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Sotah 26a

סוטה כ״ו ע״א

Learn Sotah 26a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which wives drink the סוטה water, and why the משנה and ברייתא needed to spell out each case

Overview

This amud sorts out which wives go through the סוטה process. It starts with the end of a ברייתא. If the marriage itself was forbidden, the woman neither drinks nor collects her כתובה. If the marriage was allowed, she drinks, or loses her כתובה if she refuses. Because that ברייתא lists an איילונית among the women who drink, the גמרא challenges רב נחמן. He answers that this is a dispute among תנאים and that he follows רבי שמעון בן אלעזר, who learns from 'וְנִקְּתָה וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע' that only a woman able to have children drinks. The other side reads that פסוק as a blessing for the innocent woman. רבי עקיבא and רבי ישמעאל argue over what that blessing is. The גמרא then asks 'isn't it obvious?' about several cases: the wife of a ממזר, the wife of a גר, the wife of a כהן and her being permitted to her husband, and the wife of a סריס. For each one it shows the mistaken idea the teaching comes to rule out. The amud ends by asking why the משנה needs to say a warning works for all עריות, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

מְעוּבֶּרֶת חֲבֵירוֹ

A woman pregnant with another man's child

וּמֵינֶקֶת חֲבֵירוֹ —

and a woman nursing another man's child

לֹא שׁוֹתוֹת וְלֹא נוֹטְלוֹת כְּתוּבָה,

neither drink nor collect their marriage contract

דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר.

these are the words of Rabbi Meir.

The steps (30)

  1. StatementPregnant or nursing from another man: no drinking, no כתובה
  2. Statementרבי מאיר's reason: this marriage is forbidden
  3. Statementחכמים: divorce now, remarry later
  4. StatementYoung man who married a barren or elderly woman
  5. Statementרבי אלעזר: he can have children through another wife
  6. StatementWarned while betrothed, secluded after marriage
  7. StatementHis own pregnant or nursing wife
  8. StatementYoung man who already has a wife and children
  9. StatementThe end of the ברייתא: permitted marriages, including an איילונית
  10. ChallengeThe ברייתא includes an איילונית, so it refutes רב נחמן
  11. Resolutionרב נחמן: this is a dispute among תנאים, and I follow רבי שמעון בן אלעזר
  12. QuestionWhat do the רבנן learn from "וְנִקְּתָה וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע"?
  13. Responseרבי עקיבא: a barren woman who is found innocent will have children
  14. Challengeרבי ישמעאל objects: barren women would seclude themselves on purpose
  15. Statementרבי ישמעאל's reading: the innocent woman's births improve
  16. ChallengeWhy say the wife of a ממזר drinks?
  17. ResolutionWe might have avoided creating more ממזרים
  18. ChallengeWhy say the wife of a גר drinks?
  19. ResolutionThe פסוק says 'בני ישראל'
  20. ChallengeMaybe גרים really are left out
  21. Resolution'וְאָמַרְתָּ' includes גרים
  22. ChallengeWhy say the wife of a כהן drinks?
  23. ResolutionForbidden even if forced, so maybe she does not drink
  24. ChallengeIsn't it obvious she is permitted to her husband?
  25. Resolutionרב הונא: The case is a woman who weakens
  26. ChallengeIf she weakened, didn't the water show she is guilty?
  27. ResolutionShe weakened in other limbs, not in the usual way
  28. ChallengeIsn't it obvious a סריס's wife drinks?
  29. ResolutionThe פסוק 'besides your husband' might have excluded her
  30. ChallengeIsn't it obvious a warning works for all forbidden relatives?