The Mishnah taught that they did not execute perjurers in a capital case until after the conclusion of the trial of the person against whom they testified. The Sadducees taught that they executed perjurers only after the accused had actually been executed, pursuant to the injunction "eye for eye" in . The (Pharisee) Sages noted that says, "then shall you do to him as he purposed to do to his brother," implying that his brother was still alive. The Sages thus asked what "life for life" meant. The Sages taught that one might have thought that perjurers were liable to be executed from the moment that they delivered their perjured testimony, so says "life for life" to instruct that perjurers were not to be put to death until after the conclusion of the trial.