Kiddushin 75b

קידושין ע״ה ע״ב

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Topic

Why are the כותים forbidden to marry into the Jewish people? The גמרא tries to explain רבי אלעזר's view and ends with רבין's report of three different opinions.

Overview

Just before this, the גמרא tried to explain why רבי אלעזר forbids marrying כותים. Its first explanation is a chain: רבי אלעזר follows רבי ישמעאל, who holds that כותים converted only out of fear of lions, and רבי ישמעאל follows רבי עקיבא, who holds that the child of a non-Jew and a Jewish woman is a ממזר. The גמרא challenges this. רבי ישמעאל needed a פסוק to show that a non-Jew or slave disqualifies a woman, and that would be obvious if their child were a ממזר. So the גמרא says רבי אלעזר himself holds both views. That fails too, because רבי אלעזר said a ממזר comes only from an ערוה punishable by כרת. Finally רבין reports that there are three opinions about the כותים. רבי ישמעאל says they are lion converts and unfit Jews mixed in among them. רבי עקיבא says they are true converts and the כהנים among them were fit. He holds they were forbidden because of how they did יבום with betrothed women, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (13)

1. StatementThe last link: רבי ישמעאל follows רבי עקיבא
2. ResponseExplaining the chain: כותים are not real converts, and their children are ממזרים
3. ChallengeChallenge: רבי ישמעאל needed a פסוק to disqualify the woman
4. StatementHow רבי ישמעאל learns it from the פסוק
5. ChallengeIf the child were a ממזר, why would a פסוק be needed?
6. ResolutionMaybe רבי אלעזר is the one who holds both views
7. Challengeרבי אלעזר said a ממזר comes only from an ערוה with כרת
8. Resolutionרבין reports three opinions about the כותים
9. Statementרבי ישמעאל: unfit כהנים mixed in among the lion converts
10. Statementרבי עקיבא's View: The כותים Were True Converts
11. Proofרבי יוחנן Explains the Verse: From the Chosen Ones
12. QuestionIf Their Lineage Was Fine, Why Were They Forbidden?
13. ResponseBecause They Did יבום With Betrothed Women