Sforno on Numbers 14:5/ספורנו על במדבר י״ד:ה׳

1ויפול משה ואהרן על פניהם, when they saw the truth of (Kohelet 1,15) Solomon’s famous proverb that מעוות לא יוכל לתקן, that “when something has been twisted out of shape it can not be straightened out again.” The Talmud Sanhedrin 19 illustrates this when relating that the entire Sanhedrin out of fear of the King Yannai, perverted Torah law and only Shimon ben Shetach had the courage to tell the king the truth about Torah law on the issue under discussion, which would have embarrassed the king. Shimon ben Shetach appealed to heaven to uphold the one who had interpreted correctly. Thereupon the angel Gavriel killed the entire Sanhedrin, except Shimon ben Shetach. However, in order for such a tragedy not to occur again, the ruling that the king must testify and must be judged by his peers was revoked for the future.