Gemara Clarity

Yevamos 98a

יבמות צ״ח ע״א

Yevamot 98a

Learn Yevamos 98a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yevamos 98a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Converts and family ties: אין אב לגוי, whether converted maternal brothers may marry each other's wife, trusting a self-serving report, and יונה's prophecies.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question about converted twins. The ברייתא said they are 'not liable' for marrying a brother's wife, and the גמרא explains that this wording only matches the next clause. There is really no איסור at all. רבא then teaches that a non-Jew has no legal father, even when the father is certainly known, and he proves it from twins. Next the גמרא brings two stories as proofs for רב אחא בר יעקב, who says converted maternal brothers have no אשת אח איסור. The first is about ניפטיים הגר, and the second is בן יאסיין's report of רבי עקיבא's ruling. Each proof is turned aside: the first brother may have married the woman while still a גוי, and the ruling was needed only to show that no גזירה was made. The גמרא asks whether the convert in the second story can be believed, and it gives three reasons to trust him. It then discusses רבי עקיבא's other teaching, that the שכינה spoke with יונה only twice. Finally the גמרא begins a new proof from a ברייתא about a convert conceived before his mother converted and born after, and that proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הָא אִיסּוּרָא אִיכָּא!

But there is a prohibition!

הוּא הַדִּין דַּאֲפִילּוּ אִיסּוּרָא נָמֵי לֵיכָּא,

The same is true that there is no prohibition either,

וְאַיְּידֵי דְּבָעֵי לְמִיתְנֵי סֵיפָא ״אֲבָל חַיָּיבִין״,

and since it wanted to teach in the second half 'but they are liable,'

תַּנָּא נָמֵי רֵישָׁא ״אֵין חַיָּיבִין״.

it also taught in the first half 'they are not liable.'

The steps (26)

  1. ChallengeDoes 'not liable' mean there is still a prohibition?
  2. ResolutionThe wording only matches the second half
  3. Statementרבא: a non-Jew has no legal father, even when he is known
  4. ProofProof from twins who certainly share a father
  5. ConclusionThe Torah disowns a non-Jew's offspring
  6. ProofThe story of ניפטיים the convert
  7. ChallengeCan a convert really not marry anyone?
  8. ResolutionCorrected wording: no brother's-wife prohibition for a convert
  9. ProofProof that the brother married her as a convert
  10. RejectionNo, the brother married her while still a non-Jew
  11. ChallengeWhy would that case even need saying?
  12. ResolutionWe might have made a גזירה, so it was needed
  13. Proofבן יאסיין's story about רבי עקיבא's bench
  14. ProofSo the brother must have married as a convert
  15. RejectionAgain: the brother married her as a non-Jew
  16. ChallengeWhy say something so obvious?
  17. ResolutionIt rules out a possible גזירה
  18. ChallengeCan the convert even be believed?
  19. ResolutionHe was teaching this ruling before he ever used it
  20. ResolutionHe backed his report with a real case
  21. ResolutionHe reported another unrelated teaching along with it
  22. StatementThe שכינה spoke with יונה a second time but not a third
  23. ChallengeBut a פסוק says יונה prophesied about ירבעם's borders
  24. ResolutionNo third prophecy about Nineveh
  25. ResolutionThe פסוק compares ירבעם's days to Nineveh's turnaround
  26. ProofA ברייתא about a convert conceived before conversion and born after