1Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people, 2except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, 3and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. 4He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh. 6They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy.
7“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.
9“‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
10“‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes. 11He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother. 12He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh.
13“‘He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife. 15He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.’”
16Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, 19or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, 20or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles. 21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. 23He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’”
24So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
Much debate has taken place over whether all these rules, or at least many, were in place in AD 33, since the Mishnah was not written and codified until about AD 200. However, oral tradition had passed down these laws for several centuries. A second objection focuses on the fact that these were primarily Pharisaical laws, and thus not written until after the destruction of the Second Temple. However, the absence of any mention of the Pharisees after Jesus’ arrest may indicate that the proceedings of the Sanhedrin were totally dominated by the Sadducees who cared little about the laws promoted by the Pharisees.
Rule 1: There was to be no arrest by religious authorities that was effected by a bribe.
Based on Exodus 23:8.
Rule 2: No steps of criminal proceedings were to occur after sunset.
This was to avoid the possibility of conspiracy, especially one that would be carried out using the cover of night. Once the sun had officially set, the authorities were not to proceed with any form of criminal proceedings. By Jewish reckoning, the sun officially sets once three stars are visible.
Rule 3: Judges or members of the Sanhedrin were not allowed to participate in an arrest.
The purpose was to ensure their neutrality. If they participated in the arrest, it meant they had already taken sides.
Rule 4: There were to be no trials before the morning sacrifice.
All of the daily morning rituals in the Temple had to be completed before any trial could be conducted.
Rule 5: There were to be no secret trials, only public.
In keeping with the second rule, secret trials were forbidden in order to avoid the possibility of conspiracy.
Rule 6: Sanhedrin trials could only be conducted in the Hall of Judgment of the Temple compound.
Since all trials had to be public, the people would have to know where to go to observe a trial. Sanhedrin trials, therefore, had to be held only in this one room, the Hall of Judgment in the Temple compound. This hall was known as the Lishkat ha- Gazit, the Chamber of Hewn Stones.
Rule 7: During the trial, the defense had the first word before the prosecutors could present the accusations.
This is the reverse of the western system. The defense provided all reasons why the accused could not be guilty of anything and presented character witnesses. Then the two or three witnesses for the prosecution officially presented the accusation.
Rule 8: All could argue in favor of acquittal, but all could not argue in favor of conviction.
Under Jewish criminal law, it was permissible to “stack the deck” in favor of the accused, but not against him. It was permissible for everyone to argue only for acquittal, but it was not permissible for everyone to argue only for conviction. The accused had to have at least one defender.
Rule 9: There were to be two or three witnesses, and their testimonies had to agree in every detail.
Based on Deuteronomy 19:15-19.
Rule 10: There was to be no allowance for the accused to testify against himself.
This was to avoid two possible situations. First, a man might be suicidal and so confess to a crime he did not commit. Second, he might be trying to protect someone else who was guilty and so confess to a crime he did not commit.
Therefore, the individual himself could not be counted among the two witnesses that were minimally required for a court case to be heard.
Rule 11: The high priest was forbidden to rend his garments. This rule was based on Leviticus 21:10. In a Jewish context, the tearing of garments was a sign of the emotions.
For example, if a family member died, the relatives would tear their clothing. This also happened if a family member married a Gentile or became a believer in Yeshua. Because the trial had to be decided based on the facts presented by two or three witnesses, and not on the basis of emotions, the high priest could not tear his clothing during the trial.
Rule 12: Judges could not initiate the charges; they could only investigate charges brought to them.
Like the third rule, this law was supposed to keep judges neutral. If they originated the charge, it would mean that they had already taken sides.
Rule 13: The accusation of blasphemy was only valid if the name of God itself was pronounced.
In Hebrew, the name of God is comprised of four letters that correspond to the Latin letters YHWH or YHVH. Unless a person pronounced this four-letter name of God, they could not technically be accused of blasphemy.
Rule 14: A person could not be condemned solely on the basis of his own words.
This rule emphasized the necessity of having two outside witnesses.
Rule 15: The verdict could not be announced at night.
This rule was to avoid a rush to judgment. It might have been a very long day with many witnesses being questioned, arguments back and forth, and people getting tired and edgy. To avoid a rush to judgment, once the night had come (meaning once three stars were visible), the judges had to wait until the next day to announce the verdict, even if they knew what it would be.
Rule 16: In the case of capital punishment, the trial and guilty verdict could not occur at the same time, but had to be separated by at least 24 hours.
The purpose of this law was to permit more time for information to become available which might favor the accused.
Rule 17: Voting for the death penalty had to be done by individual count, beginning with the youngest, so the young would not be influenced by the elders.
Rule 18: A unanimous decision for guilt showed innocence, since it is impossible for 23 to 71 men to agree without plotting.
The number “71” is the full membership of the Sanhedrin. Not all the members needed to be present, but there had to be a minimum of 23. However, even with the minimum, it was inconceivable in a Jewish context that all 23 men could agree on one issue, unless there was a plot involved. This came from the observation that Jews enjoy arguing among themselves, as noted earlier in the discussion on the school of the Sopherim.
Rule 19: The sentence could only be pronounced three days after the guilty verdict.
The trial and the verdict had to be separated by 24 hours, but three more days had to pass before pronouncing the sentence, for the same reason: to allow more time for information to come forth that would favor the accused.
Rule 20: Judges were to be humane and kind.
Rule 21: A person condemned to death was not to be scourged or beaten before his execution.
Rule 22: No trials were allowed on the eve of the Sabbath or on a feast day.
The preceding is taken from Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Yeshua, The Life of Messiah From a Jewish Perspective, Vol 4, (San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries, 2017), pp. 4–8, and slightly revised by Robert L. Dean, Jr. (Dean Bible Ministries, www.deanbibleministries.org). I, in turn, have slightly edited the work. ↩︎