## Sanhedrin Daf 77a

###### Sanhedrin 77a:1
[Sanhedrin 77a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:1)

נְזָקִין, שֶׁעָשָׂה בָּהֶן שׁוֹגֵג כְּמֵזִיד וְאוֹנֶס כְּרָצוֹן – אֵינוֹ דִּין שֶׁחִיֵּיב בָּהֶן אֶת הַמְצַמְצֵם?

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
with regard to **damage, where** the Torah **rendered** the legal status of one who causes damage **unwittingly like** that of one who causes damage **intentionally, and** the status of one who causes damage **due to circumstances beyond his control like** that of one who causes damage **with intent,** as one is always responsible for damage that he caused (see *Bava Kamma* 26a), **is it not logical that** the Torah **rendered one who confines** an animal in a place where it cannot survive **liable** to pay restitution even though he did not perform an action?


###### Sanhedrin 77a:2
[Sanhedrin 77a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:2)

רַב אַחָא בַּר רַב פּוֹטֵר. אָמַר רַב מְשַׁרְשְׁיָא: מַאי טַעְמָא דַּאֲבוּהּ דְּאַבָּא דְּפוֹטֵר? אָמַר קְרָא: ״מוֹת יוּמַת הַמַּכֶּה רֹצֵחַ הוּא״. בְּרוֹצֵחַ הוּא דְּחַיֵּיב לַן מְצַמְצֵם, בִּנְזָקִין לָא חַיֵּיב לַן מְצַמְצֵם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara explains the conflicting opinion. **Rav Aḥa bar Rav exempts** the one who confined the animal in the sun from recompensing the owner. **Rav Mesharshiyya said: What is the reason** for the opinion **of** Rav Aḥa, **the father of** my **father, who exempts** him from payment? The reason is that **the verse states:** “Or in enmity he struck him with his hand and he died, **the assailant shall be put to death; he is a murderer”** (Numbers 35:21). The phrase “he is a murderer” restricts the liability of one who confines another. It **is in** the case of **a murderer that** the Torah **renders for us one who confines** another **liable** to be executed. But **in** the case of **damage** the Torah **does not render for us one who confines** the animal of another **liable** to recompense the owner, as it was not his action that caused the damage.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:3
[Sanhedrin 77a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:3)

אָמַר רָבָא: כְּפָתוֹ וּמֵת בָּרָעָב – פָּטוּר. וְאָמַר רָבָא: כְּפָתוֹ בַּחַמָּה וָמֵת, בְּצִינָּה וָמֵת – חַיָּיב. סוֹף חַמָּה לָבֹא, סוֹף צִינָּה לָבֹא – פָּטוּר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ **Rava says:** If **one bound** another **and he died of starvation,** he is **exempt** from the liability to receive a court-imposed death penalty, as it was not his action that caused the death of the victim. Even if the victim was hungry when he was bound, the starvation that caused his death ensued at a later stage. The one who bound him is liable to be punished by the heavenly court. **And Rava says:** If one **bound** another **in the sun and he died** of the heat, or **in a cold** place **and he died** of exposure, he is **liable** to be executed, as from the moment that he bound him, the victim began dying. But if one bound another in a place that at the time was not exposed to the sun or the cold, even though **ultimately** the **sun would arrive** at that place, or **ultimately** the **cold would reach** that place, he is **exempt** from execution, as when he bound the victim, the future cause of death was not present.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:4
[Sanhedrin 77a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:4)

וְאָמַר רָבָא: כְּפָתוֹ לִפְנֵי אֲרִי – פָּטוּר, לִפְנֵי יַתּוּשִׁין – חַיָּיב. רַב אָשֵׁי אָמַר: אֲפִילּוּ לִפְנֵי יַתּוּשִׁין נָמֵי פָּטוּר, הָנֵי אָזְלִי וְהָנֵי אָתוּ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And Rava says: If one bound** another **before a lion,** he is **exempt** from execution. Since perhaps the lion will choose not to prey on the victim it was not his action that caused the damage. If he bound another **before mosquitoes** he is **liable** to be executed, as inevitably, the mosquitoes will bite him until he dies. **Rav Ashi says: Even** if he bound an individual **before mosquitoes** he is **exempt** from execution, as the mosquitoes who were there when he bound the individual are not the ones who killed him. Rather, **those** mosquitoes **went and these** other mosquitoes **came.** Therefore, this case is comparable to the case where one bound another in a place where the sun or the cold would ultimately arrive.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:5
[Sanhedrin 77a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:5)

אִיתְּמַר: כָּפָה עָלָיו גִּיגִית, וּפָרַע עָלָיו מַעֲזִיבָה – רָבָא וְרַבִּי זֵירָא, חַד אָמַר: חַיָּיב, וְחַד אָמַר: פָּטוּר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**It was stated** that there is an amoraic dispute with regard to one who **overturned a vat upon** another and he died of suffocation, **or breached plaster** covering the roof and the lack of a ceiling caused another to die of exposure. **Rava and Rabbi Zeira** disagree. **One says** that he is **liable** to be executed, **and one says** that he is **exempt** from execution.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:6
[Sanhedrin 77a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:6)

תִּסְתַּיַּים דְּרָבָא הוּא דְּאָמַר פָּטוּר, דְּאָמַר רָבָא: כְּפָתוֹ וּמֵת בָּרָעָב – פָּטוּר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara suggests: **Conclude that Rava is** the one **who says** that the perpetrator is **exempt** from execution, **as Rava says:** If one **bound** another **and he died of starvation,** he is **exempt** from execution, as it was not his action that caused the death of the victim.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:7
[Sanhedrin 77a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:7)

אַדְּרַבָּה, תִּסְתַּיֵּים דְּרַבִּי זֵירָא הוּא דְּאָמַר פָּטוּר, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא: הַאי מַאן דְּעַיְּילֵיהּ לְחַבְרֵיהּ בְּבֵיתָא דְשֵׁישָׁא וְאַדְלֵיק לֵיהּ שְׁרָגָא וָמֵת – חַיָּיב. טַעְמָא דְּאַדְלֵיק לֵיהּ שְׁרָגָא, הָא לָא אַדְלֵיק לֵיהּ שְׁרָגָא – לָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara rejects that suggestion: **On the contrary, conclude that it is Rabbi Zeira who says** that the perpetrator is **exempt, as Rabbi Zeira says:** With regard to **this** individual **who took another into** a hermetically sealed **house of marble and he kindled a lamp [*sheraga*] for him, and he died** of the fumes, the perpetrator is **liable** to be executed. One may infer that **the reason** he is liable is **because he kindled a lamp for him, but if he did not kindle a lamp for him, no,** he is not liable, although the victim would have ultimately died even without the lamp. Apparently, Rabbi Zeira also maintains that the perpetrator is liable only if the perpetrator’s action caused the death, or at least caused the process of dying to begin. This case is identical to the case of the overturned vat.


###### Sanhedrin 77a:8
[Sanhedrin 77a:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sanhedrin/r/77a:8)

אָמְרִי: הָתָם, בְּלָא שְׁרָגָא, לָא מַתְחֵיל הַבְלָא

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Sages **say:** In the case **there,** where one confines another in a house of marble, **without** a kindled **lamp, the atmosphere does not begin** to cause suffocation