Psalmów 55:5 Halacha: Mishneh Torah, Foundations

Whosoever, of whom it is said that he shall transgress and not die, if he die and did not transgress, the guilt thereof be upon his soul;²Ibid. 27. Tosfot commends such act. C. G. and whosoever, concerning whom it is said that he shall die and not transgress, and he did die and did not transgress, he sanctified the Name of God; and if this happened in the presence of ten Israelites, he sanctified the Name of God among many, even like unto Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah and Rabbi Akiba and his associates, who have been slain by decree of a tyrannical government to which degree of martyrdom there is no parallel, concerning whom it is said: "But for Thy sake we are killed all the day; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter" (Ps. 44.23); and concerning whom it is moreover said: "Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice" (Ibid. 50.5). And whosoever, concerning whom it is said that he shall die and not transgress, did transgress and did not die, blasphemed the Name of God, and if he did this in the presence of ten Israelites, he blasphemed the Name of God in the presence of many, violated the mandatory commandment of the sanctification of God, and transgressed the prohibitive commandment of blasphemy. Nevertheless, because he committed the transgression in duress, he is not lashed, needless to say that no punishment of death is inflicted upon him by a tribunal, even though he commit murder in duress; for no punishment of either lashes or death is inflicted unless one commits the crime willfully in the presence of witnesses, and received a warning not to do it, even as it is said of one who sacrifices his children to Mollech: "And I will set my face against that man" (Lev. 20.3), which is traditionally understood to mean that that man was not under duress, nor in error, nor in ignorance. Now, if idolatry, which is the capital offense of them all, yet whosoever worships it in duress, is not guilty to be cut off from among his people, not to say of being put to death by a tribunal, a minori ad majus that an offense against the other commandments enumerated in the Torah should remain as the major premise. Furthermore, concerning adultery it is said: "But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing" (Deut. 22. 26).³She was under duress. G. But if he can save his life and flee from the jurisdiction of such a wicked king, and he does it not, he is likened unto a dog that returneth to his vomit, and is called a willful worshipper of idolatry, and is deprived of the world to come, for he will descend into the nethermost level of the Gehenna.