ט מאי טעמיה דשמאי הזקן קסבר שני כתובים הבאים כאחד מלמדין והוא ההוא לא דריש ואיבעית אימא לעולם דריש ומאי חייב חייב בדיני שמים
9 His sender is liable, for it is said, thou hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XII, 9: the reference is to David, who encompassed the death of Uriah the Hittite through the Ammonites, for which the prophet Nathan held him personally responsible. Weiss, Dor. I, p. 150 deduces from the story in Josephus. Ant. XIV, 9, concerning Herod's trial, when the Sanhedrin would have had him executed because he ordered the execution of certain freebooters, though he certainly did not carry them out in person, that Shammai's view was thus based on ancient practice. It is doubtful, however, whether this proves anything. Such an execution, had it taken place, would have been for State reasons, which override the letter of the law. In the same way those who counselled Alexander Jannai to massacre eight hundred of his former opponents were subsequently executed too. [V. Zeitlin. JQR (N.S.) VIII, p. 150, for an ingenious suggestion that this statement is to be attributed to Shemaiah who figured in Herod's trial instead of Shammai.]');"><sup>20</sup></span> What is Shammai the Elder's reason? - He holds that two verses with the same purpose throw light [on others], and he rejects the exegesis of ha-hu [as opposed to] hu.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence the principle of agency operates even for wrongdoing.');"><sup>21</sup></span> Alternatively, he accepts that exegesis;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that there is no agency for wrongdoing.');"><sup>22</sup></span>