On yesterday’s daf, we learned that while most rabbis think monetary cases should be handled by three judges, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi requires five. The Gemara explains their disagreement:
This is the reasoning of Rabbi (Yehuda HaNasi): The verse states: “He whom the court shall condemn” (Exodus 22:8), and the verb “condemn” is plural, meaning there must be two judges. Further, “the court” is stated both in the verse below and in the verse above. Just as below it refers to two judges in the verse below, so too it refers to two judges in the verse below, making a total of four. Since a court may not be composed of an even number (rendering a tie decision impossible), they add another one to them, so there are five judges.
And how would the rabbis respond to this proof? They would say “condemn” is written in a way that could also be read in the singular.
What’s going on here? The biblical text was originally not vocalized — meaning it did not have vowels — and therefore many words, especially those with uncommon spellings, could potentially have several meanings, depending on how one vocalizes them. This flexibility in the biblical text fuels many a beautiful midrash. But it also creates ambiguity when trying to derive consistent law.
By the time of the rabbis, there was an established tradition with regard to the text’s correct vocalization. So the dispute is this: If the established vocalization of a text means one thing, but a word could potentially be read differently if we change the vowels, do we consider the traditional vocalization the definitive determiner of meaning? Do we hold l’mikra (according to the traditional pronunciation of the text) or l’masoret (according to the way the text is written).
In this case, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi holds that the traditional vocalization is authoritative. Since the word “condemn” in this context is traditionally vocalized in the plural, he derives the conclusion that the word references the presence of at least two judges. But the rabbis, who hold that the consonants of the text are authoritative while the vowels are not, note that the word is spelled differently than the plural form would usually appear (it is missing a vav). Therefore, the unvocalized word, as written, could be rendered in the singular and therefore indicate only one judge.
The daf goes on to list a number of other rabbis who hold like Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi that our traditional vocalization determines meaning and cites the halakhic discourses where we find their positions. The implication is that while these rabbis (Rabbi Yehuda ben Roetz, Beit Shammai, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Akiva) prioritize traditional vocalization, the majority of their colleagues (like “the rabbis” mentioned at the top of the daf) do not.
Not everyone even agrees, however, that all these disputes boil down to the question of whether we follow the tradition of vocalization or writing:
Rav Aha bar Ya’akov objects: Is there a sage who does not accept the principle that the vocalization of the Torah is authoritative? But isn’t it taught in a beraita: The verse states: “You shall not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk (halav).” (Exodus 23:19). One might have thought it said in the fat (helev) of the mother. You therefore say in response: The vocalization of the Torah is authoritative.
Famously, the Torah prohibits cooking a kid in its mother’s milk. But the word for milk, halav, if voweled differently, becomes helev, fat. But Rav Aha bar Ya’akov points out that every rabbi agrees that the verse prohibits boiling a goat in its mother’s milk, and no one suggests changing the laws of kashrut based on a possible re-vocalization of the verse. This strongly suggests that actually the vast majority of rabbis hold that vocalization is authoritative! From here, Rav Aha proceeds to explain how all the above rabbis’ disputes (including that of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and the rabbis with regard to judges) hinge on entirely different questions.
Read all of Sanhedrin 4 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on December 21, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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