Makkot

Rab Judah reported Rab to have said that a conditional exclusion [even if self-imposed]1 requires [formal] absolution. Whence is this derived? — From [the fate of] Judah, for it is written, And Judah said to Israel his father. ‘Send the lad [Benjamin] with me . . . if I bring him not unto thee . . then let me bear the blame2 for ever.’3 And [on this theme]. R. Samuel b. Nahmani repeated how [his Master] R. Jonathan said: What are [the allusions in] the text, Let Reuben live and not die; and let not his men be few. And this [is] unto Judah, and he [Moses] said, Lord, hear the voice of Judah and bring him unto his people; let his hands be sufficient for him and be Thou an help to him from his enemies?4 All through the forty years that israel remained in the wilderness, Judah's bones were jolted about in their coffin until [in the end] Moses stood up and supplicated for mercy on his behalf: Lord of the Universe! [said he.] Who influenced Reuben to make free confession [of his guilt]?5 Was it not Judah?6 ‘and this [was due] to Judah! And he [Moses] said, Lord, hear the voice [appeal] of Judah.’ Thereupon, joint slipped Into socket. Judah, not having yet been ushered in to the Celestial College.7 [Moses again prayed] — ‘and bring him unto his people’! Judah, being unable to parry in debate [through prolonged absence, Moses prayed] — ‘let his hands [capacity] be sufficient for him’; being unable to disentangle [analyse or explain] intricate points raised in discussion, Moses prayed — ‘and be Thou an help unto him from his adversaries’. [ALL PERMIT OF THE RETURN OF THE MANSLAYER.] The question was raised: Does the text mean that a manslayer returns home at the death of all the [contemporary] high priests. or at the death of any one of them?8 — Come and hear: If his trial was concluded while there was no high priest [in office] . . . the manslayer can never come home thence.9 Now if it were as you suggest [alternatively], he would get home at the death of any one of the high priests!10 — [No! The next Mishnah means when] there is none [in office at the time]. MISHNAH. IF THE HIGH PRIEST DIED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL, THE SLAYER GOES NOT INTO BANISHMENT. IF HE DIED BEFORE THE TRIAL WAS CONCLUDED AND ANOTHER HIGH PRIEST WAS APPOINTED IN HIS STEAD AND THE TRIAL WAS THEN CONCLUDED, THE SLAYER RETURNS [HOME] AFTER THE LATTER'S DEATH. IF THE TRIAL WAS CONCLUDED WHEN THERE WAS NO HIGH PRIEST [IN OFFICE], OR WHERE THE HIGH PRIEST WAS THE VICTIM, OR WHERE THE HIGH PRIEST WAS THE MANSLAYER, THE SLAYER CAN NEVER COME AWAY FROM THAT PLACE [OF REFUGE]. HE [THE SLAYER] MAY NOT GO OUT THENCE TO BEAR WITNESS IN RESPECT OF SOME RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE;11 NOR AS WITNESS IN A MONETARY SUIT; NOR AS WITNESS IN A CAPITAL CHARGE; NOR EVEN SHOULD [ALL] ISRAEL HAVE NEED OF HIM, NOT EVEN IF HE BE ‘CAPTAIN OF THE HOST LIKE JOAB B. ZERUIAH.12 HE MAY NEVER GO OUT THENCE, AS IT IS SAID, ‘HE FLED THERE’13 [TO INDICATE THAT] ‘THERE’ MUST BE HIS ABODE, ‘THERE’ HIS DEATH, ‘THERE’ HIS BURIAL. JUST AS THE CITY AFFORDS ASYLUM SO DOES ITS BOUNDARY AFFORD ASYLUM. IF A SLAYER WENT BEYOND THE BOUNDS AND THE BLOOD — AVENGER FELL IN WITH HIM, R. JOSE THE GALILEAN SAYS THAT FOR THE AVENGER IT IS A MATTER OF OBLIGATION [TO STRIKE]; FOR EVERYONE ELSE, A MATTER OF OPTION. R. AKIBA SAYS THAT FOR THE AVENGER IT IS A MATTER OF OPTION AND ANYONE [ELSE] IS [NOT]14 RESPONSIBLE FOR HIM. GEMARA. [IF THE HIGH PRIEST DIED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL, THE SLAYER GOES NOT INTO BANISHMENT.] What is the reason for this [remission]? — Said Abaye: We infer it a fortiori. For what happens to a slayer who had already gone into banishment? He comes out [free] now [on the death of the high priest]. Is it not a [logical] argument to say that he who had not gone into banishment should not have to go at all15 on the intervention of the death of the high priest? But perhaps [there is this to be said, that] while he who had gone into banishment had [suffered for] his atonement, this one who has not [yet] gone into banishment has not [yet] been granted it? [No,] do you think it is banishment that procures atonement [remission of exile]? It is the death of the [high] priest that procures the atonement.16 IF HE DIED BEFORE THE TRIAL WAS CONCLUDED . . . THE SLAYER RETURNS [HOME] AFTER THE LATTER'S DEATH. Whence is this derived? — R. Kahana said: The text17 says, and he shall abide in it [the city of refuge] unto the death of the high priest whom he18 hath anointed with the holy oil. Was it he [the slayer] that anointed the high priest? But the implication is, that high priest who was anointed in his [the slayer's] days.19 What should the high — priest [the latter] have done [to avert the unhappy event]?20 He should have implored Divine mercy for the slayer's acquittal, which he [seemingly] failed to do. Abaye observed: We have it [on good authority]21 that if the slayer died on the conclusion of the trial, his bones [body] would be conveyed thither, as it is written, that he should come back to dwell in the land22 [until the death of the priest].23 Now, what dwelling is it that is in the land [in the soil]? You are bound to say, the burial place. A Tanna taught: If the slayer died [in banishment] before the high priest, they convey [on the death of the latter] the bones [body] of the slayer to the sepulchre of his forebears, as it is written, [And after the death of the high priest] the slayer shall return to the land of his possession;24 now, what return25 is it that is to the ‘land of his possession’? — You are bound to say, it is burial [in the ancestral soil]. exile could not depend on the amount of suffering involved (in exile), as one may have to spend a day, and another a whole lifetime in exile. Cf, also Tosaf. s.v. hshn Where the trial had been concluded and the [high] priest was then found [to be] the son of a divorcee or haluzah,26 this case was discussed by R. Ammi and R. Isaac Nappaha; one said that [in effect] the priestly Office dies,27 and the other said that the priestly Office has become void.28 Could it be suggested that they were differing on the same point as that on which R. Eliezer and R. Joshua differed? For we learnt: If while engaged in offering on the altar, a priest is discovered to be the son of a divorcee or haluzah, R. Eliezer says that all offerings [hitherto] laid by him on the altar are become vitiated; R. Joshua declares them appropriate.29 [Accordingly,] he who [in the former instance] held that the discovery meant [in effect] the death [of the priestly Office]30 takes the view of R. Joshua; and the other who said that it has become void,31 takes the view of R. Eliezer! extended for thirty days. absented himself from the College Sessions of R. Efes (of Sepphoris). a.l. (a Nazirite cannot go to the Temple, cf. Num. VI). XIX, 4 — Flee there and live, ‘what is the lesson from the recurring there, there, there, three times? — (To indicate that) there must be his abode,’ etc. (cf. Tosef.). The phrase flee there occurs only twice in Deut. XIX, in verses 3 and 4, while in Num. XXXV, it occurs four times, namely, in verses 11, 15, 25, 26. On closer examination it will be found that only three of those passages, where the phrase flee there occurs, enlarge on the safety, rights or comforts of the refugee, namely, Num. XXXV, 15 (safety for all classes), verse 25 (to be escorted after trial and his right of residence there, unmolested, till the death of the High Priest, when he may return home), and Deut. XIX, 4 (that he flee there and live) which has been explained above as directing that he be provided with all amenities of life. thing, namely, that besides the avenger, it is nobody's affair to avenge the death of the slain; or (taken positively), everybody else, besides the avenger, will be held responsible for killing the slayer, i.e., it will be considered as murder, if deliberate, and as a case for banishment for the slayer, if by accident. See discussion on this text later. On R. Akiba's opposition to capital punishment, cf. supra 7a. priest prolongs a man's life; is it not logical (to say) that he who shortens a man's life should remain in the presence of him (the priest) who prolongs a man's life? Rabbi says: A slayer defiles the earth (cf. Num. XXXV, 33-34) and causes the Divine Presence to withdraw, while the high priest causes the Divine Presence to abide with man on earth; is it not logical (to say) that he who defiles the earth should remain in the presence of him who causes the Divine Presence to abide with man on earth?’ (Sifre and Yalkut on Num. XXXV, 28). Atonement, by anointed). priest died before the conclusion of the trial, that is, before the sentence of banishment was passed on the manslayer, his death has no connection with the subsequent decision of the Court. support of his words. (R. Ez. Michelson in the notes of R. Herschel of Berlin on Makkoth, 11b.) priest, to live or be buried at home. The word ba-arez .rtc in the land, is taken to mean to be buried in the soil. and infra, the discussion, 13a. banishment. IN OFFICE, and there is no release.