Gemara Clarity

Sotah 2a

סוטה ב׳ ע״א

Learn Sotah 2a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 2a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The opening משנה of מסכת סוטה on קינוי and witnesses, why סוטה follows נזיר, an אגדה on matching couples, and why one witness is believed about טומאה

Overview

The משנה opens with a מחלוקת between רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע. Both agree that the warning (קינוי) needs two witnesses, but they disagree about how many witnesses are needed for the seclusion (סתירה). If she only speaks with the man, nothing changes. If she is secluded with him long enough for intimacy, she becomes forbidden to her husband and to תרומה, and she does חליצה rather than יבום. The גמרא first explains why סוטה follows נזיר: it follows רבי's lesson that anyone who sees a סוטה in her disgrace should keep away from wine, and a chain of topics from כתובות to נדרים to נזיר explains why נזיר comes first. It then reads ״הַמְקַנֵּא״ to mean that a husband should not warn in the first place. Next comes an אגדה from ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן about how couples are matched, which the גמרא settles by splitting first and second marriages. Finally, the גמרא shows that both תנאים agree one witness is believed about actual טומאה. It begins proving this from the פסוק ״וְעֵד אֵין בָּהּ״, and the proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הַמְקַנֵּא לְאִשְׁתּוֹ

One who warns his wife

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Eliezer says:

מְקַנֵּא לָהּ עַל פִּי שְׁנַיִם,

He warns her in front of two witnesses,

וּמַשְׁקָהּ עַל פִּי עֵד אֶחָד,

and has her drink based on one witness,

The steps (18)

  1. StatementHow many witnesses for the warning and for the drinking
  2. StatementHow the warning is given, and why just talking changes nothing
  3. StatementSeclusion after the warning makes her forbidden
  4. QuestionWhy does סוטה come right after נזיר?
  5. ResponseThe order follows רבי's teaching about the סוטה and wine
  6. ChallengeThen why not put סוטה first?
  7. ResolutionA chain of topics brought in נזיר first
  8. Statement'One who warns' means a husband should not warn at the outset
  9. Statementריש לקיש: a man's wife matches his deeds
  10. Statementרבי יוחנן: matching a couple is as hard as splitting the sea
  11. ChallengeAren't matches decreed before birth?
  12. ResolutionFirst match versus second match
  13. StatementThe argument is only about warning and seclusion
  14. ProofAnother משנה backs this up
  15. QuestionWhere does the תורה say one witness is believed?
  16. ResponseThe פסוק ״וְעֵד אֵין בָּהּ״ means two witnesses
  17. QuestionMaybe the word עד means even one witness
  18. ResponseProof from the פסוק about one witness