NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Sanhedrin (tractate)

For the council of seventy-one Jewish sages in Judea during the Roman period, see Sanhedrin. Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (×™×”×•×“×” Praise, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of historic Palestine, an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank, and, in a few geographical definitions of Judea... Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... The Sanhedrin is the name given in the mishna to the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who constituted the supreme court and legislative body in Judea during the Roman period. ...

The Sanhedrin (Hebrew משנה, "Repetition") is one of ten tractates of the Nezikin, a section of the Mishnah, a major source of rabbinic Judaism's religious texts. Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by 6 million people mainly in Israel, parts of the Palestinian territories, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... Nezikin (The Order of Damages) is the fourth order of Mishna (also the Tosefta and Talmud). ... The Mishnah (Hebrew ×ž×©× ×”, repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ...

Nezikin or "The Order of Damages" addresses court proceedings. Within the Nezikin, the Sanhedrin focuses on criminal law and punishments. The tractate includes eleven chapters, addressing the following topics: Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ...

civil and criminal courts and how their judges should be appointed
the king and the high priest and their involvement in court proceedings
acceptable witnesses and decisions about judges recusing themselves
witness examination procedures, and which cases should be heard by more than one judge
court procedures, including standard questions and procedures required for accusations and for acquitals
procedures for execution after condemnations
capital punishments
procedures for young sons versus adults
crimes meriting capital punishment by burning or slaying
crimes meriting capital punishment by choking; rules about slavery; dealing with rebellious judges and false prophets
consequences for the souls of criminals at the time of the resurrection

Interpretations and commentaries on the Sanhedrin by rabbis, as recorded in the Talmud, are noteworthy as precursors to the development of common law principles. A Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) is a religious Jewish scholar who is an expert in Jewish law. ... The Talmud (×ª×œ×ž×•×“) is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

External links

Complete Sanhedrin Tractate Jewish Virtual Library

Categories: Mishnah | Jewish texts | Judaism | Jewish law and rituals | Religious texts

Results from FactBites:

Sanhedrin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (3416 words)
	The Sanhedrin (Hebrew: סנהדרין; probably from the Greek συνέδριον, synedrion, "assembly") is the name given to the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who constituted the supreme court and legislative body in Judea during the Roman period.
	The Sanhedrin in the post-Temple age concerned itself primarily with codifying the ancient traditions of the Oral Torah; its members were instrumental in the drafting of the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud.
	In order that this sanhedrin, reviving the old Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, might be vested with the same sacred character as that time-honored institution, it was to be constituted on a similar pattern: it was to be composed of seventy-one members—two-thirds of them rabbis and one-third laymen.

The Sanhedrin (454 words)
	The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme religious body in Palestine during the time of the Holy Temple.
	These Sanhedrins existed until the abolishment of the rabbinic patriarchate in about 425 C.E. The earliest record of a Sanhedrin is by Josephus who wrote of a political Sanhedrin convened by the Romans in 57 B.C.E. Hellenistic sources generally depict the Sanhedrin as a political and judicial council headed by the country’s ruler.
	The Great Sanhedrin dealt with religious and ritualistic Temple matters, criminal matters appertaining to the secular court, proceedings in connection with the discovery of a corpse, trials of adulterous wives, tithes, preparation of Torah Scrolls for the king and the Temple, drawing up the calendar and the solving of difficulties relating to ritual law.

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