Gemara Clarity

Shevuos 25a

שבועות כ״ה ע״א

Shevuot 25a

Learn Shevuos 25a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 25a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The range of a שבועת ביטוי: oaths about others, about things with no substance, and about the past

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion of why a certain משנה, which lists prohibitions for one act of eating, leaves out a שבועה. The final answer is that the list only counts prohibitions on physical things, while a שבועה can apply even to sleeping. Then a new משנה teaches that a שבועת ביטוי covers matters of oneself or others, and things with or without substance, like sleeping or throwing a pebble into the sea. רבי ישמעאל limits liability to oaths about the future, and רבי עקיבא argues that past oaths count too. The גמרא brings a ברייתא: a נדר takes effect on a מצוה matter, while a שבועה takes effect on things with no substance. It then explains the משנה's examples. 'I will give' means a gift to a rich person, not צדקה. 'I will not sleep' works only if he did not say 'three days'. Finally, רב and שמואל argue about an oath that someone else threw a stone. The גמרא shows that both follow רבי עקיבא and disagree about how far his view reaches. A new comparison begins at the end and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּחַטָּאת קָאָמְרִינַן.

We are speaking about sin-offerings.

רָבִינָא אָמַר:

Ravina said:

כִּי קָתָנֵי, מִידֵּי דְּחָיֵיל

When he teaches, it is things that apply

אַמִּידֵּי דְּבַר אֲכִילָה הוּא;

to items that are edible;

The steps (28)

  1. ResolutionThe rule was only about חטאות
  2. Resolutionרבינא: the list only includes prohibitions on food
  3. ChallengeBut הקדש applies to wood and stones
  4. ResolutionThe list includes only prohibitions on physical things
  5. StatementThe oath applies to oneself, to others, and to things with or without substance
  6. StatementExamples of oaths involving another person
  7. StatementExamples of oaths about things with no substance: sleeping and throwing a pebble
  8. Statementרבי ישמעאל: liability only for oaths about the future
  9. Challengeרבי עקיבא challenges: what about oaths that are neither bad nor good?
  10. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל answers: the פסוק includes them
  11. Challengeרבי עקיבא's comeback: then the past is included too
  12. StatementA ברייתא: each of vows and oaths has its own stringency; vows apply even to a מצוה
  13. StatementThe oath stringency: oaths apply even to things with no substance
  14. QuestionWhat kind of giving is meant by 'I will give'?
  15. RejectionIt cannot mean charity to a poor person
  16. ResponseIt means a gift to a rich person
  17. ChallengeChallenge from רבי יוחנן to an oath not to sleep
  18. ResolutionDifference: saying 'three days' or not
  19. StatementThe stone-in-the-sea oath and a dispute about a past-tense version
  20. StatementThe reasoning of רב and שמואל
  21. QuestionIs this the same as the dispute of רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא?
  22. Challengeרבי עקיבא challenges רבי ישמעאל's reading of the פסוק
  23. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל: neutral oaths come from an extra word in the פסוק
  24. Challengeרבי עקיבא: if the פסוק widens for one thing, it widens for the other
  25. QuestionThe suggestion: רב follows רבי עקיבא, שמואל follows רבי ישמעאל
  26. RejectionNo: according to רבי ישמעאל everyone agrees there is no liability
  27. ResponseThe real dispute is how to understand רבי עקיבא
  28. QuestionOpening a new suggestion: shall we say it is a dispute?