Sanhedrin 60A

Study Sanhedrin folio 60A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.

Text Excerpt

״מכשפה לא תחיה״, וכתיב: ״כל שכב עם בהמה מות יומת״. כל שישנו בכלל ״כל שכב עם בהמה״⁠ – ישנו בכלל ״מכשפה לא תחיה״.

“You should not allow a witch to live” (Exodus 22:17), and it is written in the following verse: “Whoever lies with an animal should be put to death” (Exodus 22:18). It is derived from here that anyone who is included in the prohibition of: “Whoever lies with an animal,” including non-Jews, is included in the command: “You should not allow a witch to live.”

רבי אלעזר אומר: אף על הכלאים. מנא הני מילי? אמר שמואל, דאמר קרא: ״את חקתי תשמרו״⁠ – חוקים שחקקתי לך כבר: ״בהמתך לא תרביע כלאים שדך לא תזרע כלאים״.

The baraita teaches that R' Elazar says that descendants of Noah were also commanded about the prohibition of diverse kinds. The Talmud asks: From where are these matters derived? Shmuel says: They are derived from that which the verse states: “My statutes you should keep. You should not breed your animal with a diverse kind; you should not sow your field with two kinds of seed” (Leviticus 19:19). God is saying: Keep the statutes that I have already instituted for you, i.e., mitzvot that were already given to the descendants of Noah, namely, “you should not breed your animal with a diverse kind; you should not sow your field with two kinds of seed.”

מה בהמתך בהרבעה, אף שדך בהרכבה. מה בהמתך בין בארץ בין בחוצה לארץ, אף שדך בין בארץ בין בחוצה לארץ.

The Talmud derives the details of this prohibition from the verse: Just as the Noahide prohibition concerning your animal applies with regard to breeding animals of different species, and not with regard to plowing with animals of two different species working together, which is prohibited only for Jews, so too, the Noahide prohibition in your field applies with regard to grafting one species onto another, which is equivalent to breeding, but it is not prohibited for non-Jews to sow different seeds together. Furthermore, just as the Noahide prohibition against breeding your animal applies both in Eretz Yisrael and outside Eretz Yisrael, so too, the Noahide prohibition against grafting diverse kinds in your field applies both in Eretz Yisrael and outside Eretz Yisrael.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.