Sanhedrin 89a — the Talmud in English

And if we hold ![](pamud.bmp "

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that the upper knot is by Torah law,

then according to Torah law the tzitzit must be tied together to the garment, if so,

deficient from the outset

is he for immediately at the beginning, when he tied the additional thread together with the other threads, all the tzitzit became disqualified.

And the Gemara asks:

If so: tefillin as well

how is it possible that he detracts through the addition?

For

if he made four compartments,

if he first made four compartments from one piece of leather, as required for head tefillin, whose four compartments must be from one piece of leather,

and he brought other ones and placed them beside them,

and afterward added another compartment beside them, if so,

this one stands by itself and that one stands by itself,

since the additional compartment is not made from the same leather as the four compartments, it is as though it stands by itself and cannot disqualify them.

And if he made five compartments

if initially he made five compartments from one piece of leather, if so,

deficient

and so he is

since from the outset the tefillin are disqualified, this is not called “and if he added, he detracted”?

And the Gemara answers: It is in fact speaking of one who added the fifth compartment afterward on the outside, and even so it disqualifies the tefillin, not because of the addition itself, but because

Rabbi Zeira said: An outer compartment

of the four compartments of the tefillin

that does not see the air

such as when he added a compartment or another object at its side,

is disqualified,

because the outer compartment must see the air.

Thus, the condition of “and if he added, he detracted” is fulfilled with tefillin: initially the tefillin were fit, and through the addition they became disqualified.

Mishna:

They do not put him to death

the rebellious elder

neither in the court of his city nor in the court of Yavneh,

when the Sanhedrin were exiled there before the destruction, and even if they had instructed him previously while they were still in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, and after they were exiled to Yavneh he continued to instruct contrary to their ruling, even so they do not put him to death in the great court in Yavneh, because the people did not assemble there as they did in Jerusalem, as it continues to explain.

Rather, they bring him up to the great court in Jerusalem [

which on the pilgrimage they would return there, the great court],

and guard him until

the pilgrimage festival,

and put him to death during the pilgrimage festival,

so that the matter would become public to all Israel who came up on pilgrimage.

As it is stated,

in the section concerning the rebellious elder [Deuteronomy 17:13]: “

And all

the people

shall hear and fear, and shall no longer act presumptuously,”

for the matter of his death must be publicized to the multitude, so that no one will again dare to do this,

the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Yehuda says: They do not delay the judgment of this man,

to wait for him until the pilgrimage festival,

but they put him to death immediately, and write and send messengers to every place,

saying: “

So-and-so is liable to death by the court,”

for he instructed contrary to the Sanhedrin. Through this, the verse “and all shall hear and fear” is fulfilled.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: They do not put him to death neither in the court of his city nor in the court in Yavneh, but they bring him up to the great court in Jerusalem, and guard him until the pilgrimage festival, and put him to death during the pilgrimage festival, as it is stated: “

And all the people shall hear and fear,”

the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Rabbi Yehuda said to him: Was it stated, “And all

the people

shall see and fear,”

that they should see with their eyes when they put him to death?

But was it stated only, “

shall hear and fear,”

and if so,

why delay the judgment of this man!?

Rather, they put him to death immediately and write and send to every place: So-and-so became liable to death by the court.

The Sages taught: Four require proclamation,

when the court executes them: they proclaim about them, “So-and-so was executed by the court for having transgressed this offense,” and this is in order to deter others from doing likewise.

a.

The inciter

to worship idolatry.

b.

And the wayward and rebellious son.

c.

And the rebellious elder.

d.

And conspiring witnesses.

For concerning all of these it is stated, “They shall hear and fear.”

And the Gemara adds:

In all of them it is written,

with the first three it is stated: “

And all the people

shall hear and fear,” or “

And all Israel

shall hear and fear.” But

with conspiring witnesses it is written, “

And those who remain

shall hear and fear.”

And the reason for this is: it is not possible to write concerning conspiring witnesses that all the people will be afraid of becoming conspiring witnesses, for

not everyone is fit for testimony.

For there are some who are disqualified from testimony altogether, such as robbers, those who lend at interest, and merchants dealing in produce of the Sabbatical year.

Mishna:

The Mishna continues explaining those liable to death by strangulation who were enumerated at the beginning of the chapter.

The false prophet

is one who

prophesies what he did not hear,

a matter that was not stated at all to any prophet.

And what was not said to him,

but was said in prophecy to another prophet, and he heard it from him and came and said that the prophecy had been said to him.

Each of these two

his death is by human hands,

by death through strangulation.

But one who suppresses his prophecy,

who does not wish to state the prophecy that he was commanded to prophesy, such as Jonah son of Amittai.

And one who disregards the words of a prophet,

who does not take into account what the prophet told him to do.

And a prophet who transgresses his own words,

what he was commanded in prophecy.

Each of these three

his death is at the hands of Heaven.

As it is stated

concerning them: “

I will require it of him,”

that is, death at the hands of Heaven.

One who prophesies in the name of idolatry and says: Thus said idolatry—even if he directed the halakha, to declare the impure impure and the pure pure

nevertheless, he is liable to death by strangulation, since he said this in the name of idolatry.

One who has relations with a married woman, once she has entered

the betrothed woman

into the husband’s domain for marriage,

such as when her father handed her over to the husband’s messengers and she is still on the way,

even though she has not had relations,

yet,

one who has relations with her—

behold, he is subject to strangulation,

as the law of a married woman, for since she has already left her father’s domain, the law of a betrothed maiden no longer applies to her—the one concerning whom it is stated “to commit harlotry in her father’s house,” whose punishment is stoning—but rather she is like a married woman, whose law is strangulation.

And the conspiring witnesses against a daughter of a priest, and the one who had relations with her [

as was explained in the Mishna at the beginning of the chapter] are also subject to strangulation.

For all those against whom conspiracy was established,

witnesses who testified falsely and against whom a conspiracy was established,

are brought first to that death,

they are made liable to the same death to which they sought to make the accused liable through their testimony,

except for conspiring witnesses against a daughter of a priest,

who are not made liable to the death that they schemed to bring upon her, namely burning, but to the death that they schemed to bring upon her husband, which is strangulation.

And

so too,

the one who had relations with her

the daughter of the priest differs from other men who have relations with a forbidden woman, who are judged by the same death as the woman with whom they had relations; whereas he is judged by strangulation, although she is judged by burning.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: Three— their deaths are by human hands, and three— their deaths are at the hands of Heaven.

a.

One who prophesies what he did not hear.

b.

And what was not said to him.

c.

And one who prophesies in the name of idolatry.

All these

their death is at the hand of human beings.

a.

One who suppresses his prophecy.

b.

And one who disregards the words of a prophet.

c.

And a prophet who transgressed the words of himself.

All these

their death is at the hand of Heaven.

And the Gemara discusses:

From where are these matters?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: For the verse says

Deuteronomy 18:20] “

But the prophet who presumptuously speaks a word in My name” —

this is one who prophesies what he did not hear,

a matter that was not said at all to any prophet.

And further on it is said

“and” “

which I did not command him to speak,” which implies: only him I did not command;

to speak” —

but this one, I commanded it to his fellow —

this is one who prophesies what was not said to him,

but to his fellow.

And afterward it is said “

and who speaks in the name of other gods” —

this is one who prophesies in the name of idolatry.

And it is written

further on, “

And that prophet shall die.”

And every death stated in the Torah without specification is only strangulation.

Thus we have learned concerning these three that their death is by strangulation.

One who suppresses his prophecy, one who disregards the words of a prophet, and a prophet who transgressed the words of himself,

that

their death is at the hand of Heaven.

We learn this —

For it is written [

there 19] “And

the man who does not listen

to My words,” that is, one who disregards the words of the prophet, who does not obey him.

And read in it “

who does not cause to be heard,”

that the prophet himself does not cause his prophecy to be heard; that is, one who suppresses his prophecy.

And read in it

also “

who does not listen to My words,”

that the prophet himself did not obey his prophecy; that is, a prophet who transgressed the words of himself.

And it is written

further on, “

I shall demand it from him” —

that is,

at the hand of Heaven.

We learned in the Mishna:

One who prophesies what he did not hear.

And the Gemara explains:

Such as Zedekiah ben Chenaanah,

who was one of the false prophets from whom Ahab requested that they prophesy to him whether he should go up to war against Ramoth-gilead, and all of them falsely prophesied to him that he should go up and succeed —

For it is written [

I Kings 22:11] “

And Zedekiah ben Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron

and said: So says Hashem: With these you shall gore Aram until their extermination.”

And the Gemara asks:

What could he have done?

What was Zedekiah ben Chenaanah supposed to do? For

the spirit

of

Naboth [

who was killed by Ahab because he did not want to sell him his vineyard]

misled him,

causing him to prophesy in this way?

For it is written [

ibid. 21] “

And Hashem said: Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And the spirit went out and stood before Hashem, and said: I shall entice him ...

and I shall be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets” ...

And He said [

Hashem]

You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail; go out and do so.”

And the Gemara explains the verse —

Rav Yehuda said: What is “

Go out”? —

Go out from My partition!

For after he prophesies falsely, he will not be able to be in the partition of the Holy One, blessed be He, because of “one who speaks lies shall not be established before My eyes.”

What is “

spirit”?

What spirit was it?

Rabbi Yohanan said: The spirit of Naboth the Jezreelite,

for since Ahab killed him, his spirit pursued Ahab in order to entice him and cause him to stumble.

Thus, the spirit of Naboth entered the mouth of all the false prophets to prophesy in this way; and in what was Zedekiah ben Chenaanah guilty?

The Gemara answers:

He should have examined carefully,

Zedekiah ben Chenaanah should have understood that this was a false prophecy,

in accordance with Rabbi Yitzhak, for Rabbi Yitzhak said: One prophetic style arises for several prophets,

one content of prophecy enters the hearts of several prophets, but

two prophets do not prophesy in one prophetic style,

the wording is not uniform; rather, each prophet prophesies in a different wording.

And proof of this is that

Obadiah said

in his prophecy concerning Edom [Obadiah 1:3]

“The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,”

and

if

Jeremiah said,

he too in his prophecy concerning Edom [Jeremiah 49:16] “

Your terror has deceived you, the arrogance of your heart.”

Thus, although the content of the prophecy was similar for both of them, nevertheless the style was different.

But these

all the false prophets with Ahab,

since they all said it identically,

they all prophesied in the same wording, as it is said: “Indeed now, all the words of the prophets with one mouth are good for the king,”

infer from it

that Zedekiah ben Chenaanah had to understand from this that

they were saying nothing at all,

but it was a false prophecy.

And the Gemara asks:

Perhaps

Zedekiah ben Chenaanah

did not know this teaching of Rabbi Yitzhak,

that two prophets do not prophesy in one style, and therefore he erred, thinking that this was a true prophecy?

The Gemara answers:

Jehoshaphat,

the king of Judah,

was there,

he was present,

and said to them,

he told them that this was a false prophecy, because they were all prophesying in one style.

For it is written [

ibid. 7] “

And Jehoshaphat said: Is there not here another prophet of Hashem

that we may inquire of him?”

He said to him,

Ahab

“But there are all these”,

there are already four hundred prophets who prophesied that I should go up to war; and why are you requesting another prophet?

He said to him,

Jehoshaphat:

“Thus have I received as a tradition from the house of my father’s father: One prophetic style arises for several prophets, but two prophets do not prophesy in one prophetic style!”

And the Gemara continues to explain the Mishna —

“One who prophesies what was not said to him”,

but to his fellow —

Such as Hananiah ben Azzur —

When Jeremiah was standing in the upper market,

for he heard Jeremiah prophesying in the upper market of Jerusalem,

and saying [

Jeremiah 49:35] “

So says Hashem of Hosts: Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam.”

Hananiah drew a kal va-chomer for himself: If concerning Elam, which came only to assist Babylon

in its war against Jerusalem,

the Holy One, blessed be He, said

concerning it, “

Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam,”

the Chaldeans [

Babylon]

themselves, all the more so!

He came,

Hananiah came,

to the lower market

of Jerusalem,

and said [

ibid. 28:2] “

So says Hashem ...

I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

Thus Hananiah prophesied what had not been said to him, but to his fellow.

And the Gemara asks:

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: This was not said even to his fellow;

the prophecy concerning Babylon was not said at all, even to his fellow?

The Gemara answers:

He said to him,

Abaye

[Since] it was given,

since the measure of

a kal va-chomer was given to be expounded, it is considered as though it was said to him,

it is as though it was explicitly said to Jeremiah that the prophecy also included Babylon, since he derived it by a kal va-chomer from Elam. Only

to him himself it was not said,

with regard to Hananiah, the prophecy was not said to him.

“One who prophesies in the name of idolatry” —

such as the prophets of the Baal.

“One who suppresses his prophecy” —

such as Jonah ben Amittai,

who did not want to prophesy what he had been commanded to prophesy.