Sotah 4b

סוטה ד׳ ע״ב

Learn Sotah 4b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the תנאים estimated time, the laws of נטילת ידים, and aggadic teachings on אשת איש and גסות הרוח

Overview

The amud opens by finishing some questions about the loaf-in-the-basket time estimate, and they end in תיקו. רבי יוחנן explains that each תנא based his time estimate on his own experience. The גמרא asks how בן עזאי could do this when he never married, and gives three answers. A פסוק about a loaf of bread leads to teachings on נטילת ידים: how serious it is, how to hold the hands for מים ראשונים and מים אחרונים, and the need to dry them. רבא and רבי יוחנן then explain משלי 6:26 as a warning about the sin of אשת איש. Next come four sayings about how terrible גסות הרוח is. They compare it to עבודה זרה, to denying ה׳, to all the עריות, and to building a במה. Finally, רב, the school of רבי שילא, and רבי יוחנן each explain the words 'יד ליד לא ינקה'. רבי יוחנן's own explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. QuestionMore details about the loaf of bread
2. ConclusionThe questions stay unanswered
3. StatementEach sage judged by his own experience
4. ChallengeBut בן עזאי never married
5. ResolutionThree ways בן עזאי could have known
6. StatementEating bread without washing hands
7. Challengeרבא questions the word order of the verse
8. Resolutionרבא reads the verse a new way
9. StatementTreating handwashing lightly is very serious
10. StatementRaising and lowering the hands when washing
11. ProofA ברייתא supports raising the hands
12. StatementEating bread without drying the hands
13. QuestionWhat does the second half of the verse mean?
14. ResponseArrogance leads to sin with a married woman
15. Challengeרבא questions how the verse was read
16. Responseרבא's own reading: even Torah won't save an adulterer
17. StatementArrogance is like idol worship
18. StatementArrogance is like denying ה׳
19. StatementArrogance is like all the forbidden relationships
20. Statementעולא: An arrogant person is like one who built an altar for idol worship
21. QuestionWhat does 'hand to hand, he shall not be unpunished' mean?
22. Responseרב: Even someone like אברהם will not escape גיהנם
23. ChallengeThe school of רבי שילא: The wording should have been 'my hand'
24. ResolutionThe school of רבי שילא: Even someone like משה who received the Torah
25. Challengeרבי יוחנן's problem with the 'Torah from hand to hand' reading
26. Statementרבי יוחנן begins his own explanation