Sanhedrin

BY 'FRIEND' ONE'S GROOMSMAN IS MEANT. How long [is he regarded as such]? — R. Abba said in R. Jeremiah's name in Rab's name: The whole seven days of the [marriage] feast.  The Rabbis said on Raba's authority: After the very first day [he is no longer regarded as such]. BY 'ENEMY', ANY MAN etc. Our Rabbis taught; And he was not an enemy;  then he may give evidence. Again, neither sought his harm;  then he may be his judge.  Here we find [the exclusion of] an enemy. Whence is deduced [the exclusion of] a friend? — Read [these texts] thus: And he was not his enemy, nor his friend, — then he may give evidence, neither sought his harm, nor his good, — then he may be his judge. Is then 'his friend' actually stated?  — But it is a matter of logic. Why is an enemy [excluded]? Because of his disaffection.  Then a friend too [is ineligible] because of his friendly inclination.  Now, how do the Rabbis  interpret this text, And he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm?  — One [expression] intimates [his unfitness to be] a judge;  the other they interpret as has been taught: R. Jose son of R. Judah said, And he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm; from this we deduce that two scholars who hate each other may not sit together as judges. MISHNAH. HOW ARE THE WITNESSES EXAMINED? — THEY ARE BROUGHT INTO A ROOM,  AND AWE IS INSTILLED INTO THEM.  THEN THEY ARE SENT OUT,  SAVE FOR THE OLDEST [WITNESS] TO WHOM THEY [THE JUDGES] SAY, TELL US, HOW DOST THOU KNOW THAT SO AND SO OWES [MONEY] TO SO AND SO? IF HE ANSWERS: HE PERSONALLY TOLD ME: 'I OWE HIM [THE MONEY],' OR, 'SO AND SO TOLD ME THAT HE OWES HIM,' HIS STATEMENT IS WORTHLESS,  UNLESS HE DECLARES, 'IN OUR PRESENCE,  HE ADMITTED TO HIM THAT HE OWES HIM TWO HUNDRED ZUZ.'  AFTER THAT THE SECOND WITNESS IS ADMITTED AND SIMILARLY EXAMINED. IF THEIR STATEMENTS TALLY, THEY [THE JUDGES] PROCEED TO DISCUSS THE CASE. SHOULD TWO FIND HIM NOT LIABLE AND ONE LIABLE, HE IS DECLARED NOT LIABLE; TWO LIABLE, AND ONE NOT LIABLE, HE IS DECLARED LIABLE; ONE LIABLE, AND ONE NOT LIABLE, OR TWO EITHER NOT LIABLE OR LIABLE, WHILE THE THIRD IS UNDECIDED,  THE NUMBER OF JUDGES IS INCREASED. WHEN THE VERDICT IS ARRIVED AT,THEY  ARE READMITTED, AND THE SENIOR JUDGE SAYS: SO AND SO, THOU ART NOT LIABLE; OR, SO AND SO, THOU ART LIABLE. AND WHENCE DO WE KNOW THAT HE [ONE OF THE JUDGES] WHEN LEAVING, MUST NOT SAY, 'I WAS FOR ACQUITTAL WHILST MY COLLEAGUES WERE FOR CONVICTION, BUT WHAT COULD I DO, SEEING THAT THEY WERE IN THE MAJORITY?' — OF SUCH A ONE IS IT WRITTEN: THOU SHALT NOT GO ABOUT AS A TALEBEARER AMONG THY PEOPLE,  AND AGAIN, HE THAT GOETH ABOUT AS A TALEBEARER REVEALETH SECRETS. GEMARA. How are they  cautioned? Rab Judah said: We admonish them thus: As vapours and wind without rain, so is he that boasteth himself of a false gift.  Raba remarked: They might say [inwardly]: Though a famine last seven years it does not pass the artisan's gate.  But, said Raba, this is what is said to them: As a maul and a sword and a sharp arrow, so is a man that beareth false witness against his neighbour.  R. Ashi demurred: They might say: Though a plague last seven years, no one dies before his time! But, said R. Ashi, Nathan b. Mar Zutra told me, We warn them thus: False witnesses are despised [even] by their own employers, as it is written, And set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst curse God and the King. IF HE ANSWERS, HE [PERSONALLY] TOLD ME: I OWE HIM [THE MONEY];' OR, 'SO AND SO TOLD ME THAT HE OWES HIM,' HIS STATEMENT IS WORTHLESS, UNLESS HE DECLARES, 'IN OUR PRESENCE HE ADMITTED THAT HE OWES HIM TWO HUNDRED ZUZ. This  supports Rab Judah. For Rab Judah said in Rab's name: One must definitely instruct them [those who witness a transaction]: Ye are my witnesses.  It has been stated, likewise: R. Hiyya b. Abba said in R. Johanan's name. [If A says to B,] 'You owe me a maneh',  and B admits it; and if he demands it from him the following day, and B answers, 'I was only jesting with you,'  he is not liable.  So also it has been taught: [If A says to B,] 'You owe me a maneh'; and B answers, 'Yes, it is so;' but on the following day, when the former demands it, the latter replies. 'I was but jesting with you,' he is not liable. Moreover, if he hid witnesses behind a fence and said to him: 'You owe me a maneh', and B answered, 'Yes;' and A added, 'Are you willing to make this admission in the presence of so and so?' And he replied: 'I am afraid to do so, lest you compel me to go to court;' and if on the following day, on his [A's] demanding it from him, B retorts; 'I was only jesting with you', he is not liable. But we do not plead [thus] on behalf of a Mesith.  Mesith? Who mentioned him?  — The text is defective, and should read thus: If he himself did not plead [this],  we do not plead it for him. But in capital charges, even if he himself does not plead,  we plead on his behalf. Yet no such plea is made on behalf of a Mesith. Wherein does a Mesith differ? — R. Hama b. Hanina said: I heard it said in a lecture  by R. Hiyya b. Abba: A Mesith is different, because the Divine Law states, Neither shall thine eyes pity him; neither shalt thou conceal him. R. Samuel b. Nahman said in R. Jonathan's name: Whence do we know that we do not plead on behalf of a Mesith? — From the [story of] the ancient serpent.  For R. Simlai said: The serpent had many pleas to put forward but did not do so. Then why did not the Holy One, blessed be He, plead on its behalf? — Because it offered none itself. What could it have said [to justify itself?] — 'When the words of the teacher and those of the pupil [are contradictory], whose words should be hearkened to; surely the teacher's!' Hezekiah said: Whence do we know that he who adds [to the word of God] subtracts [from it]? — From the verse, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it. R. Mesharshia said: [We derive it] from the following verse: Ammathayim [two cubits] and a half shall be his length.  R. Ashi said: From this: 'Ashte-'esreh [eleven] curtains. Abaye said: The above ruling  holds good only if he says: 'I was only joking with you'; but if he pleads: