Today’s daf continues to discuss oaths of testimony. The concern is this: If an eyewitness is asked to give testimony in court and instead swears an oath that they have no knowledge of the incident in question, they can be held liable. Withholding vital information from the court could cost a litigant dearly, and is therefore a serious matter.
In most cases, two witnesses are needed for their testimony to be admitted to court. It is therefore an open question whether a single witness who refuses to testify can be held liable. To show that they indeed can, the rabbis analyze a case with only one witness that was tried before Rabbi Ami:
There was a certain man who snatched a silver ingot from another. The one from whom it was taken came before Rabbi Ami while Rabbi Abba was sitting before him, and he brought one witness who testified that the defendant indeed snatched it from him. The one who snatched it said to him: “Yes, it is true that I snatched it, but I merely snatched that which was mine.”
This is an interesting dilemma. As soon as the single witness testifies that the accused indeed snatched the silver ingot, the defendant admits that he grabbed it — but only because it was rightfully his! Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Abba deliberate:
Rabbi Ami said: How should a judge rule in this case? If we say that the judge should require him to pay, it could be argued that there are not two witnesses to the robbery. If we say that the judge should rule him exempt from payment, it could be argued that a witness saw him snatch the ingot. If we say that the alleged robber should take an oath that he did not snatch the ingot, one could point out that he admitted to snatching it. Therefore, his halakhic status is like that of a robber, who is disqualified from taking an oath.
Rabbi Abba said to him: He is one who is obligated to take an oath but is unable to take an oath, and anyone who is obligated to take an oath but is unable to take an oath is liable to pay.
Rabbi Ami is stumped by this case. The testimony of a single witness is not enough to make a defendant pay, but it is enough to obligate them to take an oath that they did not steal what they have been accused of taking. Ordinarily, in this case, the judge would administer an oath to the accused who would then be released from the obligation to pay. But this case is particularly complex. As Rashi explains, the snatcher cannot take an oath defending himself, because when a defendant is obligated to take an oath on the basis of one witness’s testimony, the oath they must take is one contradicting the statement of the witness. But in this case, the snatcher affirms exactly what the witness saw — he did, in fact, seize the silver ingot. But he claims to merely have taken back what was rightfully his. Rashi clarifies that when we say this person’s halakhic status is “like a robber,” it’s not that we believe one witness’ testimony is sufficient to consider the snatcher a robber; rather, it means that just like a robber is unable to take any oath, so too the snatcher in this case is unable to take an oath, because he admits to the witness’ testimony.
Therefore, it seems we can neither obligate him to pay, nor to swear. Rabbi Ami is at a loss. Rabbi Abba suggests a solution: He should employ the principle, “from the fact that one cannot take an oath they must pay.” Elsewhere, the Gemara states that if a person becomes obligated in an oath but are also disqualified from actually taking the oath (which can happen for a variety of reasons), we shift the burden onto the claimant. The claimant subsequently takes an oath that what they’re saying is true, and the defendant must pay.
From the perspective of our daf, the upshot of this complicated case is this: A single witness can in fact make a defendant pay. If, in the case above, the lone witness had taken a false oath denying that they knew any relevant testimony, they would have cost the claimant. Therefore, had the lone witness taken this false oath, they would have been liable to bring a sacrifice.
Read all of Shevuot 32 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 2, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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