כִּ֣י יִפָּלֵא֩ מִמְּךָ֨ דָבָ֜ר לַמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט בֵּֽין־דָּ֨ם לְדָ֜ם בֵּֽין־דִּ֣ין לְדִ֗ין וּבֵ֥ין נֶ֙גַע֙ לָנֶ֔גַע דִּבְרֵ֥י רִיבֹ֖ת בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ וְקַמְתָּ֣ וְעָלִ֔יתָ אֶ֨ל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּֽוֹ׃
If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that the Eternal your God will have chosen,
Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin on the meaning of “yipalei.”
כי יפלא ממך דבר. דבר המפליא אותך, שאין אתה יודע מה טיבו.
English: “If a matter is too wonderful for you” — a matter that confounds you, that you do not know its nature.
The verb “yipalei” describes a case whose legal resolution is hidden from the local judges, requiring ascent to a higher authority.
Derash on the verse (Bavli / Sifrei) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The language of wonder/hiddenness defines the trigger for referral.
Only when the local court truly cannot determine the law is the case taken up to the central court; ordinary disputes remain local.