Kesubos 27a

כתובות כ״ז ע״א

Ketubot 27a

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Topic

Women held by non-Jews: money versus capital cases, and wives of כהנים in a captured city, including when a hiding place saves them.

Overview

Our משנה says a woman held by non-Jews over money stays permitted to her husband, but one held over a capital case is forbidden. The גמרא tests רב's limit, that the money rule applies only when the Jews' hand is strong, against the Ashkelon testimony in עדויות, told in three versions. In the end, רב שמואל בר רב יצחק explains that the משנה speaks of a time when the Jews are strong, and Ashkelon of a time when the non-Jews are fully in control. For the capital case, רב and לוי give examples, and חזקיה and רבי יוחנן argue whether the death sentence must already be final. A new משנה rules that wives of כהנים in a city captured by a siege army are forbidden unless witnesses, even a slave or maidservant, testify for them. The גמרא raises a contradiction from wine barrels in wartime and answers it in two ways: soldiers find time for desire but not for idol wine, or the city's own army is different from a foreign army. Then a single hiding place is said to save all the wives. רבי ירמיה asks what happens if it fits only one woman, and the comparison to the two-paths case is rejected, since here maybe no woman was harmed at all. The amud ends as רב אשי asks about a woman who says she did not hide and was not defiled; the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. ChallengeTaken as security is different from imprisoned
2. ResolutionImprisonment is the same; the story just happened that way
3. ProofSecond version: רבא supports רב from the Ashkelon case
4. StatementThe Sages' argument to the family
5. ProofEven over money, she needed witnesses
6. RejectionTaken as security is a special case
7. ChallengeThird version: the Ashkelon case contradicts our משנה
8. ResolutionIt depends on who holds power
9. StatementWhich capital cases does the משנה mean?
10. StatementMust the death sentence already be final?
11. StatementWives of כהנים in a conquered city
12. ChallengeWartime wine barrels seem to contradict the משנה
13. ResolutionTime for sin, but no time for idol wine
14. ResolutionSame government versus a foreign government
15. ChallengeOne soldier could still slip away
16. ResolutionThe guards can see each other
17. ChallengeThe guards might doze off
18. ResolutionA city sealed with chains, dogs, branches and geese
19. StatementTwo sages, two ways of reading the same answer
20. StatementOne hiding place saves all the women
21. QuestionWhat if the hiding place fits only one woman?
22. ChallengeComparing to the case of two paths
23. Statementרבי יהודה and רבי יוסי argue about the two paths
24. StatementWhere exactly רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי disagree
25. ChallengePermitting every wife counts as 'at the same time'
26. RejectionThe two-paths case is different because there the impurity is certain
27. QuestionWhat if a woman says she neither hid nor was defiled?