Talmud Sanhedrin 59a: Murdering a Goyim

Our editors have fact-checked the allegation that the Talmudic verse Sanhedrin 59a says “murdering a goyim is like killing a wild animal”.

Sanhedrin 59a Original Hebrew Version:

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: גּוֹי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה חַיָּיב מִיתָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״תּוֹרָה צִוָּה לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה מוֹרָשָׁה״, לָנוּ מוֹרָשָׁה וְלֹא לָהֶם.

וְלִיחְשְׁבַהּ גַּבֵּי שֶׁבַע מִצְוֹת? מַאן דְּאָמַר ״מוֹרָשָׁה״ – מִיגְזָל קָא גָזֵיל לַהּ. מַאן דְּאָמַר ״מְאוֹרָסָה״ – דִּינוֹ כְּנַעֲרָה הַמְאוֹרָסָה, דְּבִסְקִילָה.

מֵיתִיבִי, הָיָה רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר: מִנַּיִן שֶׁאֲפִילּוּ גּוֹי וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁהוּא כְּכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל? שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם״. ״כֹּהֲנִים לְוִיִּים וְיִשְׂרְאֵלִים״ לֹא נֶאֱמַר, אֶלָּא ״הָאָדָם״. הָא לָמַדְתָּ שֶׁאֲפִילּוּ גּוֹי וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה הֲרֵי הוּא כְּכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל.

הָתָם, בְּשֶׁבַע מִצְוֹת דִּידְהוּ.

Translation to English:

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: A gentile who engages in Torah study is liable to receive the death penalty; as it is stated: “Moses commanded us a law [Torah], an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4), indicating that it is an inheritance for us, and not for them.

The Gemara challenges: But if so, why is this prohibition not counted among the seven Noahide mitzvot? The Gemara explains: According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as an inheritance, this prohibition is included in the prohibition of robbery, as a gentile who studies Torah robs the Jewish people of it. According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as betrothed (me’orasa, a homiletical reading), the punishment of a gentile who studies Torah is like that of one who engages in intercourse with a betrothed young woman, for which the punishment is stoning.

The Gemara raises an objection to Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement from a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say: From where is it derived that even a gentile who engages in Torah study is considered like a High Priest? It is derived from that which is stated: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My ordinances, which if a man does he shall live by them” (Leviticus 18:5). The phrase: “Which if priests, Levites, and Israelites do they shall live by them,” is not stated, but rather: “A man,” which indicates mankind in general. You have therefore learned that even a gentile who engages in Torah study is considered like a High Priest.

The Gemara answers: There, in the baraita, the reference is to a gentile who engages in the study of their seven mitzvot. It is a mitzvah for a gentile to study the halakhot that pertain to the seven Noahide mitzvot, and when he does so he is highly regarded.

FALSE ALLEGATION: Murdering a Goyim is Like Killing a Wild Animal

The phrase “murdering a goy is like killing a wild animal” does not appear in the text of Sanhedrin 59a. The primary topic of this specific passage is the prohibition for non-Jews to study Torah, a subject we have covered in detail.