Tractate Sanhedrin is primarily concerned with the rules and procedures that govern capital cases in Jewish courts. But because all humans are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God, the Torah cares about capital punishment being carried out in all courts — both Jewish and non-Jewish. The rabbis care too:
Rabbi Ya’akov bar Aha found that it was written in a book of aggadot (interpretive teachings on the Hebrew Bible) in the study hall of Rav: A descendant of Noah is executed on the basis of the verdict of even one judge, and by the testimony of even one witness, and without being given forewarning before committing the transgression. He can be judged or testified against only by the mouth of a man and not by the mouth of a woman; but even a relative may judge his case or testify against him.
As a precondition for deploying capital punishment, Jewish law requires that a capital case be tried by 23 judges, that the testimony of at least two non-related witnesses corroborate the crime and that the accused was forewarned immediately before committing the act for which they are to be executed. According to this teaching, which surfaced in Rav’s study hall, non-Jewish courts legitimately have different requirements: one judge is enough to pronounce a sentence of execution, one witness (even a relative of the accused) is enough to prove guilt and the accused need not have been forewarned before committing the crime.
The source for this teaching, as the Gemara explains, is Genesis 9:5, a portion of the Noahide laws, precepts given to Noah after the flood which the rabbis understand to be binding on all people, including non-Jews. The verse states: “And your blood of your lives I will require; at the hand of every animal I will require it; and at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man.”
In context, Genesis 9:5 comes right after a verse that, for the first time in human history, permits human beings to eat animals. The next verses apparently views this as a concession to human appetite for violence and follow-up by placing safeguards against murder and inappropriate use of capital punishment. Genesis 9:5 itself offers no specifics for how this is done, but using rabbinic methods of interpretation, Rabbi Yehuda derives the concrete rules stated above from it. Here’s how he does it: The phrase “I will require” is written in the singular, indicating that descendants of Noah can be executed on the basis of the verdict of even one judge. When the verse says, “at the hand of every animal,” it indicates that the accused can be executed even without having been forewarned, because animals are not capable of providing said warning. Further, in this midrashic interpretation, the use of the singular in the phrase “I will require it; and at the hand of man,” establishes that one witness is required to convict. And the fact that the verse says “his brother” allows for testimony from a relative.
At first glance, this midrashic reading of the verse strips non-Jews of many of the key protections for the accused that are integral to the rabbinic judicial process. However, there’s a better way to look at it. The rabbis recognize that their own judicial requirements are particular to their community. They know from their own lived experience that the judicial systems in the Roman and Persian empires in which they reside are different. While the Torah requires that all ruling authorities put a legal system in place, it does not obligate non-Jewish courts to adopt all of the particular features of the Jewish court system. It may seem a bit strange that the rabbis derive this permission for non–Jews from Jewish texts and using Jewish methods of interpretation. It’s helpful to remember that this line of reasoning is not for non-Jews, who do not look to Jewish sources for authoritative decisions, but for Jews, helping them explain and make sense of the world in which they live.
Read all of Sanhedrin 57 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on February 12, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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