Reply To: Can the severity of a sin be learned from the severity of the punishment?

As to your question how did the חכמים know עז is worse
I think you missed my point
They knew because their moral compass was pure.
That’s the same reason I’ve said all along they can tell you something is an exception
My point from there is
Even knowing that עז is the worst, why should that NECESSITATE it having the more severe punishment?
If they are not correlated so why does it follow
Yet the Mishna is clear that once they knew it was worse, it automatically follows that it requires the more severe punishment. Ergo we can deduce backwards, if it has the more severe punishment it must be the worse sin
Are there sometimes mitigating or extenuating factors that skew this rubric?
Sure
But we aren’t in a position to decide that because our moral compass has been compromised