Study Sanhedrin folio 52B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
למה תלמיד חכם דומה לפני עם הארץ? בתחלה, דומה לקיתון של זהב. סיפר הימנו, דומה לקיתון של כסף. נהנה ממנו, דומה לקיתון של חרש. כיון שנשבר, שוב אין לו תקנה.
To what is a Torah scholar compared when he is standing before an am ha'aretz? At first, when he does not know him, the am ha'aretz considers him to be like a goblet [lekiton] of gold. Once he has conversed with him concerning mundane matters, he considers him to be like a goblet of silver, i.e., the stature of the Torah scholar is downgraded in the eyes of the am ha'aretz. Once the scholar has received benefit from the am ha'aretz, he considers him to be like an earthenware goblet, which once broken cannot be fixed.
אימרתא בת טלי, בת כהן שזינתה הואי. אקפה (רב) חמא בר טוביה חבילי זמורות ושרפה.
The Talmud relates: Imrata bat Talei was a priest’s daughter who committed adultery. Rav Ḥama bar Toviyya surrounded her with bundles of branches and burned her.
אמר רב יוסף: טעה בתרתי, טעה בדרב מתנה, וטעה בדתניא. ״ובאת אל הכהנים הלוים ואל השפט אשר יהיה בימים ההם״ – בזמן שיש כהן יש משפט, בזמן שאין כהן אין משפט.
Rav Yosef says: Rav Ḥama bar Toviyya erred with regard to two halakhot. He erred with regard to the ruling of Rav Mattana, i.e., that burning is performed using a wick of lead, and he erred with regard to that which is taught in a baraita: It is derived from the verse: “And you should come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge that will be in those days” (Deuteronomy 17:9), that at a time when there is a priest serving in the Temple, i.e., when the Temple is built, there is judgment of capital cases. By inference, at a time when there is no priest, there is no judgment of capital cases.
אמר רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק: מעשה בבת כהן שזינתה וכו׳. אמר רב יוסף: בית דין של צדוקים הוה.
§ The Mishnah teaches that R' Elazar, son of R' Tzadok, said: An incident occurred with regard to a priest’s daughter who committed adultery, and she was executed by actual burning, and the rabbis said to him that the court at that time was not proficient in halakha. Rav Yosef says: It was a court of the Sadducees, who interpreted the verse according to its straightforward meaning.