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I heard a shiur where someone quoted Rambam as saying something to the effect of:
"We trust two witnesses not because we think what they are saying is truth, but rather because the Torah says we trust two witnesses".
I could not locate this quote. It is possible I misheard or the person was paraphrasing.
Does anyone know the source?
The quote is found in Yesodei Hatorah 7:7 and is repeated in 8:2.
Excerpt from 8:2
כְּמוֹ שֶׁצִּוָּנוּ לַחְתֹּךְ הַדָּבָר עַל פִּי שְׁנַיִם עֵדִים וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין אִם הֵעִידוּ אֱמֶת אִם שֶׁקֶר.
Rambam Edut 18.3
יח,ז אבל אם אמרו להם, אנו אין אנו יודעים אם זה הרג זה ביום זה בירושלים, כמו שאתם אומרין, או לא הרגו, ואנו מעידים, שאתם עצמכם הייתם עימנו ביום זה בבבל--הרי אלו זוממין, ונהרגין או משלמין: הואיל והעדים שהזימו אותם לא השגיחו על עצמה של עדות כלל, אם היא אמת או שקר. [ג] וזה שהאמינה תורה עדים האחרונים על העדים הראשונים, גזירת הכתוב היא.
The fact that the Torah accepted the word of the latter pair of witnesses instead of that of the first pair of witnesses is a Scriptural decree.
Rambam states this perhaps even slightly more clearly in his Epistle to Yemen:
We require only a miracle as his credentials, although it may be wrought by stratagem or magic, just as we accept the evidence of witnesses although there is a possibility of perjury. It is because we are divinely commanded through Moses to render judgement in a suit of law in accordance with the testimony of two witnesses whom we believe, the possibility of false swearing notwithstanding.
(Halkin translation)
