Derasha 4 on Shoftim 17:08

TT #53 · Parashas Shoftim · First Aliyah · Passuk 8

The Complete Passuk

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,

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin (alternative reading of “bein dam le-dam”).

Sefaria · Sanhedrin

Core Text of Chazal

בין דם לדם. בין דם נקי לדם חייב, בין דם שור לדם חמור.

English: “Between blood and blood” — between blood that is innocent and blood that is liable; between the blood of an ox and the blood of a donkey.

On the daf / in context

An alternative reading takes the phrase as referring to capital distinctions (innocent vs. liable blood) and to monetary claims involving different kinds of animals.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli / Sifrei) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The same language supports multiple concrete applications.

What Is Learned

Difficult capital and civil distinctions that turn on the category of “blood” are among the cases referred upward.