Gemara Clarity

Sotah 26b

סוטה כ״ו ע״ב

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

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Topic

Who a husband can give קינוי about: עריות, a קטן, a שחוף, a נכרי and an animal, and what the words שכבת זרע exclude.

Overview

The גמרא first explains why the משנה needed to say that a husband can warn his wife even about an ערוה, a man she is already forbidden to. It then asks what the משנה's words 'one who is not a man' exclude. A שחוף cannot be meant, because שמואל rules that one can warn about him and that he disqualifies a woman from תרומה. A נכרי cannot be meant either, because רב המנונא rules the same about him, with support from רבי יוחנן. The גמרא explains why each of these rulings needed to be said. רב פפא concludes that the words exclude an animal, since there is no זנות with an animal, and this is proven from the פסוק of אתנן זונה and מחיר כלב. The גמרא then asks what the words שכבת זרע come to exclude. After answers from רב ששת, רבא and אביי are each challenged, it settles that they exclude a warning about contact through other limbs. The amud ends as שמואל begins a new teaching about whom a man should marry.

Opening lines

מַהוּ דְּתֵימָא:

You might have said:

״נִטְמָאָה״ ״נִטְמָאָה״ שְׁנֵי פְּעָמִים:

'She was defiled', 'she was defiled', two times:

אֶחָד לַבַּעַל וְאֶחָד לַבּוֹעֵל.

one to forbid her to the husband and one to the man she sinned with.

הֵיכָא דְּקָא מִיתַּסְרָא בְּהָא זְנוּת,

That applies where she becomes forbidden through this act of זנות,

The steps (30)

  1. ResolutionWhy the משנה needed to include forbidden relatives
  2. StatementNo warning about a minor: the source
  3. QuestionWhat does 'one who is not a man' exclude?
  4. ChallengeIt can't mean a שחוף, because of שמואל
  5. ChallengeIsn't שמואל's first ruling obvious?
  6. ResolutionWhy שמואל had to say it: 'lying of seed'
  7. ChallengeIsn't שמואל's second ruling obvious too?
  8. ResolutionWhy שמואל had to say it: 'his seed'
  9. ChallengeMaybe 'not a man' excludes a gentile, but רב המנונא says otherwise
  10. ChallengeWhy say a gentile can be warned about? Isn't it obvious?
  11. ResolutionWe might have thought סוטה only applies when the act itself creates a new prohibition
  12. ChallengeWhy say a gentile disqualifies from תרומה? Isn't it obvious?
  13. ResolutionWe might have thought only someone who can marry her disqualifies her
  14. Proofרבי יוחנן's source: a gentile or slave disqualifies a woman
  15. QuestionSo what does 'one who is not a man' exclude?
  16. ResponseIt excludes an animal
  17. QuestionWhere do we learn there is no זנות with an animal?
  18. ResponseThe פסוק about אתנן זונה and מחיר כלב
  19. Proof'Two and not four': a dog's payment is permitted
  20. ChallengeThen why does the פסוק say שכבת זרע?
  21. Resolutionשכבת זרע comes to exclude 'something else'
  22. QuestionWhat is the 'something else'?
  23. Responseרב ששת: a warning about relations שלא כדרכה
  24. Challengeרבא: the Torah counts both ways as relations
  25. Resolutionרבא: a warning about contact through other limbs
  26. Challengeאביי: that is only פריצותא, so why would we need a פסוק?
  27. Resolutionאביי: a warning about נשיקה (contact without entry)
  28. Challengeאביי's answer only works by one view of הערא
  29. ResolutionBack to רבא: contact through limbs, because we might follow the בעל's objection
  30. Statementשמואל begins a new teaching about whom a man should marry