Sanhedrin 6:2-3

Sanhedrin 6:2

When the accused was about ten cubits from the stoning place (about 30’), he was instructed to confess. It is the practice for those about to be executed to confess because whoever confesses has a share in the Next World. We see this from the Biblical Achan. Yehoshua told him, “Please give glory to the Hashem, the God of Israel, and confess unto Him.” The Navi continues, “Achan answered Yehoshua, saying, ‘In truth I have sinned against Hashem, the God of Israel, thusly...’” (Joshua 7:19-20). We see that his confession effected atonement for him as the Navi continues, “Joshua said, ‘Why did you cause us trouble? Hashem will cause you trouble today’” (7:25). On that day Achan would be troubled but he would not be troubled in the Next World. If the convicted doesn’t know to confess, they tell him to say, “May my death serve as an atonement for all my sins.” Rabbi Yehuda says that if the convicted knew that he was the victim of false testimony (and therefore being wrongfully executed), he should say, “May my death serve as an atonement for all my sins except for this one” (i.e., the one for which he is being wrongfully executed). The Sages disagreed because if that were the case, everyone being executed would say that in order to clear his name.

Sanhedrin 6:3

When the convicted was four cubits from the stoning place (about six feet), they would remove his clothes. Rabbi Yehuda says that a man was covered (with a loin cloth) in the front and a woman was covered in the front and the back; the Sages say that a man was stoned naked but a woman was not stoned naked.