Derasha 5 on Shoftim 17:08

TT #54 · 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 on “bein din le-din.”

Sefaria · Sanhedrin

Core Text of Chazal

בין דין לדין. בין דין ממונות לדין נפשות, בין דין חייב לדין פטור.

English: “Between judgment and judgment” — between a monetary case and a capital case; between a case that results in liability and a case that results in exemption.

On the daf / in context

The phrase covers the full range of civil and capital distinctions that may prove too difficult for the local court.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli / Sifrei) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The doubled language points to borderline or conflicting judgments.

What Is Learned

Cases that turn on the boundary between monetary and capital law, or between liability and exemption, may be referred to the high court.