1. When the judgment was finished, they brought him forth to stone him.394 The place of stoning was outside the judgment-hall; as is said, “Bring him forth that hath cursed.”395 One stood at the door of the judgment-hall with towels in his hand, and another man rode a horse at a distance from him, [pg 172] but so that he might see him. If one said, “I have something to tell for clearing,” this one waved the towels, and the other galloped his horse, and stopped the accused. And even though he himself said, “I have something to tell to clear myself,” they brought him back as many as four or five times, only there must be substance in his words. If they found him clear, they freed him; but if not, they took him forth to stone him. And a herald preceded him (crying), “Such a one, the son of such a one, is brought out for stoning, because he committed such a transgression, and so and so are witnesses; let everyone who knows aught for clearing him come forth and tell it.”

2. When he was ten cubits from the place of stoning, they said to him “confess,” as it is the custom of all about to die to confess, since to everyone who confesses there is a portion in the world to come. So we find with Achan when Joshua said to him, “My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him.”396 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, “Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus I have done.” “And from whence know we that his confession made atonement for him?” “As it is said, ‘And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. This day thou art troubled, but thou shalt not be troubled in the world to come.’ ” And if he did not know how to confess, they told him to say, “let my death be an atonement for all my sins.” Rabbi Judah said, “if he knew that he was falsely condemned, he said, ‘let my death be an atonement for all my sins, except this one’;” the (Sages) said, “if so, every man will speak thus to make themselves innocent.”

3. When he was four cubits from the place of stoning, they stripped off his garments. “If a man, they covered him in front; if a woman, before and behind.” The words of Rabbi Judah. But the Sages say “a man was stoned naked, but the woman was not stoned naked.”

4. The place of stoning was two men high. One of the witnesses thrust him down on his loins. If he turned on his heart, the witness must turn him on his loins. If he died with that thrust it was finished; but if not, the second (witness) took the stone, and cast it upon his heart. If he died with that blow, the [pg 173] stoning was finished. But if not, he was stoned by all Israel, as is said, “The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people.”397 “All who were stoned were hung up.” The words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the Sages say, “none were hung up, save the blasphemer and the idolater.” “The man is to be hung with his face toward the people, but the woman with her face toward the wood.” The words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the Sages say, “the man was hung up, but they do not hang up a woman.” Rabbi Eleazar said to them, “and did not Simon, the son of Shatach, hang women in Askalon?” They said to him, “he hung up eighty women (witches), and two could not be judged, in one day.” “How did they hang him?” “They sunk a beam in the ground, and a traverse beam proceeded from it, and they bound his hands, one over the other, and hung him up” (by them). R. JosÉ said, “the beam was inclined against the wall, and he was hung upon it, just as the butchers do.” And they loosed him immediately afterward. “But if he was out all night?” “It was a transgression of a negative command, as is said, ‘His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God),’ ”398 etc. As one says, “wherefore is this one hung?” “Because he blasphemed the NAME, and it follows that the heavenly NAME is profaned.”

5. Rabbi Meier said, “when man is sorrowful,399 what language does the Shekinah400 make him to utter?” If it be lawful so to speak, “my head makes me ashamed, my arm makes me ashamed.” If, to speak after the manner of men, OMNIPRESENCE is sorrowful, when the blood of the wicked is poured out, how much more sorrowful is He for the blood of the righteous? And not in the case of the condemned alone, but everyone who leaves his dead overnight, is a transgressor of a negative command. If they left him for the sake of honor, to bring a coffin and a shroud for him, there is no transgression. But they did not bury him (the condemned) in the sepulchres of his fathers. And there were two burial grounds [pg 174] prepared for the Judgment Hall—one for the stoned and the burned, and one for those beheaded and strangled.

6. When the flesh of the condemned was consumed, they gathered his bones and buried them in their proper place; and his relatives came and asked after the peace of the judges, and the peace of the witnesses, as much as to say, “know there is nothing in our hearts against you, as your judgment was true.” And they did not mourn, but were gloomy, since gloominess is only in the heart.

4. These were stoned; ... a blasphemer, and an [pg 175] idolater, and he who gave his seed to Molech, and one with a familiar spirit,401 and a wizard, and he who profaned the Sabbath, and he who cursed father or mother, and he who came to a betrothed maid, and an enticer to idolatry, and a withdrawer to idolatry, and a sorcerer, and a son stubborn and rebellious.

5. The blasphemer was not guilty till he expressed the NAME. Said R. Joshua, the son of Korcha, every day they examined the witnesses under a substituted (feigned) name, for example, “JosÉ shall beat JosÉ.” When the judgment was finished, they could not execute him under the nickname, but they withdrew all men outside, and interrogated the principal witness, and said to him, “tell us clearly what thou hast heard?” and he said it. And the judges stood up on their feet, and rent their garments,402 and they were never sewn again. And the second witness said, “even I (heard) as he,” and the third said, “even I (heard) as he.”

6. One committed idolatry, whether he served the idol, or sacrificed to it, or burned incense to it, or made a libation to it, or bowed down to it, or accepted it for his god. And also, he who said to it, “thou art my God.” But he who embraced it, and kissed it, and honored it, and dusted it, and washed it, and anointed it, and dressed it, and put shoes on it, transgressed a negative command. He who vowed in its name, and performed the vow in its name, transgressed a negative command. “He exposed himself to Baal peor?” “That is positive service.” “He cast a stone to Mercury?” “That is positive service.”

7. He who gave his seed to Molech403 is not guilty till he hand [pg 176] it to Molech, and pass it through the fire. “If he hand it to Molech, and do not pass it through the fire, (or if) he passed it through the fire, and did not hand it to Molech?” “He is not guilty till he hand it to Molech, and pass it through the fire.” One has a familiar spirit, when the Python speaks from his arm. But the wizard speaks with his mouth. These are to be stoned, and inquiry from them is forbidden.

8. He who profaned the Sabbath by aught which renders him guilty of presumption is to be cut off;404 but if he profaned the Sabbath in error, a sin-offering (is required) from him. He who cursed father or mother is not guilty till he curse them by the NAME. “If he curse them with a substituted name of God?” R. Meier pronounces him “guilty”; but the Sages “free him.”

9. “If one came to a betrothed maid?” “He is not guilty, except she be a virgin, and betrothed, and in the house of her father.” “If two came to her?” “The first is to be stoned and the second strangled.”

10. “The enticer to idolatry?” “This ordinary man enticed an ordinary man; he said to him, ‘there is an object of fear in such a place, so it eats, so it drinks, so it does good, so it does evil.’ ” Of all who are guilty of death in the law, we are not to set witnesses in concealment to convict them, except in this case of an enticer to idolatry. When he has spoken of his idolatry to two persons, they as witnesses bring him to the judgment-hall, and stone him. If he spoke thus to one, this one replies, “I have companions who desire to hear so and so.” “If he be cunning, and he does not speak before them?” “Witnesses are concealed behind a wall, and he says to the idolater, ‘tell me what thou saidst to me alone,’ and the idolater told him. And he replied to him, ‘how can we leave our God, who is in heaven, and go and serve wood and stone?’ ” “If the idolater returned from his sin, it is well; but if he said, ‘so is our duty, and so it is excellent for us,’ they who stood behind the wall bring him to the judgment-hall, and stone him; if he said, ‘I shall serve, I shall go and serve, let us go and serve; I will sacrifice, I will go and sacrifice, let us go and sacrifice; I will burn incense, I will go and burn incense, [pg 177] let us go and burn incense; I will pour a libation, I will go and pour a libation, let us go and pour a libation; I will bow down, I will go and bow down, let us go and bow down’—the withdrawer is he who says, ‘let us go and serve idols.’ ”

11. The sorcerer, who has done the act, is guilty of death, but he is not guilty who merely deludes the eyes. R. Akiba said in the name of R. Joshua, “two sorcerers can gather cucumbers—one gathers them and is free, but another gathers them and is guilty. He who has performed the act is guilty. He who has merely deluded the eyes is free.”

1. A son stubborn and rebellious.405 “From what time is he decidedly a son stubborn and rebellious?” “From the time the two hairs have come, and up to the time the beard has sprouted; but the Sages spoke in modest language. As is usually said, when a man has a son—a son, but not a daughter; a son, but not a man; a child as yet free from coming under the rule of the commandments.”

2. “From what time is he guilty?” “From the time he ate three-quarters of a pound of flesh, and drank half a log of Italian wine.” R. JosÉ said, “a pound of flesh and a log of wine.” “He ate it in an appointed feast; he ate it in the intercalary month; he ate it during the second tithes in Jerusalem; he ate of a carcass and of things torn, abominable things and creeping things; he ate of that which had not paid tithes, and the first tithes before the heave-offering was separated from them and the second tithes and holy things which were not redeemed; he ate of a thing which is commanded, and of a thing which is a transgression; he ate every kind of meat, but he did not eat flesh; he drank every kind of fluid, but he did not drink wine?” “He is not a son stubborn and rebellious till he eat flesh and drink wine,” as is said, “A glutton and a drunkard”;406 and even though there is no conclusive evidence, there is a memorial to the matter, as is said, “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh.”407

3. “If he steal it from his father, and eat it (with permission) on the property of his father; from others, and eat it [pg 178] on the property of others; from others, and eat it on the property of his father?” “He is not a son stubborn and rebellious till he steal it from his father and eat it on the property of others.” R. JosÉ, the son of R. Judah, said, “till he steal it from his father and from his mother.”

4. “If his father desires (his punishment), and his mother does not desire it; his father does not desire it, and his mother does desire it?” “He is not declared a son stubborn and rebellious until both of them desire it.” R. Judah said, “if his mother was not suitable for his father, he is not declared a son stubborn and rebellious.” “One of them was broken-handed, or lame, or dumb, or blind, or deaf?” “He is not declared a son stubborn and rebellious,” as is said, “ ‘Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him,’408 which is impossible if they be broken-handed; ‘and bring him out,’ which is impossible if they be lame; ‘and they shall say,’ which is impossible if they be dumb; ‘this our son,’ which is impossible if they be blind; ‘he will not obey our voice,’ which is impossible if they be deaf. They must warn him before three judges, and then flog him.” “He returned to his bad habits?” “He is to be judged before twenty-three judges, but he is not to be stoned till the three first (judges) are present, as is said, ‘this our son’ who was flogged before you.” “He ran away before his judgment was finished, and afterward came to puberty?” “He is free.” “But if he ran away after the decision and then came to puberty?” “He is guilty.”

5. A son stubborn and rebellious is judged for the sake of his future prospects. The law says, “better die when he is innocent, and not die when he is guilty.” The death of the wicked is pleasant for them, and pleasant for the world; but the death of the righteous is evil for them, and evil for the world. Wine and sleep are pleasant to the wicked, and pleasant to the world; but for the righteous, it is evil for them, and evil for the world. Separation for the wicked is pleasant for them, and pleasant for the world; but for the righteous, it is evil for them, and evil for the world. Union for the wicked is evil for them, and evil for the world; but for the righteous, it is pleasant for them, and pleasant for the world. Rest for the wicked [pg 179] is evil for them, and evil for the world; but for the righteous, it is pleasant for them, and pleasant for the world.

6. If one engaged in burglary, he is judged for the sake of his future prospects. “He engaged in burglary and broke a barrel?” “If the owner might not kill him, he must pay for the barrel; but if the owner might kill him, he is freed from paying for the barrel.”

7. These are they who are rescued409 with their souls—he who pursued after his companion to kill him, and one after a betrothed girl. But one about to profane the Sabbath, and one about to serve idols, such cannot be saved with their souls.410

5. “He who is flogged once and again?” “The judges commit [pg 181] him to prison, and they give him barley to eat till his belly bursts.” “He who killed a person without witnesses?” “They commit him to prison, and they give him to eat the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction.”411

6. “A thief who stole a sacred vessel, and he who cursed in necromancy, and the paramour of an AramÆan?” “The avengers may at once fall upon him.” “The priest who served in legal uncleanness?” “His brother priests have no need to bring him to the tribunal, but the young priests drag him outside of the court, and dash out his brains with fagots of wood.” “A stranger who served in the sanctuary?” R. Akiba said, he is to be killed “with strangling,” but the Sages say, “by the visitation of heaven.”

1. All Israel have a portion in the world to come, as is said, “Thy people also shall be all righteous,”412 etc. And these are they who have no portion in the world to come: he who says there is no resurrection of the dead in the law, and that there is no revealed law from heaven, and the Epicurean. R. Akiba said, “even he who reads in forbidden413 books, and he who mutters over a wound”; and he said, “I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”414 Aba Shaul said, “even to meditate the NAME415 in its letters.”

2. Three kings and four ordinary persons have no portion in the world to come. Three kings, Jeroboam, Ahab, and Manasseh. R. Judah said, “Manasseh had a portion in the world to come,” as is said, “And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.”416 The Sages said to him, “He brought him back to his kingdom, but He did not bring him back to life in the world to come.” Four ordinary persons, Balaam, and Doeg, and Ahitophel, and Gehazi, have no portion in the world to come.

3. The generation of the deluge has no portion in the world [pg 182] to come, and they stand not in judgment, as is said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.”417 (They have) neither judgment nor spirit. The generation of the dispersion has no portion in the world to come, as is said, “So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth.”418 And the Lord scattered them in this world, and from thence the Lord scattered them in the world to come. The men of Sodom have no portion in the world to come, as is said, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly,”419 wicked in this world, and sinners in the world to come. But they will stand in judgment. R. Nehemiah said, “neither one nor other will stand in judgment,” as is said, “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”420 “Therefore the wicked shall not stand in judgment;” this is the generation of the deluge: “Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;” these are the men of Sodom. The (Sages) said to him, “they do not stand in the congregation of the righteous, but they stand in the congregation of the wicked.” The spies have no portion in the world to come, as is said, “Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.”421 And they died in this world. They also died in the plague in the world to come. “The generation of the wilderness has no portion in the world to come, and they will not stand in judgment, as is said, ‘In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”422 The words of R. Akiba. R. Eliezer said, “of them He said, ‘Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’ ”423 “The congregation of Korah will not come up, as is said, ‘And the earth closed upon them’424 in this world. ‘And they perished from among the congregation’ in the world to come.” The words of R. Akiba. R. Eliezer said, “of them he said, ‘The Lord killeth and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.’ ”425 “The ten tribes will not return, as is said, ‘And cast them into another land, as it is this day’;426 as the day departs and does [pg 183] not return, so they depart and do not return.” The words of R. Akiba. R. Eliezer said, “as the day darkens and brightens, so will it be with the ten tribes; as it was dark for them, so will it be bright for them.”

4. The men of a city withdrawn to idolatry have no portion in the world to come, as is said, “Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city,”427 and they are not to be killed till the withdrawers be from the city itself and from the tribe itself, and till it withdraw the majority, and till the withdrawers be men. If the withdrawers be women, or children, or the minority be withdrawn, or the withdrawers be outside it, they are to be treated singly, and they need two witnesses, and a warning to each one of them. It is more grievous for individuals than for the multitude, because individuals must be stoned, though for that reason their money is safe for their heirs; but the multitude are cut off with the sword, and for that reason their money is lost.

5. “Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city,”428 etc. A caravan of asses or camels passing from place to place are delivered, as is said, “Destroying it utterly and all that is therein,” etc. From thence they said, “the property of the righteous in it is lost, out of the city it is safe. But that of the wicked, whether inside or outside, is lost.”

6. “And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof.”429 If it have no street, they must make a street for it. If there be a street outside of it, they bring it inside. “And shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof,” its spoil but not the spoil of heaven. From thence they say, the holy things therein are to be redeemed, and the heave-offerings suffered to decay. The second tithes and holy writings are to be concealed. “Every whit for the Lord thy God.” Said R. Simon, “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, If you execute judgment on the withdrawn city, I count it for you as though you brought a burnt-offering wholly before me.” “And it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.” “Thou shalt not make of it even gardens or parks.” The words of R. JosÉ, the Galilean. R. Akiba said, “it shall not be builded again. It must not be built as it was [pg 184] before, but it may be made (into) gardens and parks.” “And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing to thine hand.”430 Whilst the wicked are in the world, wrath is in the world. When the wicked are destroyed from the world, wrath retires from the world.

1. These are to be strangled—he who beats his father or his mother, and he who steals a soul from Israel, and an “elder” who is rebellious against the judges, and a false prophet, and he who prophesies in the name of idolatry, and false witnesses proved to be perjured against a priest's daughter and her paramour. He who beats father or mother is not guilty till he make a bruise in them. It is more grievous to curse them than to beat them. Because if he cursed them after their death, he is guilty; but if he beat them after their death, he is free. He who stole a soul from Israel is not guilty till he bring him on his property. R. Judah said, “till he bring him on his property and obtain service by him,” as is said, “And maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him.”431 “If he steal his own son?” R. Ishmael, the son of R. Jochanan, the son of Beroka, pronounces him “guilty,” but the sages pronounce him “free.” “If he stole one, half a servant and half free?” R. Judah pronounces him “guilty,” but the Sages pronounce him “free.”

2. The elder rebellious against the decision of the judges? as it is said, “If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment,”432 etc. There were three places of judgment. One place was by the door of the Mountain of the House; and one was by the door of the court; and one was in the chamber of hewn stone. The witnesses against the rebellious elder came to the one by the door of the Mountain of the House, and each one said, “so I expounded, and so my companions expounded; so I taught, and so my companions taught.” If the judges listened to them, they told them: but if not, they went to those at the door of the court, and each one said, “so I expounded, and so my companions expounded; so I taught, and so my companions taught.” If they listened to them, they told them; but if not, both parties went to the supreme [pg 185] court in the chamber of hewn stone, because from it the Law proceeded forth to all Israel, as is said, “Of that place which the Lord shall choose.”433 “If the rebellious elder returned to his city, and taught as before?” “He is free.” “But if he decided to practise false teaching?” “He is guilty,” as is said, “And the man that will do presumptuously.”434 He is not guilty till he decide to practise his false teaching. A disciple who decided to practise false teaching is free. It follows that what is a grave offence in the one is a light offence in the other.

3. The burden in the words of the scribes is greater than the burden in the words of the law. He who said, “There are no phylacteries, so as to transgress the words of the law?” “He is free.” He who said, “There are five frontlets, so as to add to the words of the scribes?” “He is guilty.”

4. “The judges do not put such an offender to death in the tribunal of his city, nor in the tribunal of Jabneh,435 but they bring him up to the supreme court in Jerusalem, and they guard him till a holiday; and they put him to death on a holiday, as is said, ‘And all the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.’ ”436 The words of R. Akiba. R. Judah said, “they do not cause him anguish in delaying his judgment, but they execute him off-hand.” And they write and send messengers to all places, “Such a man, the son of such a man, is condemned to death by the tribunal.”

5. A false prophet, who prophesied what he did not hear, and what was not told to him, is put to death by the hands of man. But he who suppressed his prophecy, and he who added to the words of a prophet, and a prophet who transgressed his own words, is put to death by the visitation of heaven, as is said, “I will require it of him.”437

6. And he who prophesied in the name of idolatry and said, “so the idol said,” even though its decision was exactly to pronounce unclean the unclean, and to pronounce cleansed the clean, is to be strangled. And so also the false witnesses against a priest's daughter. Because all false witnesses are condemned to the same death which they had intended (for the accused), except false witnesses against the daughter of a priest, and they are to be strangled.