Commentary for Sanhedrin 27:17

אלא מעתה ויצאו שנים ומדדו שנים לרבי יהודה הרי תשעה לרבי שמעון שבעה ההוא מיבעי ליה לכדתניא ויצאו הן ולא שלוחן ומדדו שאפילו נמצא

— [He deduces it] from the pronominal suffix [appended] to Zaken.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H], thy. ');">²⁹</span> And R. Simeon? — [He maintains:] Had 'elders' [alone] been written,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Alone, without the suffix. ');">³⁰</span> I might have said that it refers to [any] old men of the street.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., any people advanced in age. ');">³¹</span> Hence the Torah says: 'thy elders'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Thy' intimates that the reference is to distinguished elders. ');">³²</span> Yet had 'thy elders' [alone] been written, I might have said that it refers to [the members of] the minor Sanhedrin. Therefore Scripture wrote, 'thy judges', to indicate that the reference is to the most distinguished of 'thy judges'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., members of the Great Sanhedrin. ');">³³</span> And R. Judah?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' How does he know that neither old men in general nor the members of the minor Sanhedrin are meant? ');">³⁴</span> — He derives this<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The law that they must be members of the Great Sanhedrin. ');">³⁵</span> from a comparison of the word elders [as used here]<a rel="footnote" href="#56a_36">³⁶</a> and in the verse, And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands [on the head of the bullock].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. IV, 15. ');">³⁷</span> Just as there, the most distinguished of the congregation<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the Great Sanhedrin. ');">³⁸</span> [are necessary],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. supra 13b. ');">³⁹</span> so here, too, the most distinguished of thy elders [are required]. But if this deduction be made, let us infer everything from that passage!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the number of Elders also. ');">⁴⁰</span> and what need then is there for 'thy elders' and 'and thy judges'? — But [we should say: In R. Judah's opinion,] the [superfluous] <i>waw</i> [and] of, and thy judges, intimates the number.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In truth, he does not employ the analogy, but derives the necessity of the presence of the Great Sanhedrin from the pronominal suffix to shofet ('thy judges') and their number, again from the conjunction 'waw', for it could have been written, And they shall go forth, thy elders, thy judges. ');">⁴¹</span> And R. Simeon<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who requires only three. ');">⁴²</span> — He does not employ the conjunction '<i>waw</i>' for interpretative purposes. But according to this line of argument, we might further deduce from the clauses, and they shall come forth, and, and they shall measure — each indicating two — that nine should be required, in R. Judah's opinion, and seven in R. Simeon's? — But these clauses are necessary, even as it has been taught: And they shall come forth, [meaning,] they, and not their deputies. And they shall measure; in all circumstances, even when the corpse is found

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