shoftim torah portiondivinity 2 respec talents

An Act Declaring What Shall Be Treason. "[253] At the Constitutional Convention, the requirement for two witnesses first appeared in the first draft of the Constitution presented on August 6, 1787. One would go into banishment if while coming down a ladder, one fell and killed someone. [217], The Mishnah taught that a group of convicted perjurers divided monetary penalties among themselves, but penalties of lashes were not divided among offenders. If the woman died, he was to pay one-half of a mina of silver. The Mishnah held that if, however, it had been determined by only three, the determination held good. [243], Baya ibn Paquda read Deuteronomy 18:13, "You shall be perfect with the Lord your God," to mean that one should aim to make one's exterior and interior selves equal and consistent in the service of God, so that the testimony of the heart, tongue, and limbs are alike and support and confirm each other. Samuel bar Nahman also taught in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that judges should always think of themselves as if they had a sword hanging over them and Gehenna gaping under them, as Song of Songs 3:78 says: "Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; 60 mighty men are about it, of the mighty men of Israel. "Inner-biblical Interpretation." Rather, they gave the perjurer 40 lashes. [262], The word used for the dedication of a new house in Deuteronomy 20:5 is the same as the word used for the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:63, but the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that "nowhere else in the Old Testament is there any mention of the dedication of a private house". He contrasted the roots of the religion and duties that can be fulfilled through reason and recognition, with regard to which he deduced a duty to reflect and investigate with one's intellect, understanding, and judgment, until one sifts the truth from the false. Therefore, the Gemara concluded, one must understand "fruit" to mean the performance of commandments (that the murdered person would no longer be able to fulfill). The king would take the Israelites' daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. The Mishnah taught that 10 including a kohen were required in the case of valuation of real estate or a person. If one destroyed the eye of a slave or broke a bone of a slave, he was to pay one-half the slave's price. The king would take the Israelites' fields, vineyards, and olive yards and give them to his servants. [264], Some scholars who follow the Documentary Hypothesis consider all of the parashah to have been part of the original Deuteronomic Code (sometimes abbreviated Dtn) that the first Deuteronomistic historian (sometimes abbreviated Dtr 1) included in the edition of Deuteronomy that existed during Josiah's time. 6th7th century, in, e.g., For more on medieval Jewish interpretation, see, e.g., Barry D. Walfish. [85], Simeon ben Halafta told that once an ant dropped a grain of wheat, and all the ants came and sniffed at it, yet not one of them took it, until the one to whom it belonged came and took it. Rabbi Judah taught that a king could marry a king's widow, for David married the widow of Saul, as 2 Samuel 12:8 reports, "And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives to your bosom. [213], The Mishnah taught how they punished perjurers where they could not punish the perjurers with the punishment that the perjurers sought to inflict. Similarly, the words of Exodus 23:8, "And a gift shall you not accept; for a gift blinds them that have sight," apply to tell that a judge who accepted a bribe or who perverted justice would become poor of vision. Sifre to Deuteronomy 146:1, in, e.g., Jacob Neusner, translator, Sifre to Deuteronomy, volume 2, page 7. Asylum in the Covenant Collection (Exodus 21:12-14) and Deuteronomy (19:1-13)., Deuteronomy 16.1818.22: Meeting the Challenge of Towns and Nations., Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, "A 'Missing Case' in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum? [80] Rabbi Meir taught that courts of three judges determined whether intercalation of an additional month to the year was needed, but Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel said that the matter was initiated by three, discussed by five, and determined by seven. Judah said that he could have more wives, provided that they did not turn away his heart. Deuteronomy 17:1420 sets out rules for kings. Jacob told the brothers that if Joseph gave them a sign of which subject Joseph and Jacob had last studied together, then Jacob would believe them. For example, follow after Rabbi Eliezer to Lod, after Rabban Yoanan ben Zakkai to Beror ayil. [113], The Rabbis explained that God commanded Moses to carve two tablets in Deuteronomy 10:1 because they were to act as witnesses between God and Israel. Rabbi Akiva deduced that the addition of the third witness in Deuteronomy 17:6 was to teach that the perjury of a third, superfluous witness was just as serious as that of the others. The (Pharisee) Sages noted that Deuteronomy 19:19 says, "then shall you do to him as he purposed to do to his brother," implying that his brother was still alive. In, Benjamin D. Sommer. (Just as one was prohibited to benefit from sacrifices, so also one was thus prohibited to benefit from the heifer. The Levites' role as judges also appears in Chronicles and Nehemiah. [249] Von Rad cited Deuteronomy 12; 14:2229; 15:1923; 16; 17:813; 18:18; and 19:113 among a small number of centralizing laws that he argued belong closely together and were a special, later stratum in Deuteronomy. The Mishnah deduced that the language of Deuteronomy 17:6 meant to analogize between a set of two witnesses and a set of three witnesses. For more on classical rabbinic interpretation, see, e.g.. Sifre to Deuteronomy 144:3:1 (Land of Israel, circa 250350 CE), in, e.g., Jacob Neusner, translator. It is either you or I! [222], In the Sifre, Rabbi Yossi the Galilean taught that one should not go out to war unless one has hands, feet, eyes, and teeth, for Scripture juxtaposes the words of Deuteronomy 19:21, "Your eyes shall not pity; a soul for a soul, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot," with those of Deuteronomy 20:1, "when you go out to war against your foes. Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof - Justice, justice you shall pursue. WebShoftim | Portions Listings - Reading and Audio | Torah Portions Weekly readings from the Torah, Prophets and Gospels, with commentary, summaries and audio service. [139], Johanan bar Nappaha taught that sorcerers are called , kashefim, because they seek to contradict the power of Heaven. Thus if the perjurers testified that a person owed a friend 200 zuz, and they were found to have committed perjury, the court divided the damages proportionately among the perjurers. (Otherwise, those who claimed exemption because of sinfulness would have to expose themselves publicly as transgressors.) [4] "Justice, justice shalt thou follow", he said. Judah the Prince said that the same rule applied to monetary suits or capital charges where the disqualified witnesses joined to take part in the warning of the defendant, but the rule did not disqualify the remaining witnesses where the disqualified witnesses did not take part in the warning. [71], The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:[72], Philo called the rule that a judge should not receive the testimony of a single witness "an excellent commandment." [236], A Midrash told that when the Patriarch Joseph was young, he used to study Torah with Jacob. The Girgashites vacated their land and thus merited receiving land in Africa. Oden taught that prophets (1) were messengers of God, (2) interpreted events close at hand, (3) declared holy war, (4) made kings, (5) criticized kings, (6) upheld old traditions, and (7) prosecuted covenant violations. Sifre to Deuteronomy 145:1:2, in, e.g., Jacob Neusner, translator, Sifre to Deuteronomy, volume 2, page 6. Rav Papa said in the name of Rava that Exodus 21:19 referred explicitly to healing, and the verse would not make sense if one assumed that retaliation was meant. Deuteronomy 13:9 and 17:7 both state that the witnesses verifying wrongful worship of other gods shall also be the first to carry out the death sentence. Chapter 16 Appointing If they were equally near to their destinations, then they were to compromise and the one that went first was to compensate the one who gave way. [44], In the seventh reading, Moses instructed that when the Israelites approached to attack a town, they were to offer it terms of peace, and if the town surrendered, then all the people of the town were to serve the Israelites as slaves. Then the court sent and brought the slayer back from the city of refuge. ", Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, book 4, chapter 8, paragraph 15, subparagraph 219, Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Canaanite Kingship in Theory and Practice., Samuel's Denunciation of Kingship in the Light of the Akkadian Documents from Ugarit., Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Privilege against Self-Incrimination: Israel., The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, Charismatic Kingship in Israel and Judah., One from among Your Brethen Shall You Set King over You., The Monarchic Imperative in Rabbinic Perspective., Kingship, Samuel and the Story of Hanna., Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, Rabbinic Views on KingshipA Study in Jewish Sovereignty., The Inclusio and Other Framing Devices in Deuteronomy IXXVIII., The Historic and Contemporary Relationships between, The Circumscription of the King: Deuteronomy 17:1617 in Its Ancient Social Context., The Zeal of Phinehas: The Bible and the Legitimation of Violence., Blood Feud and State Control: Differing Legal Institutions for the Remedy of Homicide During the Second and First Millennia B.C.E., Why Does Deuteronomy Legislate Cities of Refuge? "[122], The Mishnah recounted a story that demonstrated the authority of the court in Deuteronomy 17:11that one must follow the rulings of the court and "not turn . How much more should people, who have judges and officers, hearken to them. The Gemara then asked how the Rabbis interpreted the words, "so that he die" (which seems to indicate that the witness may not argue only when it leads to death). The Court executed whomever the court found guilty of a capital crime, and the court acquitted whomever the court found not guilty of a capital crime. The Sages taught that one might have thought that perjurers were liable to be executed from the moment that they delivered their perjured testimony, so Deuteronomy 19:21 says "life for life" to instruct that perjurers were not to be put to death until after the conclusion of the trial. The midrash explained that sacrifices were operative only so long as the Temple stood, but righteousness and justice hold good even when the Temple no longer stands. Wealthy, as Exodus 34:1 reports God's instruction to Moses, "Carve yourself two tablets of stone," and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from Deuteronomy 9:17, in which Moses reports, "And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them," and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. The Sifre explained that Deuteronomy 19:14 teaches that one who removes a neighbor's boundary mark violates two negative commandments. [15] The king was to write for himself a copy of this Teaching to remain with him and read all his life, so that he might learn to revere God and faithfully observe these laws. [111], Rav Zutra bar Tobiah reported that Rav reasoned that Deuteronomy 17:6 disqualified isolated testimony when it prescribes that at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. This special admonition against one witness would seem redundant to the earlier context, At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, so it was taken to mean that individual witnesses who witnesses the crime, one by one, in isolation from each other, were insufficient to convict. Along the same lines, in Deuteronomy 24:17, Moses admonished against perverting the justice due to the stranger or the orphan, and in Deuteronomy 27:19, Moses invoked a curse on those who pervert the justice due to the stranger, orphan, and widow. [16] He would thus not act haughtily toward his people nor deviate from the law, and as a consequence, he and his descendants would enjoy a long reign. [145] The Mishnah taught that one who prophesied in the name of an idol was subject to execution by strangulation even if the prophecy chanced upon the correct law. And Rav Ashi taught that the principle of pecuniary compensation could be derived from the analogous use of the term "for" in Exodus 21:24 in the expression "eye for eye" and in Exodus 21:36 in the expression "he shall surely pay ox for ox." Outside the Land of Israel, one would violate only the one commandment of Leviticus 19:13, "You shall not rob." [144], The Mishnah taught that the community was to execute by strangulation a false prophet and one who prophesied in the name of an idol. [99], The Sifre deduced from the words "You shall not plant an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God" in Deuteronomy 16:21 that planting a tree on the Temple Mount would violate a commandment. The final, fourth open portion divides the seventh reading. He could force a way through private property, and none could stop him. [225], The Mishnah interpreted the words "fearful and fainthearted" within the meaning of Deuteronomy 20:8. According to Deuteronomy 17:16, God has said that the Israelites "must not pass that way (i.e. [21], In the fourth reading, Moses told that the country-based Levites were to be free to come from their settlements to the place that God chose as a shrine to serve with their fellow Levites based there, and there they were to receive equal shares of the dues. ", The Altar Not Destroyed in Deuteronomy 16.21., Ancient Israelite Population Economy: Ger, Toshav, Nakhri and Karat as Settler Colonial Categories., "The Host of Heaven and the Divine Army: A Reassessment. The Gemara asked then what the word "fruit" meant in the context of the murder victim, for if one interpreted it to mean "children," then according to that argument, the ceremony would not apply if the murder victim had been old or castrated. [82], Citing Proverbs 21:3, "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice," a midrash taught that God told David that the justice and the righteousness that he did were more beloved to God than the Temple. "Medieval Jewish Interpretation." Shoftim Thus the High Priest said the words of Deuteronomy 20:4 to allude to the camp of the Ark of the Covenant, which would go to battle with the Israelites. Rabbah b. Shela taught that Rabbi Simeon's reason for teaching that the Israelites inscribed the Torah on the plaster was because Isaiah 33:12 says, "And the peoples shall be as the burnings of plaster." They all handle the sword, and are expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, because of dread in the night." The Tribe of Levi must not be given a portion of the land in Israel; rather they are given cities in which to dwell. [147], Chapter 2 of tractate Makkot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the cities of refuge in Exodus 21:1214, Numbers 35:134, Deuteronomy 4:4143, and 19:113. If not, the litigants and the judges went to the second court, at the entrance of the Temple Court, and the elder once again declared what the elder and the elder's colleagues expounded. Similarly, if two camels met on the ascent to Bethoron, if they both ascended at the same time, both could fall into the valley, but if they ascended one after another, both could ascend safely. [36] The fifth reading and a closed portion end here. Bright concluded that the composition of the Jahwist source thus likely predated the Babylonian captivity, as the source so often depicted the Patriarchs as performing actions forbidden in Israelite law by the time of the exile. If one was nearer to its destination than the other, then the nearer was to give way to the farther. 1 Kings 9:2021 make clear that Solomon employed as laborers "All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel; even their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy." In Genesis 28:18, Jacob took the stone on which he had slept, set it up as a baetyl (, matzeivah), and poured oil on the top of it. The Gemara further cited this analysis for the proposition that one may rely on the Rabbis' agricultural determinations. [23] The fourth reading ends here. Professor Amy Kalmanofsky of the Jewish Theological Seminary suggested that the closest analogue to the ritual in Deuteronomy 21:19 in response to an unsolved murder is the ritual for the suspected wife (, sotah) in Numbers 5:1131, as both rituals addressed cases where the community faced the possibility of a capital crime without the evidence necessary to determine guilt or innocence. Nachmanides. [97], Reading the words "that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you" in Deuteronomy 16:20, the Sifre taught that the appointment of judges is of such importance that it could lead to the resurrection of Israel, their settlement in the Land of Israel, and their protection from being destroyed by the sword. The Mishnah concluded that Deuteronomy 17:17 prohibited the king from marrying more than 18 wives, even if they were all as righteous as Abigail the wife of David. [259], Explaining the origins of the law that one can see in the Cities of Refuge Numbers 35:934 and Deuteronomy 4:4143 and 19:113, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote that early forms of legal procedure were grounded in vengeance. ", The prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18 is cited by Quran 46:10 and is believed to be one of the fewest biblical references predicting the birth of Muhammad. The Gemara then analyzed how the anonymous first view in Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:4 came to its conclusion that the king could have no more than 18 wives. But if the enemies trusted in their own strength as superior to that of the Israelites and would not do the Israelites justice, then the Israelites were to lead their army against the enemies, making use of God as their supreme Commander. In. If from the split log rebounding killed someone, Rabbi said that the person went into banishment, but the sages said that the person did not go into banishment. [218], The Mishnah taught that they did not condemn witnesses as perjurers until other witnesses directly incriminated the first witnesses. In the writings, Proverbs 17:23 warns that a wicked person takes a gift to pervert the ways of justice. They shall eat the fire offerings to God, the first of your grain and oil, and drink your new wine because [130], The Mishnah interpreted the words "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself" in Deuteronomy 17:17 to limit him to no more than 18 wives. [6], In the continuation of the reading, Moses warned the Israelites against the korban (sacrifice) of an ox or sheep with any serious congenital disorder. [266], In these laws of war, the Masoretic Text of Deuteronomy 20:8 (as well as the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch there) refers to "officers" (, shotrim), but one of the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QDeutk2) refers to these leaders as "judges" (, shofetim). WebFrom the parsha to Daf Yomi, read and listen to Torah, words of inspiration and more from Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Rabbi Shalom Rosner and others. WebNaso or Nasso ( Hebrew for "take a census" or "lift up," the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 35th weekly Torah portion ( , parashah) in [62] The Hebrew Bible also assigns to the Levites the duties of teaching the law,[63] ministering before the Ark,[64] singing,[65] and blessing God's Name.[66]. Meek, for Numbers 12:3 reports, "Now the man Moses was very meek. [31] And if the Israelites faithfully observed all the law and God enlarged the territory, then they were to add three more towns to those three. And if a defendant has departed from a court with a judgment of guilt, the court does still have the ability to call the defendant back to reach a judgment of innocence. [76], The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud:[77], Tractate Sanhedrin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of judges in Deuteronomy 16:1820. Rabbi Meir ruled that the red cow could be even five years old, but they did not wait with an older cow, as it might in the meantime grow some black hairs and thus become invalid. (Thus, one should not plant so near to one's neighbor's border that one's plants' roots draw sustenance from the neighbor's land, thus impoverishing it.) Three courts of law sat in Jerusalem: one at the entrance to the Temple Mount, a second at the door of the Temple Court, and the third, the Great Sanhedrin, in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple Court. The Israelites would be the king's servants. [5] A closed portion ends here. The two tablets corresponded to the two witnesses whom Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15 require to testify to a cause, to two groomsmen,[114] to bridegroom and bride, to heaven and earth, to this world and the world to come. Rabban Gamaliel then ordered Rabbi Joshua to appear before Rabban Gamaliel with his staff and money on the day which according to Rabbi Joshua's reckoning would be Yom Kippur. The Convention consequently voted to insert the words "to the same overt act" after "two witnesses." Commentary on the Torah. It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach said that he once did see a man pursuing his fellow into a ruin, and when Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach ran after the man and saw him, bloody sword in hand and the murdered man writhing, Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach exclaimed to the man, "Wicked man, who slew this man? The Mishnah taught that three experts were required for the assessment of fourth-year fruit (as in Leviticus 19:2325) and the second tithe (as in Deuteronomy 14:2226) of unknown value, of consecrated objects for redemption purposes, and valuations of movable property the value of which had been vowed to the Sanctuary. But Heaven alone would see to the death of the person who suppressed a prophecy or disregarded the words of a prophet, or a prophet who transgressed the prophet's own word. [106], The Gemara cited the Torah's requirement for corroborating witnesses in Deuteronomy 17:6 to support the Mishnah's prohibition of circumstantial evidence in capital cases. [141], In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses foretold that "A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you like me," and Johanan bar Nappaha thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. [140], In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses foretold that "A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you, from your midst, of your brethren." The Sadducees taught that they executed perjurers only after the accused had actually been executed, pursuant to the injunction "eye for eye" in Deuteronomy 19:21. . The school of Rabbi Ishmael cited the words "so shall it be given to him" in Leviticus 24:20, and deduced that the word "give" could apply only to pecuniary compensation. "[247] Similarly, Nahmanides taught that the call for peace applied even to an obligatory war and required the Israelites to offer peace terms even to the seven nations of Canaan. [8] Another closed portion ends here. The haftarah for the parashah is Isaiah 51:1252:12. For in Deuteronomy 2:24, God commanded Moses to make war on Sihon, but Moses did not do so, but as Deuteronomy 2:26 reports, Moses instead sent messengers. God told Moses that even though God had commanded Moses to make war with Sihon and instead Moses began with peace, God would confirm Moses' decision and decree that in every war upon which Israel entered, Israel must begin with an offer of peace, as Deuteronomy 20:10 says, When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.[229], Even though one might conclude from Deuteronomy 20:10 and 1518 that the Israelites were not to offer peace to the Canaanites, Samuel bar Nachman taught that Joshua sent three edicts to the inhabitants of the Land of Israel before the Israelites entered the land: first, that whoever wanted to leave the land should leave; second, that whoever wished to make peace and agree to pay taxes should do so; and third, that whoever wished to make war should do so. Parashat Shofetim has several further subdivisions, called "closed portions" (, setumah, abbreviated with the Hebrew letter samekh) within the open portion divisions. Rabbi Judah, however, taught that the Israelites inscribed the Torah directly on the stones, as Deuteronomy 27:8 says, "You shall write upon the stones all the words of this law," and after that they plastered them over with plaster. 2 Kings 23:9 states that when Josiah "brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah at Jerusalem but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren".

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