Commentary for Sanhedrin 80:4

בהיטב היטב ילפינן מהדדי וגזירה שוה מופנה דאי לא מופנה איכא למיפרך לאיי אפנויי מופני מדהוה ליה למיכתב ודרשו וחקרו ושני קרא בדיבוריה בהיטב שמע מינה לאפנויי

(Mnemonic: <i>Spared, Sword, Warning</i>.) Thus: The condemned city is unlike the other two,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That of the idolater and the Zomemim. ');">⁷</span> for their possessions [the condemned's, in the latter two charges,] are spared.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This act of leniency may indicate a greater degree of leniency in general, therefore a more rigid inquiry might be necessary, this too being in favour of the accused; but in the case of the condemned city, where the possessions of the condemned are destroyed, the inquiries might be less exacting, since the general tendency there is to greater severity. Hence only the number explicitly stated, as above, may be necessary. ');">⁸</span>

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