Gemara Clarity

Sotah 43a

סוטה מ״ג ע״א

Learn Sotah 43a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 43a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

פינחס's war against מדין and his family line; the משנה and גמרא on who is sent home from war, especially the man who built a new house.

Overview

The גמרא finishes a ברייתא about what went out to war, using the פסוק of the war against מדין as support. A ברייתא says פינחס went to that war to avenge his ancestor יוסף. The גמרא shows that פינחס came from both יוסף and יתרו, and supports this from the plural word 'בנות'. A new משנה then lists who goes home from the battlefield: a man with a new house, a new vineyard, or a betrothed wife. These men still help the army with food, water and roads. The משנה also lists men who look similar but are not sent home, and men in their first year who do not leave home at all. The גמרא explains which announcements the כהן makes and which the שוטרים make. It then shows from the פסוק that any building fit to live in counts, however the man got it. At the end of the amud the גמרא begins asking whether excluding a robber fits רבי יוסי הגלילי, and that question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מוּנָּחִין בָּאָרוֹן.

were resting in the Ark.

וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר:

And similarly it says:

״וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה

"And Moses sent them,

אֶלֶף לַמַּטֶּה לַצָּבָא

a thousand for each tribe, to the army,

The steps (34)

  1. ProofThe war against מדין shows what goes out to battle
  2. StatementWhy פינחס went to the war
  3. ChallengeWas פינחס descended from יתרו instead?
  4. Resolutionפוטיאל can refer to יוסף
  5. ChallengeThe tribes mocked פינחס for his idol-worshipping grandfather
  6. Resolutionפינחס descended from both יוסף and יתרו
  7. ProofThe plural 'daughters' supports two family lines
  8. StatementThe משנה: the man who built a new house
  9. StatementAny kind of building counts
  10. StatementAny way of getting the house counts
  11. StatementThe man who planted a vineyard
  12. StatementAny way of planting or getting the vineyard counts
  13. StatementThe man who is betrothed
  14. StatementThe exempt men still hear the speech and help the army
  15. StatementMen who are not sent home: minor buildings, too few trees, remarrying a divorcée
  16. StatementA forbidden marriage does not send a man home
  17. Statementרבי יהודה and רבי אליעזר add more houses that do not count
  18. StatementMen who do not even leave their homes
  19. ProofReading each word of the פסוק to cover all four cases
  20. StatementThese men do not even help with supplies or roads
  21. QuestionDo the officers say their own words?
  22. ProofA later פסוק proves these are the כהן's words
  23. ConclusionThe כהן speaks and the officer calls it out
  24. ChallengeThree ברייתות disagree about who speaks
  25. Resolutionאביי splits the speech into three sections
  26. QuestionWhat about a house he bought, inherited, or received?
  27. Response'What man is there' includes all of them
  28. QuestionWhat about storage buildings?
  29. Response'That built' includes any building
  30. ChallengeMaybe even a gateway or balcony counts?
  31. ResolutionOnly a building fit for living counts
  32. Statementרבי אליעזר בן יעקב: 'house' means just a house
  33. Statement'Dedicated it' excludes a robber
  34. ChallengeDoes excluding the robber disagree with רבי יוסי הגלילי?