Mesorat%20hashas for Sanhedrin 72:5

הא איכא אחריתי דתניא אין מושיבין בסנהדרין זקן וסריס ומי שאין לו בנים ר' יהודה מוסיף אף אכזרי וחילופיהן במסית דרחמנא אמר (דברים יג, ט) לא תחמול ולא תכסה עליו:

Ten? But there are only nine! ([You say that there are only nine,] but indeed, ten are taught! — The laws that not all [persons] are eligible,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., bastards may not try capital cases. ');">⁹</span> and that twenty-three judges are necessary, are but one.)<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So making the total of nine given in the Mishnah. People of illegitimate birth are ineligible as judges in capital cases because a court of twenty-three holds the status of a minor Sanhedrin, with whom pure descent is essential; hence they are counted as one. ');">¹⁰</span>

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