17. The Sorcerer

Tractate Sanhedrin, Herbert Danby tr. [1919], at sacred-texts.com

17. The Sorcerer.

M. VII. 11. A sorcerer ⁵ is the one who accomplishes some deed, not merely deceives the eyes. R.

p. 107

M.[paragraph continues] Akiba, in the name of R. Jehoshua, said: It is as though two people were picking cucumbers; one was innocent and the other guilty. He who actually did pick was guilty, but he who only appeared to do so was innocent.

T. XI. 5c. Said R. Akiba: Three hundred halakoth used R. Eliezer to expound on THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE, ¹ but I have only learnt two things from it: two may be gathering cucumbers, of whom the one is innocent and the other guilty; he who actually does the deed is guilty, and he who only appears to do so is innocent.

Footnotes

106:5 Deut. 18. 10; Exod. 22. 18.

107:1 Exod. 22. 18.