לֹֽא־יָקוּם֩ עֵ֨ד אֶחָ֜ד בְּאִ֗ישׁ לְכָל־עָוֺן֙ וּלְכָל־חַטָּ֔את בְּכָל־חֵ֖טְא אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֶֽחֱטָ֑א עַל־פִּ֣י ׀ שְׁנֵ֣י עֵדִ֗ים א֛וֹ עַל־פִּ֥י שְׁלֹשָֽׁה־עֵדִ֖ים יָק֥וּם דָּבָֽר׃
Un témoignage isolé ne sera pas valable contre une personne, quel que soit le crime ou le délit, quelque faute qui lui soit imputée: c’est par la déposition de deux témoins, ou de trois, qu’un fait sera établi.
Rashi
עד אחד ONE WITNESS [SHALL NOT RISE UP AGAINST A MAN FOR ANY INIQUITY] — This is the classic passage from which the general principle is derived that wherever the term “witness” (עד) occurs in the Torah, it means two witnesses, unless it specifically mentions in connection with it the word אחד (Sanhedrin 30a).
Ibn Ezra
Moreover, someone who accuses his fellow of encroaching on his property must bring witnesses, hence the passage one witness will not stand — whether testifying against a murderer, or a batterer, or an encroacher upon property, or anything else. the testimony of two [Hebrew: shney] witnesses Here Scripture employs the short form of the word. Elsewhere, Scripture reads “the testimony of two [Hebrew: shnayim] witnesses” [17: 6].
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא יקום עד אחד באיש, “A single witness shall not stand up against any man, etc.;” this verse follows the legislation about moving boundaries to teach that if an owner of a field accuses his neighbor of having moved the mutual boundary between their fields, he has to bring no less than two witnesses to substantiate his accusation. The words of a single witness have no value as testimony, neither when matters of corporal punishment nor monetary punishment is involved.
לכל עון ולכל חטאת, “for any iniquity or for any error;” such as if the single witness testifies that the party he has seen committed a sin against the Lord, such as a violation of the Sabbath, be it intentional or unintentional.
בכל חטא, “of any sin.” This refers to sins involving only words between himself and his fellow.
אשר יחטא, this refers to sins involving money between one person and another. In all of these situations the testimony of a single witness is legally meaningless. Only the testimony of two witnesses can result in the accused being punished.
Our sages in Shevuot 40 interpret the words לכל עון ולכל חטאת restrictively, i.e. only in order to testify concerning sins committed by an action is a single witness useless; however regarding matters of oaths, the testimony of a single witness is not irrelevant at all. Example: Reuven claims that Shimon owes him a sum of money and Shimon denies it. A single witness, Levi, testifies that Shimon does owe Reuven the money. In that instance the testimony of Levi is enough for Shimon to have to repeat his denial on oath.
לכל עון ולכל חטאת, “for any iniquity or for any error;” such as if the single witness testifies that the party he has seen committed a sin against the Lord, such as a violation of the Sabbath, be it intentional or unintentional.
בכל חטא, “of any sin.” This refers to sins involving only words between himself and his fellow.
אשר יחטא, this refers to sins involving money between one person and another. In all of these situations the testimony of a single witness is legally meaningless. Only the testimony of two witnesses can result in the accused being punished.
Our sages in Shevuot 40 interpret the words לכל עון ולכל חטאת restrictively, i.e. only in order to testify concerning sins committed by an action is a single witness useless; however regarding matters of oaths, the testimony of a single witness is not irrelevant at all. Example: Reuven claims that Shimon owes him a sum of money and Shimon denies it. A single witness, Levi, testifies that Shimon does owe Reuven the money. In that instance the testimony of Levi is enough for Shimon to have to repeat his denial on oath.
Siftei Chakhamim
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לכל עון ולכל חטאת [ONE WITNESS SHALL NOT RISE UP AGAINST A PERSON] FOR ANY INIQUITY OR ANY SIN — i.e. that his fellow man should be punished on account of his evidence either by bodily punishment or by a monetary punishment; but he may rise up against his fellow men to compel him to take an oath. If, for instance, one says to his fellow, “Return me the maneh which I lent you”, and he replies “I have nothing of yours in my possession”, and one witness testifies that he has, he (the defendant) must take an oath to satisfy him (Shevuot 40a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 188:9).