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Shevuos 32b

שבועות ל״ב ע״ב

Shevuot 32b

Learn Shevuos 32b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 32b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When a witness who falsely denies knowing testimony is liable for a false שבועת העדות: דבר הגורם לממון, cases everyone agrees on, תוך כדי דיבור, and two sets of witnesses.

Overview

This amud looks at when a witness who falsely swears he knows nothing is liable for a שבועת העדות. It first explains that the dispute about witnesses of a סוטה concerns עדי סתירה. The question there is whether something that leads to a money loss counts as money. The גמרא then gives cases where everyone agrees the witness is liable. One case is where both sides are suspect about oaths, so the borrower cannot swear and must pay. Another is רבי אבא's case of a man who grabbed a silver bar: he must swear but cannot, so he pays. רב פפא adds that a witness to a husband's death is exempt if he already told the wife, since she is believed on her own word. He is liable if he told no one. The גמרא then returns to the משנה and explains that its case of one denying and one admitting is about a quick retraction. That teaches the rule of תוך כדי דיבור כדיבור דמי, and the גמרא shows why רבי יוחנן still needs both clauses. Finally, it asks why the first of two sets of witnesses is liable, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּמַחְלוֹקֶת בְּעֵדֵי סוֹטָה –

And the dispute regarding witnesses of a סוטה —

בְּעֵדֵי סְתִירָה;

is about witnesses of seclusion;

מָר סָבַר: דָּבָר הַגּוֹרֵם לְמָמוֹן

One master holds: something that causes a money result

כְּמָמוֹן דָּמֵי – וְחַיָּיב,

is like money — and he is liable,

The steps (21)

  1. StatementThe dispute about סוטה witnesses is about witnesses of seclusion
  2. StatementTwo cases where everyone agrees the witness is liable
  3. QuestionWho is the suspect person?
  4. ResponseFirst try: the borrower is suspect
  5. RejectionRejected: who says you would have sworn?
  6. ResponseThe answer: both sides are suspect
  7. StatementThe story behind רבי אבא's single-witness case
  8. Questionרבי אמי asks how to judge this case
  9. Responseרבי אבא: He must swear but cannot, so he pays
  10. Statementרב פפא: Two agreed cases about a witness to a death
  11. ResponseWhen the witness to a death is exempt
  12. ResponseThe case where everyone agrees the death witness is liable
  13. QuestionDoes this prove witnesses about land are liable?
  14. RejectionNo proof: maybe she grabbed movable property
  15. StatementQuoting the משנה: one denied and one admitted
  16. ChallengeWhy does the משנה need this case?
  17. ResolutionThe case is a quick retraction: תוך כדי דיבור
  18. ChallengeWhy would רבי יוחנן need two clauses teaching the same rule?
  19. ResolutionThe second clause teaches that a denial can be taken back by an admission
  20. StatementThe משנה's case of two sets of witnesses denying one after the other
  21. ChallengeWhy is the first set of witnesses liable?