Shabbos 56 – שבת נו

Dovid Hamelech was not held accountable for Uriya’s actual death – since he was a mored b’malchus – but rather for his neglect to process his case in Sanhedrin.  But without a verdict from Sanhedrin it would seem that he is considered completely innocent, just as any other capital punishment transgressor who is considered halachically innocent until the Beis Din actually issues a ruling on his guilt (see Tosfos Makkos 5a D”H V’chen, and Gilyon Hashas).

One thought on “Shabbos 56 – שבת נו

  1. Actually, the Rambam writes that a king has a right to kill someone who is Mored Bemalchus. There is no mention of Sanhedrin or even of him being “Chayav Misa”, just simply that the king kills him. According to this there is no question about Dovid’s innocence regarding killing Urya. On the contrary, the question is why was he suppose to use a Sanhedrin? Perhaps it was only a proper way of going about it and shaking suspicion.

    Tosafos (the top Tosafos on this Amud) obviously holds that a Sanhedrin is needed, but it is different than other cases that come before Beis Din. Other cases may not be completed in one shot and cannot be done by night, while a Mored Bemalchus can be judged right away and even by night.

    This difference might be precisely due to the fact that a Mored Bemalchus, even according to Tosafos, is not merely a Din of a Mechuyav Misa. It is about the king and his honor. The Beis Din is only there to verify that he commited this Merida.

    The Gilyon Hashas alluded to in the question learns the concept, that before the Beis Din’s verdict there is no Chiyuv Misa, from a Tosafos in Kesubos. That Tosafos says that we learn from Asher Yarshi’un Elohim that the Beis Din makes him Mechuyav. Tosafos says this about Kenasos, fines. This is equivalent to saying that passing a red light doesn’t make you owe the city money, unless you actually got fined.

    However, a Mored Bemalchus, even according to Tosafos, is not merely a Kenas.

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