Mishnah Tractate Sanhedrin

Submitted by saltysteve on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 08:05

with Bavli gemara selections from 43a, 60a, 67a, 97a-99a, etc.

Extract: [1.6] The Great [Sanhedrin] consisted of seventy-one, and the small of twenty-three. From where do we deduce that the great council must be of seventy-one? From [Num. 11:16]: “Gather unto me seventy men.” And add Moses, who was the head of them--hence seventy-one? And from where do we deduce that the small one must be twenty-three? From [Num. 35:24,25]: “The congregation shall judge” ; “And the congregation shall save”. We see that one congregation judges, and the other congregation saves--hence there are twenty, as a congregation consists of no less than ten persons, and this is deduced from [Num. 14:27]: “To this evil congregation,” which was of ten spies, except Joshua and Caleb. And from where do we deduce that three more are needed? From [Ex. 23:2]: “You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.”--from which we infer that you shall follow them to do good. But if so, why is it written at the end of the same verse, “Incline after the majority, to wrest [change] judgement”? This means, the inclination to free the man must not be similar to the inclination to condemn; as to condemn a majority of two is needed, while to free, the majority of one suffices. And a court must not consist of an even number, as, if their opinion is halved, no verdict can be established; therefore one more must be added. Hence it is of twenty-three. How many shall a city contain that it shall be fit for a supreme council? One hundred and twenty-families. R. Nehemiah, however, maintains: two hundred and thirty--so that each of them should be the head of ten families, as we do not find in the bible rules of less than ten.

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