סוטה כו - מקורות נלווים

(Bamidbar 5:298) "And if the woman had not been defiled and she be clean": What is the intent of this? From (Vayikra 20:10) "And a man who lives with another man's wife, etc.", we learn that only where there were witnesses (to her adultery) and she were forewarned that she is put to death. If there were witnesses, but she had not been forewarned, she is not liable to the death penalty. (I would think that) since she is not liable to the death penalty she is permitted to her husband; it is, therefore, written (Devarim 24:1) "If a man take a woman (as a wife) and cohabit with her … having found in her a thing of nakedness … he shall write her a scroll of divorce, etc." — whence we learn that she is forbidden to her husband. Whence is derived (the halachah) in an instance of doubt as to whether or not she has been defiled? From "And the woman had not been defiled and she be clean." Now who defiled her that Scripture must cleanse her? We are being told, then, that since an evil name has gone out against her, she is forbidden to her husband. "and she be clean": clean to her husband, clean to the (suspected) cohabitor (i.e., if her husband divorced her or died, he may marry her), and clean vis-à-vis (the eating of) terumah. "then she shall be absolved": of the curses and of the oath. "and she will sow seed": If she were barren, she conceives. These are the words of R. Yishmael. R. Akiva said to him: If so, all the barren ones will go astray (and secrete themselves) in order to conceive and the modest (barren) ones will lose out! What, rather, is the intent of "then she will be absolved and she will sow seed"? If she had borne only females, she will now bear males; if she had borne only one, she will now bear two; if she had borne swarthy ones, she will now bear fair ones; if she had borne short ones, she will now bear fair ones. R. Shimon says: Would it enter your mind that she is rewarded for transgression (i.e., secreting herself)? Rather, because she had been forbidden (to her husband) for seed before (drinking), it is, therefore, written "and she will sow seed," i.e., she is now permitted for "seed." Variantly: "and she will sow seed" — to exclude (from drinking) an eilonith (a wombless woman) or one who is (otherwise) unfit to bear.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Instruct Aaron and his sons to be scrupulous about the sacred donations that the Israelite people consecrate to Me, lest they profane My holy name, Mine, יהוה’s. (3) Say to them: Throughout the ages, if any man among your offspring, while in a state of impurity, partakes of any sacred donation that the Israelite people may consecrate to יהוה, that person shall be cut off from before Me: I am יהוה. (4) No man of Aaron’s offspring who has an eruption or a discharge shall eat of the sacred donations until he is pure. If one touches anything made impure by a corpse, or if a man has an emission of semen, (5) or if a man touches any swarming thing by which he is made impure or any human being by whom he is made impure—whatever his impurity— (6) the person who touches such shall be impure until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has washed his body in water. (7) As soon as the sun sets, he shall be pure; and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food. (8) He shall not eat anything that died or was torn by beasts, thereby becoming impure: I am יהוה. (9) They shall keep My charge, lest they incur guilt thereby and die for it, having committed profanation: I יהוה consecrate them. (10) No lay person shall eat of the sacred donations. No bound or hired laborer of a priest shall eat of the sacred donations; (11) but a person who is a priest’s property by purchase may eat of them; and those that are born into his household may eat of his food. (12) If a priest’s daughter becomes a layman’s [wife], she may not eat of the sacred gifts; (13) but if the priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and without offspring, and is back in her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No lay person may eat of it: (14) but if any such party eats of a sacred donation unwittingly, the priest shall be paid for the sacred donation, adding one-fifth of its value. (15) But [the priests] must not allow the Israelites to profane the sacred donations that they set aside for יהוה, (16) or to incur guilt requiring a penalty payment, by eating such sacred donations: for it is I יהוה who make them sacred. (17) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (18) Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the Israelite people, and say to them: When any person of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel presents a burnt offering as the offering for any of the votive or any of the freewill offerings that they offer to יהוה, (19) it must, to be acceptable in your favor, be a male without blemish, from cattle or sheep or goats. (20) You shall not offer any that has a defect, for it will not be accepted in your favor. (21) And when any party offers, from the herd or the flock, a sacrifice of well-being to יהוה for an explicit vow or as a freewill offering, it must, to be acceptable, be without blemish; there must be no defect in it. (22) Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy—such you shall not offer to יהוה; you shall not put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to יהוה. (23) You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep with a limb extended or contracted; but it will not be accepted for a vow. (24) You shall not offer to יהוה anything [with its testes] bruised or crushed or torn or cut. You shall have no such practices in your own land, (25) nor shall you accept such [animals] from a foreigner for offering as food for your God, for they are mutilated, they have a defect; they shall not be accepted in your favor. (26) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (27) When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to יהוה. (28) However, no animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day with its young. (29) When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to יהוה, sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable in your favor. (30) It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am יהוה. (31) You shall faithfully observe My commandments: I am יהוה. (32) You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I יהוה who sanctify you, (33) I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God, I יהוה.

HALAKHAH: “A Cohen’s wife drinks,” etc. Otherwise, what could we say? She drank and the water had no influence on her; she is pure! I could say, merit suspended for her. That is according to him who says that merit suspends and it is not recognizable. But following him who says that merit suspends and it is recognizable? Rebbi Isaac said, really we deal with the case that she drank and the water had no influence on her; that you should not say since the water has no influence on a rape victim, but only on a seduced woman, this one is a rape victim. But a rape victim in the priesthood is like a willing one for an Israel, therefore it is necessary to say that she is permitted to her house. From where that rape disables a married woman in the priesthood? Since in matters of crawling things, which are a trifling matter, He made forced [impurity] equal to intentional [impurity], in the weighty matter of the deviant not so much more? Rebbi Jacob bar Idi stated before Rebbi Jonathan: “If you deviated from under your husband and became defiled,” that excludes rape. How do you understand this? He said to him, just as “under your husband” is by consent, so “if you became defiled” is by consent. “She was not raped”, she is forbidden. Therefore, if she was raped, she is permitted. But there is a rape victim which is forbidden for an Israel. Who is that? That is one who started by consent and ended up raped. And there is one who is not a rape victim which is permitted to an Israel. Who is that? That is one who started as a rape victim and ended up consenting. Like that woman who came to Rebbi Joḥanan and said to him, I was raped. He said to her, but was it not sweet to you in the end? She said to him, if a person dips a finger into honey and puts it into his mouth on the Day of Atonement, does he not feel bad about it and at the end it is sweet? He accepted her.

“If you deviated from under your husband and became defiled,” that excludes a castrate’s wife. “And a man ejaculated into you”, that includes a castrate. “Except for a minor and a non-man,” e. g., an ape.