Handing over 1 Jew for Execution to Save the Many – The Sheva the son of Bikhri Exception to the General Rule

A Little Background on that Worthless Man, Sheva the son of Bikhri based on the Koren Jerusalem Bible translation of II Shmuel (Samuel) Chapter 20

(https://www.sefaria.org.il/II_Samuel.20.1?ven=english|The_Koren_Jerusalem_Bible&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en)
And there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheva, the son of Bikhri, a Benyeminite: and he blew the shofar and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Yishay: every man to his tents, O Yisra᾽el.

So every man of Yisra᾽el went up from after David and followed Sheva the son of Bikhri: but the men of Yehuda held fast to their king, from the Yarden as far as Yerushalayim.

And David came to his house at Yerushalayim, and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them under guard, and provided for them, but went not in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, widows of a living husband.

Then said the king to ῾Amasa, Muster to me the men of Yehuda within three days, and be thou here present.

So ῾Amasa went to muster the men of Yehuda: but he was later than the set time which he had assigned to him.

And David said to Avishay, Now shall Sheva the son of Bikhri do us more harm than did Avshalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get himself fortified cities, and escape us.

And there went out after him Yo᾽av’s men, and the Kereti and the Peleti, and all the warriors: and they went out of Yerushalayim, to pursue after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

When they were at the great stone which is in Giv῾on, ῾Amasa went before them. And Yo᾽av was girded with coat, his usual garment, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out.

And Yo᾽av said to ῾Amasa, Art thou well, my brother? And Yo᾽av took ῾Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

But ῾Amasa took no heed of the sword that was in Yo᾽av’s hand: so he smote him with it in the belly, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and he struck him not again; and he died. So Yo᾽av and Avishay his brother pursued after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

And one of Yo᾽av’s men stood by him, and said, He that favours Yo᾽av, and he that is for David, let him go after Yo᾽av.

And ῾Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed ῾Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Yo᾽av, to pursue after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

And he went through all the tribes of Yisra᾽el to Avel, and to Bet-ma῾akha, and all the Berim: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

And they came and besieged him in Avel of Bet-ma῾akha, and they threw up a mound of earth against the city, and it stood up against the wall: and all the people that were with Yo᾽av battered the wall, to throw it down.

Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, to Yo᾽av, Come near here; that I may speak with thee.

And when he was come near to her, the woman said, Art thou Yo᾽av? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him, Hear the words of thy handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

Then she spoke saying, Surely in early times they would have spoken saying, Let them ask Avel to yield, and so they would have ended the matter.

I am of the peaceable and faithful in Yisra᾽el: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Yisra᾽el: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?

And Yo᾽av answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

The matter is not so: but a man of mount Efrayim, Sheva the son of Bikhri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to Yo᾽av, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheva the son of Bikhri, and cast it out to Yo᾽av. And he blew on the shofar, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Yo᾽av returned to Yerushalayim to the king.

 

Excerpt from Midrash, Vayikra Rabba 19:6 as translated by the Sefaria Midrash Rabba, 2022 – Where the Great Sanhedrin Used the Precedent of Sheva the son of Bikhri to Hand Over the Evil King Yehoyakim to the King of Babylon (Bavel)

 

They say that when Nebuchadnezzar ascended to destroy Jerusalem, he ascended and encamped at Daphne at Antioch, and the Great Sanhedrin descended to greet him. They said to him: ‘Has the time arrived for this house to be destroyed?’ He said to them: ‘No. But Yehoyakim rebelled against me. Give him to me and I will go.’ They came to Yehoyakim and said to him: ‘Nebuchadnezzar wants you.’ He said to them: ‘Is this how one acts? Does one disregard one life in favor of another life? Do [you] disregard my life in order to sustain your lives? It is written: “You shall not deliver a slave to his master”’ (Deuteronomy 23:16). They said to him: ‘Did your ancestor not do so to Sheva ben Bikhri?’ Since he did not heed them, they rose, took him, and lowered him to [Nebuchadnezzar].
How did they lower him? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Natan said: They lowered him alive, just as it says: “They placed him in a cage with hooks [baḥaḥim]” (Ezekiel 19:9); “alive [baḥayim]” is written. Rabbi Shimon said: They lowered him to him dead, just as it says: “So that his voice would be heard no longer” (Ezekiel 19:9). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: I will uphold the statement of both of them. They lowered him alive, but he was delicate and he died at their hands.
What did Nebuchadnezzar do to him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He took him and brought him around to all the cities of Judah, and he sat and judged him in a show trial and executed him. He tore open a donkey and placed him in it. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey” (Jeremiah 22:19). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He took him and brought him to all the cities of Israel and executed him. He would cut from him [pieces of flesh the size of] olive bulks and cast them to the dogs. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey.” Where is a donkey buried, is it not in the innards of a dog?

Regarding the Evil Deeds of Yehoyakim, the Midrash Continues

It is he whom the prophet castigates and says: “The rest of the matters of Yehoyakim, and everything that he did” (II Kings 24:5). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There were three amora’im; one said that he wore diverse kinds, one said that he pulled his foreskin, one said that he had a tattoo engraved on his flesh.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is that he consorted with his mother, his daughter-in-law, and his father’s wife, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The truth of the matter is that he entered the entrance through which he had emerged. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is that he settled biraniyot in Jerusalem. What are biraniyot? Empty [bairan] and bound [tzairan], as he would kill the husbands, ravage the wives, and place their money in the royal treasury. That is what is written: “He ravished its widows” (Ezekiel 19:7).

 

Translated Excerpt from “One Does Not Endanger a Life to Save Another Life” – Prohibition of Releasing Terrorists When It Endangers Jews, Even for the Purpose of Redeeming Captives by Rabbi Chaim Meir Einhorn.

 

One does not sacrifice one life for the sake of saving another life

Now to the core of the issue: Is it permissible to endanger Jews in order to save others by releasing terrorists, both because this could lead to further kidnappings of Jews and because of the risk posed by the (released) terrorists themselves returning to kill? There is a principle in Jewish law, “One does not sacrifice one life for the sake of saving another life”, and its definition is simple: it is forbidden to endanger the lives of Jews. This prohibition is not pushed aside, even in a case of pikuach nefesh (that is to say, saving others).

The source of this law is found in the Tosefta Terumot: “A group of people were told by gentiles: Give us one of you to kill, and if not, we will kill all of you. They should all be killed, and they should not give up a single soul of Israel. But if they singled out someone, like they did with Sheva ben Bikhri, they should give him to them, so that everyone should not be killed.” Based on this, the Rambam ruled: “Similarly, if the gentiles said to them, ‘Give us one of you to kill, and if not, we will kill you all,’ they should all be killed, and they should not give up a single soul of Israel. But if they singled out someone and said, ‘Give us so-and-so, or we will kill you all,’ if he is deserving of death, like Sheva ben Bikhri, they should give him to them. But we do not instruct them to do so at the outset. If he is not deserving of death, they should let everyone die rather than give them a soul of Israel.”

Therefore, this is one of a number of reasons that Rabbi Einhorn provides to prove that it is forbidden to endanger Jews (who are not deserving of death) by releasing terrorists in exchange for hostages. In contrast to the supporters of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Einhorn provides both halachic proofs, as well the historical results of past deals to prove that releasing terrorists should be classified as an immediate danger to the Jewish people.

Scholars who understand Hebrew and Talmudic sources are urged to study Rabbi Einhorn’s entire article which is currently located at https://60ribo.org.il/rav-chaim-einhorn/

Comment 1 by the editor: In Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 157:1 in the critical comments of Rabbi Moshe Isserles (Rama) there are actually 2 viewpoints on what important lesson we can learn from the Sheva son of Bikhri incident. The translation of those comments is based on an early version of the comments of Rabbi Isserles at https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20660&st=&pgnum=86 .

Cuthites that said to an Israelite “Give us one of you and we will kill him” – [and if not we will kill you all*] they may not give him over unless they [the Gentiles] singled him out and said, “Give us Ploni” [a particular individual]. And there are those who say that even in this case, one should not give him over unless he is already liable for death like Sheva ben Bikhri.

 * The additional words are based on the comments of Rabbi Isserles in Darkei Moshe Ha’aroch

It turns out from the words of Rabbi Isserles, there are 2 views. Only the second view demands that the victim be liable for death like Sheva Ben Bikhri. But even the first view forbids handing over an Israelite at random to save others and has a number of other limitations. Vilnagaon.org does not take on the responsibility of deciding which view is right. It should be noted that Rabbi Moshe Zuriel zt”l who in the past has greatly helped vilnagaon.org has also written on the subject of Sheva Ben (that is to say, son of) Bikhri. If you read Hebrew, here is a link to the article.

Comment #2 by the editor: See the Hebrew responsa of Radbaz  Volume 3, chapter 627 (1052) that puts another gigantic roadblock to the various hostage for terrorists deals, that we have seen in the recent past.

Comment #3 by the editor:

Rabbi Chaim Meir Einhorn in his article on hostages for terrorists in footnote #17 states: It seems that releasing terrorists in our time is similar to the situation of giving weapons to a terrorist, and similar to this we found in the words of Ritva to Pesachim 25a in the name of his Rabbi, Rabbi Aharon Halevi: “And in the Talmud Yerushalmi they stated, a group of people were travelling and encountered, bandits. They said, “Give us one of you, and if not, we will kill you, even if they all are killed, let them not surrender a soul from Israel.
The explanation is that since they do not specify a known person, when they (the group) choose the victim based on their own mindset, it turns out that they are trying to redeem themselves at the expense of another Israelite and they are healing themselves by the spilling of blood and one does not push aside one life to save another life”.
And he also wrote, “And it appears that so is the law when he says to an Israelite give me your weapons and I will kill this Israelite and if not I will kill you and the Gentile does not have the ability to get the weapons without the consent of the Israelite, that he should not give it (the weapon or weapons) in order to redeem his life”.