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Sotah 18a

סוטה י״ח ע״א

Learn Sotah 18a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 18a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Disqualifications of the סוטה's scroll, unresolved questions about mixing and drinking the water, the wording of the two oaths, and the משנה on her double אָמֵן.

Overview

This amud finishes a list of things that make the סוטה's scroll unfit: writing it on two separate pages, or writing and erasing it one letter at a time. Then רבא asks a chain of questions about two סוטות whose scrolls are erased into one cup, or erased separately and then mixed, or mixed and then split again. The last of these depends on ברירה, and the chain ends in תיקו. רבא and רב אשי ask more questions about how she drinks: through a fiber or tube, or when some of the water spilled. These also end in תיקו. Next, רב explains that the two oaths in the פסוקים come before and after the erasing. רבא rejects this and says one oath has a curse with it and one does not. רב, רבא and רב אשי then argue about the exact wording of an oath with a curse. Finally a new משנה begins, explaining everything her double אָמֵן covers.

Opening lines

כְּתָבָהּ עַל שְׁנֵי דַּפִּין — פְּסוּלָה.

If he wrote it on two pages, it is unfit.

״סֵפֶר״ אֶחָד אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא,

The Merciful One said 'scroll', meaning one,

וְלֹא שְׁנַיִם וּשְׁלֹשָׁה סְפָרִים.

and not two or three scrolls.

כָּתַב אוֹת אַחַת וּמָחַק אוֹת אַחַת,

If he wrote one letter and erased one letter,

The steps (17)

  1. StatementWriting the scroll on two pages makes it unfit
  2. StatementWriting and erasing letter by letter makes it unfit
  3. QuestionTwo scrolls for two women erased into one cup
  4. QuestionErased in separate cups, then mixed together
  5. QuestionMixed water that was split back into two cups
  6. QuestionDrinking through a palm fiber or a tube
  7. QuestionWhen some of the water spilled
  8. StatementWhy the סוטה has two oaths
  9. Challengeרבא: both oaths come before the erasing
  10. Statementרבא's new explanation: one oath with a curse, one without
  11. QuestionWhat does an oath with a curse sound like?
  12. Responseרב's wording: oath, then a separate curse
  13. Challengeרבא: the curse and the oath are separate
  14. Resolutionרבא's wording: swear that the curses will come
  15. Challengeרב אשי: now there is a curse but no oath
  16. Resolutionרב אשי's wording: oath and curse joined together
  17. StatementWhat the double אָמֵן covers