Kesubos 52a

כתובות נ״ב ע״א

Ketubot 52a

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Topic

A husband's duty to ransom (פדיון) his captive wife: when she is forbidden to him, when he vowed against her, after his death, and when the ransom is very high.

Overview

This amud finishes אביי's ruling that a husband married to a ממזרת or נתינה does not have to ransom her, since she can never come back to him as his wife. רבא gives a different test: if the captivity is what forbids her, he must ransom her, but if something else forbids her, he need not. The גמרא asks whether this matches a ברייתא where רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע argue about a husband who vowed against his wife and then she was captured. סומכוס explains that רבי יהושע's exemption applies only when the vow came before the capture, so husbands cannot use a vow as a trick. The גמרא tries to say the ברייתא is about the wife's own vow, but rejects that reading with two challenges. In the end, אביי and רבא each explain the ברייתא according to their own views. The amud then teaches that orphans do not have to ransom their father's widow, even if she was captured during his life. It then begins a ברייתא about paying a very high ransom: the husband must pay it the first time she is captured. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל's view continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. StatementNo duty to ransom a ממזרת or נתינה married to a ישראל
2. Statementרבא's general rule: what is the cause of the prohibition?
3. ProofIs this a dispute between תנאים? A husband who vowed and then his wife was captured
4. Questionרבי נתן asks: did the vow come before or after the capture?
5. Responseסומכוס: only when the vow came first, so the husband cannot use a trick
6. ProofMatching אביי and רבא to the two תנאים
7. RejectionNo, the ברייתא is about her vow that he left in place
8. ChallengeIf it is her fault, why does she get her כתובה?
9. ChallengeA second challenge begins: the גמרא quotes רבי נתן's question again
10. ChallengeThe second problem: if she vowed, timing should not matter
11. ResolutionBack to the husband's vow: each אמורא explains it his own way
12. Resolutionאביי: the cases everyone agrees on
13. Resolutionאביי: the dispute is only about an Israelite's wife
14. Resolutionרבא: the dispute covers every vow case
15. ResolutionAccording to רבא: start of the marriage versus end
16. StatementHeirs must ransom her if the husband knew she was captured
17. Rejectionרב tells לוי the הלכה does not follow this ברייתא
18. ConclusionOrphans never have to ransom their father's widow
19. StatementA very high ransom: he must pay the first time only