Sanhedrin 54b (נד:) — the Talmud in English

The baraita raises an objection:

“We have heard the punishment; from where is the warning derived

?

The verse states [

Leviticus 18:22 ]:

“And with a male you shall not lie

as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.”

We have learned a warning for the one who lies with him; a warning

for the one with whom he lies, from where ?

? The verse states

The verse states [

Deuteronomy 23:18 ]:

“There shall not be a male prostitute

who is designated for intercourse with a male

among the children of Israel,”

.

And it says [

I Kings 14:24 ]:

“And there was also a male prostitute in the land; they did according to all the abominations of the nations whom he had dispossessed,” and so on

.

The statement of Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Akiva says: It is not necessary

for an additional verse as a warning for the one with whom intercourse is performed

. The verse says: “And with a male you shall not lie as one lies with a woman”; read it as: “You shall not lie”

as an active and passive expression .

The Gemara continues to explain the laws stated in the Mishna

: One who has intercourse with

an animal, from where do we know

that his punishment is stoning

? As the Sages taught:

It is stated in the Torah (Leviticus 20:15): “And a man who gives his lying with an animal shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.”

The Sages expounded:

“A man”—excluding a minor

who lies with an animal

. “Who gives his lying with an animal”—whether

. “Who gives his lying with an animal,” whether

with an

adult animal,

or

whether

with a

young animal.

“Shall surely be put to death”—by stoning.

The baraita raises an objection: From where

do you say

that its punishment is

by stoning? Or

perhaps it is

not

put to death

except by one of all

the deaths stated in the Torah?

The baraita answers:

It is stated here:

“And you shall kill the animal”;

“you shall kill it,”

and it is stated elsewhere

with regard to an inciter and one who leads others astray [Deuteronomy 13:10–11]:

“For you shall surely kill him;

your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward; and you shall stone him with stones, and he shall die”...

; just as there,

when the expression “kill” is stated, he is put to death

by stoning, so here,

where the expression “you shall kill” is stated, they are put to death

by stoning.

We have learned the punishment for the one who lies

with an animal;

the punishment for the

male

with whom it lies

before an animal,

from where?

The verse states [

Exodus 22:18 ]:

“Anyone who lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.”

And we expound:

If it does not refer to the one who lies,

the man who has intercourse with an animal, since it has already been stated with regard to him: “And a man who gives his lying with an animal shall surely be put to death,”

apply it to

teach the punishment of death to

the one with whom it lies,

who brings an animal upon himself.

We have learned the punishment both for the one who lies and for the one with whom it lies; from where is the warning?

The verse states [

Leviticus 18:23 ]:

“And with any animal you shall not give your lying, to become impure through it.”

We have learned a warning for the one who lies; for the one with whom it lies

from where?

The verse states: “There shall not be a male prostitute

who is designated for intercourse with a male or for intercourse with an animal

among the children of Israel,”

and

from where is it known that “male prostitute” also refers to one with whom an animal copulates?

It

says: “And there was also a male prostitute in the land;

they did according to all the abominations of the nations whom he had dispossessed

,” and so on;

thus the expression “abomination” is mentioned with “male prostitute.”

And, on the other hand, it is stated at the conclusion of the passage of forbidden sexual relations, and it also refers to intercourse with an animal [ Leviticus 18:27 ]: “For the people of the land have done all these abominations”; it follows that the expression “male prostitute,” which is called an “abomination,” also refers to intercourse with an animal .

The statement of Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Akiva says: It is not necessary

for an additional verse as a warning for one with whom an animal copulates

. The verse says [

Leviticus 18:23 ]: “

And with any animal

And with any animal

you shall not give your lying,”

and we expound the expression “your lying” both with regard to the one who lies and to the one with whom it lies, as though it had said

: “You shall not give your being lain with.”

Several distinctions in law arising from the dispute between Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva follow

: One who has intercourse with a male, and

in one lapse of awareness

brings a male upon himself. Rabbi Abbahu said: According to Rabbi Yishmael, he is liable for two

, since they are learned from two separate verses:

one from “You shall not lie,” and one from “There shall

not be a male prostitute,”

and therefore he brings a sin-offering for each of them.

However,

according to Rabbi Akiva, he is liable for only

a

single

because

“you shall not lie,”

and

“you shall not lie” are one and the same.

Since it is derived from one verse, he brings only one sin-offering.

Another case:

One who has intercourse with an animal, and

in one lapse of awareness

brings an animal upon himself.

Rabbi Abbahu said: According to Rabbi Yishmael, he is liable for two.

Since the active and passive partners are learned from two separate verses,

one from “You shall not give your lying,” and one from “There shall not be a male prostitute,”

he is therefore liable for two sin-offerings.

But

according to Rabbi Akiva, he is liable for only

one

sin-offering.

Since

“your lying” and “your being lain with” are one and the same.

Abaye said: Even according to Rabbi Yishmael, he is likewise liable for only one.

For when “There shall not be a male prostitute” is written, it is written with regard to

male

prostitution.

That is, it concerns intercourse between males, but with intercourse with an animal the expression “prostitution” and male prostitution is not applicable.

And what was stated above, that we derive a warning concerning an animal from “There shall not be a male prostitute,” was only for completeness . But the primary warning is not derived from there.

Rather, according to Rabbi Yishmael, from where does he derive a warning for the one with whom the animal lies?

He derives it from “Anyone who lies with an animal shall surely be put to death,” [

Exodus 22:18 ].

And we expound:

If it does not refer to the one who lies,

the man who has intercourse with an animal, since it has already been stated with regard to him: “And a man who gives his lying with an animal shall surely be put to death,”

apply it to

teach the punishment of death to

the one with whom it lies,

who brings an animal upon himself.

And

why

did the Merciful One express the “one with whom it lies” with the expression “one who lies”?

We learn from this also a warning for the “one with whom it lies,” who is compared to the “one who lies.”

Just as the “one who lies” is punished and warned, so too the “one with whom it lies” is punished and warned.

And therefore Abaye concluded that since even according to Rabbi Yishmael we learn the warning for both the one who lies and the one with whom it lies from the same verse, he is liable for only one sin-offering.

Another case:

One with whom a male has intercourse, and

in

one

lapse of awareness

has intercourse with an animal. Rabbi Abbahu said: According to Rabbi Akiva,

who derives the warning for the one with whom an animal copulates from “your lying” and “your being lain with,”

he is liable for two.

One, from “You shall not lie,”

which is stated with regard to one who lies with a person, as above;

and one, from “You shall not give your lying,”

which is stated with regard to one with whom an animal copulates.

But

according to Rabbi Yishmael,

who derives above the warning for one with whom a male has intercourse and for one with whom an animal copulates from “There shall not be a male prostitute,”

he is liable for only one,

since

both this and that are “There shall not be a male prostitute”

oba zapreta vyvedeny iz odnogo stiha].

both prohibitions are learned from the same verse . But

Abaye said: Even according to Rabbi Yishmael, he is likewise liable for two.

For according to Abaye, Rabbi Yishmael did not derive the warning for one with whom an animal copulates from “There shall not be a male prostitute,” since that verse is written with regard to male prostitution, as stated above.

Rather, we learn it from

“For it is written: ‘Anyone who lies with an animal shall surely be put to death,’

and we expound:

If it does not refer to the one who lies,

the man who has intercourse with an animal, since it has already been stated concerning him: “And a man who gives his lying with an animal shall surely be put to death,”

apply it to

teach the punishment of death to

the one with whom it lies,

who brings an animal upon himself.

And

why

did the Merciful One express the “one with whom it lies” with the expression “one who lies”?

We learn from this also a warning for the “one with whom it lies,” who is compared to the “one who lies.”

Just as the “one who lies” is punished and warned, so too the “one with whom it lies” is punished and warned,

as stated above.

Therefore, if he had intercourse with a male and with an animal in one lapse of awareness, he is liable for two sin-offerings.

But one who has intercourse with a male, and

in one lapse of awareness

brings a male upon himself,

and

then

continued, and

had intercourse with an animal and

in one lapse of awareness

brought an animal upon himself: whether according to Rabbi Abbahu or according to Abaye, according to Rabbi Yishmael he is liable for three; according to Rabbi Akiva, he is liable for two.

According to Rabbi Abbahu, who derives “one who has intercourse with a male” from “You shall not lie,” “one who brings a male upon himself” from “There shall not be a male prostitute,” and “one who has intercourse with an animal” from “You shall not give your lying,” he is liable for three sin-offerings for these three prohibitions; but he is not liable separately for one with whom an animal copulates, which is also learned from “There shall not be a male prostitute.”

And according to Abaye, who derives “one who has intercourse with a male” and “one who brings a male upon himself” from two separate verses—one from “And with a male you shall not lie,” and one from “There shall not be a male prostitute”—and derives “one who has intercourse with an animal” from “You shall not give your lying,” he is liable for three sin-offerings for these three prohibitions, but he is not liable separately for one with whom an animal copulates, since that too is derived from “your lying” as “your being lain with.”

The Sages taught

in a baraita: Intercourse between

males: they did not make a minor equivalent to an adult.

As will be explained below.

But one who performs intercourse with an

animal: they made a young one equivalent to an adult.

That is, he is liable whether he had intercourse with a large animal or with a small one.

The Gemara explains:

What does “they did not make a minor equivalent to an adult” mean?

Rav said: They did not make intercourse with one younger than nine years equivalent to

intercourse with a

nine-year-old.

That is, if the one with whom the intercourse was performed was a minor younger than nine, he is not liable for intercourse with him, even if the active partner was an adult.

And Shmuel said: They did not make intercourse with one younger than three years equivalent to

intercourse with a

three-year-old.

With regard to what do they disagree?

Rav holds

that since the warning for the passive partner is learned from the warning for the active partner, as Rabbi Akiva said above,

everything

that applies to

the active partner applies to the passive partner, and whatever does not apply to the active partner does not apply to the passive partner.

Since the active partner must be nine years and one day old, and before that age his intercourse is not considered intercourse, the passive partner must likewise be nine years and one day old.

And Shmuel holds: “The lyings of a woman” is written

with regard to intercourse between males, and a woman is fit for intercourse from the age of three.

Indeed, a baraita

was taught in accordance with Rav’s opinion: “One who has intercourse with a

male

nine years and one day old”,

,