Punishment of False Witnesses

m. Makkot 1:6

70–220

Perjuring witnesses are not to be put to death until [after] the end of the trial. Because the Sadducees say: [Perjurers were put to death] only after the accused had [actually] been executed, as it says: A life for a life (Deuteronomy 19:21). The sages said to them: But has it not already been said: You shall do to him as he schemed to do to his fellow (Deuteronomy 19:19), which implies when his brother is still alive? If so, why does it [the Torah] say: A life for life? For it might have been [thought] that perjurers are liable to be put to death from the moment their testimony is taken. Therefore the Torah states: A life for a life, that is to say that they are not executed until [after] the termination of the trial.

Adapted from the translation ofJoshua Kulp.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

This mishnah presents a point of legal disagreement between Sadducees and “sages” (possibly Pharisees; see “King Yannai and the Pharisees”). The disagreement regards the proper punishment for false witnesses. Both groups agree that capital punishment is the appropriate punishment for perjury in a capital case. However, the Sadducee position advocates capital punishment only when the perjury results in the wrongful death of the accused. The sages advocate capital punishment regardless of whether the accused is put to death, but only after completion of the trial. Both positions rely on scriptural prooftexts.

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Punishment of False Witnesses

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