신명기 17:8의 주석

כי יפלא IF THERE BE [A THING] TOO HARD [FOR THEE IN JUDGMENT] — The term פלא always denotes separation and being at a distance; it means here that the matter is apart and is hidden from thee.

IF THERE ARISE A MATTER TOO HARD FOR THEE IN JUDGMENT, BETWEEN BLOOD AND BLOOD, BETWEEN PLEA AND PLEA, AND BETWEEN PLAGUE AND PLAGUE, MATTERS OF CONTROVERSY WITHIN THY GATES. “Matters of controversy — if the Sages of the city disagree over the matter, this one declaring it unclean and that one declaring it clean, this one convicting and that one acquitting.” This is Rashi’s language. It is also the opinion of Onkelos [who translated: matters of controversy — “disagreement among the judges”]. But it is not correct.⁸¹For, according to Rashi, the expression matters of controversy refers back to between blood and blood etc. Ramban will explain matters of controversy as an independent expression, as explained further on. Rather, according to the Midrash thereof⁸²Sifre, Shoftim 152. Sanhedrin 87a. it means as follows: “Between blood and blood, [the Sages disagree whether the blood in question is clean or unclean, the blood being any of the following]: the blood of a menstruous woman, the blood of a woman in childbirth, or the blood of a woman suffering a flux. Between plea and plea, [they disagree concerning the verdict in] civil cases, capital cases, and laws of scourging. And between plague and plague, [concerning] plagues of man, plagues of houses, and plagues of garments. Matters of controversy, giving the water to a suspected adulteress,⁸³Numbers 5:24. the breaking of the heifer’s neck,⁸⁴Further, 21:4. and the purifying of the leper.” Thus the meaning of the word between [‘between’ blood and blood] is “and between,” [the verse stating: If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, “and” between blood and blood, since the phrase between blood and blood is a new category, and not in apposition to the first part of the verse]. The letter lamed [in the words l’dam which literally means “in regard to blood” and l’din — “in regard to a plea”] has the usage here of a beth [meaning “among”], “between blood ‘among’ blood, plea ‘among’ pleas,” meaning, should a case arise concerning one [form of blood] among the various forms of blood, or concerning one [plea] among the various pleas, [a case that will be too difficult for you to decide]. A similar usage [of a lamed serving as beth is found in these verses:] but the name of the city was Luz ‘larishonah’⁸⁵Genesis 28:19. [literally: “‘to’ the beginning”] means barishonah — “in the beginning;” the Eternal smote him in his bowels ‘lacholi l’ein marpei’⁸⁶II Chronicles 21:18. [literally: “to an incurable disease”] means bacholi b’ein marpei — “with an incurable disease;” and he covered it with fine gold ‘l’chikarim’ [literally: “to talents”] six hundred⁸⁷Ibid., 3:8. means b’chikarim — “with talents.” There are many similar cases. Or it may be that the meaning of the word between [‘between’ blood and blood etc.] is “between [a certain flow of] blood in regard to all other bloods, between [a certain kind of] plea in regard to all pleas.” Similarly, and whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall warn them, that they not be guilty towards the Eternal.⁸⁸Ibid., 19:10.
And in line with the plain meaning of Scripture the verse means: between blood and blood, matters of bloodshed; [between plea and plea] in civil cases; [and between plague and plague]cases of wounds and bruises [i.e., bodily injury] — all matters of controversy that shall be in your cities. Scripture thus speaks of common occurrences, for in the matters of ordinances [cases between man and his neighbor], more disagreements will arise than in other decisions. The law of the elder [who rebels against the decision of the highest court] is, however, alike in all cases. Therefore He said, And thou shalt do according to the Torah (law) which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee,⁸⁹Verse 11. The expression and thou shalt do is from Verse 10. for the word “Torah” alludes to the rest of the decisions.

כי יפלא ממך, even though you have appointed competent judges in each town and city, in order that each court would dispense justice in its home base, if a doubt arises as to what the correct ruling is according to reliable tradition, the local court is not to hand down a ruling according to their opinion when it is not supported by authentic tradition, but the problem should be submitted to the Supreme Court, Sanhedrin. The same holds true when the judges in the local court were deadlocked.

כי יפלא ממך דבר למשפט, "If a matter of judgment is hidden from you, etc." The apparently extraneous word למשפט is needed to remind us that the subject matter now being introduced, i.e. the "rebellious elder" who will be executed for insubordination to the Supreme Court, is applicable only to the kind of person who had himself been ordained as judge, etc. (compare Mishnah Sanhedrin 86). If the dissenting opinion was handed down as law by a student who had not yet been ordained, such a pupil is not liable to the penalty provided for in our paragraph. I have found a Baraitha in Sanhedrin 87 which derives the fact that an unordained student is free from the death penalty from an interpretation of the word כי יפלא in our verse as not meaning "if it is concealed," but "if the most distinguished one of the judges errs." If we base ourselves on this exegesis we can understand why the Torah added the word למשפט. It means that unless the dissenting opinion was actually formulated as a practical judgment, -as opposed to a learned opinion,- such as by the presiding judge of the Sanhedrin- the penalty provided in our paragraph is not applicable. This is also why the Mishnah added that the words in verse 12: "and the man who will act deliberately sinfully, etc." prove this point. Accordingly, our verse would prove that the dissenting elder is guilty of death only if he personally acts against the majority decision but not if he instructed others to do so. The word למשפט is needed therefore to also make him guilty if he instructed others to act on the basis of his dissenting ruling.

בין דם לדם, according to the plain meaning, between one kind of murder and another kind of murder. [either knowing if the killing had been deliberate or not, or, killing a terminally sick person in great pain, for instance, and killing a terrorist without trial, both deliberate acts, of course. Ed.]

דברי ריבות בשעריך, “matters of dispute in your respective cities;” Rashi understands this verse not as referring to strife of a secular nature, but to disagreements amongst Torah scholars on how to rule in a matter brought to them for a binding decision. One group of sages tends to declare the object under discussion as ritually pure, whereas the other group disagrees. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text the words בין דם לדם, refer to murder that has been committed, and there is a disagreement as to who is guilty of committing it. The words בין דין לדין refer to disputes involving money, or money due as compensation. The words בין נגע לנגע refer to injuries of different kinds caused to people or to the status of houses afflicted with what appears to be tzoraat. Finally, the words דברי ריבות בשעריך refer to any kind of disagreement between scholars or laymen. The phraseology, i.e. the examples, quoted in the text, has been chosen on the basis of what occurs most frequently. Disputes involving human relations and their belongings are much more frequent than disputes involving finer points of religious ritual. This is why Moses concludes with reminding the people that all of these disputes must be resolved, even by the highest tribunal, on the basis of the revealed law of Hashem, the Torah, and the judges must show that they have ruled on the basis of Torah law.

כי יפלא ממך דבר, “if some matter is hidden from you;” the word יפלא describes something concealed as we know already from Genesis 18,14 where the Torah makes the point that no future event (or past) is concealed from Hashem.
בין דם לדם, “between blood and blood,” i.e. someone who shed blood and is guilty of bloodshed and someone who shed blood and is innocent (self-defense, for instance).
בין דין לדין, “between justice and justice,” in disputes concerning financial matters; (Ibn Ezra).
בין נגע לנגע, “between plague and plague;” injuries and liability for compensation for them (Ibn Ezra).
דברי ריבות, “conflicting arguments;” this applies to all the above.

The matter is separated and concealed from you. You might ask why Rashi seemingly repeats himself? The answer is that first he explains that it [יפלא] denotes “separation or setting apart” because anything hidden and covered from a person is separated and set apart from him. Afterwards he repeats, “The matter is separated, etc.,” because כי יפלא ממך actually means that it is hidden and covered from him. Therefore [in the second sentence] Rashi [repeats the meaning of יפלא] from [its actual] meaning to [its related] meaning.

V. 8. כי יפלא וגו׳. Verse 8 — 13 setzen den an der Zentralstätte des Gesetzesheiligtums fungierenden obersten Gerichtshof zur höchsten und einzigen Autorität ein, in deren Schoß die authentische Überlieferung und Auslegung des Gesetzes, sowie jede Anordnung für die richtige Ausführung desselben mit endgültiger Entscheidungskraft beruht, welcher somit das Volk im ganzen so wie dessen gesetzlehrende Funktionäre widerspruchlos für die Gesetzespraxis Folge zu geben haben. — כי יפלא. Wir haben Wajikra 22, 21 in פלא, Wunder, ein solches Ereignis erkannt, das außer allem Zusammenhang mit der bestehenden Ordnung der Dinge und völlig unabhängig von ihr aus dem reinen Willensakt der göttlichen Allmacht in die Erscheinung tritt. Zusammenhangloses Gesondertsein ist die Grundbedeutung von פלא. Für die Gesetz lehrende und nach dem Gesetz entscheidende Funktion bezeichnet es hier daher einen solchen Fall, für welchen dem Funktionär Zusammenhang und Analogie mit anderen feststehenden Normen und Tatsachen des Gesetzes fehlen, aus welchen er die Entscheidung mit Sicherheit ableiten könnte: der Fall ist ihm ein פלא. Gleichzeitig ist damit (nach Sanhedrin 87 a) vorausgesetzt, dass es: hier von einem im übrigen zur Entscheidung voll befähigten Gesetzeskundigen, und nicht von einem überhaupt nicht zur Gesetzesentscheidung Berufenen handelt. Ein solcher würde nicht den V. 12 ausgesprochenen Folgen eines זקן ממרה, einer dem höchsten Tribunal entgegenhandelnden Autorität unterliegen, כי יפלא ממך דבר ,במופלא שבב׳׳ד הכתוב למעוטי תלמיד (Tossfot Sanhedrin 87a). Einem תלמיד שלא הגיע להוראה ist eben alles פלא (siehe רמ׳׳בם im Kommentar zur משנה).

כי יפלא ממך דבר, “if there is a matter which is too difficult for you. [a local court, Ed.] The word יפלא is similar in meaning to the word יתכסה, “hidden;” The word belongs to a category of words that can have two meanings depending on the context in which it appears. We find the phrase כי יפליא נדר, (Leviticus 27,2) “when someone clearly utters a vow;” on the other hand we find כי יפליא לנדור, (Numbers 6,2) “when someone makes a vow to deny himself something. The author cites more examples.”

בין דם לדם [IF THERE IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THEE IN JUDGMENT] BETWEEN BLOOD AND BLOOD — i.e. between the blood of the menstruous woman that may be unclean blood, and blood that may be clean (Niddah 19a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 152:5),

בין דין לדין, financial litigation,

One finding that it is unclean, the other that it is clean. Rashi means that when Scripture writes “between blood and blood, etc.,” [it means that] they know nothing at all; rather, [the law] is separated and covered from them. But when it is written “matters under dispute,” they know [to some extent], except that “one finds that it is unclean, the other that it is clean.” Otherwise how is it written, “If a matter of law is too abstruse,” which implies that it is covered from them and they know nothing at all, and then write “matters under dispute,” which implies that “one finds that it is clean, the other that it is unclean, etc.” (In the name of Maharitz). Re”m explains that the difference between the doubt [argument] over here and between [the earlier statement], “If a matter of law is too abstruse, etc. between blood and blood,” is that there the doubt involved the blood itself, whether it was clean or unclean, or if the plaintiff is not guilty or guilty. But here the doubt involves the words of the city’s wise men, that one rules “not guilty” and one rules “guilty” [and the doubt revolves] upon whom to rely. Alternatively, the verse first makes a general statement, “If a matter of law is too abstruse, etc.,” and then it explains, “Matters under dispute etc,” one finding that it is clean, the other that it is unclean, etc.

We may also approach the verse from the following angle. כי יפלא …למשפט, "Even if the dissenting opinion was issued as an instruction to act contrary to the majority ruling of the local court, and it is proven that the majority opinion was in error, if the subject matter was one where deliberately sinning carries the karet penalty, etc., the dissenting judge will not be executed unless he repeated the same ruling in the face of the majority opinion of the Supreme Court, openly defying them." This is also the concensus of the sages in the Talmud on the application of this halachah.

בין נגע : ובין נגע לנגע ,בין דין זבאי לדין חייב :בין דין לדין ;בין דם טמא לדם טהור :בין דם לדם: רשי׳) טמא לנגע טהור). Damit wären denn drei Hauptkategorien bezeichnet, in denen sich ein Entscheidungszweifel treffen könnte: דיני ,(בין דם לדם) איסור והיתר (ובין נגע לנגע) טמאה וטהרה (בין דין לדין) ממונות ונפשות . בין ־ ל ־ drückt den Zweifel aus. Man schwankt, ob man das דם für טמא oder לבעל) טהור), den Angeklagten für חייב oder וכאי, das נגע für נגע טמא oder נגע טהור erklären soll. (Misrachi scheint entgangen zu sein, dass es nach unserer Lesart in der ברייתא (Sanhedrin 81 a) nicht heißt: בין דם לדם בין דם נדה לדם לידה לדם זיבה, sondern בין דם נדה דם לידה דם זיבה, und so auch נגעי בתים נגעי בגדים נגעי אדם ,דיני נפשות דיני ממונות דיני מכות und offenbar nicht die Alternative des Zweifels, sondern Gesetzestitel aufgezählt sind, die unter דין ,דם und נגע zu begreifen wären, unter welchen sich ein Zweifel ergeben mag, ebenso wie die ferneren החרמין וההקדשות והערכין usw.)

ממך דבר, “the Torah addresses a specific judge who is unable to determine whether the accused in a capital case deserves the death penalty. The Torah lists three different categories of subjects in which the judge in question does not feel competent to hand down a ruling. [All three categories are subjects for which the priests are the proper address to give rulings. Ed.]

בין דין לדין BETWEEN PLEA AND PLEA — i.e. between a verdict of acquittal and a verdict of “guilty”.

נגע, skin afflictions described in Leviticus chapter 13.

This teaches that the Beis Hamikdosh was loftier than all other places. Meaning [that it was higher] than all other places in other countries, but excluding Eretz Yisoel where Ein Eitam was higher, as Rashi explains below (33:12) on the verse, “And He resides between his shoulders. (Tosafos in Sanhedrin 87a).

Between blood and blood. It appears that these three matters are mentioned, for they complete a person’s existence. Every man requires personal perfection, and he requires a wife and a livelihood. Therefore the verse states, “between blood and blood” which alludes to relations between a husband and wife; “between decision and decision” which alludes to how one should act with others; and “between leprosy and leprosy” which alludes to how one should act with himself. It is appropriate for the High Court to be involved with these three matters, for the existence of the world depends upon them.

דברי ריבות בשעריך fasst alle sonstigen Fälle zusammen, hinsichtlich deren sich ein Gesetzeszweifel ergeben mag, die בשעריך durch die Gerichtsdelegierten in den Städten und Stämmen (siehe V. 18) nicht zum Austrag gebracht werden können, dort vielmehr דברי ריבות offene Streitfragen unter den Gesetzesautoritäten bleiben.

בין נגע לנגע BETWEEN PLAGUE AND PLAGUE — i.e. between a plague that may be unclean and a plague that may be clean.

מב׳׳ד :וקמת (daselbst) jeder Gerichtshof wird in seiner Funktion sitzend gedacht. In jedem Orte war täglich bis zur Mittagsstunde permanente Gerichtssitzung, wo jeder, der ein Rechtsurteil oder eine Gesetzesentscheidung suchte, die zum Spruch Befugten beisammen fand. Ward nun durch einen solchen ungelösten Zweifelfall ein Gerichtshof selbst belehrungsbedürftig, so hat er seine Sitzungen zu unterbrechen und erst dorthin hinaufzuwandern, wo ihm die Entscheidung werden kann (Raschi daselbst).

דברי ריבה BEING THINGS OF STRIFE [WITHIN THY GATES] — i.e. that the scholars of the city (the judges) be of different opinions in that particular matter (cf. Onkelos), the one declaring it unclean, the other clean, the one sentencing, the other acquitting,

מלמד שבית המקדש גבוה מא׳׳י :ועלית (daselbst) das Gesetzesheiligtum, in dessen Räumen auch der oberste Gerichtshof seine Sitzung hatte, lag höher als alle Wohnörter des jüdischen Landes.

וקמת ועלית THEN SHALT THOU RISE AND GO UP [UNTO THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD THY GOD SHALL CHOOSE] — This (the phrase “go up”) teaches that the Temple (in the vicinity of which the Sanhedrin sat) was situated higher than all other places in Palestine (Sifrei Devarim 152:15; Sanhedrin 87a). (cf. however, Ibn Ezra on Numbers 16:12.)

מלמד שהמקום גורם :אל המקום אשר יבחר ד׳ אלקיך בו (daselbst) der Ort selbst ist für die hier gegebene Bestimmung von wesentlicher Bedeutung. Wie Gott eine einzige Stätte erwählt hat, um dort das Zeugnis seiner Gesetzesoffenbarung niederzulegen, die Anforderungen und Konsequenzen dieses Gesetzes in symbolischen Darstellungen zu der Nation reden zu lassen und deren Hingebung an dieses Gesetz in symbolischen Handlungen entgegenzunehmen: so hat er auch dieselbe Stätte als die einzige Örtlichkeit bezeichnet, wo die höchste Gesetzesautorität für die konkrete Erkenntnis und Verwirklichung dieses seines Gesetzes ihren Sitz haben soll, also, dass die symbolische und konkrete Zentralstelle des Gesetzes nur eine sei. Man kann sagen: was die בגדי כהונה für den Priester sind, das ist die לשכת הגזית für das סנהדרין. Nur auf dem Boden des Gesetzesheiligtums in der dem Altar zur Seite ihm eingeräumten Halle ist auch das Sanhedrin, dieses aus der geistigen Elite der Nation bestehende höchste Gesetzeskollegium, mit der Fülle seiner Attribute bekleidet, also, dass nur so lange es dort seinen Sitz hat, ihm sowohl, als seinen in die Städte des Landes delegierten Gerichtshöfen das Urteil über Leben und Tod, דיני נפשות, zusteht, und ebenso, nur wenn dem in Folgendem besprochenen Funktionär die Entscheidung des Sanhedrin von dieser Stätte aus erfolgt war, sein Zuwiderhandeln das Leben verwirkt (Sanhedrin 14 b; Aboda Sara 8 b ׳רשי und תוספו׳ (daselbst); — vergl. Wajikra S. 74 f.)