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Shevuos 23a

שבועות כ״ג ע״א

Shevuot 23a

Learn Shevuos 23a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 23a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Is drinking included in 'eating' for a שבועה? Proofs from פסוקים and the משנה, and why naming each bread separately makes separate oaths.

Overview

The גמרא wants to show that drinking counts as a kind of eating, which matters for someone who swears a שבועה not to eat. First it brings proofs from פסוקים that use the word 'ואכלת' for wine. It pushes back that the wine might have been eaten in a cooked dish (אניגרון), or that שכר might mean intoxicating figs. In the end a גזירה שוה from נזיר shows that שכר means wine. Then רבא brings a proof from the משנה: one who swore not to eat and then ate and drank is liable only once. אביי challenges him from the סיפא. The גמרא answers that saying 'and I will not drink' shows the person meant plain eating only. רב אשי offers another proof from the משנה, but it is pushed away. Finally the גמרא asks why naming each kind of bread creates separate oaths, and it tries several shorter wordings the person could have used.

Opening lines

וְתִירוֹשׁ חַמְרָא הוּא,

And tirosh is wine,

וּכְתִיב: ״וְאָכַלְתָּ״.

and it is written: 'And you shall eat.'

וְדִלְמָא עַל יְדֵי אֲנִיגְרוֹן?

But perhaps it is by means of anigeron?

דְּאָמַר רַבָּה בַּר שְׁמוּאֵל:

As Rabba bar Shmuel said:

The steps (20)

  1. ProofWine is called 'eating' in the פסוק
  2. RejectionMaybe the wine was eaten in a cooked dish
  3. ProofA new proof from the מעשר שני money פסוק
  4. RejectionThe same pushback hits the new proof
  5. ResolutionThe verse says 'strong drink,' so it must be something intoxicating
  6. RejectionMaybe 'strong drink' means intoxicating pressed figs
  7. ResolutionLearning 'strong drink' from נזיר: it means wine
  8. Proofרבא proves from the משנה that drinking is included in eating
  9. Challengeאביי challenges רבא from the second half of the משנה
  10. Resolutionרבא: the second case is where he said drinking first
  11. ChallengeThen the משנה should have taught the bigger case in the first half
  12. ResolutionSaying 'and I will not drink' shows he meant plain eating
  13. Proofרב אשי proves from the משנה that drinking counts as eating
  14. RejectionMaybe he swore separately about drinking
  15. ChallengeMaybe naming the breads only shuts out other foods
  16. ResolutionHe could have just said wheat, barley, and spelt
  17. RejectionMaybe 'bread' was needed to rule out chewing raw grain
  18. ResolutionHe could have said 'bread of wheat, barley, and spelt'
  19. RejectionThat wording could mean wheat as bread, barley and spelt even raw
  20. ResolutionHe could have said 'bread of wheat, and of barley, and of spelt'