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DEUTERONOMY — 19:15 witness

DEUT958 If a single individual testifies before a beis din regarding a sin that someone committed, then he violates the prohibition of לֹֽא־יָקוּם֩ עֵ֨ד אֶחָ֜ד בְּאִ֗ישׁ לְכָל־עָוֹן֙, “A single witness shall not testify about a person regarding any sin or wrongdoing" (Devarim 19:15). Since the testimony of this single witness cannot obligate anyone to pay money or take an oath, nor can it negate another person's good standing, he is considered to have disgraced the other person for no reason, and based in his obligated to punish him with lashes (malkos) for what he did.

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DEUTERONOMY — 19:16 false

DEUT963 The fourth category [of liars]--One who lies when repeating what he has heard [from others,] deliberately changing some of the facts. He gains no benefit from his lying, nor causes loss to others; nonetheless, he acts this way out of a love for falsehood, rather than speaking everlasting righteousness [Tehillim 52:5; i.e., the truth]. Sometimes he [even] fabricates the entirety of what he recounts! In one respect, the punishment of such a person is less severe, since he has caused no loss to another through his lies and rashness [Yirmeyahu 23:32; i.e., through his flippant attitude]. But he is severely punished for his audacity and his love a falsehood; and his transgression is a heavy one, for he loves it [for its own sake] without deriving benefit. Shlomo, a"h, said (Mishlei 6:19), "One who speaks lies, a false witness." What this means is: if you see a person speaking lies in his conversations and when recounting things, know that this quality will bring him to give false testimony against his brother--to testify something totally fictitious about him [Devarim 19:16; see Rashi] -- due to his love of falsehood. (Continued at [[GEN1607]] Genesis 50:16 message GATES 367)

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DEUTERONOMY — 19:19 schemed

DEUT967 Biblical law exacts what is, as far as I know, a unique and uniquely fair punishment for false witnesses: "And you shall do to them what they schemed to do [to their victim]" [this verse] Thus, lying witnesses who make a false claim of $10,000 should themselves be fined $10,000, well Jewish law rules that witnesses who tried to have capital punishment inflicted on an innocent person pay that penalty themselves.

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