Gemara Clarity

Sotah 19a

סוטה י״ט ע״א

Learn Sotah 19a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 19a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Whether a סוטה drinks the water a second time (from ״זֹאת״ and ״תּוֹרַת״), then how her מנחה is waved and whether it is offered before or after she drinks.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a dispute in a ברייתא: can a סוטה be made to drink the bitter water a second time? Everyone agrees on two cases. With one husband and one בועל she does not drink again (״זֹאת״). With two husbands and two בועלים she does (״תּוֹרַת״). The תנא קמא, the רבנן בתראי and רבי יהודה each read these two words differently for the two middle cases. רבי יהודה makes it depend only on the number of husbands. Then the chapter היה מביא ends, and a new משנה describes how the מנחת סוטה is waved by the כהן and the woman together, and argues about whether the drinking or the מנחה comes first. The גמרא learns that the owner takes part in the waving from a גזירה שוה of 'יד' 'יד' from שלמים. It then explains that the משנה's list of steps is just the general order of any מנחה. The real timing question is a dispute between the רבנן and רבי שמעון. Finally it quotes the ruling that if she drank first, the מנחה is still valid, and the discussion of that line continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דִּכְתִיב: ״זֹאת״.

as it is written: "This".

בִּשְׁנֵי אֲנָשִׁים וּשְׁנֵי בּוֹעֲלִין —

With two husbands and two paramours —

דְּכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא לָא פְּלִיגִי

everyone does not disagree (everyone agrees)

דְּהָאִשָּׁה שׁוֹתָה וְשׁוֹנָה,

that the woman drinks and drinks again,

The steps (17)

  1. StatementThe two cases where everyone agrees
  2. StatementThe two middle cases where they argue
  3. StatementHow the תנא קמא reads the two words
  4. StatementHow the רבנן בתראי read the two words
  5. Statementרבי יהודה splits the four cases two and two
  6. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter היה מביא
  7. StatementHow the סוטה's meal-offering is waved and offered
  8. StatementWhich comes first: the drinking or the meal-offering?
  9. Questionרבי אלעזר asks for the source of waving the מנחת סוטה
  10. ChallengeWhy ask? Waving is written openly
  11. ResolutionThe real question: waving by the owner
  12. ResponseA גזירה שוה from שלמים: 'hand' and 'hand'
  13. ConclusionBoth the כהן and the owner wave together
  14. ChallengeHow can the מנחה be offered after she drinks if it was already offered?
  15. ResolutionThe משנה was listing the general order of all meal-offerings
  16. StatementThe רבנן and רבי שמעון disagree about whether drinking or the מנחה comes first
  17. StatementQuoting the משנה: if she drank first, the מנחה is still valid