Study Sanhedrin folio 37A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ושלש שורות של תלמידי חכמים יושבין לפניהן, כל אחד ואחד מכיר את מקומו. הוצרכו לסמוך – סומכין מן הראשונה. אחד מן השניה בא לו לראשונה, אחד מן השלישית בא לו לשניה. בוררים להן עוד אחד מן הקהל ומושיבין אותו בשלישית. ולא היה יושב במקומו של ראשון, אלא יושב במקום הראוי לו.
And 3 rows of Torah scholars sit before the judges, and each and every one among those sitting recognizes his place, i.e., they are seated in accordance with their stature. When the court must ordain an additional judge, e.g., if a judge dies during the proceedings or in the case of a court without a decisive majority (see 40a), the court ordains the greatest Torah scholar from the first row. As a seat in the first row is now vacant, one Torah scholar from the second row comes to the first row, and one Torah scholar from the third row comes to the second row, and the court selects another Torah scholar from among the assembled and they seat him in the third row. And this Torah scholar who moves from the second row to the first row would not sit in the place of the first Torah scholar, who joined the court, rather, he would sit in the place appropriate for him, i.e., at the end of that row, in accordance with his stature.
גמ׳ מנא הני מילי? אמר רבי אחא בר חנינא: דאמר קרא ״שררך אגן הסהר אל יחסר המזג וגו׳״.
Talmud: The Mishnah teaches that the Sanhedrin would sit in a semicircle. The Talmud asks: From where are these matters derived? R' Aḥa bar Ḥanina says: As the verse states: “Your navel is like a round goblet, let no mingled wine be wanting; your belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies” (Song of Songs 7:3).
״שררך״ – זו סנהדרין. למה נקרא שמה ״שררך״? שהיא יושבת בטיבורו של עולם. ״אגן״ – שהיא מגינה על כל העולם כולו. ״הסהר״ – שהיא דומה לסהר.
This verse is interpreted as referring to the members of the Sanhedrin, who sit in a semicircle. “Your navel”; this is an allusion to the Sanhedrin. And why is it called by way of allusion “your navel”? It is because it sits in the navel of the world, in the Temple. “Goblet [aggan]”; this teaches that the Sanhedrin protects [meginna] the entire world with its merit. “Round [hassahar]”; this teaches that the Sanhedrin is similar to the moon [sahar]. The court sits in a semicircle, like the shape of the moon.