Vayikra 5:1 · unit 5 · Tosefta Shevuos 3:6

Complete Passuk

וְנֶפֶשׁ כִּי־תֶחֱטָא וְשָׁמְעָה קוֹל אָלָה וְהוּא עֵד אוֹ רָאָה אוֹ יָדָע אִם־לוֹא יַגִּיד וְנָשָׂא עֲוֺנוֹ׃

Source Citation

Torah Temimah cites Tosefta Shevuos 3:6.

Core Text — Tosefta Shevuos 3:6

וְהוּא עֵד — הַכָּשֵׁר לְעֵדוּת; וְשָׁמְעָה — לְהוֹצִיא אֶת הַחֵרֵשׁ; אוֹ רָאָה — לְהוֹצִיא אֶת הַסּוּמָא; אוֹ יָדַע — לְהוֹצִיא אֶת הַשּׁוֹטֶה; אִם לֹא יַגִּיד וְנָשָׂא עֲוֹנוֹ — לְהוֹצִיא אֶת הָאִלֵּם.

“And he is a witness” — one fit for testimony; “and he heard” — to exclude the deaf; “or saw” — to exclude the blind; “or knew” — to exclude the deranged; “if he does not tell… he shall bear his iniquity” — to exclude the mute.

Each clause of the verse is read as a limiting term that removes a class of people from the shevu’as ha-eidus liability structure.

What Is Learned: A deaf person who cannot hear the oath, a blind person who cannot “see,” a shoteh, or a mute who cannot “tell” are outside the liability of this verse. The Tosefta maps each phrase of Vayikra 5:1 onto a corresponding exclusion.