Midrash for Sanhedrin 79:3
כל המרבה בבדיקות הרי זה משובח מעשה ובדק בן זכאי בעוקצי תאנים
AND, DID YE WARN HIM?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That murder is forbidden on pain of death? These two questions, according to Maimonides (Yad 'Eduth, I, 4-5) belong to the specific category of [H] (inquiry) which is on the one hand treated like [H] (investigation) in that the evidence is invalid if one of the witnesses cannot answer them; and on the other like [H], (cross-examination) in this respect that the witnesses are not amenable to the law of retaliation in case of refutation. ');"><sup>5</sup></span> WHERE ONE COMMITS IDOLATRY, [THE WITNESSES ARE ALSO ASKED] WHAT<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., which idol? ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
Sifrei Devarim
"And you shall inquire": of the Torah. "and you shall search out": from the witnesses. "and you shall ask": of the Talmud. Here (in respect to a man's serving idolatry) it is written (Ibid. 17:4) "And it be told to you, and you hear, and you inquire well," and elsewhere (in respect to scheming witnesses) (19:18) "And the judges inquire well" — "well" - "well" for an identity (gezeirah shavah.) (We are hereby taught) that he (the witness) undergoes seven cross-examinations (chakiroth).
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