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Makkos 1:2-3

Makkos 1:2

If the witnesses testify that one person owes another 200 zuz and they are found to be false witnesses, they are lashed and must pay. (Normally one who is lashed is exempt from financial penalties.) This is because one Biblical verse makes them liable for lashes and a different one makes them liable to pay; this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. The Sages say that if one is made to pay, then he is not lashed.

Makkos 1:3

If the witnesses testify that someone is liable to 40 lashes and they are found to be false witnesses, they receive 80 lashes – 40 for violating the prohibition against being false witnesses (in Exodus 20:13) and 40 because of “You shall do to him what he sought to do to his brother” (Deuteronomy 19:19); this is the opinion of Rabbi Meir. The Sages say that they only receive 40 lashes. When money is owed, payment is divided among the false witnesses but this is not the case when administering lashes. For example, if witnesses testified that one person owed another 200 zuz and they were found to be false witnesses, the fine is divided among them; if they testified that someone is liable to 40 lashes and they were found to be false witnesses, each of them receives 40 lashes.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz