Ibid., fol. 27, col. 1.

He who disavows a loan is fit to be a witness; but he who disowns a deposit in trust is unfit.

Shevuoth, fol. 40, col. 2.

Shimon ben Shetach says, “Fully examine the witnesses; be careful with thy words, lest from them they learn to lie.”

Avoth, chap. 1.

CRIMINALS AND CRIMINAL PUNISHMENTS.

Four kinds of capital punishment were decreed by the court of justice:—­Stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling; or as Rabbi Shimon arranges them—­Burning, stoning, strangling, and beheading.  As soon as the sentence of death is pronounced, the criminal is led out to be stoned, the stoning-place being at a distance from the court of justice; for it is said (Lev. xxiv. 14), “Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp.”  Then one official stands at the door of the court of justice with a flag in his hand, and another is stationed on horseback at such a distance as to be able to see the former.  If, meanwhile, one comes and declares before the court, “I have something further to urge in defense of the prisoner,” the man at the door waves his flag, and the mounted official rides forward and stops the procession.  Even if the criminal himself says, “I have yet something to plead in my defense,” he is to be brought back, even four or five times over, provided there is something of importance in his deposition.  If the evidence is exculpatory, he is discharged; if not, he is led out to be stoned.  As he proceeds to the place of execution, a public crier goes before him and proclaims, “So-and-so, the son of So-and-so, goes out to be stoned because he has committed such-and-such a crime, and So-and-so and So-and-so are the witnesses.  Let him who knows of anything that pleads in his defense come forward and state it.”  When about ten yards from the stoning-place, the condemned is called upon to confess his guilt. (All about to be executed were urged to confess, as by making confession every criminal made good a portion in the world to come; for so we find it in the case of Achan, when Joshua said unto him (Josh. vii. 19), “My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him,” etc.  “And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned.”  But where are we taught that his confession was his atonement?  Where it is said (Ibid., v. 25), “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us?  The Lord shall trouble thee this day;” as if to say, “This day thou shalt be troubled, but in the world to come thou shalt not be troubled.”) About four yards from the stoning-place they stripped off the criminal’s clothes, covering a male in front, but a female both before and behind.  These are the words of Rabbi Yehudah; but the sages say a man was stoned naked, but not a female.