Sifrei Devarim Reader

If in the end, bedikoth are to be included, why are chakiroth mentioned? For if in the chakiroth, if one of the witnesses says "I do not know," their testimony is invalidated. If this happens in the bedikoth, even if both of them say "We do not know," their testimony stands. Both in the chakiroth and in the bedikoth, if they contradict each other, their testimony is invalidated.

(Ibid. 17:4) ("This abomination has been done) in Israel": This tells me only of an Israelite (i.e., that he is to be killed). Whence do I derive (the same for) converts, women, and bondsmen? From (Ibid. 5) "Then you shall take out that man and that woman who did this evil thing".

"to your gates": From this I understand the gate (i.e., beth-din) in which they were judged. It is, therefore, written "your gates" (here) - "your gates" (Ibid. 2) for a gezeirah shavah (identity). Just as "your gates" there refers to the city in which they are found, and not to the beth-din in which they were judged, so, "your gates" here.

"that man": and not one who was forced, and not one who did so unwittingly, and not one who was under some kind of misapprehension.

"that woman": and not one who was forced, and not one who did so unwittingly, and not one who was under some kind of misapprehension.

"and you shall stone them with stones": I might think, with many stones; it is, therefore, written (Vayikra 20:2) "with a stone." I might then think, with one stone. It is, therefore, written "with stones." How is this to be resolved? If he is not killed with the first stone, he is killed with the second.

(Devarim 17:6) "By word of two witnesses or three witnesses is the dead one to be put to death": This tells me only of those who are put to death in this context. Whence do I derive (the same for) the others who are put to death (by beth-din)? From "By word of two witnesses or three witnesses is the dead one to be put to death."

Whence is it derived that a (single) witness is not to testify for incrimination? From "He shall not be put to death by word of one witness."

And whence is it derived that a disciple shall not speak for incrimination? From "He shall not be put to death by word of one witness" … And the sages say: Whence is it derived that a (single) witness is not to testify for exoneration? From (Bamidbar 35:20) "and a witness shall not testify in a soul." Whence is it derived that a disciple shall not speak for incrimination? From "one … shall not testify in a soul to kill him."

(Devarim 17:7) "The hand of the witnesses shall be against him first to kill him": It is a mitzvah for the witnesses to kill him.

And whence is it derived that if he does not die by the hand of the witnesses anyone can put him to death? From "and the hand of all the people afterwards."

"and you shall remove the evil from your midst': Remove the doers of evil from Israel.

(Devarim 17:8) "If there be hidden ("ki yipale") from you a thing of judgment": "ki yipale": Scripture here speaks of the mufla (expert [similar to "yipale"])

"from you": This refers to counsel, viz. (Nachum 1:11) "From you has gone the counselor."

"between blood and blood": between the blood of niddah (menstruation), the blood of zivah (vaginal discharge) or the blood of childbirth.

"between law and law": (questions of adjudication of) monetary laws, capital laws, and the laws of stripes.

"between plague and plague": (questions concerning the cleanliness or uncleanliness of) plague-spots in men, houses, and clothing.

"things": These are (questions concerning) assessments, dedications, and consecrations.

"disputes": These are (questions concerning) the sotah's draught, the breaking of the heifer's neck, and the cleansing of the leper.

"in your gates": These are (questions concerning) leket, shikchah, and peah.

"and go up to the place, etc.": From here it was derived that there were three batei-din there: one at the entrance to the Temple mount, one at the entrance of the azarah (the Temple court), and one in the chamber of hewn stone (the seat of the great Sanhedrin).

They (the dissenting sage and his colleagues in the local court) come to the court at the entrance of the Temple mount, and he (the dissenting sage) says to them (the members of that court): Thus have I expounded, and thus have my colleagues expounded. If they (the latter) have heard (the ruling in that matter), they tell them; if not they (the dissenter and his colleagues) come to the one at the entrance of the azarah), and he (the dissenter) says (to them): Thus did I expound and thus did my colleagues expound; thus did I teach and thus did my colleagues teach. If they have heard, they tell them; if not, they all come to the great beth-din (the Sanhedrin) in the chamber of hewn stone, whence Torah goes forth to all of Israel, as it is written (Devarim, Ibid.) "to the place which the L-rd your G-d chooses."

"and you shall arise and you shall go up": We are hereby taught that Eretz Yisrael is higher than all of the lands, and the Temple higher than all of Eretz Yisrael.

(Devarim 17:9) "And you shall come": to include the beth-din in Yavneh.

"to the Cohanim, the Levites": It is a mitzvah that there be Cohanim and Levites in the beth-din.

I might think that if there are none, it is invalidated; it is, therefore, written "and to the judge": Though there be no Cohanim or Levites, it is a bona fide beth-din.

"and to the judge that shall be in those days": Now would it enter your mind that one should go to a judge who is not in his days?! (The reference is to) one who was related (to the judge by marriage), and whose relationship was subsequently dissolved, in which instance he may be judged (in "those days" following the dissolution of the relationship). Variantly: Do not say (I must have a judge) like Moses and Aaron, but (go to) "the judge that shall be in those days." As it is written (Koheleth 7:10) "Do not say: 'What has happened that the earlier days were better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask this."

"and they shall tell you the things of the judgment": the fine points.

(Devarim 17:11) "And you shall do according to the thing that they tell you from that place which the L-rd chooses": By the ruling of the great beth-din in Jerusalem (i.e., the Sanhedrin) the death penalty obtains, and not by the ruling of the beth-din in Yavneh.

(Ibid. 12) "According to the Torah that they teach you": This teaches us that (a rebellious elder) incurs the death penalty only for (controverting) words of Torah (i.e., the Written Law), but not for (controverting) the words of the scribes (i.e., the Oral Law).

"and the judgment that they tell you to do": This is a positive commandment (i.e., the rebellious elder transgresses a positive commandment).

"You shall not turn aside from the thing that they tell you": This is a negative commandment.

"right or left": Even if it seems in your eyes (that they are telling you) left is right and right is left, listen to them.

(Devarim 17:12) "And the man who shall do wilfully, not to listen": to its ruling.

"And the man who shall do": (A rebellious elder is not liable) until he teaches to do (what is contrary to the ruling of the Sanhedrin, [but not if he only voices disagreement with their ruling]).

"wilfully": He (the rebellious elder) is liable only for witting and not for unwitting transgression.

"not to listen to the Cohein": (directly), but not ("not to listen") to one who hears it from him.

"to the Cohein who stands to serve": (Ibid. 18:5) "to stand to serve" tells me that the service (of the Cohein) is only "standing." This tells me only that it is a mitzvah (for him to stand). Whence do I derive that it is a categorical requirement (i.e., that it is not valid unless he is standing)? "who stands to serve" implies that if he sits, his service is invalid.

"or to the judge": This is as we said: Even if there are no Cohanim and Levites there, it is valid.

"that man shall die": the unqualified death penalty in Scripture — strangulation.

"that man": and not one who is forced or unwitting or under some misapprehension.

"and you shall remove the evil from Israel": Remove the doer of evil from Israel.

(Devarim 17:14) "When you come to the land": Do the mitzvah prescribed herein, in reward of which you will enter the land.

"which the L-rd your G-d gives to you": in your merit.

"and you inherit it and you inhabit it": As a reward for inheriting it, you will inhabit it.

"and you say: I shall place over myself a king, as all the nations that are around me": R. Nehorai says: This verse speaks in denigration of Israel, as in (I Samuel 8:7) "For it is not you (Samuel) that they have rejected (in asking for a king), but it is Me whom they have rejected from reigning over them."

R. Yehudah said: Is it not a mitzvah of the Torah to ask for a king? viz. (Ibid. 15) "Place shall you place over yourself a king, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose"? Why, then, was Israel punished for this in the days of Samuel? — Because they (the "ignoramuses" of that generation) preempted them (the elders) by placing "like all the nations that are around us" (before "to judge us").

R. Nehorai said: They sought a king only to lead them to idolatry, as it is written (I Samuel, Ibid. 20) "And we, too, will be like all the nations, and our king will judge us and go out before us, and fight our wars."

(Devarim 17:15) "Place shall you place over yourself a king": If he dies, appoint another in his place.

"whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose": by word of a prophet.

"from the midst of your brothers": and not outside of Eretz Yisrael.

"shall you place over yourself a king": But is it not already written "Place shall you place over yourself a king"? Why, then, "shall you place over yourself a king"? That his awe be over you — whence it was ruled: One is not permitted to ride on his horse or to sit on his throne or to make use of his sceptre or to see him naked or when he is having his hair cut or when he is in the bathhouse. [Variantly: "from the midst of your brothers shall you place": All the "placings" that you "place" shall be only from the midst of your brothers — whence it was ruled: A leader is not appointed for the congregation unless his mother is an Israelite.]

"from the midst of your brothers shall you place over yourself a king": This is a positive commandment.

"You shall not be able to place over yourself a strange man, who is not your brother": This is a negative commandment.

"a strange man": an idolator. (whence it was ruled: A leader is not appointed for the congregation unless his mother is an Israelite.)

"who is not your brother": This is a slave. When (King) Agrippas came to this verse, he would burst into tears, (his father being a non-Jew), whereupon all of Israel said to him: "Fear not, Agrippas; you are our brother, you are our brother," (his mother being Jewish).

(Devarim 17:16) "Only he shall not multiply for himself horses": I might think not (even enough) for his chariot and his charioteers; it is, therefore, written "he shall not multiply for himself" — but he may multiply for his chariot and his charioteers.

How, then, is "horses" to be understood? As "idle" horses.

Whence is it derived that the addition of even one idle horse constitutes a transgression? From (Ibid.) "in order to multiply a horse."

Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If a mitzvah on which the covenant hinges (i.e., to go to Eretz Yisrael and not to return to Egypt [viz. Shemoth 14:12]) — a transgression (in this instance, returning there for horses,) returns them to Egypt, (this, the thrust of "that he not return the people to Egypt in order to add a horse"), then (returning them to the) other lands, on which the covenant does not hinge, how much more so (will a transgression return them there)!

(Devarim 17:17) "And he shall not multiply for himself wives":

R. Yehudah says: He may multiply (wives) for himself so long as they do not "turn his heart," it being written "that his heart not turn astray."

R. Shimon says: He should not marry even one that turns his heart astray. If so, why is it written "he shall not multiply himself wives" — even one (so virtuous as) Avigayil.

"and silver and gold he shall not multiply for himself overmuch": I might think, (not) even to provision the army; it is, therefore, written "he shall not multiply for himself" — but he may multiply it to provision the army.

(Devarim 17:18) "And it shall be when he shall sit on the throne of his kingdom": If he does all that is written in this regard, he is worthy of sitting on the throne of his kingdom.

"that he shall write for himself the mishneh of this Torah": expressly for himself; he is not to "bedizen" himself with those of his ancestors. "

mishneh": This tells me only of mishneh Torah ("the repetition of the Torah," i.e., the book of Devarim). Whence do I derive (that the mitzvah applies also) to the rest of the Torah? From (Ibid. 19) "to heed all the words of this Torah." If so, why is it written "the mishneh of this Torah"? Because it (i.e., the script) is destined to change (viz. Ezra 4:7 and Daniel 5:8).

Others say: On the day of Hakhel (viz. Ibid. 21:12) only mishneh Torah (Devarim) is to be read (and it is to this Hakhel reading that our verse is alluding.)

"on a scroll": and not on a tablet and not on paper, but only on a megillah (a scroll).

"before the Cohanim, the Levites": from the scroll in the azarah (the Temple court).

(Devarim 17:19) "And it shall be with him": From here they ruled: When the king goes out to war, it is with him. When he presides in judgment, it is by him. When he sits down, it is beside him.

"and he shall read in it all the days of his life": "the days of his life": the days; "all the days of his life": the nights.

"so that he learn to fear the L-rd his G-d": We are hereby taught that study leads to fear; fear to heeding, heeding, to doing. Because we find that a commoner is like a king vis-à-vis words of Torah, we might think he is like him in other things, (too); it is, therefore, written "to heed all the words of this Torah and these statutes": He is like him in respect to words of Torah, but not in respect to other things,

whence it was ruled: A king breaches (the fence of others) to make way for himself (to go to his vineyard or his field), and he may not be held back (from doing so). He may broaden roads for himself, and he is not held back from doing so. The path of the king has no limits. And all of the people take of the spoil and place it before him, and he takes the prime portion. (He chooses first and takes half of all the spoil.)

(Devarim 17:20) "So that his heart not rise above his brothers": and not (not rise) above idolators.

"and so that he not turn aside from the mitzvah": even a "slight" mitzvah of a prophet. And thus is it written (I Samuel 13:13) "And Samuel said to Saul: You have acted foolishly. You have not kept the mitzvah, etc." "and so that he not turn aside from the mitzvah, right or left": even if he (seems to be) told that right is left and left is right.

"so that he prolong his days in his kingdom": If he does as is written here, he will be worthy of prolonging days in his kingdom.

"he and his sons": If he dies, his son succeeds him. This tells me only of a king. Whence do I derive (the same for) all of Israel's leaders? From "he and his sons in the midst of Israel" — All who are "in the midst of Israel" are succeeded by their sons.

R. Chanina b. Gamliel says: It is written (I Kings 3:13) "And also what you (Solomon) did not ask I have granted you — even riches and honor": I have granted you even what is not stipulated in the Torah. Shall I not then grant you what is written in the Torah (i.e., length of days, etc.) Only on condition that you observe the Torah, viz. (Ibid. 14) "If you (Solomon) walk in My ways to keep My statutes and My mitzvoth, as did your father David, then I shall prolong your days," and (Ibid. 9:4) "And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David did, with wholeheartedness and uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, to keep My statutes and My judgments, etc."

(Devarim 18:1) "There shall not be to the Cohanim, the Levites, the entire tribe of Levi, a portion and an inheritance with Israel" From (Ibid. 7) "And he (a Cohein) shall minister in the name of the L-rd his G-d," I know only of the Cohanim. Whence do I derive (the same for) the Levites? From (Ibid. 1) "the entire tribe of Levi."

"The fire-offerings of the L-rd and His inheritance shall they eat": "the fire offerings": the Temple offerings. Whence do I derive the same for the boundary offerings (i.e., the terumoth and ma'aseroth of Eretz Yisrael)? From "and His inheritance shall they eat."

(Devarim 18:2) "And an inheritance he shall not have in the midst of his brothers": This is the inheritance of the three (peoples — Keini, Kenizi, Kadmoni).

"in the midst of his brothers": This is the inheritance of the five (peoples — Canaani, Chitti, Emori, Chivi, Yevussi).

"The L-rd is his inheritance as He spoke to him": This is the rationale of the foregoing.

(Devarim 18:3) "And this shall be the judgment of the Cohanim": We are hereby taught that the priestly gifts (shoulder, cheeks, and maw) are "law" (to the end of extracting them by court order from a thief who stole them from a Cohein who had acquired them from hefker [ownerless property]).

I might think that even all offerings (i.e., individual peace-offerings) were subject to priestly gifts, and that this followed a fortiori, viz.: If chullin (non-consecrated animals), which are not subject to (the giving to the Cohein of) breast and thigh, are subject to priestly gifts (of chullin), then consecrated animals, which are subject to breast and thigh, how much more so should they be subject to priestly gifts!

It is, therefore, written (Vayikra 7:34) "and I have given them (breast and thigh) to Aaron the Cohein." Nothing in addition to what is stated herein. I might think that chullin, too, are subject to (the giving to the Cohein of) breast and thigh, and that it follows a fortiori, viz.: If consecrated animals, which are not subject to priestly gifts (shoulder, cheeks, and maw), are subject to breast and thigh, then chullin, which are subject to priestly gifts, how much more so should they be subject to breast and thigh! It is, therefore, written "And this (shoulder, cheeks, and maw) shall be the judgment of the Cohanim."

"from the people": and not from others (i.e., gentiles), and not from his fellow Cohanim.

"from the slaughterers of the slaughtering": to exclude (from priestly gifts) a treifah (an organically defective animal).

"from the slaughterers of the slaughtering": The time of the slaughtering is the criterion. From here they ruled: If a stranger converted and he had a cow — If it were slaughtered before he converted, he is exempt (from priestly gifts); if after he converted, he is liable. If the matter is in doubt (safek), he is exempt, and "the burden of the proof is upon him who would remove (the object) from his neighbor's domain.

"whether ox or sheep": to include (in the obligation of priestly gifts) kilayim (hybrids). "whether ox or sheep": (Priestly gifts obtain) both in Eretz Yisrael and outside of it. (Now why is a verse needed to tell us this?) Does it not follow a fortiori, viz.: There is liability here (for priestly gifts), and there is liability for the first of the shearing. Just as the first of the shearing obtains in Eretz Yisrael and outside of it, so, the priestly gifts! Or, go in this direction: There is liability here (for priestly gifts), and there is liability for terumath reishith (i.e., terumah gedolah, which goes to the Cohein). Just as terumath reishith obtains only in Eretz Yisrael, so, the priestly gifts!

Let us see what it (priestly gifts) is most like. We derive something (i.e., priestly gifts) that is not land-linked and not consecrated, from something (the first of the shearing) which is not land-linked and not consecrated. And this is not to be refuted by terumath reishith, which is land-linked and consecrated.

Or, go in this direction: We derive something (priestly gifts), which obtains both with much and with little (produce), from something (terumath reishith), which obtains both with much and with little. And this is not to be refuted by the first shearing, which obtains only with many (and not with one sheep).

It is, therefore, written "whether ox or sheep": both in Eretz Yisrael or outside it.

"and he shall give to the Cohein": to the Cohein himself.

R. Yehudah says: The expounders of metaphors were wont to say: He (the Cohein) is given the shoulder for the hand (of Pinchas the Cohein), viz. (Bamidbar 25:7) "and he arose from the mist of the congregation and he (Pinchas) took a spear in his hand." "the cheeks": for the prayer (of Pinchas), viz. (Psalms 106:30) "and Pinchas arose and prayed." "the maw (kevah)": for (Bamidbar 25:8) "and (he pierced) the woman through her belly (kavathah)."

(Devarim 18:4) "The first (i.e., terumah) of your corn": We are hereby taught that terumah is given only of the choicest. "your corn, your wine, and your oil": We are hereby taught that terumah is not given from one for the other. And just as we find that we do not give terumah from two of these kinds from one for the other, so, we do not give terumah from grains and from greens from one kind for the other.

"and the first of the shearing": and not the first (wool that is shed as a result) of the washing.

"the first of the shearing": and not the first of the tearing.

"the first of the shearing": both in Eretz Yisrael and outside of it.

"your flock": and not that of others (i.e., of gentiles [that you have purchased]). From here it was ruled that one who purchases the shearing of a flock belonging to gentiles is exempt from the (obligation of) the first of the shearing. The shearing of his flock (that he purchased) from his neighbor — if the seller left over (of the shearing itself) for himself, the seller is liable (for the first of the shearing); if he did not, (i.e., if he told the buyer: The first of the shearing of the Cohein is with you), the buyer is liable.