Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Sanhedrin/Chapter 4/2

Introduction

Sanhedrin deals primarily with the court and with court cases. The fourth chapter of Sanhedrin is focused mostly on the treatment of non-capital cases.

The second mishnah of this chapter continues with differences between capital and non-capital cases.

Hebrew Text

דיני הטמאות והטהרות מתחילין מן הגדול, דיני נפשות מתחילין מן הצד.

הכל כשרין לדון דיני ממונות ואין הכל כשרין לדון דיני נפשות, אלא כהנים, לוים, וישראלים המשיאין לכהנה.

English Translation

Cases of impurity and purity begin from the greatest [judge], cases of life begin from [the judges on] the side. All are acceptable to judge in cases of money, but none are acceptable to judge in cases of life except for priests, Levites, and Israelites whose daughters can marry priests.

Explanation

This mishnah continues with the differences between capital cases (cases of life) and non-capital cases (cases of money). This is a short mishnah, but covers a lot of information, namely who may serve as a judge and in what order judges reveal their decisions. Notes:
Begin from the greatest/side - This refers to the order in which judges reveal their decisions. In non-capital cases, the eldest (greatest) judge is honored in speaking first, but in capital cases, to prevent younger judges from being swayed by greater judges, the order is reversed.
Priests, Levites, and Israelites... - Among the groups excluded from this list are converts and mamzerim. These may serve in non-capital cases, but only the priestly classes and Israelites whose daughters can marry a priest are allowed to serve in capital cases. Of course, this does not mean that an Israelite without a daughter may not serve, but rather, it refers to the ability of a hypothetical daughter to marry a priest.