OpenGemara > Gemara > Sotah

Learn a Daf of Sotah daily

דאי אית ביה עון בדקי ליה מיא

The

bitter

waters

also

check

the husband if he

sinned

(by living with his wife after her seclusion),

כי אית ביה עון בדידיה מי בדקי לה מיא לדידה

if he

himself

sinned

immorally, the bitter

water

wouldn't

check

his wife

והא תניא

As a Braisa

taught:

ונקה האיש מעון והאשה ההיא תשא את עונה

The verse says

"And the man shall be clear from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity."

בזמן שהאיש מנוקה מעון המים בודקין את אשתו אין האיש מנוקה מעון אין המים בודקין את אשתו

When

the husband

is clean from the sin

of being intimate with his wife after her seclusion

, the

bitter

waters checks his wife. When

the husband

is not clean from

that

sin, the

bitter

water does not check his wife.

 
The   Gemara 

tries a second answer:

ואלא לבועל

Rather,

the Mishna says that the water checks

the adulterer.

ליתני כדקתני סיפא כשם שאסורה לבעל כך אסורה לבועל

If so, why doesn't

the Mishna teach

this law explicitly

like it does in the

latter part of the Mishna, that

just as a woman is forbidden

to stay married to her

husband, so too she's forbidden

to marry her

adulterer?

 
The   Gemara 

stays with this answer,

לעולם לבועל

In truth,

the Mishna means that the water check the

adulterer,

ורישא איידי דתנא אותה תני אותו

But since in the first

part of the Mishna, the Mishna calls the wife

"her", so too the Mishna

calls the adulterer

"him",

סיפא איידי דתנא בעל תנא בועל

Since the latter

part of the Mishna calls the husband

"the husband",

it calls the adulterer

"the adulterer".

:שנאמר ובאו ובאו:

As it says "and they will come, and they will come"

 
The   Gemara 

discusses the following teaching of the   Mishna. 

It says "Just as the bitter 

waters check her, so to they check him, As the verse says 'they will come ... And they will come'." 
 
The   Gemara 

asks:

איבעיא להו

A question was asked:

באו ובאו קאמר או ובאו ובאו קאמר

Is the derivation from the extra Vav in the word

Bau, U'Bau " or is

the derivation from the doubling of the word

" U'Bau, U'Bau "?

 
The   Gemara 

answers, saying that Rabbi Akiva expounds the extra Vav .

ת"ש

The

Mishna

taught:

כשם שאסורה לבעל כך אסורה לבועל שנאמר נטמאה ונטמאה

Just as

the wife is forbidden to stay with

her husband, she's also forbidden to her adulterer, as

the verse

says " Nitmeh V'Nitmeah

(impure, she was impure)

 
The   Gemara 

rejects this answer, saying...

ועדיין תיבעי נטמאה נטמאה קאמר או נטמאה ונטמאה קאמר

But the question

can be asked there also: Is the derivation that the wife is forbidden to the adulterer from the extra Vav in the word

Nitmeah, V'Nitmeah

(impure, she was impure)

", or

is it derived from the doubling of the word

" V'Nitmeah, V'Nitmeah "

 
The   Gemara 

concludes from another proof:

ת"ש מדקתני סיפא רבי אומר שני פעמים האמורין בפרשה ונטמאה ונטמאה אחד לבעל ואחד לבועל מכלל דרבי עקיבא ווי קדריש

The law can be derived

from Rebbi, who said that

an immoral wife is forbidden to both her husband and to her adulterer

from the doubling of the word "

Nitmeah, V'Nitmeah

(impure, she was impure)

". This implies that Rabbi Akiva expounds the Vavs .

הלכך לרבי עקיבא שיתא קראי כתיבי

Therefore, according to Rabbi Akiva, there are six

expository parts

to the verse:

 
There are three times the verse says "And she'll be impure", with a   Vav 

before each one. As Rabbi Akiva expounds the extra   Vavs, 

there are six elements which can be expounded:

חד לצואה דידה

1. To teach Hashem's

command

to the Sotah water to check the suspected wife

וחד לצואה דידיה

2. To teach Hashem's

command

to the Sotah water to check the suspected adulterer

חד לעשייה דידה

3. To teach that the bitter water

affects

the suspected wife

וחד לעשייה דידיה

4. To teach that the Sotah water

affects

the adulterer

חד לידיעה דידה

5. To

inform

the Jewish people that the Sotah waters check the suspected wife's stomach before her womb

וחד לידיעה דידיה

6. To

inform

the Jewish people that the Sotah waters check the adulterer's stomach before his thigh

ורבי תלתא קראי כתיבי

According to Rebbi,

however

, there are only three

extra

verses:

 
As he doesn't expound the extra   Vav.

חד לצואה

1. To teach Hashem's

command

to the bitter water to check the suspected wife

וחד לעשייה

2. To teach that the Sotah water

affects

the suspected wife

וחד לידיעה

3. To

inform

the Jewish people that the Sotah waters check the suspected wife's stomach before her womb

 
The   Gemara 

asks:

ורבי כשם שהמים בודקין אותה כך בודקין אותו מנא ליה

from where does Rebbi

derive

that the water checks

the adulterer

the same way it checks

the wayward wife?

 
As Rabbi Akiva does in proof 6

. 
 
The   Gemara 

answers:

נפקא ליה מדתני'

Rebbi

derives it

the same way the following Braisa does

לצבות בטן ולנפיל ירך

"To make your belly to swell, and your thigh to fall away",

בטנו ויריכו של בועל

This verse teaches that

the stomach and thigh of the adulterer

will explode

 
The   Braisa 

will now prove it:

אתה אומר בטנו ויריכו של בועל או אינו אלא בטנה ויריכה של נבעלת

But

perhaps the verse doesn't mean that

the thigh and stomach of the adulterer

will explode

, but the thigh and stomach

of the wife will explode

 
The   Braisa 

answers:

כשהוא אומר וצבתה בטנה ונפלה יריכה הרי בטנה ויריכה של נבעלת אמור

The other verse which

says that "To make your belly to swell, and your thigh to fall away"

teaches

that the stomach and thigh of the

immoral woman

will fall.

ומה אני מקיים לצבות בטן ולנפיל ירך

why does the verse repeat

"To make your belly to swell, and your thigh to fall away"?

בטנו ויריכו של בועל

It must be

to teach that the

stomach and thigh

of the adulterer will also fall

 
This is   Rebbi's 

source that the adulterer is punished the same way as the adulteress.

ואידך

for what does Rabbi Akiva use this verse?

ההוא דמודע לה כהן דבטן ברישא והדר ירך שלא להוציא לעז על המים המרים

That the Kohen must inform

the wayward wife

that the stomach will explode first, and

only

then will the thigh fall, so

when people see that her stomach exploded first, they will not

suspect the Sotah waters

of failing

 
The   Gemara 

turns around again:

ואידך

And

where does the

other

side derive this law?

א"כ לכתוב קרא בטנה ויריכה

all the verse taught was the wayward wife's order of death

, then it should have said "

her

stomach" and "

her

thigh".

מאי בטן וירך

Why does

the verse say

"stomach" and "thigh"?

ש"מ לבועל

The verse must teach that the

adulterer also is checked.

ואימא כולי להכי הוא דאתא

But perhaps

the verse

only

teaches that the adulterer is checked through the Sotah water? What's the source that the stomach is punished first?

אם כן לכתוב בטנו ויריכו מאי בטן וירך ש"מ תרתי

Then the verse should have said

his

stomach" and "

his

thigh" rather than

simply

"stomach and thigh"

: א"ר יהושע כך היה דורש זכריה כו':

Rabbi Yehoshua said that this is what Zecharia expounded etc.

ת"ר

The Sages taught:

שלש פעמים האמורין בפרשה אם נטמאה נטמאה ונטמאה למה

Why does the verse repeat "if she was impure ... she was impure ... and she was impure" three times?

 
The   Gemara 

cites two opinions:

אחד לבעל ואחד לבועל ואחד לתרומה דברי רבי עקיבא

Rabbi Akiva said that

1. To forbid the Sotah to stay married to

her husband,

2. To forbids the Sotah to the adulterer

, and

3. To forbid the Sotah

to eat Terumah.

אמר רבי ישמעאל קל וחומר

Rabbi Yishmael said that

the law that a suspected Sotah is ineligible to marry a Kohen

can be derived using logic

and does not need a verse:

ומה גרושה שמותרת לתרומה אסורה לכהונה זו שאסורה בתרומה אינו דין שאסורה לכהונה

If a divorcee (who may be permitted to eat Terumah) is forbidden to

marry

a Kohen, then all the more so

a suspected adulteress

(who, is forbidden to eat Terumah) should be forbidden to marry a Kohen.

 
The   Gemara 

on page 28b

and 29a

says that there are actually four laws: 
 
1. A suspected   Sotah 

may not stay married to her husband. 
2. A suspected   Sotah 

may not marry her suspected adulterer. 
3. A suspected   Sotah 

may not eat   Terumah. 

4. A suspected   Sotah 

may not marry a   Kohen. 

Rabbi Yishmael said that the fourth law can be derived from the third, for a female   Kohen 

who was divorced (and had no children) may eat   Terumah 

but may not marry a   Kohen. 

This implies that   Terumah 

is more lenient than marrying a   Kohen, 

so if a suspected   Sotah 

may not eat   Terumah, 

she should definitely not be permitted to marry a   Kohen. 

The dispute between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael will be explained on page 29a

. 
 
The   Gemara 

asks:

מה ת"ל והיא נטמאה והיא לא נטמאה

Why does

the verse

say "she was impure, and if she wasn't impure"?

אם נטמאה למה שותה אם לא נטמאה למה משקה

Why would she drink

the Sotah water

if she's impure, and why would

the husband

make her drink if she's pure?

 
The   Gemara 

explains:

מגיד לך הכתוב שהספק אסורה

Rather

, the verse is teaching that

a woman about whom there is a

doubt

if she was immoral is considered as if she was definitely immoral, until she drinks the bitter water.

 
Tosfos points out that in contrast to other doubtful violations, a husband who lives with his wife when she is a doubtful   Sotah 

violates a positive commandment, even if she truly was innocent.

מכאן אתה דן לשרץ

And one can

extend

this law to

the laws of impurity upon touching

a rodent:

ומה סוטה שלא עשה בה שוגג כמזיד ואונס כרצון עשה בה ספק כודאי

The laws of immorality are relatively lenient, as

accidental

violations are more lenient

than purposeful

violations

and unwilling

violations are more lenient

than willful

violations, but nonetheless, the Torah says that

doubtful

violations are as strict as

definite

violations

שרץ שעשה בו שוגג כמזיד ואונס כרצון אינו דין שיעשה בו ספק

All the more so doubtful ritual impurity

should be as strict as definite

impurity

, since

there is no difference if one became impure

accidentally or purposefully, and

there is no difference

if one became impure against his will or willfully,