Shoftim (parsha)

Shoftim, Shof'tim, or Shofetim (שופטים — Hebrew for “judges,” the first word in the parshah) is the 48th weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fifth in the book of Deuteronomy. It constitutes )

Abhorrent practices

Moses warned the Israelites against setting up a sacred post beside God’s altar or erecting a stone pillar. () If a case proved too baffling for them to decide, then they were promptly to go to the place that God would choose for God’s shrine, appear before the priests or the magistrate in charge and present their problem, and carry out any verdict that was announced there without deviating either to the right or to the left. () The king was not to keep many horses, marry many wives, or amass silver and gold to excess. ()

Rules for Levites

The Levites were to have no territorial portion, but were to live only off of offerings, for God was to be their portion. ()

Rules for prophets

The Israelites were not to imitate the abhorrent practices of the nations that they were displacing, consign their children to fire, or act as an augur, soothsayer, diviner, sorcerer, one who casts spells, one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead, for it was because of those abhorrent acts that God was dispossessing the former residents of the land. () But any prophet who presumed to speak an oracle in God’s name that God had not commanded the prophet to utter, or who spoke in the name of other gods, was to die. () And if the Israelites faithfully observed all the law and God enlarged the territory, then they were to add three more towns to those three. () If, however, one who was the enemy of another lay in wait, struck the other a fatal blow, and then fled to a city of refuge, the elders of the slayer’s town were to have the slayer turned over to the blood-avenger to be put to death. () If one person gave false testimony against another, then the two parties were to appear before God and the priests or magistrates, the magistrates were to make a thorough investigation, and if the magistrates found the person to have testified falsely, then they were to do to the witness as the witness schemed to do to the other. ()

When the Israelites approached a town to attack it, they were to offer it terms of peace, and if the town surrendered, then all the people of the town were to serve the Israelites as forced labor. () When the Israelites besieged a city for a long time, they could eat the fruit of the city’s trees, but they were not to cut down any trees that could yield food. () The priests were to come forward, all the elders were to wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken, and the elders were to declare that their hands did not shed the blood nor their eyes see it done. ( and the Canaanite idolatrous practice of the Asherah in “In justice shall you judge your neighbor,” with referred to the redoubled scrutiny appropriate to a suit that one suspected to be dishonest. Rav Ashi found no contradiction, however, between the two verses, for a Baraita taught that in the two mentions of “justice” in “Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue,” apply to tell that an able-bodied person who feigned to be disabled would become disabled. And similarly, the words of says: “Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; 60 mighty men are about it, of the mighty men of Israel. They all handle the sword, and are expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, because of dread in the night.” And Rabbi Josiah (or others say Rav Nahman bar Isaac) interpreted the words, “O house of David, thus says the Lord: 'Execute justice in the morning and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor,'” in discussed three witnesses, when two witnesses were sufficient to establish guilt. The Mishnah deduced that the language of that just as two witnesses were not executed as perjurers until both had been incriminated, so three were not executed until all three had been incriminated. Rabbi Akiba deduced that the addition of the third witness in to teach that when the priests served in the Temple, a judge could hand down capital punishment, but when the priesthood is not functioning, the judge may not issue such judgments. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 52b.)

The Mishnah explained the process by which one was found to be a rebellious elder within the meaning of But if one of the elder’s disciples issued a decision opposed to the Great Sanhedrin, the disciple was exempt from judgment, for the very stringency that kept the disciple from having yet been ordained served as a source of leniency to prevent the disciple from being found to be a rebellious elder. (Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/3-02-02/thursday.htm Sanhedrin 11:2;] Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 86b.) Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/thursday.htm –5] and Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 20b–22b interpreted the laws governing the king in was intended only to frighten the people, citing the emphatic double verb in the words “You shall surely set a king over you” in was intended only to frighten the people, citing the emphatic double verb in the words “You shall surely set a king over you” in to blot out Amalek, and (3) the commandment of says, “And (you) shall say, ‘I will set a king over me.’” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 20b.)

The Mishnah interpreted the words “He shall not multiply horses to himself” in prohibited the king from marrying more than 18 wives, even if they were all as righteous as Abigail the wife of David. (Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4;] Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 21a.) The Gemara noted that Rabbi Judah did not always employ the rationale behind a Biblical passage as a basis for limiting its legal effect, as he did here in Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4.] The Gemara explained that Rabbi Judah employed the rationale behind the law here because adds the words, “that his heart turn not away,” to imply that the king must not marry even a single wife who might turn away his heart. And one could interpret the words “he shall not multiply” to mean that the king must not marry many wives even if they, like Abigail, would never turn away his heart. The Gemara then analyzed how the anonymous first view in Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4] came to its conclusion that the king could have no more than 18 wives. The Gemara noted that to limit the king to only as much silver and gold as he needed to pay his soldiers. (Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4;] Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 21b.)

The Mishnah interpreted the words “he shall write a copy of this law in a book” in [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0320.htm 20:1-5,] and (in the JPS; Exodus 20:13 in the NJPS) not to bear false witness and 40 on account of the instruction of and deduced that the word “give” could apply only to pecuniary compensation. The school of Rabbi Hiyya cited the words “hand for hand” in referred explicitly to healing, and the verse would not make sense if one assumed that retaliation was meant. And Rav Ashi taught that the principle of pecuniary compensation could be derived from the analogous use of the term “for” in (Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat6.htm Sotah 8:1–7;] Tosefta Sotah 7:18–24; Babylonian Talmud Sotah 42a–44b.)

Even though one might conclude from (Mishnah [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat6.htm Sotah 9:1–9;] Tosefta Sotah 9:1–2; Babylonian Talmud Sotah 44b–47b.)

Commandments

According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 14 positive and 27 negative commandments in the parshah.
*To appoint judges ()
*Not to offer a temporarily blemished animal ()
*To appoint a king from Israel ()
*Not to dwell permanently in Egypt ()
*The king must have a separate Torah for himself. ()
*To give the shoulder, two cheeks, and stomach of slaughtered animals to a Kohen ()
*The priests’ work shifts must be equal during holidays. ()
*Not to mutter incantations ()
*Not to attempt to contact the dead ()
*Not to prophesize in the name of an idol ()
*A judge must not pity the murderer or assaulter at the trial. ()
*To punish the false witnesses as they tried to punish the defendant ()
*To offer peace terms to the inhabitants of a city while holding siege, and treat them according to the Torah if they accept the terms ()
*To break the neck of a calf by the river valley following an unsolved murder ( (worshipping sun, moon, stars).
*Joshua [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0624.htm#26 24:26] (stone pillar).
*1 Samuel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a08.htm#4 8:4–22] (kings).
*1 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a11.htm#3 11:3] (Solomon’s wives); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a11.htm#4 11:4–8,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a11.htm#33 33] (Molech); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a22.htm#6 22:6–38] (true and false prophets).
*2 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b16.htm#3 16:3] (son pass through fire); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b17.htm#17 17:17] (children pass through fire); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b21.htm#6 21:6] (son pass through fire); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b23.htm#10 23:10–14] (Molech).
*Isaiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1028.htm#7 28:7–13] (false prophets); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1057.htm#9 57:9] (Molech or king).
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1107.htm#31 7:31] (child sacrifice); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1108.htm 8:1–2] (worshipping sun, moon, stars); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1122.htm 22:1–5] (duties of kings); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1123.htm#9 23:9–40] (assessing prophets); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1128.htm#7 28:7–9] (judging prophets by results); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1132.htm#35 32:35] (Molech); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1137.htm#19 37:19] (judging prophets by results); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1142.htm#13 42:13–22] (not to go to Egypt); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1149.htm 49:1–3] (Molech or Malcam).
*Ezekiel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1208.htm#16 8:16–18] (sun worship); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1212.htm#21 12:21–14:11] (true and false prophets); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1216.htm#20 16:20–21] (sacrificing children); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1217.htm#15 17:15] (king seeking horses in Egypt); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1223.htm#37 23:37] (sacrifice of sons).
*Hosea [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1303.htm#4 3:4] (pillar).
*Amos [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1505.htm#25 5:25–27] (Molech or king).
*Micah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1803.htm#5 3:5–7] (false prophets).
*Zephaniah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2101.htm#4 1:4–6] (Molech).
*Psalms [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2609.htm#13 9:13] (God avenges blood); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2619.htm#13 19:13] (clearing us from hidden faults); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2620.htm#8 20:8] (some trust in horses); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2623.htm#4 23:4] (God is with me); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2627.htm#12 27:12] (false witnesses risen up); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2630.htm 30:1] (dedication of house); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26a6.htm#34 106:34–41] (the commandment to destroy the Canaanites); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b9.htm#97 119:97] (meditation on the law all the day); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26c2.htm 122:1–5] (judgment from Jerusalem).
*Job [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2731.htm#26 31:26–28] (worshipping sun, moon).
*2 Chronicles [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25b19.htm#4 19:4–11] (judges and Levites); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt25b33.htm#6 33:6] (children pass through fire).

Early nonrabbinic

*Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b4c8.html 4:8:14–17, 33, 41.] Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston, 117–18, 122–23. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
*Matthew [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207:15-23;&version=31; 7:15–23] (false prophets).
*Acts of the Apostles [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:42-43;&version=31; 7:42–43] (Molech).

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: Peah 8:9; Demai 4:10; Sheviit 10:8; Challah 4:9; Bikkurim 2:10; [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/6-8-00/tuesday.htm Beitzah 1:6;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/31-12-00/thursday.htm Yevamot 15:3;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/3-06-01/shabbat.htm Sotah 6:3;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/10-06-01/sunday.htm 7:2,] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/10-06-01/wednesday.htm 8;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat6.htm 8:1–9:9;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/2-12-01/tuesday.htm Bava Batra 3:4;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/sunday.htm Sanhedrin 1:3,] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/monday.htm 5;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm 2:4] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/thursday.htm –5;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/20-01-02/monday.htm 6:4;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/20-01-02/friday.htm 7:7;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/3-02-02/wednesday.htm 10:6;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/3-02-02/thursday.htm 11:2,] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/3-02-02/friday.htm 4] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/3-02-02/shabbat.htm –6;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat8.htm Makkot 1:1–9;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/10-02-02/shabbat.htm 2:5,] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/17-02-02/monday.htm 8;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763/8-12-02/monday.htm Chullin 10:1;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763/8-12-02/wednesday.htm 11:1–2.] Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 35, 79, 92, 157, 172, 292, 373, 457, 459–64, 564, 583–84, 586–87, 594, 598, 607–12, 614, 616, 784–86. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Sifre to Deuteronomy 144:1–210:3. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 2:3–108. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 12a, 94b; Peah 54a, 73a; Sheviit 45b, 85a; Maasrot 2a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Yerushalmi". Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–3, 6b, 9. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
*Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 18b, 19b, 22a; Shabbat 19a, 23a, 25b, 33a, 56b, 67b, 75a–b, 84b–85a, 94b, 127b, 129a, 140b; Eruvin 31b, 35b, 37b, 41b; Pesachim 12a, 26a, 33a, 35b, 53a, 55b, 113b; Yoma 22b–23a, 25a, 37a, 60a, 74a, 83a; Sukkah 3a–b, 46a, 51b, 55b–56a; Beitzah 3b, 10b, 12b, 19b; Rosh Hashanah 4b–5a, 6b, 21b, 24b, 25b; Taanit 7a, 31a; Megillah 5a, 20b–21a, 28a, 32a; Moed Katan 5a, 8a, 20a, 24b; Chagigah 2a, 8b, 16b–17a; Yevamot 31b, 45b, 63b, 90b, 94a, 99b, 100b, 101b–02a, 104a, 117a, 120b; Ketubot 15a, 16b, 17a, 19b, 25a, 28b, 32b–33b, 37b, 45b, 87b, 103b, 105a–b; Nedarim 31a, 87b–88a; Nazir 47b; Sotah 2a, 3b, 7b–8a, 17b, 23b, 31b–32a, 35b, 38a–b, 41b–47b; Gittin 2b, 59b, 71a, 90a; Kiddushin 13b, 18a, 29b, 32a–b, 37b, 56b–57a, 67b, 69a, 76b; Bava Kamma 4b–5a, 24a, 32a–33a, 44b, 66a, 70a–b, 72b, 73b, 74b, 75b, 82b, 84a, 86a–b, 88a, 89a, 90b, 91b, 105b, 109b, 110b, 114a, 115a; Bava Metzia 30a; Bava Batra 3b, 23b, 31b, 56b, 100b, 123b, 127a, 150a, 155b, 160b, 165b; Sanhedrin 2a, 6b, 7b, 8b, 9a–10a, 14a–b, 16a–b, 18b–19b, 20b–22a, 28a–b, 30a, 32b, 34b, 37b, 40b–41a, 45a–b, 47b, 49b, 50b, 51b, 52b, 56b, 60a–62a, 64b–65b, 67a, 68a, 78a, 79a, 84a, 86a–87a, 88a, 89a, 90a, 100b, 112a; Makkot 2a–13a, 22a, 24a; Shevuot 27b, 30a, 31a, 32a, 34a, 40a; Avodah Zarah 8b, 18a, 23a, 29b, 43b, 74a; Horayot 2a, 4a, 6a, 11a–12a; Zevachim 23b, 36a, 46a, 54b, 70b, 73a, 88b; Menachot 6a, 18b, 34a, 36a, 38a, 67a, 74a, 90b, 93a, 101b; Chullin 7b, 11a–b, 23b–24a, 37b, 75b, 79b, 81b–82a, 117a–b, 120b, 130a–33a, 134b–38a; Bekhorot 11b, 12b, 14b, 17b, 35b, 45b; Arakhin 11a, 30b; Keritot 3b–4a, 5b–6a, 23b–24a, 25a, 26a; Meilah 11b; Tamid 28b; Niddah 8b, 19a, 50a, 51a–b, 57a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.

Medieval

*Deuteronomy Rabbah 5:1–15. Land of Israel, 9th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Leviticus". Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=9980&showrashi=true Deuteronomy 16–21.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 5:181–220. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-030-7.
*Judah Halevi. "Kuzari". Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. "Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel." Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 165, 170–71, 173. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.

Modern

*Thomas Hobbes. "Leviathan", England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 476–77, 506, 518, 543, 548, 586–87, 724. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
*Moses Mendelssohn. "Jerusalem", § 2. Berlin, 1783. Reprinted in "Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism". Translated by Allan Arkush; introduction and commentary by Alexander Altmann, 129. Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis Univ. Press, 1983. ISBN 0-87451-264-6.
*United States Constitution, Article 2, Philadelphia, 1787. (prohibition on foreign rulers).
*Thomas Mann. "Joseph and His Brothers". Translated by John E. Woods, 336–38, 447, 736. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as "Joseph und seine Brüder". Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
*Martin Buber. "On the Bible: Eighteen studies", 80–92. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
*Jeffrey H. Tigay. "The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation", 160–93, 470–76. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996. ISBN 0-8276-0330-4.

External links

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0516.htm#18 Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=5&chapter=11&verse=26&portion=48 Hear the parshah chanted]