Nedarim 16b

נדרים ט״ז ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 16b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Nedarim 16b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How נדרים and שבועות differ: when an oath is stricter, and why a vow but not an oath can override a מצוה

Overview

The גמרא first asks how the משנה can call something 'a stringency of oaths over vows' when the vow version had no effect at all. It answers that the משנה is pointing to a different case: an oath not to sleep, speak or walk. Next it turns to the opposite rule, that vows can be stricter than oaths. רב גידל, quoting רב or שמואל, learns from 'לא יחל דברו' that a person cannot swear to break the מצוות. The גמרא then challenges this, because the same פסוק talks about both נדר and שבועה. אביי answers that the difference is in the wording: 'the benefit of a סוכה is forbidden to me' versus 'I swear not to benefit from the סוכה.' רבא objects that doing a מצוה is not 'benefit', so he uses 'sitting in a סוכה' instead. Finally, the גמרא asks whether the rule against swearing to break מצוות really comes from this פסוק. It begins quoting a ברייתא as the other source, and the quote continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (10)

1. ChallengeHow can it be a 'stringency' if the vow did nothing?
2. ResolutionThe stringency refers to the oath not to sleep, speak or walk
3. StatementQuoting the משנה: how vows are stricter than oaths
4. StatementSource that one cannot swear to break a מצוה
5. ChallengeWhy should a vow differ, when the same פסוק covers oaths?
6. Resolutionאביי: The Difference Is in the Wording
7. Challengeרבא: מצוות Are Not 'Benefit'
8. Resolutionרבא: The Wording Is About Sitting
9. ChallengeIs the Source Really This Verse?
10. ProofThe ברייתא Brought as the Other Source