Your Brother Shall Not Be Degraded In Your Eyes

(17) Then she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to me to dally with me; (18) but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside.” (19) When his master heard the story that his wife told him, namely, “Thus and so your slave did to me,” he was furious. (20) So Joseph’s master had him put in prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. But even while he was there in prison, (21) the LORD was with Joseph: He extended kindness to him and disposed the chief jailer favorably toward him. (22) The chief jailer put in Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in that prison, and he was the one to carry out everything that was done there. (23) The chief jailer did not supervise anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him, and whatever he did the LORD made successful.

(11) The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name in blasphemy, and he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan— (12) and he was placed in custody, until the decision of the LORD should be made clear to them.

(32) Once, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they came upon a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. (33) Those who found him as he was gathering wood brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the whole community. (34) He was placed in custody, for it had not been specified what should be done to him. (35) Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death: the whole community shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.”

(33) Those who found him as he was gathering wood brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the whole community. (34) He was placed in custody, for it had not been specified what should be done to him.

(25) Then the LORD came down in a cloud and spoke to him; He drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy, but did not continue. (26) Two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in camp; yet the spirit rested upon them—they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent—and they spoke in ecstasy in the camp. (27) A youth ran out and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are acting the prophet in the camp!” (28) And Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant from his youth, spoke up and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them (kelaeim)!” (29) But Moses said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD put His spirit upon them!”

(23) But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, (24) eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, (25) burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

(1) If the thief is seized while tunneling, and he is beaten to death, there is no bloodguilt in his case. (2) If the sun has risen on him, there is bloodguilt in that case.—He must make restitution; if he lacks the means, he shall be sold for his theft.

(2) When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; in the seventh year he shall go free, without payment.

MISHNA: One who injures another is liable to pay compensation for that injury due to five types of indemnity: He must pay for damage, for pain, for medical costs, for loss of livelihood, and for humiliation. How is payment for damage assessed? If one blinded another’s eye, severed his hand, broke his leg, or caused any other injury, the court views the injured party as though he were a slave being sold in the slave market, and the court appraises how much he was worth before the injury and how much he is worth after the injury. The difference between these two sums is the amount that one must pay for causing damage. How is payment for pain assessed? If one burned another with a skewer [beshapud] or with a hot nail, or even if one burned another on his fingernail, which is a place where he does not cause a bruise that would affect the victim’s value on the slave market, the court evaluates how much money a person with a similar threshold for pain as the victim is willing to take in order to be made to suffer in this way. The one who burned the victim must then pay this amount. How is payment for medical costs assessed? If one struck another, then he is liable to heal him by paying for his medical costs. In a case where growths, e.g., blisters or rashes, appeared on the injured party, if the growths are due to the blow, the one who struck him is liable; if the growths are not due to the blow, the one who struck him is exempt. In a case where the wound healed, and then reopened, and again healed, and then reopened, the one who struck him remains liable to heal the injured party by paying for his medical costs, as it is apparent that the current wound resulted from the original injury. If the injury healed fully, the one who struck him is not liable to heal him by paying for any subsequent medical costs. How is payment for loss of livelihood assessed? The court views the injured party as though he were a watchman of cucumbers, and the one who caused him injury must compensate him based on that pay scale for the income that he lost during his convalescence. This indemnity does not take into account the value of the standard wages of the injured party because the one who caused him injury already gave him compensation for his hand or compensation for his leg, and that compensation took into account his professional skills. How is payment for humiliation assessed? It all depends on the stature of the one who humiliates the other and the one who is humiliated.

(1) When there is a dispute between men and they go to law, and a decision is rendered declaring the one in the right and the other in the wrong— (2) if the guilty one is to be flogged, the magistrate shall have him lie down and be given lashes in his presence, by count, as his guilt warrants. (3) He may be given up to forty lashes, but not more, lest being flogged further, to excess, your brother be degraded before your eyes.

(12) "and he be demeaned" — whence they ruled that if he was soiled either by excrement or urine (while being smitten), he is exempt (from the remaining stripes). R. Yehudah said: a man, by excrement; a woman, by urine.

(13) "your brother": We are hereby taught that all those liable to kareth (cutting off), who receive stripes, are absolved from their kareth, it being written "and your brother be demeaned before your eyes" — Once he has been smitten," regard him as your brother.

(14) R. Chanina b. Gamla says: The entire day Scripture calls his "wicked," viz. (Ibid. 2) "Then it shall be, if liable to stripes is the wicked one." But once he has been smitten Scripture calls his "your brother," viz.: "and your brother be demeaned."

(11) you shall provide yourselves with places to serve you as cities of refuge to which a manslayer who has killed a person unintentionally may flee. (12) The cities shall serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer may not die unless he has stood trial before the assembly. (13) The towns that you thus assign shall be six cities of refuge in all. (14) Three cities shall be designated beyond the Jordan, and the other three shall be designated in the land of Canaan: they shall serve as cities of refuge. (15) These six cities shall serve the Israelites and the resident aliens among them for refuge, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

(25) The assembly shall protect the manslayer from the blood-avenger, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and there he shall remain until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil.

MISHNAH: The unintentional murderers would pay a fee to the Levites as rent for their living quarters in the cities of refuge, which were Levite cities; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Meir says: They would not pay a fee to them, but would reside rent free, as they are required to live there by Torah law. They also disagreed with regard to the status of the unintentional murderer when he returns home after the death of the High Priest. He returns to the same public office that he occupied prior to his exile; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: He does not return to the office that he occupied.

(1) If a student was banished to a city of refuge, his teacher must be exiled with him, as it is written: "And he shall live" (Deuteronomy 19:5); that is, make it possible for him to live. Life without study is like death for scholars who seek wisdom. So too, if a teacher went into exile, his school must be exiled with him.

MISHNA: One who was flogged for violating a prohibition and then repeated the violation and was flogged again assumes the status of a forewarned transgressor. The court places him into the vaulted chamber [lakippa] and feeds him barley bread until his belly ruptures due to the low-quality food, and he dies. GEMARA: Due to the fact that he was flogged and repeated the violation does the court place him into the vaulted chamber for the duration of his life and advance his death? Rabbi Yirmeya says that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: Here, we are dealing with lashes administered for violations of prohibitions punishable by excision from the World-to-Come [karet]. As when one violates such a prohibition, the man is essentially liable to be punished with death at the hand of Heaven, but his death is not advanced by the court, as it is administered by the heavenly court. And in this case, since he surrenders his life through his repeated transgressions, we advance his execution upon him by placing him in the vaulted chamber. Rabbi Ya’akov said to Rabbi Yirmeya bar Taḥlifa: Come and I will explain to you the circumstances of this halakha. It is in a case where he was flogged with lashes for repeatedly violating one prohibition punishable with karet that he is considered to have surrendered his life. But if he received lashes for violating two or for violating three different prohibitions punishable with karet, he is not placed in the vaulted chamber, as he merely is tasting the taste of prohibition and wants to enjoy the different experiences, and he is not thereby surrendering his life to that extent.

§ The mishna teaches: One who was flogged for violating a prohibition and then repeated the violation, the court places him into the vaulted chamber...Abba Shaul says: Even the third time the witnesses forewarn him the court does not flog him; and the fourth time, the court places him in the vaulted chamber. And there, in the case in the baraita, there are no lashes, as he did not explicitly acknowledge acceptance of the forewarning. The Rabbis hold that once he disregarded the forewarning three times, the court places him in a vaulted chamber. Abba Shaul holds that after he is forewarned three times that he will be flogged if he performs the transgression, he requires additional forewarning, before the fourth time, that he will be placed in a vaulted chamber if he performs the transgression again. The Gemara clarifies: And what is the nature of this vaulted chamber? Rav Yehuda says: It is a small chamber that is the full height of the transgressor, and it does not allow him to move in it.

From where do we derive that one who was incarcerated in prison must offer thanks? As it is written: “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron. Because they rebelled against the words of God and scorned the counsel of the most High” (Psalms 107:10–11). And it says: “Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help” (Psalms 107:12), and it says: “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distresses” (Psalms 107:13), and it says: “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their shackles” (Psalms 107:14). And after God takes them out from that darkness and shadow of death, it says: “They are grateful to God for His goodness.” The Gemara asks: What blessing does he recite? Rav Yehuda said: Blessed is…Who bestows acts of loving-kindness.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Everything that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created in His world, He did not create anything for naught. He created a snail as a remedy for a sore; He created a fly to be crushed and spread as a remedy on a wasp sting;