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Kesubos 16a

כתובות ט״ז ע״א

Ketubot 16a

Learn Kesubos 16a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The end of the משנה about believing a person whose own words both create and remove a problem (הפה שאסר הוא הפה שהתיר), and the opening of the גמרא, which asks whether the משנה's ruling about a widow's כתובה contradicts רבן גמליאל.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the משנה. A man who admits a field was his friend's father's, but says he bought it, is believed, because 'the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permitted.' If witnesses prove the field was the father's, he is not believed. The גמרא then returns to the woman who says she married as a בתולה. It asks whether the משנה, which needs witnesses, goes against רבן גמליאל. The answer is that רבן גמליאל believes her only in a case of ברי ושמא, and here both sides are ברי. The גמרא tries to prove this from the words 'ומודה רבי יהושע'. That proof is pushed off: רבי יהושע is really comparing a מגו in our פרק to a מגו in the first פרק. After testing several first-פרק cases, the גמרא settles on the woman who says she was raped after אירוסין. It explains that a מגו cannot help her because there is already a 'slaughtered ox' in front of us. Finally, the גמרא asks why witnesses are needed if most women marry as בתולות. רבינא begins to answer that a virgin's wedding gets publicity, and his answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁהַפֶּה שֶׁאָסַר —

For the mouth that forbade

הוּא הַפֶּה שֶׁהִתִּיר.

is the mouth that permitted.

וְאִם יֵשׁ עֵדִים שֶׁהִיא שֶׁל אָבִיו,

But if there are witnesses that it belonged to his father,

וְהוּא אוֹמֵר: ״לְקַחְתִּיהָ הֵימֶנּוּ״ —

and he says, 'I bought it from him,'

The steps (21)

  1. StatementThe mouth that forbade is the mouth that permitted
  2. StatementWhen witnesses already prove the field was the father's
  3. ChallengeDoes the משנה go against רבן גמליאל?
  4. Resolutionרבן גמליאל only spoke about ברי ושמא
  5. ChallengeWhy did the questioner ask at all?
  6. ResolutionThe majority made it look like ברי ושמא
  7. ProofProof from the word 'and he concedes'
  8. Rejectionרבי יהושע's concession refers to the first chapter
  9. QuestionWhich first-chapter case? Trying the pregnant woman
  10. RejectionThe pregnant woman has no מגו
  11. ResponseSecond try: the woman seen speaking with a man
  12. ChallengeDoes the 'speaking' case have a מגו for everyone?
  13. ResponseA new suggestion: the case of the wood injury
  14. ChallengeDoes she have a מגו in the wood-injury case?
  15. ResponseAnother suggestion: raped after betrothal
  16. ResponseWhy she has a מגו in the rape case
  17. Conclusionרבי יהושע agrees here but disagrees there
  18. ChallengeBoth cases are a מגו, so why treat them differently?
  19. ResolutionThe slaughtered ox: suspicion already in front of us
  20. ChallengeIf most women marry as בתולות, why are witnesses needed?
  21. Resolutionרבינא: a virgin's wedding gets talked about