Nedarim 91b

נדרים צ״א ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 91b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Stories about whether a wife is forbidden to her husband because of suspicion of another man, and the end of מסכת נדרים (נדרים צא:)

Overview

This amud is a run of short real-life cases about whether a wife becomes forbidden to her husband. In the first two, a wife hints that some visiting merchant was with her. רב נחמן rules she is not believed, because she may have 'set her eyes on another man' and wants out of the marriage. In the third, a man secluded with a married woman bursts through a wall and runs off when the owner walks in. רבא rules she stays permitted, because a man who had really sinned would have hidden. In the last case, an adulterer hiding behind a door warns the husband not to eat cress a snake had tasted. רבא rules the wife is permitted, because a man who had sinned would have been glad to see the husband die. The גמרא asks why this is needed, and explains that we might have thought he saved the husband only to keep a forbidden affair sweet. The amud ends with the הדרן closing פרק ואלו נדרים and all of מסכת נדרים.

Opening lines

The steps (13)

1. StatementThe wife blames the aloe merchants
2. Conclusionרב נחמן: her words have no weight
3. StatementA second unhappy wife complains
4. StatementShe blames the oil merchants
5. Conclusionרב נחמן: ignore her
6. StatementA man secluded with a married woman flees
7. Conclusionרבא: she stays permitted
8. StatementAn adulterer hides behind the door
9. StatementThe hidden man warns the husband
10. Conclusionרבא rules the wife is permitted because the man saved the husband
11. QuestionThe גמרא asks why this ruling is needed
12. ResponseWe might have thought he warned the husband only to keep the affair going
13. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter and the tractate