MISHNAH: The following are flogged [As a matter of principle, all transgressions of biblical prohibitions are punishable by flogging unless specifically exempted. The rules are spelled out by Maimonides in his Commentary to this Mishnah. It is under stood that a sentence of flogging can be passed only after a trial based on the testimony of two witnesses both to the fact of the crime and the necessary warning given to the perpetrator. A crime punishable by the death penalty can never lead to a sentence of flogging, even if the death penalty cannot be imposed because of a material or technical obstacle. Crimes punishable by extirpation or Death by the Hand of Heaven are subject to flogging, since in this case the earthly punishment guarantees the sinner his part in the World to Come (Mishnah 17). A crime punishable by a fine cannot lead to punishment by flogging. Crimes done by speech without accompanying action are not punishable by flogging, except swearing falsely, substituting sacrifices (Lev. 27:10), and cursing using the Name which is a potential capital crime. A crime connected to a positive commandment cannot lead to punishment by flogging as long as the positive commandment still can be executed (Mishnah 4). The infraction of a positive commandment cannot be punished. For example, the High Priest is commanded to marry a virgin. He is prohibited of marrying a widow, divorcee, or desecrated woman (Lev. 21:13–14). If he marries a woman who is not forbidden but not a virgin, he cannot be punished. A prohibition understood by inference, not written explicitly, cannot be punished.] : He who copulates with his sister [Lev. 20:17. The list starts with sexual transgressions punishable by Heaven.] , or his father’s sister, or his mother’s sister [Lev. 20:19.] , or his wife’s sister [Lev. 18:18. This is a simple prohibition.] , or his brother’s wife [Lev. 20:21.] , or his father’s brother’s wife [Lev. 20:20.] , or a menstruating woman [Lev. 20:18.] . A widow for the High Priest [Lev. 21:14, a simple prohibition.] , or a divorcee [Lev. 21:7. The clause about halîṣah, the freeing of the widow of a childless man from levirate marriage, is in dispute; the majority holds that the prohibition of the widow after halîsah is rabbinic.] or one having received ḥalîṣah for a common priest. For a widow and divorcee one is liable because of two categories [If the High Priest marries a widow who had been a divorcee.] . For a divorcee having received ḥalîṣah one is only liable for one category [Since halîṣah is forbidden only as a kind of divorce.] .
MISHNAH: An impure person who ate holy food [Lev. 7:20,21; transgressions punishable by extirpation.] , or who came into the Temple when impure [Num. 19:13.] . One who eats fat [Lev. 7:25.] , or blood [Lev. 7:27.] , or leftover, or piggul [Lev. 19:8.] , or impure [“Leftover” refers to meat from acceptable sacrifices which was not eaten during the statutory time limit. Piggul is a sacrifice which was offered with the idea in mind (of the offerer or the officiating priest) that it should be eaten out of its allotted time (or place); Lev. 7:18,19:8. The root of piggul probably is فجل “to be soft”.] [sacrificial meat]. One who sacrifices outside [Lev. 17:4.] , or one who eats leavened matter on Passover [Ex. 12:19.] . One who eats or does work on the Day of Atonement [Lev. 23:29–30.] , and one who compounds the oil [Ex. 30:33. The anointing oil in the proportions spelled out there.] , or compounds the incense [For profane purposes, Ex. 30:38. Incense had to be compounded fresh every year.] , and who rubs with the anointing oil [Ex. 30:33. The anointing oil in the proportions spelled out there.] , and one who eats carcass [Deut. 14:21, a simple prohibition.] or torn meat [Ex. 22:30, a simple prohibition.] , abominations and crawling things [Lev. 11:11,44.] . If one ate ṭevel [Fully harvested produce of which the priests’ heave was not taken; Lev. 22:10.] or first tithe from which heave was not taken [The obligation is Num. 18:28, the penalty Num. 18:32.] , or second tithe [Outside the place of the Sanctuary it needs redemption, Deut. 14:24.] or dedicated food [Donated to the Temple to be sold for its value, not dedicated to the altar; Lev. 27:11.] which was not redeemed. How much does he have to eat from ṭevel to be liable? Rebbi Simeon says, anything; but the Sages say, the volume of an olive. Rebbi Simeon told them, do you not agree that one who eats (carcass meat) [an ant] [In editio princeps and ms., נבילה “carcass meat”. In all other sources נמלה “ant”. The latter reading is the only one which makes sense since it both is forbidden (Lev. 11:42) and much less than the size of an olive.] is liable? They told him, because it is a creature. He answered them, also a grain of wheat [Given as heave (biblically restricted to grain, wine, and olive oil).] is a creature.
MISHNAH: One who eats First Fruits before he recited over them [First Fruits have to be eaten by the priest (Deut. 12:17) after the Temple ceremony. This point is in dispute between R. Aqiba and others.] , or most holy sacrifices outside the Temple enclosure [They are restricted to priests (Lev.10:15).] , or simple sacrifices or Second Tithe outside of the wall [Lev. 10:14 for priests, Deut. 12:17 for others.] . One who breaks a bone of a pure Passover sacrifice is flogged 40 [lashes] [Ex. 12:46.] . But one who leaves over of the pure [Example of a prohibition subordinated to a positive commandment; cf. Note 1.] or breaks a bone of the impure [It lost its holiness.] is not flogged 40 [lashes].
MISHNAH: He who takes the mother with the young, Rebbi Jehudah says he is flogged but does not have to send away. But the Sages say, he sends away and is not flogged [Deut. 22:6–7.] . This is the principle: One is not liable for any prohibition coupled with a positive commandment.
MISHNAH: One who shaves a bald spot on his head [Lev. 21:5, Deut. 14:1.] , and who shaves off his sideburns, and who shaves off the corners of his beard, [Lev. 19:27.] and one who scratches one scratch for a deceased is liable. If he scratched one scratch for five deceased, or five scratches for one deceased, he is liable for each single one [Since Lev. 19:28 forbids a single scratch for a single deceased.] ; for the head two, one for each side; for the beard two on each side and one for the chin [The five corners of a beard are: near the ear on each side, the cheekbone on each side, and the chin.] . Rebbi Eleazar [Most sources read: R. Eliezer.] says, if he removed all at once he is liable only once. He is liable only if he took them off with a razor; Rebbi Eleazar says, even if he took them off with pincers or a plane.
MISHNAH: One who writes a tattoo. If he designed but did not tattoo, or tattooed but did not design, he is not liable until he design and permanently color with ink of kohl or anything that leaves a mark. Rebbi Simeon ben Jehudah says, only if the writes the Name, as it is said [Lev. 19:28. Tattooing has two parts: making a scratch and coloring it with permanent color. It is not too clear which name is intended.] , a tattoo design you shall not put on yourselves, I am the Eternal.
MISHNAH: [Mishnah Nazir 6:4.] If a nazir was drinking wine a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not drink, do not drink, if then he drinks he is liable for every single occasion. [Mishnah Nazir 6:6.] If he was defiling himself with corpses a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not defile yourself, do not defile yourself, if then he defiles himself he is liable for every single occasion. [Mishnah Nazir 6:5.] If he was shaving a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not shave, do not shave, if then he shaves he is liable for every single occasion. If he was dressed in kilaim a whole day long, he is liable only once [Lev. 19:19. Cf. Introduction to Tractate Kilaim.] . If one told him, do not dress, do not dress, and he took off and put on, he is liable for every single occasion.
MISHNAH: One might plough a single furrow and be liable because of it for eight prohibitions. If one ploughs with an ox and a donkey which had been sanctified for kilaim in a vineyard, in a Sabbatical year, on a holiday, he is a Cohen and a nazir at an impure place [Ploughing with ox and donkey, Deut.22:10. Growing kilaim in a vineyard, Deut.22:9; it makes growth and vines forbidden for all use. Sabbatical year Lev. 25:4 (the verse only forbids sowing). Holiday, Ex.12:16. Cohen in an impure place, Lev. 21:1.] . Onias ben Ḥakhinai said, also if he wore kilaim. They told him, this is not of the same category. He told them, neither is the nazir of the same category.
MISHNAH: How much is he flogged? Forty minus one, as it is said: in number: forty [Deut. 25:2–3. Since “40” is the only number in the text, it is read as standard punishment subject to medical evaluation. (Also in 2Cor. 11:24 it is not clear whether 40–1 is the real number or simply is the standard expression for flogging.)] , a number close to forty. Rebbi Jehudah says, he is flogged a full forty. Where is he flogged the extra one [Lev. 20:17. The list starts with sexual transgressions punishable by Heaven.] ? Between his shoulders.
MISHNAH: One estimates him only for floggings divisible by three [As described later, for one stripe in the front one hits two in the back, for a total number divisible by 3. Therefore, the 40 can be neither in front nor in back.] . If they estimated that he could receive forty; after he was flogged some, they [The medical experts.] said that he could not withstand forty, he is not liable. If they had estimated him for eighteen; after he was flogged they said that he could withstand forty, he is not liable [For further flogging.] . If he committed a transgression which involved two prohibitions, if they estimated him in one estimation he is flogged and then is no longer liable; otherwise [If he is tried for only one transgression, he later can be tried for another transgression based on the same facts.] he is flogged, recovers, and is flogged a second time.
MISHNAH: How does one flog him? One binds both his hands on both sides of a pillar. The beadle grabs his clothing. If it tore, it tore; if it unravelled, it unravelled, until he uncovers his heart. A stone is put behind him on which the beadle stands with a strip of calf’s leather in his hand, folded one into two and two into four, and two strips [Two double strips of calf hide and two single strips (of donkey hide).] go up and down in it. The handle is one hand-breadth long; its width is one hand-breadth, and it reaches to his belly. He flogs him one third on his front and two thirds on his back. He flogs him neither standing nor sitting but bending down as it is written [Deut. 25:2–3. Since “40” is the only number in the text, it is read as standard punishment subject to medical evaluation. (Also in 2Cor. 11:24 it is not clear whether 40–1 is the real number or simply is the standard expression for flogging.)] , the judge shall make him fall and flog him on his front etc. The person who flogs, flogs with one hand with full force. The reader reads [Deut. 28:58–59 contain a total of 34 words. One adds the first 5 words of 28:58 a second time for a total of 39 words, one word for each stroke.] if you will not observe to fulfill all the words of this Torah etc.; the Eternal will your flogging exemplary, etc. and returns to the beginning of the verse. If he [The culprit.] died under his hand, he [The beadle.] is not liable. If he [The beadle.] added a single strip and he [The culprit.] died, he [The beadle.] is exiled because of him [The culprit.] . If he [The culprit.] dirtied himself whether by feces or by urine, he is no longer liable [Since Deut. 25:3 prohibits to degrade the criminal, the flogging must stop immediately.] . Rebbi Jehudah says, a man by feces, a woman by urine.
MISHNAH: All those subject to extirpation are no longer liable to extirpation once they were flogged, as it is said, your brother would be despicable in your eyes [Since Deut. 25:3 prohibits to degrade the criminal, the flogging must stop immediately.] . After he was flogged, he is your brother [As your brother, he has part in the World to Come; Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1. Since extirpation implies denial of the World to Come, it is eliminated.] , the words of Rebbi Ḥanania ben Gamliel. And since one who commits a transgression may lose his soul because of it, if one fulfills a commandment certainly his soul shall be given to him. Rebbi Simeon says, from its place [Lev. 18 ends (v. 29) with extirpation for transgressors but starts with assurances of Eternal Life for those who live by the Torah (v. 5).] it can be inferred as it is written, the souls of the perpetrators will be extirpated, and it says, that a human shall do and live in them. Therefore, to anybody who quietly does not transgress a prohibition is given reward like somebody keeping the Commandments. Rebbi Simeon ben Rebbi says, does it not say [Deut. 12:23.] , only be strong not to eat blood, for blood is the life? Since one who desists from blood, from which a person recoils, receives reward, if one desists of robbery and sexual offenses, which a person desires and cherishes, certainly he should acquire the merit for himself, his descendants, and his descendants’ descendants to the end of all generations.
MISHNAH: Rebbi Ḥaninah ben Aqashiah says: The Holy One, praise to Him, wanted to increase the merit of Israel; therefore He multiplied for them teaching and commandments, as it is written [Is. 42:21.] , the Eternal desires for the sake of His justice to make His instruction great and prodigious.
HALAKHAH: [This Halakhah is preserved only in G, but it is quoted in the name of the Yerushalmi in the book האמונה והבטחון “Faith and Trust” from the cabbalistic circle of Nachmanides [Chapter 15; in H. D. Chavel’s edition of The Works of Nachmanides, vol. 2 (Jerusalem 1964) p.399.] Parallel texts are in Gen. rabba 68(10), copied in Yalqut Shimony 117, and Pesiqta rabbati Ten Commandments (ed. Ish-Shalom p. 104b). It is of great theological significance in that it proclaims not only God’s Omnipresence but also His Existence outside of space and time and the possibility of the simultaneous existence of an infinity of different worlds.] [“Rebbi Ḥananiah ben Aqashiah says: The Holy One,praise to Him,wanted etc.” Why does one use a substitute name for the Name of the Holy One, praise to Him, and calls Him Place? To say that He is the Place of the world but the world is not His place. [In Gen. rabba and Pesiqta, they are credited with the statement of the preceding paragraph. “Faith and Trust” quotes the text here.] Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Immi: It is written [Deut. 33:27. In Gen. rabba and Pesiqta quoted by R. Isaac.] , dwelling is the Primordial God, to say that He is the dwelling of the world but the world is not His dwelling. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥalaphta said, it is written: [Ex. 33:21. In Gen. rabba and Pesiqta quoted by R. Huna, R. Immi but Yalqut R. Yose ben Halafta.] The Eternal said, there is a place with Me; to say that He is the Place of the world but the world is not His place. Rebbi Isaac said, it is written [Ps. 68:18. In Gen. rabba quoted by R. Isaac; anonymous in Pesiqta, missing in Yalqut. In Emunah weBittahon R. [ ] in the name of R. Jacob.] : The Eternal is there, Sinai in the Holy. Would “the Holy in Sinai” not have been more reasonable? To say that He is the Place of the world but the world is not His place. [In Gen. rabba in the name of R. Abba bar Yudan, in Pesiqta more elaborated, in the name of R. Yudan, anonymous in Yalqut.] Rebbi Yudan said, [a parable of] a hero riding on a horse with his weapons hanging down at both sides. It is not that the horse puts up with the hero, but the hero puts up with the horse.
Rebbi Aḥa said [Is. 42:21.] , the Eternal desires for the sake of His justice. For His justice? In order to justify you! In order to give merit to you I told it to you [The context in Is. makes it clear that צִדְקוֹ should not be translated as in the homiletic use of the verse “His justice” but “his justification” referring to God’s servant.] .
[The Colophon of the scribe, not part of the Talmud text.] We had the merit to finish in peace. May we be worthy and live to finish studying and teaching all six orders of the Mishnah in peace, Amen.
Praise to the Eternal forever, Amen and Amen [Ps. 89:53.] . Praise to the Name of the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever [The required eulogy after the recitation of Deut. 6:4.] .]