punished by stoning,

which indicates that stoning is more severe than decapitation, since the inciters, who committed a more severe transgression than those incited, are judged by stoning.

And likewise,

stoning is more severe than strangulation—

as

the death by stoning

was assigned to one who blasphemes and to one who worships idolatry. And what is the basis for the greater severity

of these transgressions?

As we said

above: In these transgressions one rebels against God, may He be blessed.

And if we find that one who commits these severe transgressions is judged by stoning, this is an indication that stoning is a severe form of execution.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

strangulation is more severe

than stoning,

as

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or mother.

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

And what is the basis for the greater severity?

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

As their honor was equated with the honor of the Omnipresent!

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

And if one who strikes his father or mother is judged by strangulation, this is an indication that strangulation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do the Rabbis know that stoning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Torah singled out

—from the fact that Scripture excluded

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

and a betrothed woman who commits adultery is more severely culpable than a married woman who commits adultery, for she is evil before Heaven, before other people, and before herself: She damages her own honor and the honor of her family, and her act involves greater disgrace than that of a married woman, who had already been compromised. Since the Torah excluded her from strangulation, which is stated regarding a married woman [Leviticus 20:10]: “And the man who commits adultery with a married woman, who commits adultery with his fellow’s wife, shall surely be put to death, both the adulterer and the adulteress”—and wherever the type of death is not specified, the offenders are judged by strangulation—and the betrothed woman was also included in the phrase “his fellow’s wife,” subject to strangulation, yet Scripture explicitly excluded her and made her liable to stoning, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 22:23–24]: “If there be a young woman, a virgin, betrothed to a man … then you shall stone them with stones”

—

infer from this that stoning is more severe.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than decapitation—

as

the death by burning

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

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?

As she disgraces her father.

And since we find that she is judged by burning, this is an indication that burning is severe.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

decapitation is more severe

than burning,

as

decapitation

was assigned to the inhabitants of an apostate city. And what is the basis for the greater severity

of the apostate city?

As their property

of the inhabitants of the apostate city

is destroyed!

For all their property is burned. And if the inhabitants of the apostate city are judged by decapitation, this is an indication that decapitation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do the Rabbis know that burning is more severe than decapitation?

And we answer: Burning is equated with stoning, for

“her father” is stated with regard to stoning,

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

and “her father” is stated with regard to burning,

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

From this we equate burning with stoning:

Just as “her father,” stated with regard to stoning,

indicates that stoning is more severe than decapitation,

as the Gemara explained above, since the transgression of the inciters is more severe than that of those incited, and those incited are punished by decapitation whereas the inciters are punished by stoning,

so too, “her father,” stated with regard to burning,

indicates that burning is more severe than decapitation.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than strangulation—

as

the death by burning

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

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?

As we said,

above: She disgraces her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, this is an indication that burning is severe.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

strangulation is more severe

than burning,

as

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or mother. And what is the basis for the greater severity?

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

As their honor was equated with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father or mother is judged by strangulation, this is an indication that strangulation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do we know that burning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Torah singled out

—from the fact that Scripture excluded

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

infer from this that burning is more severe.

And likewise, according to the Rabbis,

decapitation is more severe than strangulation—

as

decapitation

was assigned to the inhabitants of an apostate city. And what is the basis for the greater severity

of the apostate city?

As their property

of the inhabitants of the apostate city

is destroyed,

for all their property is burned. And since we find that they are judged by decapitation, this is an indication that decapitation is a severe form of execution.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

strangulation is more severe

than decapitation,

as

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or mother. And what is the basis for the greater severity?

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

As their honor was equated with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father or mother is judged by strangulation, this is an indication that strangulation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do we know that decapitation is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

Even so,

even though we find the death of strangulation with regard to a severe transgression such as striking one’s father or mother, nevertheless decapitation, which we find with regard to the apostate city, is more severe, because

one who stretches out his hand against the fundamental principle of faith is preferable,

as the inhabitants of the apostate city rebel against God, may He be blessed, and this is more severe than one who sins against his father and mother.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon says:

Their relative severity is not as the first tanna stated. Rather, the most severe among them is burning, followed by stoning, followed by strangulation, while decapitation is the least severe among them. For according to his opinion, burning is more severe than stoning, and strangulation is more severe than decapitation.

According to Rabbi Shimon, the death of

burning is more severe than stoning—

as

the death by burning

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

of the transgression of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?

As

she

disgraces

her father.

And since we find that she is judged by burning, this is an indication that burning is severe.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

stoning is more severe, as

stoning

was assigned to one who blasphemes and to one who worships idols. And what is the basis for the greater severity

of the transgression of one who blasphemes and one who worships idols?

As he stretches out his hand against the fundamental principle of faith,

rebelling against God, may He be blessed. If so, from where does Rabbi Shimon know that burning is more severe than stoning?

Rabbi Shimon follows his own reasoning, for he says

that one should derive from the verse that

one

daughter of a priest,

whether

a betrothed daughter of a priest

or one

married daughter of a priest,

is subject to burning. And from the fact that the Torah singled out

—from the fact that Scripture excluded a betrothed daughter of a priest from the category of a betrothed Jewish woman, from stoning to burning—it certainly did not exclude her from stoning to burning in order to be lenient, but in order to be stringent;

infer from this that burning is more severe.

And likewise,

burning is more severe than strangulation—

as

the death by burning

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

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?

As we said,

above: She disgraces her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, this is an indication that burning is severe.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

strangulation is more severe

than burning,

as

strangulation

was assigned to one who strikes his father or mother. And what is the basis for the greater severity?

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

As their honor was equated with the honor of the Omnipresent!

And if one who strikes his father or mother is judged by strangulation, this is an indication that strangulation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where do we know that burning is more severe than strangulation?

And we answer:

From the fact that the Torah singled out

—from the fact that Scripture excluded

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

infer from this that burning is more severe.

Burning is more severe than decapitation—

as

the death by burning

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

of a daughter of a priest who committed adultery?

As we said,

above: She disgraces her father. And since we find that she is judged by burning, this is an indication that burning is severe.

And we challenge this:

On the contrary,

one could say that

decapitation is more severe

than burning,

as

decapitation

was assigned to the inhabitants of an apostate city. And what is the basis for the greater severity

of the apostate city?

As their property

of the inhabitants of the apostate city

is destroyed!

For all their property is burned. And if the inhabitants of the apostate city are judged by decapitation, this is an indication that decapitation is a severe form of execution. If so, from where does Rabbi Shimon know that burning is more severe than decapitation?

You have said

—say in order to resolve the matter:

Is there truly a greater force?

That is, which transgression is more severe: Is it

the force of the inciters or the force of those incited?