Gemara Clarity

Sotah 27a

סוטה כ״ז ע״א

Learn Sotah 27a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Marrying a דומה or her daughter; the court's warning to a סוטה; comparing husband and wife in the סוטה laws

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an argument about whom it is better to marry. One view says to marry a דומה (a woman suspected of promiscuity) rather than her daughter, who might be a ממזרת. רבי יוחנן says the opposite: marry the daughter, who keeps her חזקת כשרות. רבא reads a challenging ברייתא as allowing a דומה only after the fact. The הלכה follows רבי יוחנן, because רב תחליפא taught that most relations of a married woman are presumed to be with her husband. רב עמרם asks whether this holds for an extremely promiscuous wife, and the question ends in תיקו. The גמרא then turns to the משנה about the court warning a wife whose husband cannot. The רבנן and רבי יוסי argue whether that warning can lead to drinking the bitter water. Finally, a ברייתא compares husband and wife in the סוטה laws: רב ששת rules that a blind wife does not drink, and רב אשי begins a second example that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דּוּמָה,

[A man should marry] a woman suspected of promiscuity,

וְאַל יִשָּׂא בַּת דּוּמָה.

and not marry the daughter of a suspected woman.

שֶׁזּוֹ בָּאָה מִטִּיפָּה כְּשֵׁרָה,

For this one comes from kosher seed,

וְזוֹ בָּאָה מִטִּיפָּה פְּסוּלָה.

and that one comes from flawed seed.

The steps (18)

  1. StatementMarry the suspected woman, not her daughter
  2. Statementרבי יוחנן says the opposite
  3. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to allow marrying a suspected woman
  4. Resolutionרבא: the ברייתא means after the fact
  5. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי יוחנן
  6. ProofProof: most relations are with the husband
  7. Questionרב עמרם asks about an extremely promiscuous wife
  8. QuestionThe real question: the view that conception is near immersion
  9. ConclusionThe question is left unanswered
  10. StatementThe court warns wives of husbands who cannot warn them
  11. RejectionThe court's warning does not make her drink
  12. Statementרבי יוסי: the court's warning can lead to drinking
  13. QuestionWhat is the root of their argument?
  14. ResponseMust the one who warns also be the one who brings her?
  15. StatementThe verse compares husband and wife
  16. QuestionWhat law does the comparison teach?
  17. ResponseA blind wife does not drink
  18. Responseרב אשי starts with a lame woman or a woman without hands