Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 20, scan section 82

threat of being killed, to commit any one of all the crimes which are men- tioned in the Torah, he might commit it and not be killed, except idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed. Is a descendant of Noah commanded to sanctify the Holy Name, or not? It happened to one that he saw a woman and became sick through his infatuation, etc., 216-221 CHAPTER IX. MiSHNAS /. TO VI. Punishment of burning applies to one man who has intercourse with a woman and her daughter, and to a daughter of a priest, SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS. xix etc. Punishment with the sword appHes to a murderer and to the men of a misled town. If one pressed down a person while he is in water, or in fire, preventing him from coming out, he is guilty, etc. If one bound a person, and he died thereafter of hunger, he is not guilty of a capital crime. If, how- ever, he put him in a sunny place, and he died because of the sun, he is guilty. Ball-players — if one threw a ball with the intention of killing some one, he is to be put to death, and if it was unintentional, he is to be exiled, etc. All agree that if one kills a person whose windpipe and larynx (gullet) are cut or whose skull is fractured, he is free (for it is considered as if he attacked a dead man). If one strikes a person with a stone or with his fists, and he was diagnosed (by the physicians of the court) to die, and thereafter he improved, etc. Capital punishment does not apply to one who intended to kill an animal and killed a man, an idolater and killed an Israelite, etc.; but it does apply to one who intended to strike a person on the loins with an article which was sufficient for this purpose, and he strikes him to death on his heart, etc. A murderer mixed up among others — all of them are free, etc. If it happen that the persons sentenced to deaths of dififerent kinds, and are so mixed that it is not known who comes under this kind of death and who under another, all of them must be executed with the more lenient death. If one committed a crime which deserves two kinds of death, he must be tried for the more rigorous one. Ezek. xviii. must not be taken literally, but " the mountains he eateth not " means that he does not live upon the reward of the meritorious acts done by his parents; "his eyes he lifteth not up to the idols " means that he never walked overbearingly, etc., . 222-238 MiSHNAS VII. TO IX. He who receives stripes, and relaxes into the same crime, the court takes him to the kyphos. He who kills a person not in the presence of witnesses is taken to the kyphos and is fed on scant bread and water. If one steals a kisvah, or one curses his neighbor, invoking God as a " carver," zealous people (like Pinchas) have a right to strike him when caught in the act. What is this punishment if there were no zealous men ? Answer to this, it happened that it was read before R. Kahan in a dream, etc. In a case where there is a violation of the Holy Name the honor of the master must not be considered. " If a priest performs the service while he is defiled," etc. " If a common Israelite served in the Temple," etc., 238-244 CHAPTER X. MiSHNAS I. TO VI. Choking applies to him who strikes his father or mother, to him who steals a living soul, etc. A son is not guilty of a capital crime unless he wounds his father by striking him. Cursing is in one respect more rigorous than striking, as he is guilty even if he did it after his father's death. If one steals a person, he is not guilty of a capital crime unless he brings him upon his own premises. There is no difference whether he stole a male or a female, a proselyte, or a bondsman, or a minor, etc. R. Jehudah says that there is no disgrace for slaves. " Thou shalt not steal," in the third commandment, means human beings. [Lev. xix., ii] : " Ye shalt not steal," meaning money. A judge rebelling against the Greet Sanhedrin. There were in Jerusalem three courts, etc. In case a judge in the country had a dispute with, his colleagues, they came to the first court. If this court were able to decide it traditionally they rendered their decision; and if not, all of them came to the Great Sanhedrin, which was in the Temple zx SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS. treasury, etc. A disciple who is not a judge who decides for practice against the Great Sanhedrin, is not culpable. A rebelling judge is not guilty unless he gave his decision in a matter to which, if done intentionally, korath applies, etc. The punishment of him who transgresses the decision of the scribes is more rigorous than for that which is plainly written in the Scriptures. The judge in question was not put to death by the court of his own city, etc., but was brought to the Supreme Council, in Jerusalem, etc. A false prophet who is to be sentenced by the court is only he who prophe- sies what he (personally) has not heard and what he was not told at all, etc. He who prophesied in the name of an idol, saying, " So and so was said by such an idol," although it corresponds exactly with the Hebrew law, he is punished by choking. See all illustrations, pp. 258-260. In every case mentioned in the Torah, if a true prophet commands you to transgress, you may listen, except as to idolatry, 245-261 CHAPTER XI. MiSHNA /. Al! Israel has a share in the world to come. The following have no share in the world to come: He who says, etc. Three kings and four commoners have no share in the world to come, etc. Is he who does not believe that the resurrection is hinted at in the Torah such a criminal that he loses his share in the world to come? Where is the resurrection hinted at in the Torah? etc. From the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagi- ographa. See 267, also footnote. Queen Cleopatra questioned R. Mair thus: When they shall be restored, will they be naked or dressed? Cjesar ques- tioned Rabbon Gamaliel: You say that the dead will be restored. Does not the corpse become dust? etc. The living die — should the dead come to life? Tliat which has not existed at all comes to life — shall those who had life once not come to life again? The legend of Gebiah b. Pessisa who advocated Israel before Alexander of Macedonia, etc. (Pp. 268, 270.) Antoninus said to Rabbi: The body and soul of a human may free themselves on the Day of Judgment by Heaven. How so? Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? At what time does the soul come into the body? At what time does the evil spirit reach man? Lest one say that the verse just cited means, I make one die and another one shall I bring to life, therefore it reads, " I wcrnnd and I cure." As wounding and curing apply to one person only, etc. He who hesitates in declaring a Halakha to a disciple, even the embryos in the entrails of their mothers denounce him. Great is wisdom,