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Yevamos 8a

יבמות ח׳ ע״א

Yevamot 8a

Learn Yevamos 8a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why ״עָלֶיהָ״ is needed: limiting the מגו, the הקש of רבי יונה, and רבא's view that a ערוה needs no פסוק

Overview

The גמרא first shows that the מגו idea (since יבום permits אשת אח, it should also permit אחות אשה) only works in a narrow case. That case is where the deceased brother married, died, and only then the living brother married the sister. It supports this from עולא's case of a מצורע who saw קרי on the night before his eighth day: a מגו needs a real moment when the thing was permitted. So ״עָלֶיהָ״ is needed for that one case. Alternatively, ״עָלֶיהָ״ is needed because רבי יונה's הקש would otherwise permit all עריות in יבום. When רב אחא מדפתי asks why we compare them to אחות אשה and not to אשת אח, the גמרא gives two answers: we go strict, and two prohibitions are learned from two. רבא then says a ערוה needs no פסוק at all, since an עשה cannot override a כרת prohibition, so the פסוק must be about the צרה. The גמרא defends him against several ברייתות, and רב אשי supports him from the משנה's wording. Finally, the גמרא asks why the צרה should need a פסוק either. רב אחא בר ביבי מר reports that in רבא's name, even the צרה needs no פסוק, and the real purpose of the פסוק continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

תִּינַח הֵיכָא דְּנָשָׂא מֵת

It works well where the deceased one married first

וְאַחַר כָּךְ נָשָׂא חַי.

and afterward the living one married her sister.

דְּמִגּוֹ דְּאִישְׁתְּרִי אִיסּוּר אֵשֶׁת אָח —

For since the prohibition of a brother's wife was permitted,

אִישְׁתְּרִי נָמֵי אִיסּוּר אֲחוֹת אִשָּׁה.

the prohibition of a wife's sister is also permitted.

The steps (22)

  1. ChallengeThe מגו works when the deceased brother married first
  2. ChallengeWhen the living brother married first, אחות אשה came first
  3. ChallengeEven when the deceased brother married first, she must have been permitted in between
  4. ProofProof from עולא: a מצורע who saw קרי on the night before the eighth day
  5. ResolutionThe word 'with her' is needed for the case where the brother died before the sister was married
  6. ResolutionA second reason: רבי יונה's comparison would have permitted all forbidden relations
  7. Challengeרב אחא of Difti: why compare to the wife's sister and not to the brother's wife?
  8. ResolutionFirst answer: when a comparison could go either way, we go strict
  9. ResolutionSecond answer: a case of two prohibitions is learned from another case of two prohibitions
  10. Statementרבא: the verse is needed for the rival wife, not the forbidden relative
  11. ChallengeChallenge: the baraita derives the forbidden relative herself from the verse
  12. ResolutionAnswer: the baraita mentions her only because of her rival wife
  13. ChallengeSecond challenge: the baraita says 'I have only them'
  14. ResolutionAnswer: again, it is said because of their rival wives
  15. Challengeרבי's ברייתא says the extra words forbid both צרות and עריות
  16. ResolutionRead the ברייתא as the rival wives of the forbidden relatives
  17. ChallengeWhy would רבי need two extra words for one law?
  18. ResolutionBoth words are about the צרה, one forbidding and one permitting
  19. ResponseHow ״וְיִבְּמָהּ״ teaches that the איסור applies only in a יבום case
  20. Proofרב אשי finds support for רבא in the משנה's wording
  21. ChallengeIf the forbidden relative needs no verse, why should her rival wife need one?
  22. Resolutionרב אחא בר ביבי מר: in רבא's name, the rival wife needs no verse either