Sifrei Devarim 93

¹(Devarim 13:14) "There have gone out men": and not women, and not minors. "men": not fewer than two. ²"men of wickedness (" belial " [lit., "without a yoke"]): men who have cast from themselves the yoke of Heaven. ³"from your midst": and not from a border city (i.e., one between Eretz Yisrael and the land of the nations). ⁴"and they have turned away the inhabitants of their city": but not those of another city. ⁵"saying": (We are hereby taught) that two witnesses and warning are required for each (of the cities). ( Ibid . 15) ⁶"And you shall inquire": of the Torah. "and you shall search out": from the witnesses. "and you shall ask": of the Talmud . Here (in respect to a man's serving idolatry) it is written ( Ibid . 17:4) "And it be told to you, and you hear, and you inquire well ," and elsewhere (in respect to scheming witnesses) (19:18) "And the judges inquire well " — "well" - "well" for an identity ( gezeirah shavah .) (We are hereby taught) that he (the witness) undergoes seven cross-examinations ( chakiroth ). ⁷Where do we derive (the need for) bedikoth (general examination of the facts, of lesser magnitude than chakiroth )? From ( Ibid . 13:15) "and, behold, true and correct is the thing." ⁸If in the end we include bedikoth , why chakiroth ? With chakiroth , if one of them (the witnesses) said "I do not know," their testimony is invalidated. With bedikoth , if one of them, or even both of them said "I do not know," their testimony stands. ⁹Both with chakiroth and bedikoth , if they refute each other, their testimony is invalidated. ¹⁰"this abomination has been done in your midst": to include converts and freed slaves.