משנה: הָיוּ שְׁנַיִם רוֹאִין אוֹתוֹ מֵחַלּוֹן זֶה וּשְׁנַיִם רוֹאִין אוֹתוֹ מֵחַלּוֹן זֶה וְאֶחָד מַתְרֶה בוֹ בָּאֶמְצַע בִּזְמַן שֶׁמִּקְצָתָן רוֹאִין אֵילּוּ אֶת אֵילּוּ הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ עֵדוּת אֶחָת. וְאִם לָאו הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ שְׁתֵּי עֵדִיּוֹת. לְפִיכָךְ אִם נִמְצֵאת אַחַת מֵהֶן זוֹמֶמֶת הוּא וָהֵן נֶהֱרָגִין וְהַשְּׁנִייָה פְטוּרָה. MISHNAH: If two [witnesses] saw him from one window, two from another window, and a person in the middle gives the warning56To a potential criminal not to engage in criminal activity., if partially they can see one another57If one of each group of witnesses sees the other or the person in the middle sees one of each group. then this is one testimony. Otherwise, these are two testimonies. Therefore, if one [group] of them is found plotting, he58The criminal, convicted on basis of the testimony of the witnesses not found to be perjured. and they are executed; the second [group] is not prosecutable59If after the convicted person was executed the second group also was found plotting, they cannot be executed (Mishnah 8)..
הלכה: הָיוּ שְׁנַיִם רוֹאִין אוּתוּ כול׳. אָמַר רִבִּי יִרְמְיָה. חֲמִי הֵיךְ תַּנִּינָן הָכָא. הָיוּ שְׁנַיִם רוֹאִין אוֹתוֹ מֵחַלּוֹן זֶה וּשְׁנַיִם רוֹאִין אוֹתוֹ מֵחַלּוֹן זֶה וְאֶחָד מַתְרֶה בוֹ בָּאֶמְצַע. בִּזְמַן שֶׁמִּקְצָתָן רוֹאִין אֵילּוּ אֶת אֵילּוּ הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ עֵדוּת אַחַת וְאִם לָאו הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ שְׁתֵּי עֵדִיּוֹת. הָא אִם הָיוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא בְדָא. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי. תַּנִּינָן שְׁלֹשָׁה שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא בְדָא. תַנִּינָן הָכָא מַה דְלֹא תַנִּינָן בְּכָל סַנְהֶדְרִין. הוּא וָהֵן נֶהֱרָגִין וְהַשְּׁנִייָה פְטוּרָה. HALAKHAH: “If two [witnesses] saw him,” etc. Rebbi Jeremiah said, look how we are stating here: “If two [witnesses] saw him from one window, two from another window, and a person in the middle gives the warning, if partially they can see one another then this is one testimony. Otherwise, these are two testimonies.”60It is not clear what the argument is; there are at least two very different explanations. In the opinion of Pene Moshe, R. Jeremiah points out that if the single person in the middle sees each group of witnesses, then the testimony is one of “three and three”, i. e., the person in the middle with each one of the groups of two witnesses. It is a single testimony; if one group is found plotting, the entire testimony becomes invalid and nobody can be executed. The criminal cannot be convicted since there is no testimony; the witnesses cannot be executed because not all of them have been shown to be plotting.
Others explain that if in each window there are three witnesses and the person in the middle only sees one in each, the two groups of two witnesses that are not seen by the person in the middle form two independent groups of witnesses; the person in the middle does not connect them. In any case, the Babli will not agree (6b). Therefore, if they were three each, this does not apply. Rebbi Yose said, we stated “three each not so.61A baraita confirms the interpretation, whatever it may be.” We state here what was not stated in all of Sanhedrin: “he and they are executed; the second [group] is not prosecutable.62To contemplate that the rules require a clear miscarriage of justice.”