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Shevuos 20b

שבועות כ׳ ע״ב

Shevuot 20b

Learn Shevuos 20b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 20b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

התפסה in נדרים according to רבא, and רבי יוחנן's split between שבועת שקר and שבועת שוא

Overview

The amud opens with a challenge to רבא, who holds that attaching to an oath (מתפיס בשבועה) does not count as an oath. רבא answers by rereading the ברייתא so that it speaks only about vows (נדרים), and שמואל adds that the earlier vow must really exist. A פסוק, 'אִישׁ כִּי יִדֹּר נֶדֶר', shows that התפסה belongs only to vows. The גמרא then explains that the ברייתא's real new point is the day גדליה בן אחיקם was killed: a vow still takes hold even on a public fast day. Next, רבין reports that רבי יוחנן agrees with רבא. A second teaching of רבי יוחנן, brought by רב דימי, says a broken oath about the future is שקר and a false oath about the past is שוא, each with its own לאו, and that breaking קונמות transgresses 'לא יחל דברו'. A ברייתא that calls שוא and שקר 'one' is explained to mean they were said in a single utterance, like זכור and שמור. That link teaches that שוא gets lashes just like שקר. The גמרא then asks why this is not obvious and begins an answer from רב פפא, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֶלָּא לְרָבָא קַשְׁיָא!

But according to רבא, it is difficult!

אָמַר לָךְ רָבָא,

רבא could say to you:

תָּרֵיץ וְאֵימָא הָכִי:

Fix it and say it like this:

אֵיזֶהוּ אִיסַּר נֶדֶר הָאָמוּר בַּתּוֹרָה?

Which is the bond of a vow mentioned in the Torah?

The steps (17)

  1. ChallengeThe ברייתא Seems to Contradict רבא
  2. Resolutionרבא Rereads the ברייתא as Talking About Vows
  3. QuestionWhy Must There Be an Existing Vow?
  4. ResponseThe Verse: Vowing by Something Already Vowed
  5. ChallengeIsn't the Father's Day Case Obvious?
  6. ResolutionThe Real Point: The Day Gedaliah Was Killed
  7. Proofרבי יוחנן also holds like רבא
  8. StatementFuture oaths are שקר, past oaths are שוא, and קונמות break 'לא יחל'
  9. ChallengeChallenge: a ברייתא says שוא and שקר are the same
  10. ResolutionThe two kinds of oaths stay separate
  11. Resolution'One' means said in a single utterance
  12. ChallengeWhat law does the single utterance teach here?
  13. ResolutionThe link teaches lashes: from שוא to שקר
  14. ChallengeThat is backwards!
  15. ConclusionCorrected: from שקר to שוא
  16. ChallengeIsn't it obvious that both get lashes?
  17. ResolutionYou might have thought 'לא ינקה' means no cleansing at all