(4) _No man was qualified to be a judge who had dealt in the fruits of the seventh year._ Such a person was deemed lacking in conscience and unfitted to perform judicial functions. (5) _No man who was concerned or interested in a matter to be adjudicated was qualified to sit in judgment thereon._ This is a universal disqualification of judges under all enlightened systems of justice. The weakness and selfishness of human nature are such that few men are qualified to judge impartially where their own interests are involved. (6) _All relatives of the accused man, of whatever degree of consanguinity, were disqualified from sitting in judgment on his case._ This is only a variation of the disqualification of interest. (7) _No person who would be benefited, as heir, or otherwise, by the death or condemnation of an accused man, was qualified to be his judge._ This, too, is a variation of the disqualification of interest. (8) _The king could not be a member of the Sanhedrin._ Royalty disqualified from holding the place of judge because of the high station of the king and because his exercising judicial functions might hamper the administration of justice. And, finally, in closing the enumeration of disqualifications, it may be added that an election to a seat obtained by fraud or any unfair means was null and void. No respect was shown for the piety or learning of such a judge; his judicial mantle was spat upon with scorn, and his fellow judges fled from him as from a plague or pest. Hebrew contempt for such a judge was expressed in the maxim: "The robe of the unfairly elected judge is to be respected not more than the blanket of an ass." _Officers of the Great Sanhedrin._--Two presiding officers directed the proceedings of the Great Sanhedrin. One of these, styled _prince_ (nasi), was the chief and the president of the court. The other, known as the _father of the Tribunal_ (ab-beth-din), was the vice-president. There has been much discussion among the historians as to the particular chamber from which the president was chosen. Some have contended that the presidency of the Sanhedrin belonged by right to the high priest. But the facts of history do not sustain this contention. Aaron was high priest at the time when Moses was president of the first Sanhedrin in the Wilderness; and, besides, the list of presidents preserved by the Talmud reveals the names of many who did not belong to the priesthood. Maimonides has made the following very apt observation on the subject: "Whoever surpassed his colleagues in wisdom was made by them chief of the Sanhedrin."[94]