Sanhedrin 46: Hermeneutical Principals, G-d's Distress, Burials & Eulogies

To better understand the process of putting someone to death via stoning, the rabbi consider different hermeneutic principals when reading Torah text:

• klalei u'fartai, generalizations and details: when a generalization is followed by a detail, we understand that the generalization is defined by those details
• ribuyei u'mibutei, amplifications and restrictions: similar to the above but a more inclusive category of principals where a restriction is not an example of the amplification but a specific condition applied to the amplification
• a restrictive expression followed by a restrictive expression serves to amplify: if a Torah statement is followed by one restriction we assume that the halacha is limited to that restriction.  If there is a second restriction following the first restriction, these are read as examples of the halacha, thus amplifying its application

The Gemara shares a number of cases.  Two of these are instances when people were put to death due to the stringency of those interpreting the halacha.  In both of these cases, it is said that the law would allow for a less severe punishment but it was a time when people had become lax in their practice of halacha (modesty, behaving like Gentiles).  Essentially these people's deaths served as examples to the community about following halacha.

Our next Mishna describes how the corpse of one person is hanged.  Its arms are placed above its head and it hands are crossed and tied to a wooden post that has a branch jutting out of it for this purpose.  Rabbi Yosei suggests that the pole leans against something rather than being secured into the ground.  The corpse is then placed on the wood like meat at a butcher.  We are told that the body should be displayed for a very short time, never overnight, so that people do not think of how the person transgressed.  When G-d is distressed, Rabbi Meir teaches that He says, "I am distressed about my arm; I am distressed about my head".  Finally, the Mishna teaches that these corpses are not buried with their ancestors but in special cemeteries designated for those who have been put to death in different ways.

The Gemara wonders whether a person should be put to death and then hanged, or whether s/he should be put to death by hanging.  They discuss whether a person could be hung from a tree still attached to the ground or whether the hanging should be done only on a tree than has been cut down. The rabbis then consider why a transgressor might be left to hang and why s/he might be taken down immediately.  A story is told of a king with a twin who is a burglar.  When hanged, the people assumed that the king had transgressed and so the twin was taken down immediately.  The Gemara also considers in what ways G-d's distress might be manifested as physical pain in the body.  

Regarding the Mishna's words about burial, the Gemara notes Torah verses that reference what is done with corpses.  The Sages ask whether burial is done to ensure that a person is not disgraced, or whether burial is done as an act of atonement.  

Our daf ends with some questions that are ancient and current.  Knowing that our patriarchs were buried, they ask an obvious question: do the righteous require atonement?  Further, should a person who has done wicked things ever achieve atonement, even after death?  Next, the rabbis wonder about eulogies.  Are they meant to comfort the living or to honour the dead?  Torah verses and stories about eulogies, including that of Sarah by Abraham, are used to help us understand that eulogies honour the living.