Masechet Makkot, Perek Aleph (Chapter One), Mishnah Gimel (Mishnah Three) will discuss another machloket (dispute) between Rabbi Meir and the Hachamim (Sages) about Edim Zomemim (plotting witnesses) who gave false testimony, and whether that false testimony would have led the person they were testifying about to receive Malkut (lashes). The Mishnah says: If witnesses come and say, “We testify about a certain person that he should receive Malkut,” he should receive lashes. For example, let’s say he violated a Torah prohibition by eating non-kosher meat; he would receive lashes. These witnesses are testifying about him, saying that he is supposed to receive lashes. It is found that they were Edim Zomemim: they lied, they were plotting witnesses, and they wanted to try to get him in trouble and have him punished. So we say that they receive 80 lashes, two sets of Malkut.
Rabbi Meir says they receive two sets of lashes for two separate prohibitions. The first prohibition is that they are not allowed to bear falsehoods: false witness against their friend. That is one set of lashes for violating that prohibition, that lo ta'aseh (prohibition). Secondly, these witnesses were trying to cause punishment to somebody else. They were trying to cause somebody else to get lashes. So they should get lashes as well. They end up with 80 lashes, two sets of 40. This is the opinion of Rabbi Meir.
The Hachamim say that the Edim Zomemim receive only 40 lashes, one set of Malkut. That is all they get. They are not given Malkut for this particular transgression. The Gemara elaborates on it and says that for this particular Avera (transgression), there is no Malkut. That is a different reason from the one the Mishnah gave in the previous Mishnah, where it said, basically, that we can give only one punishment for one action. We cannot give two punishments. Even though it is technically a violation of two prohibitions, for that one action, you could still give only one punishment. So here they are giving a different answer. The Hachamim say that lo ta'aneh vere'acha ed shaker, giving false testimony, is an exception to the rule, and there is no Malkut with that type of prohibition. Therefore, the Hachamim say, there is only one set of lashes: 40.
Meshalleshin b'mamon (money) ve'ein meshalleshin b'makkot. These Edim Zomemim tried to cause punishment for somebody else. Let’s say they tried to cause financial damage to somebody else with their testimony. The Mishnah is saying, Meshalleshin b'mamon ve'ein meshalleshin b'makkot, but they are not allowed to divide up their punishment when it comes to Malkut. What do we mean by that? Ketzad, what’s an example of this? He'iduhu shehu chayav l'chavero matayim zuz (zuz coin): If witnesses testify that a person owes his friend 200 zuz. Venimtze'u zomemim, and it is found that these witnesses were Edim Zomemim and were trying to cause somebody a loss of 200. Therefore, they are now obligated to pay the 200. But the 200 that they owe, Meshalleshin b'mamon ve'ein meshalleshin b'makkot: they divide the payment between them. So if there were two witnesses giving testimony and trying to cause somebody else to lose 200, the two witnesses would split that 200, 100 each.
Aval im he'iduhu shehu chayav Malkut arba'im: But if the witnesses testified that a person is liable to get 40, venimtze'u zomemim, and it is found that they are Edim Zomemim, they are now going to be punished with Malkut. We do not say that they split the Malkut. Rather, kol echad ve'echad lokeh arba'im: every single one of these witnesses would receive 40 lashes individually. They do not divide up the lashes between them. Each witness tried to cause the defendant a full set of Malkut, so they receive Malkut. When it comes to the money, it is different. As long as the person they were testifying against received the full compensation he was owed, whatever they tried to cause him, that is it. So they could split. They could split the mamon, but they cannot split the Malkut.