[א] אילו אמר "וְשָׁמְעָה", יכול האומר לחברו "נלך ונעבד עכו"ם" יהא חייב? הין?! אם האומר אינו חייב, השומע יהא חייב?! זה יוכיח שהאומר אינו חייב והשומע חייב!
1) (Vayikra 5:1) ("And if a soul sinned and heard the voice of an oath, and he was a witness or saw or knew — if he does not tell, then he shall bear his sin.") If it were written (only) "he heard the voice," and not "of an oath," I might think the intent of the verse to be that if one overheard a man telling his neighbor "Let us go and serve idolatry," and he could have testified in beth-din to this effect and failed to do so, ("I might think") that he is liable. — Now if one who (only) says this ("Let us go and serve, etc.") is not liable, should the one who just overhears it be liable (for withholding testimony)! It must be, then, that the verse is speaking of one being besworn in beth-din not to withhold testimony, and withholding it, in which instance the sayer (i.e., the beswearer himself) is not liable (even if he knows that the oath will be violated) and the hearer is liable (for its violation).
[א] אילו אמר "וְשָׁמְעָה", יכול האומר לחברו "נלך ונעבד עכו"ם" יהא חייב? הין?! אם האומר אינו חייב, השומע יהא חייב?! זה יוכיח שהאומר אינו חייב והשומע חייב!
1) (Vayikra 5:1) ("And if a soul sinned and heard the voice of an oath, and he was a witness or saw or knew — if he does not tell, then he shall bear his sin.") If it were written (only) "he heard the voice," and not "of an oath," I might think the intent of the verse to be that if one overheard a man telling his neighbor "Let us go and serve idolatry," and he could have testified in beth-din to this effect and failed to do so, ("I might think") that he is liable. — Now if one who (only) says this ("Let us go and serve, etc.") is not liable, should the one who just overhears it be liable (for withholding testimony)! It must be, then, that the verse is speaking of one being besworn in beth-din not to withhold testimony, and withholding it, in which instance the sayer (i.e., the beswearer himself) is not liable (even if he knows that the oath will be violated) and the hearer is liable (for its violation).