Gemara Clarity

Gittin 43b

גיטין מ״ג ע״ב

Learn Gittin 43b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 43b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Freeing a half-שפחה, and when a slave sold or pledged to a גוי goes free

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier ruling with a מה נפשך argument. A half-שפחה half-בת חורין woman betrothed to two brothers is not 'the wife of two dead men', because only one of the two קידושין could have worked. Next comes a מחלוקת about what רב נחמן said when such a woman is freed: one report says freedom cancels her first קידושין, and the other says it completes it. רבי זירא brings a proof from the פסוק of שפחה חרופה, and אביי shows the פסוק can mean she was freed and then betrothed again. A story follows in which a master was forced to free a half-שפחה. The גמרא explains it was because men were treating her as ownerless, not necessarily because of פרו ורבו. Then a new משנה teaches that a slave sold to גוים or to חוץ לארץ goes free, and a ברייתא adds that he needs a גט שחרור unless the master wrote 'when you escape, I have no business with you'. Last, a slave pledged to a גוי for a loan goes free once the גוי does נִמוּסוֹ. After rejecting 'a seal', the גמרא explains נִמוּסוֹ as a deadline and settles a clash with a field ברייתא: the slave's body was pledged, but the field only for its produce.

Opening lines

וְאֵין אֲנִי קוֹרֵא בָּהּ

And I do not call her

אֵשֶׁת שְׁנֵי מֵתִים;

the wife of two dead men;

מָה נַפְשָׁךְ,

whichever way you look at it,

אִי קִדּוּשֵׁי דִּרְאוּבֵן קִדּוּשִׁין –

if Reuven's betrothal is a valid betrothal –

The steps (23)

  1. StatementShe is not the wife of two dead brothers
  2. StatementTwo reports of what רב נחמן said: canceled or completed
  3. Proofרבי זירא's proof from the פסוק of שפחה חרופה
  4. Challengeאביי: what about the view of the school of רבי ישמעאל?
  5. RejectionThe פסוק means she was freed and then betrothed again
  6. StatementThe court forced a master to free a half-שפחה
  7. QuestionWhose view does this story follow?
  8. RejectionThe real reason: men treated her as ownerless
  9. StatementA slave sold to גוים or to חוץ לארץ goes free
  10. StatementHe is free but still needs a גט שחרור
  11. Statementרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: a written document can count as his freedom
  12. QuestionWhat does the sale document say?
  13. ResponseThe document says: once you run away, I have nothing to do with you
  14. StatementA slave used as security for a loan from a גוי
  15. QuestionWhat is נִמוּסוֹ?
  16. ResponseFirst answer: נִמוּסוֹ means a seal
  17. Challengeרב ששת quotes a ברייתא that uses נִמוּסוֹ for fields
  18. ChallengeYou cannot put a seal on a field
  19. Responseנִמוּסוֹ means a set time
  20. ChallengeThe time limit seems to work differently for the slave and the field
  21. ResolutionFirst answer: one case is after the deadline, one is before
  22. RejectionRejecting the first answer: after the deadline the slave case is obvious
  23. ResolutionFinal answer: the slave himself versus the field's produce