Kesubos 46a

כתובות מ״ו ע״א

Ketubot 46a

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Topic

The punishments of the מוציא שם רע: their sources, conditions, and the dispute over whether relations are required

Overview

This amud deals with the מוציא שם רע, a husband who falsely claims his new wife was unfaithful. רב פפא shows that the word לוקה can mean paying money, and proves it from a vow of 'half my ערך.' A ברייתא then teaches that וענשו means the money fine and ויסרו means מלקות; רבי אבהו proves the lashes through a chain of word-links. רבי אלעזר and רבי נתן disagree about which פסוק is the warning against slander. The husband is punished only if he asked the witnesses to testify, while רבי יהודה requires that he hired them, learned through a גזירה שוה from the laws of interest. רבי ירמיה and רב אשי ask about the limits of these rules; one question is solved: accusing her about her marriage to his brother does not count. Next comes the dispute between the רבנן and רבי אליעזר בן יעקב on whether the husband must have had relations with her, and how each side reads the פסוקים. Finally, רבי יוחנן rules that the husband is liable only if he was with her, and the גמרא begins asking whose view this follows; the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (43)

1. Statementרב פפא: 'He is flogged' means he pays money
2. ChallengeCan money be called flogging?
3. ProofProof from the vow of 'half my ערך'
4. QuestionWhy would he be flogged?
5. ResponseHe is 'flogged' by paying the full ערך
6. ResponseReason for paying the full ערך: a rabbinic decree
7. Statementברייתא: וענשו means money, ויסרו means lashes
8. QuestionMoney is clear, but where do we learn ויסרו means lashes?
9. Responseרבי אבהו links ויסרו to lashes through a chain of words
10. QuestionWhere is the warning against slandering?
11. Responseרבי אלעזר: from 'Do not go as a talebearer'
12. Responseרבי נתן: from 'Guard yourself from every evil thing'
13. QuestionWhy doesn't רבי אלעזר use רבי נתן's פסוק?
14. Responseרבי אלעזר uses that פסוק for רבי פנחס בן יאיר's teaching
15. QuestionWhy doesn't רבי נתן use רבי אלעזר's פסוק?
16. Responseרבי נתן reads רכיל as a warning to judges
17. StatementWitnesses who testified on their own: the husband is not punished
18. ChallengeCan both the wife and her witnesses be stoned?
19. ResolutionIt means either she or her witnesses
20. StatementAsking witnesses is enough, unlike רבי יהודה
21. QuestionWhat is רבי יהודה's source?
22. Responseרבי אבהו: a גזירה שוה on the word 'placing'
23. ProofSupport for the שימה-שימה derivation
24. QuestionWhat counts as hiring the witnesses?
25. QuestionAccusations about an earlier marriage or a brother's marriage
26. ResponseThe brother's-marriage case is solved: not to the יבם
27. QuestionWhat is the dispute between the רבנן and רבי אליעזר בן יעקב?
28. ResponseThe ברייתא begins: how a case of defamation happens
29. ChallengeHow can a woman who sinned while betrothed just get a smaller marriage contract?
30. ResolutionReading the ברייתא as two separate cases
31. ResponseThe dispute: is a false accuser punished even if he never had relations with her?
32. ChallengeHow do the רבנן read the פסוקים that speak of relations?
33. ResolutionFor the רבנן, the פסוקים mean false charges and words
34. ChallengeHow do the רבנן explain 'I did not find tokens of virginity'?
35. Resolution'I did not find fitness of virginity'
36. ChallengeHow do the רבנן explain 'these are my daughter's tokens of virginity'?
37. Resolution'These are the proofs of my daughter's fitness'
38. ChallengeHow do the רבנן explain 'they shall spread the garment'?
39. Resolutionרבי אבהו: 'Spread out what he placed against her'
40. ProofA ברייתא: both sides bring witnesses, made clear like a new garment
41. Statementרבי אליעזר בן יעקב: it means a real cloth
42. StatementThe defamer is the one place the Torah distinguishes typical from unusual relations
43. ChallengeWhose opinion does רבי יוחנן's ruling follow?