Shoftim 19:19 · unit 3

TT #259 · Parashas Shoftim · Sixth Aliyah · Passuk 19:19

The Complete Passuk

וַעֲשִׂ֣יתֶם ל֔וֹ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר זָמַ֖ם לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת לְאָחִ֑יו וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֥ הָרָ֖ע מִקִּרְבֶּֽךָ׃

Then you shall do to him as he had plotted to do to his brother, and you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Torah Temimah points to Sifrei Devarim 190.

TT lemma: וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִקִּרְבֶּךָ.

Core Text

וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִקִּרְבֶּךָ – לְלַמֵּד שֶׁמְּבִיאִין אוֹתוֹ לְבֵית הַדִּין.

English: ‘And you shall purge the evil from your midst’ – to teach that they bring him to the court.

On the daf / in context: The process must be judicial, not private vengeance.

Derash on judicial procedure (Sifrei) — the purging is done through the formal court process.

The evil of the false witnesses is purged by a formal judicial process, not by private action.