Rabbi Yonathan tackled a fundamental question in Jewish jurisprudence: how do we know that a beth din — a rabbinic court — must consist of three judges? The answer, he demonstrated, is encoded in the Torah's own language through a precise counting of the word "elohim" — a word that, in legal contexts, refers to judges.
The verse states: "Until elohim shall come the matter of both." Here, the word "elohim" appears for the first time in the passage. But Rabbi Yonathan applied the interpretive principle that "beginnings are not expounded" — meaning the first occurrence of a term in a given passage is treated as introductory and is not counted toward the derivation. So this first "elohim" is set aside.
The verse continues: "Whom elohim shall incriminate." Here is the second occurrence of "elohim" — and this one counts. That gives us one judge. Looking at the broader context, a third occurrence of "elohim" can be found, giving us a second judge. The count so far: two.
But Rabbi Yonathan then invoked another legal principle: "there is no evenly balanced beth din." A court of two judges could deadlock, split one against one, with no way to reach a majority decision. To prevent this, one additional judge is added to every court. Two plus one equals three.
And so, from the repetition of a single word and the application of two interpretive principles, the Torah establishes the minimum composition of a Jewish court: three judges, always an odd number, always capable of reaching a decisive majority ruling.