M. San. 3:4 records two lists of relatives who are disqualified from giving testimony: a list attributed to “the first Mishnah” and one assigned to R. Aqiba. The first Mishnah disqualifies relatives who are eligible to be the person’s heir, to the maximum degree of a cousin. R. Aqiba abolished the inheritance criterion and drew up a list that includes even relatives who are ineligible to be heirs. Based on an analysis of expositions from which the sages derived the disqualification of relatives from giving testimony, this article examines the reason for the change introduced by R. Aqiba. It concludes that, in R. Aqiba’s view, the relevant criterion is not the possibility of inheritance but only the degree of kinship.

M.桑。3:4 记录了两份被取消作证资格的亲属名单：一份属于“第一代密西拿”，一份属于 R. Aqiba。第一个密西拿取消了有资格成为该人的继承人的亲属，最大程度的表亲。R. Aqiba 废除了继承标准，并制定了一份名单，其中甚至包括没有资格成为继承人的亲属。本文通过分析圣人对亲属丧失作证资格的论述，考察了R. Aqiba引入变化的原因。得出的结论是，在R. Aqiba 看来，相关标准不是继承的可能性，而只是亲属关系的程度。