Sanhedrin 61B

מאי שנא איהו מינן דידן? ו״אין״ דקאמרי, אחוכי עליה.

In what way is he different from us? The suggestion to worship him is nonsense. And the fact that they say to him: Yes, is because they ridicule him.

ומתניתין: כאן ביחיד הניסת, כאן ברבים הניסתים. יחיד ⁠– לא מימלך, וטעי בתריה; רבים ⁠– מימלכי, ולא טעו בתריה.

And the contradiction between the mishnayot can be resolved as follows: There, where the Mishnah states that one is liable for speech alone, the reference is to an individual who was incited; here, where the Mishnah indicates that one is not liable for speech alone, it is referring to a case of an incited multitude of people. The Talmud explains: An individual who was incited does not typically change his mind, and he goes astray after idol worship. Therefore, once he agrees to the suggestion to worship an idol, he has fully accepted the idol upon himself as a god and is liable. By contrast, a multitude of people are apt to change their minds, and consequently they do not go astray after idol worship.

אמר רב יוסף: מנא אמינא לה? דכתיב ״לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו״. הא אבה ושמע ⁠– חייב.

Rav Yosef said: From where do I say that the halakha that one is liable for merely stating that he will worship an idol is referring to an individual who was incited? As it is written with regard to one who incites people to engage in idol worship: “You should not approve of him, nor listen to him” (Deuteronomy 13:9), which indicates that if one approved of and listened to the inciter, stating his intention to engage in idol worship, he is liable even if he does not actually worship an idol.

איתיביה אביי: מי שאני בין ניסת דרבים לניסת יחיד? והתניא: ״כי יסיתך אחיך בן אמך״⁠ – אחד יחיד הניסת ואחד רבים הניסתים, והוציא הכתוב יחיד מכלל רבים ורבים מכלל יחיד.

Abaye raised an objection to Rav Yosef’s opinion: Is there a difference in halakha between the cases of an incited multitude of people and an individual who was incited? But isn’t it taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your neighbor who is like your own soul, incites you secretly, saying: Let us go and serve other gods” (Deuteronomy 13:7), that both an individual who was incited and an incited multitude of people are included in this halakha, but the verse singles out the individual from the category of the multitude, and another verse singles out the multitude from the category of the individual.