Gemara Clarity

Sotah 7b

סוטה ז׳ ע״ב

Learn Sotah 7b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sotah 7b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The סוטה ceremony and the court's pressure on her, stories of יהודה and ראובן confessing, and whether the משנה proves that a receipt (שובר) is written

Overview

The משנה finishes describing how the כהן strips the סוטה of her jewelry and dignity, and who may and may not watch. The גמרא learns from the shared word 'תורה' that her case goes before the court of seventy-one. It then sets the משנה's 'they pressure her' against a ברייתא saying the court also urges an innocent woman to drink. The answer is that the משנה speaks of the time before the scroll is erased, and the ברייתא of the time after. A ברייתא then lists the stories told to the סוטה: יהודה and ראובן admitted their sins and were rewarded. This leads to רבי יוחנן's story of יהודה's bones and משה's prayers, and to the question of why ראובן admitted in public. The גמרא next tries to prove from the משנה that a receipt (שובר) is written; אביי and רבא each block the proof. The amud ends as the גמרא begins questioning the משנה's words 'they bring her up' to the Eastern Gate, a discussion that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְקַטְלֵיאוֹת, נְזָמִים וְטַבָּעוֹת —

or chokers, nose rings, and finger rings —

מַעֲבִירִין מִמֶּנָּה, כְּדֵי לְנַוְּולָהּ.

they remove them from her, in order to make her unattractive.

וְאַחַר כָּךְ מֵבִיא חֶבֶל מִצְרִי

And afterward he brings an Egyptian rope

וְקוֹשְׁרוֹ לְמַעְלָה מִדַּדֶּיהָ,

and ties it above her breasts.

The steps (23)

  1. StatementRemoving her jewelry and tying the rope
  2. StatementWho may watch her
  3. QuestionAsking for the source
  4. ResponseThe source: the shared word 'תורה'
  5. ChallengeContradiction: pressuring her to drink as well
  6. ChallengeWhat the court says to encourage her
  7. ResolutionBefore and after the scroll is erased
  8. StatementWhat the court tells her: stories from earlier generations
  9. Statementיהודה and ראובן admitted and were rewarded
  10. QuestionWhat was their reward?
  11. ChallengeBut we already said their reward
  12. ResolutionTheir reward in this world
  13. QuestionHow do we know ראובן admitted?
  14. ResponseSource for ראובן's admission: the joined blessings
  15. Statementיהודה's bones and משה's plea
  16. Statementמשה's prayers restore יהודה step by step
  17. ChallengeWhy did ראובן admit in public?
  18. Resolutionראובן admitted to protect his brothers
  19. ProofProof from the admitting woman that a receipt is written
  20. Rejectionאביי rereads the משנה as 'she tears'
  21. Challengeרבא: the משנה clearly says receipt
  22. Resolutionרבא: a place where no כתובה is written
  23. ChallengeQuestioning 'they bring her up' to the Eastern Gates