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Kesubos 40a

כתובות מ׳ ע״א

Ketubot 40a

Learn Kesubos 40a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The אונס versus the מפתה: forced marriage and the limits of עשה דוחה לא תעשה. The orphan who was engaged and divorced, and whose קנס is hers. How בושת, פגם and the fixed קנס are measured.

Overview

The גמרא first finishes a point from the previous daf. Only the אונס is forced to marry the girl, because the פסוק about the מפתה says 'לו', meaning only if he wants. Next, רב כהנא asks why the אונס's מצוה to marry her does not override a prohibition when she is forbidden to him. רב זביד answers that an עשה only overrides a לא תעשה when it cannot be fulfilled any other way. Here she can refuse, and then the עשה disappears. A new משנה follows: רבי אלעזר rules that a man who rapes an orphan who was engaged and divorced pays the fine, while a seducer does not. רבי יוחנן shows that רבי אלעזר follows רבי עקיבא: a girl who was engaged and divorced is like an orphan, so her קנס belongs to her. רב rules like רבי אלעזר. Then another משנה explains that בושת and פגם depend on the people involved, but the קנס is the same for everyone. The גמרא asks whether the fifty סלעים might cover everything. רבי זירא answers with an argument from fairness, and אביי begins to challenge it from the fixed price of a slave, a discussion that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְהָא מִילְּתָא נָמֵי

For this matter too

לִיגְמְרוּ מֵהֲדָדֵי!

let them be learned from each other!

אָמַר קְרָא:

The verse says:

״מָהֹר יִמְהָרֶנָּה לּוֹ לְאִשָּׁה״,

'He shall surely pay a dowry for her to be a wife to him,'

The steps (15)

  1. ChallengeWhy not learn forced marriage from each other too?
  2. ResolutionThe word 'לו' means only with his consent
  3. StatementQuoting the משנה: how does he 'drink from his vessel'?
  4. ChallengeWhy doesn't the מצוה to marry her override the prohibition?
  5. ResolutionThe מצוה only overrides when it cannot be avoided
  6. StatementNew משנה: the orphan who was engaged and divorced
  7. Statementרבי אלעזר follows his teacher רבי עקיבא
  8. ProofThe proof from the orphan ruling
  9. QuestionWhy mention an orphan? It is obvious
  10. ResponseA divorced girl is treated like an orphan
  11. StatementThe הלכה follows רבי אלעזר
  12. StatementNew משנה: how shame, lowered value, and the fine are measured
  13. ChallengeWhy not say the fifty סלעים cover everything?
  14. ResolutionA princess and a commoner cannot get the same amount
  15. ChallengeBut the Torah does fix one price for a slave