The Sanhedrin was [seated] in the shape of a semi-circular threshing floor so that they should see one another. Two judicial scribes stand before them, one to the right and one to the left, and they record the words of those who defend and those who convict. R’ Yehudah says: Three: One records the words of those who defend; one records the words of those who convict; and the third records the words [both] of those who defend and those who convict.

Three rows of scholars sat before them, each one recognizing his place. [If] they need to ordain, they ordain from the first [row]; one from the second row [then] moves up to the first, one from the third [row] moves up to the second, and they choose one from the congregation and sit him in the third [row]. He does not sit in the place of the first but in the place appropriate to him.