SANHEDRIN - 090a – אלו הן הנחנקין – פרק עשירי – סנהדרין, צ ע”א

The dispute is over uprooting the whole of idolatry, and over keeping part and nullifying part of idolatry,^[1]

מחלוקת - between the Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon, concerning a prophet who uproots the whole of the prohibition of idolatry, saying: I was commanded by Ruach HaKodesh from the mouth of the Almighty to prophesy that the whole mitzvah of idolatry is to be uprooted from the Torah — or to keep part and nullify part. In this the Rabbis say stoning, because the passage that speaks of a prophet's leading astray, from which they derive stoning, deals with idolatry, as it is written: and the sign or the wonder comes about… let us go and worship — that is uprooting the whole; and nullifying part is also written there at the end: he shall be put to death, for he spoke falsehood… to lead you astray from the way — and even part of it is implied. But the verse speaks only of idolatry, for a matter is learned from its context:

for the Merciful One said (Devarim 13:6): from the way — even part of the way.

But uprooting the whole of other mitzvos — all agree it is by strangulation;

אבל עוקר הגוף דשאר מצות דברי הכל בחנק - for we derive it from another verse, said in another passage in which leading astray is not written: But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name (Devarim 18:20) — that is, what he did not hear — and it is written: that prophet shall die, and every death stated without specification is strangulation:

and keeping part and nullifying part of other mitzvos — all agree he is exempt.

פטור - for there it is written "a word" — a whole word, not half a word:

Rav Hamnuna objected (Devarim 13:6): to walk — this is a positive mitzvah; in it — this is a negative mitzvah.

ללכת זו מצות עשה - this is a beraisa in the Sifrei on the passage of the prophet who leads astray, in which leading astray is written (there, 13:6): to lead you astray from the way in which Hashem your G‑d commanded you to walk, etc.; it expounds the extra words: "to walk" — this is a positive mitzvah, since it implies doing and does not imply a warning:

בה לא תעשה - for we learn from "in which he sinned" that a negative mitzvah is meant. So other mitzvos too are written here concerning leading astray; for if the verse spoke only of idolatry, what positive mitzvah is there?:

And if you think it refers to idolatry — how do you find a positive mitzvah in idolatry?

Rav Chisda explained it (Devarim 12:3): And you shall break down.^[2]

Rav Hamnuna said: The dispute is over uprooting the whole, whether of idolatry or of other mitzvos,

ובין בשאר מצות - for Rav Hamnuna does not understand "to walk in it" as referring to "you shall break down"; and "the Merciful One said: from the way" refers to idolatry, since other mitzvos are not yet included in this passage, for "to walk in it" implies the whole:

and over keeping part and nullifying part of idolatry, for the Merciful One said: from the way — even part of the way.

But keeping part and nullifying part of other mitzvos — all agree he is exempt.

ד"ה פטור - even from strangulation, for there a whole word is written; and "who presumes to speak a word" does not refer to one who uproots words of Torah, for there it is stoning, but to mere statements, such as Tzidkiyah ben Kenaanah:

The Rabbis taught: One who prophesies to uproot something from the Torah is liable.

To keep part and nullify part — Rabbi Shimon exempts.

And in idolatry, even if he says: Worship it today and nullify it tomorrow — all agree he is liable.

היום עובדה - that is, this is keeping part and nullifying part:

Abaye holds like Rav Chisda and explains it according to Rav Chisda.^[3]

כרב חסדא - who said that they disagree about idolatry, but with other mitzvos, uprooting the whole is strangulation and nullifying part is exempt:

Rava holds like Rav Hamnuna and explains it according to Rav Hamnuna.

Abaye holds like Rav Chisda and explains it according to Rav Chisda:

One who prophesies to uproot something from the Torah — all agree it is strangulation.

To keep part and nullify part, Rabbi Shimon exempts — and the same is true for the Rabbis.

ר"ש פוטר והוא הדין לרבנן - for regarding strangulation a whole word is written. And according to Rav Chisda, the reason it mentions Rabbi Shimon is to teach that in the first clause, which says simply "liable," even according to the Rabbis it is strangulation, as Rabbi Shimon holds — strangulation and not stoning, since other mitzvos are not written in the passage of leading astray, which carries stoning:

And in idolatry, even if he says, Worship it today and nullify it tomorrow, he is liable —

this one according to his view, and that one according to his view.

מר כדאית ליה כו' - for the Rabbis, stoning; for Rabbi Shimon, strangulation. And the same is true for the Rabbis according to Rav Hamnuna — the reason it mentions Rabbi Shimon is to teach a novelty: even from Rabbi Shimon's strangulation he is exempt, and all the more so from stoning, which the Rabbis impose for uprooting everything:

Rava holds like Rav Hamnuna and explains it according to Rav Hamnuna:

One who prophesies to uproot something from the Torah — whether of idolatry or of other mitzvos — is liable —

this one according to his view, and that one according to his view.

To keep part and nullify part — in other mitzvos — Rabbi Shimon exempts — and the same is true for the Rabbis.

And in idolatry, even if he says, Worship it today and nullify it tomorrow, he is liable —

this one according to his view, and that one according to his view.

Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: In every matter, if a prophet tells you to transgress the words of the Torah, listen to him,

אם יאמר לך נביא - one who is established as a prophet; to transgress the words of the Torah, all according to the needs of the hour, as Eliyahu on Mount Carmel with an offering slaughtered outside the Beis HaMikdash:

except for idolatry: even if he makes the sun stand still for you in the middle of the sky, do not listen to him.

It was taught: Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: The Torah reached the depth of the mind of idolatry; therefore the Torah gave it power,

נתנה התורה ממשלה בה - that is, even if you see that prophet ruling and doing as he wishes, as it is written (Devarim 13:2): and he gives you a sign or a wonder:

so that even if he makes the sun stand still for you in the middle of the sky, do not listen to him.

It was taught: Rabbi Akiva said: Heaven forbid that the Holy One, blessed be He, would make the sun stand still for those who transgress His will!

Rather, as with Chananyah ben Azur,^[4] who at first was a true prophet and in the end a false prophet.

שתחילתו נביא אמת - such as Chananyah the prophet. And this "he gives you a sign" means: while he is still a true prophet he gives you a sign in a different prophecy, and in the end, when he turns to wickedness, he says: Worship idols, and rely on me, for I am established by the sign and wonder I already gave you:

And the zomemim of a kohen's daughter:^[5]

From where are these words derived?

Rav Acha the son of Rav Ika said: As it was taught: Rabbi Yosei says: What does the verse teach (Devarim 19:19): And you shall do to him as he schemed to do to his brother?

(לרשות הבעל. Such as when the father handed her over to the husband's agents and she is still on the way, so she is not called "her father's house." To that death — which they would have imposed on the accused. And the one who had relations with her — that is, all who have relations are judged like the death of the woman, except one who has relations with a kohen's daughter:)

מה ת"ל לאחיו - let it write "as he schemed to do" and stop there:

Since with all the zomemim in the Torah, their zomemim and the men who have relations with them are like them.

A kohen's daughter is burned, but the one who had relations with her is not burned.

The zomemim — I do not know whether they are compared to him or compared to her.

אם לו הוקשו - to the man, whom they would have made liable to strangulation:

אם לה - whom they make liable to burning:

When it says: to do to his brother — to his brother, and not to his sister.

לאחיו ולא לאחותו - wherever by their testimony they make a man and a woman liable, and their judgments differ, as here — they are compared to him:

We will return to you, Eilu Hen HaNechnakin

Maseches Sanhedrin, Chapter Eleven

Mishnah

All Israel have a share in the World to Come,

כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא - at first it spoke of the four death penalties, explaining all of them, and then it explains those who have no share in the World to Come:

as it is said (Yeshayahu 60:21): And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I glory.

And these have no share in the World to Come:

One who says that the resurrection of the dead is not from the Torah.

הכי גרסינן האומר אין תחיית המתים מן התורה - for he denies the expositions, as we expound later in the Gemara: From where is the resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah?.

And even if he admits and believes that the dead will live, only that it is not alluded to in the Torah — he is a denier.

Since he uproots that the resurrection of the dead is from the Torah, what is his belief to us!

For from where does he know that it is so? Therefore he is a complete denier:

And that the Torah is not from Heaven.

And an apikorus.

אפיקורוס - it is explained in the Gemara:

Rabbi Akiva says: Also one who reads external books.

ספרים החיצונים - it is explained in the Gemara:

And one who whispers over a wound and says (Shemos 15:26): All the sickness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am Hashem who heals you.

Abba Shaul says: Also one who pronounces the Name with its letters.^[6]

Three kings and four commoners have no share in the World to Come.

Three kings:

Yeravam, Achav, and Menashe.^[7]

Rabbi Yehudah says: Menashe has a share in the World to Come.

As it is said (Divrei Hayamim II 33:13): And he prayed to Him, and He heard his supplication, and returned him to Yerushalayim, to his kingdom.

They said to him: To his kingdom He returned him, but He did not return him to the life of the World to Come.

Four commoners:

Bilam, Doeg, Achisofel, and Gechazi.^[8]

Gemara

And why so much?

It was taught: He denied the resurrection of the dead; therefore he will have no share in the resurrection of the dead.

For all the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are measure for measure.

As Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonasan: From where do we know that all the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are measure for measure?

As it is said (Melachim II 7:1): And Elisha said: Hear the word of Hashem [etc.]: At this time tomorrow a se'ah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two se'ahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Shomron.

And it is written (Melachim II 7:2): And the officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of G‑d and said: Behold, if Hashem makes windows in heaven, could this thing be?!^[9]

And he said: Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from it.

Notes

1. 1. This is the dispute in the Mishnah between the Rabbis (stoning) and Rabbi Shimon (strangulation) over a prophet who prophesies to uproot a mitzvah. "Uprooting the whole" means abolishing the mitzvah entirely; "keeping part and nullifying part" means instructing that part of it be dropped.
2. 2. Idolatry too has a positive mitzvah: to break down its altars.
3. 3. Each of them reads the beraisa in line with his own view, as the Gemara now spells out.
4. 4. Chananyah ben Azur was the false prophet in the days of Yirmiyahu who prophesied that the yoke of the king of Bavel would be broken. [ירמיהו כח]
5. 5. Zomemim are witnesses proven false, who receive the punishment they sought to impose. A kohen's daughter who commits adultery is burned, while the man is strangled; her zomemim are judged like the man, by strangulation.
6. 6. That is, one who pronounces the Ineffable Name as it is written.
7. 7. Kings who led Israel into idolatry.
8. 8. Bilam was the prophet of the nations; Doeg was Shaul's adviser; Achisofel was the adviser of Dovid and later of Avshalom; Gechazi was Elisha's servant.
9. 9. The officer did not believe Elisha's words; so he saw the plenty but did not eat of it, for he was trampled in the gate and died — measure for measure.