Sifrei Devarim 155

¹(Devarim 17:12) "And the man who shall do wilfully, not to listen": to its ruling. ²"And the man who shall do ": (A rebellious elder is not liable) until he teaches to do (what is contrary to the ruling of the Sanhedrin, [but not if he only voices disagreement with their ruling]). ³"wilfully": He (the rebellious elder) is liable only for witting and not for unwitting transgression. ⁴"not to listen to the Cohein": (directly), but not ("not to listen") to one who hears it from him. ⁵"to the Cohein who stands to serve ": ( Ibid . 18:5) "to stand to serve" tells me that the service (of the Cohein) is only "standing." This tells me only that it is a mitzvah (for him to stand). Whence do I derive that it is a categorical requirement (i.e., that it is not valid unless he is standing)? "who stands to serve" implies that if he sits, his service is invalid. ⁶"or to the judge": This is as we said: Even if there are no Cohanim and Levites there, it is valid. ⁷"that man shall die ": the unqualified death penalty in Scripture — strangulation. ⁸" that man": and not one who is forced or unwitting or under some misapprehension. ⁹"and you shall remove the evil from Israel": Remove the doer of evil from Israel.