Sacred Texts  Judaism  Index  Previous  Next 

Tractate Sanhedrin, Herbert Danby tr. [1919], at sacred-texts.com


Those who may be killed untried.

M.VIII. 7. These may be saved (from sin) at the cost of their lives: 1 he who pursues after his fellow to kill him, or after a male, or after a betrothed damsel. But he who pursues after a beast, or he who defiles the Sabbath, or he who commits idolatry, may not be saved (from sin) at the cost of his life.

T. XI. 10. He who pursues after his fellow (to kill him) may be saved (from sin) at the cost of his life. How do they do this? They wound one of his limbs; and if even so they cannot prevent him, they forthwith kill him.

11. He who pursues after a male, whether it be in a house or the open field, may be saved (from sin) at the cost of his life; if it be after a betrothed damsel, whether in a house or the open field, he may be so killed. If it be a betrothed damsel or any of the prohibited degrees enjoined in the Law, he may be so killed; but if it be a divorced widow of a high-priest, or an ordinary priest's wife who had been subjected to the ḥaliṣa ceremony, he may not be saved (from sin) at the cost of his life. R. Jehuda says: Also, should she say, "Let him alone!" he may not be so killed, even though by leaving him alone he commit a capital crime.

R. Eleazar, the son of R. Zadok, says: He who commits idolatry may be saved (from sin) at the cost of his life.


Footnotes

113:1 Cases of justifiable homicide.


Next: B. Those Who Are Punishable By Burning