6. If she was clothed in white garments he clothed her in black. If she bore ornaments of gold and chains and nose-rings and finger-rings, they were taken from her to shame her. He then brought an Egyptian rope3 and tied it above her breasts. Any that wished to behold came and beheld, excepting her bondmen and bondwomen, since with them she feels no shame.4 And all women are allowed to behold her, for it is written, That all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. 5 7. With what measure a man metes it shall be measured to him again: she bedecked herself for transgression — the Almighty6 brought her to shame; she laid herself bare for transgression — the Almighty likewise laid her bare; she began transgression with the thigh first and afterward with the belly — therefore the thigh shall suffer first and afterward the belly; neither shall aught else of the body go free.
8. Samson went after [the desire of] his eyes — therefore the Philistines put out his eyes, as it is written, And the Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes;7 Absalom gloried in his hair — therefore he was hanged by his hair; and inasmuch as he came in upon the ten concubines of his father, therefore they thrust ten spear-heads into his body, as it is written, And ten young men that bare Joab’s armour compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him * and inasmuch as he stole away three hearts, the heart of his father, the heart of the court, and the heart of Israel (as it is written, So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel),9 therefore three darts were thrust into him, as it is written, And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom.10 9. So, too, in a goodly matter: Miriam awaited Moses one hour, as it is written, And his sister stood afar off,'1 therefore Israel delayed for her seven days, as it is written, And the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. 12 Joseph was reckoned worthy to bury his father, and none of his brothers was greater than he, as it is written, And Joseph went up to bury his father...and there went up with him both chariots and hor semen. 13 Whom have we greater than Joseph, for none other than Moses occupied himself with him. Moses was reckoned worthy to take the bones of Joseph, and none in Israel is greater than he, as it is written, And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.'* Whom have we greater than Moses, for none other than the Almighty occupied himself with him, as it is written, And he buried him in the valley.'* And not of Moses alone have they spoken thus, but of all the righteous, for it is written, And thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall gather thee [in death].16 2. 1. [The husband] brought her Meal-offering'7 in an Egyptian basket18 and put it in her hands so as to tire her. All [other] Meal-offerings, at the 4 The same phrase as in Gitt. 74, 8*; Ab. 4'. Rashi, however, interprets it here in the sense, 'She is too proud ever to make confession of her guilt before them’.
* 2 Sam. 15*. Some texts omit the bracketed passage.
outset and at the last,1 are contained in the vessels of ministry; but this at the outset is contained in an Egyptian basket, and at the last in the vessels of ministry. All [other] Meal-offerings require oil and frankincense,2 but this requires neither oil nor frankincense. All [other] Meal-offerings are of wheat,3 but this is of barley. The Meal-offering of the Omer,4 though offered from barley, is offered in the form of sifted flour, but this is offered in the form of [unsifted] meal. Rabban Gamaliel says: Since her deed was the deed of cattle, her offering is the food of cattle.
2. The priest used to bring a new* earthenware bowl and put in it a half-/^6 of water from the laver.7 R. Judah says: A quarter-fog; as the writing is made less so the water is made less. The priest entered within the Sanctuary8 and turned to the right where was a place, one cubit long and one cubit wide, having a marble flagstone on which was fixed a ring. This he raised and took dust from beneath it and put in the bowl enough to be visible on the water, as it is written. And of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take and put it into the water.9 3. When he came to write the scroll, from what place used he to write? from If 10 no man have lien with thee...but if thou hast gone aside with another instead of thy husband, and he left out And the priest shall cause the woman to swear. He wrote also The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people...and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels and make thy belly to swell and thy thigh to fall away. And he left out, And the zooman shall say. Amen, Amen! R. Jose says: He made no break. R. Judah says: He wrote altogether naught else save The Lord make thee a curse and an oath...and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels...; and he left out And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen!
4. He did not write on a tablet or on papyrus or on unprepared skin, but only on a [parchment] scroll, as it is written, In a book.11 And he may not write with gum or copperas22 or aught that leaves a lasting trace, but only with ink, for it is written. And he shall blot them out; [he must write with] what can be blotted out.
5. To what does she reply, Amen, Amen /? [She says] Amen to the word curse, and Amen to the word oath; ‘Amen, [for that I have not gone aside] because of this man,'3 Amen, [for that I have not gone aside] because of any other man; Amen, for that I have not gone aside while I was betrothed, or while I was married, or while I was awaiting levirate marriage, or after consummation; Amen, for that I have not been defiled; and if I have been defiled may [all these curses] come upon me!’ R. Meir says: ‘Amen, for that I have not been defiled; Amen, for that I will never become defiled’.
6. All agree that he14 may not take account of her15 concerning a time before she was betrothed or a time after she had been divorced.16 If [after she had been put away] she went aside with another man and became defiled, and he afterward received her back, he14 may not take account of her concerning this. This is the general rule: If she has intercourse with such as do not render her forbidden [to her husband], he'4 may not take account of her concerning this.
1 From the time they are first brought by their owner until they are consumed.
11 Num. 5*’. Heb. sefer. Its usual sense is a book written in scroll-form, not with bound- up leave*. 11 Cf. Meg. a*. 17 About whom I am now accused.
The priest. IS In applying the words of Num. s'*.
>* And remarried by her present husband before he had ‘warned her'.
THIRD DIVISION: NASHIM 3. 1. The husband used to take her Meal-offering out of the Egyptian basket1 and put it into a vessel of ministry, and this he put in her hand: and the priest set his hand beneath hers and [so] waved2 [the Meal -offering].
2. After he had waved it and brought it [unto the Altar], he took the handful [therefrom] and burnt it, and the residue was consumed by the priests. He first gave her to drink [of the bitter water] and then offered her Meal-offering. R. Simeon says: He offered her Meal-offering and then gave her to drink, for it is written. And afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.2 But if he gave her to drink and afterward offered her Meal¬ offering, it is valid.
3. If, before the writing on the scroll was blotted out, she said, ‘I will not drink’, her scroll4 must be hidden away5 and her Meal-offering scattered on the ash-heap. Her scroll is not valid for use for any other Suspected Adulteress. If the writing on the scroll W'as blotted out and she then said, ‘I am unclean’, the water is poured away and her Meal-offering scattered on the ash-heap. If the writing on the scroll was blotted out and she then said, ‘I will not drink’, they urge her and give her to drink against her will.
4. Hardly has she finished drinking before her face turns yellow and her eves bulge and her veins swell, and they say. ‘Take her away! take her away! that the Temple Court be not made unclean!' But if she had any merit this holds her punishment in suspense. Certain merits may hold punish¬ ment in suspense for one year, others for two years, and others for three years; hence Ben Azzai says: A man ought to give his daughter6 a know¬ ledge of the Law so that if she must drink [the bitter water] she may know that the merit [that she had acquired] will hold her punishment in suspense. R. Eliezer says: If any man gives his daughter a knowledge of the Law it is as though he taught her lechery. R. Joshua says: A woman has more pleasure in one kab 7 with lechery than in nine kabs with modesty. He used to say: A foolish saint and a cunning knave and a woman that is a hypocrite and the wounds of the Pharisees, these wear out the world.
5. R. Simeon says: Merit does not hold in suspense the punishment of the bitter water; for if thou sayest, ‘Merit holds in suspense the punishment of the curse-giving water’, thou wilt make the water of little effect for all the women that drink; and thou wilt bring an evil name against all un¬ defiled -women that have drunk, for it will be said, ‘They are in truth defiled but merit has held their punishment in suspense’. Rabbi8 says: Merit holds in suspense the punishment of the curse-giving water; but nevertheless she will not bear children or continue in comeliness, but she will waste away by degrees and in the end will die the selfsame death.
6. If her Meal-offering became unclean before it was sanctified in the vessel of ministry, like all other Meal-offerings it may be redeemed; but if after it was sanctified in the vessel [of ministry], like all other Meal- offerings it must be burnt.’ The Meal-offerings of these must be burnt: [the Meal-offering of a woman] that says,10 ‘I am unclean to thee’, or she against whom witnesses testified that she was unclean, or she that says, ‘I will not drink’, or she whose husband is not minded to make her drink, ♦ On which the curse was written.
s Like all writings of Scripture that have become unusable. 6 Cf. Ned. 4*.
7 App. II, D. 8 R. Judah the Patriarch. See below, 91 5 (end). * See Men. ia*.
or she whose husband has connexion with her while on the way; and the Meal-offerings of all that are married to priests must be burnt.1 7. If she was an Israelite’s daughter married to a priest, her Meal- offering must be burnt: and if she was a priest's daughter married to an Israelite, her Meal-offering is consumed [by the priests]. Wherein does a priest differ from a woman from the priestly stock? Her Meal-offering is consumed [by the priests]; his may not be consumed; she may impair he: priestly rights, but he cannot impair his priestly rights;2 she may contract uncleanness because of the dead, but he may not contract uncleanness because of the dead;3 a priest may eat of the Most Holy Things,4 but she may not eat of the Most Holy Things.
8. How does a man differ from a woman? He may go with hair unbound and with garments rent,5 but she may not go with hair unbound and with garments rent; he may impose the Nazirite-vow on his son, but she may not impose the Nazirite-vow on her son;6 a man may bring the Hair- offering for the Nazirite-vow of his father, but a woman may not bring the Hair-offering for the Nazirite-vow of her father;7 a man may sell his daughter,8 but a woman may not sell her daughter; a man may give his daughter in betrothal,6 but a woman may not give her daughter in be¬ trothal; a man is stoned naked, but a woman may not be stoned naked;10 a man is hanged, but a woman may not be hanged;11 a man may be sold [to make restitution] for what he has stolen,1 1 but a woman cannot be sold [to make restitution] for what she has stolen.
4. 1. A woman that is betrothed or that awaits levirate marriage13 may not drink [the bitter water] or receive her Ketubah; for it is written, When a wife, being under her husband, goeth aside,1* thus excluding her that is betrothed or that awaits levirate marriage. If15 a widow is married to a High Priest, or a woman that was divorced or that had performed halitzah is married to a common priest, or a bastard or Nethinah to an Israelite, or the daughter of an Israelite to a bastard or a Nothin, they may not drink16 [the bitter water] or receive their Ketubah.
2. These do not drink and do not receive their Ketubah: She that says, ‘I am unclean [to thee]’, and she against whom witnesses have testified that she was unclean, and she that says, ‘I will not drink’. But she whose husband is not minded to make her drink, or she whose husband has con¬ nexion with her while on the way, she receives her Ketubah and does not drink. If their husbands died before their wives drank [the bitter water], the School of Shammai say: They receive their Ketubah and do not drink. And the School of Hillel say: They do not drink and they do not receive their Ketubah.
3. If a woman was with child by another husband17 or was giving suck [to a child] by another husband, she does not drink and she does not receive her Ketubah. So R. Meir. But the Sages say: He should set her 1 i.e. the residue may not be consumed by the priests, since it is a Meal-offering brought by a priest; and the Meal-offerings of priests must be wholly burnt (Lev. 6**).
* By marrying one of the impaired priestly stock or a harlot. 2 Lev. ax1.
4 Sin-offerings and Guilt -offerings and the Peace-offerings of the congregation. See 16 Since they are not women fit to be their wives.
17 Who had died or divorced her, and she married before the two years prescribed by the Rabbis had elapsed.
298 THIRD DIVISION: NASHIM apart and take her back after the [prescribed] time. A sterile woman, an aged woman, and one that is not like to bear children do not drink and do not receive their Ketubah. R. Eliezer says: He has the right to marry another and to be fruitful and multiply 1 by her. All other women either drink or they do not receive their Ketubah.
4. A priest’s wife may drink [the bitter water] and [if she is found innocent] she is permitted to her husband. The wife of a eunuch must drink. Wives may be warned that are suspected of any incestuous con¬ nexion save only with a minor or with aught that is not human.
5. And these are they that are warned by the court: any woman whose husband has become a deaf-mute or an imbecile or that lies bound in prison. They did not say this [to empower the court] to make her drink [the bitter water], but to disqualify her from receiving her Ketubah. R. Jose says: Also to make her drink, so that when her husband comes forth from prison he may make her drink.
5. 1. As the water puts her to the proof so does it put the paramour to the proof, for it is written, And it shall come, and again, And it shall come.2 As she is forbidden to the husband so is she forbidden to the paramour, for it is written, And she is become unclean, and again, And she is become unclean.3 So R. Akiba. R. Joshua said: So used Zechariah b. ha-Kazzab to expound. Rabbi says: Twice in the section of Scripture is it written, And she is become unclean. And she is become unclean: once for the husband and once for the paramour.
2. That same day R. Akiba expounded. And every earthen vessel where- into any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it conveys uncleanness;4 it does not say is unclean but shall render unclean, so that it makes other things unclean. This teaches that a loaf suffering second-grade uncleanness renders another unclean in the third grade.5 R. Joshua said: Who will take away the dust from off thine eyes, O Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai! — for thou didst say that another generation would declare the third loaf clean, for there is no verse in the Law to prove that it is unclean; and now does not thy pupil Akiba bring a verse from the Law to prove that it is unclean! for it is written, Whatsoever is in it shall render unclean.
3. That same day R. Akiba expounded, And ye shall measure without the city for the east side two thousand cubits...,6. while another verse7 says, From the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. It is not possible to say [that the measure is] a thousand cubits, since it is also written two thousand cubits; and it is not possible to say two thousand cubits, since it is also written one thousand cubits. How can we explain this? — the one thousand cubits are the outskirts,8 while the two thousand cubits are the Sabbath limit.9 R. Eleazer b. R. Jose the Galilean says: The one thousand cubits are the outskirts and the two thousand cubits are the [surrounding] fields and vineyards.
4. That same day R. Akiba expounded, Then sang Moses and the children ♦ Lev. 1 1**, implying a pointing different (pi 'el) from that (qal) in the present Massoretic text, which is rendered ‘shall be unclean'.
5 Cf. Toh. 1*; 21. The vessel suffered ‘first-grade uncleanness’, the loaf in it ‘second- grade’, and, according to R. Akiba, it conveyed third-grade uncleanness to other food that it touched, contrary to the accepted rule that common food contracted no uncleanness from what suffered only second-grade uncleanness. 6 Num. 351. 3 Num. 35*.
* Which pertain to the city but may not be built upon. * See App. I. 8, ‘Erub’.
of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying.' There was no need for Scripture to say saying; what then does it mean by saying? It teaches us that Israel made answer to every thing after Moses, like as when they recite the Hallel;2 therefore it says saying. R. Nehemiah says: Like as when they recite the Shema'3 and not like as when they recite the Hallel.
5. That same day R. Joshua b. Hyrcanus expounded: Job served the Holy One, blessed is he, only from love, as it is written, Though he slay me yet toil 1 1 wait for him* Thus far the matter rests in doubt [whether it means] ‘I will wait for him’ or ‘I will not wait’;5 but Scripture says, Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me f teaching that he acted from love. R. Joshua said, ‘Who will take away the dust from off thine eyes, O Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai! — for all thy days thou didst expound that Job served the Holy One, blessed is he, only from fear, for it is written, The man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil;7 and has not Joshua, thy disciple’s disciple, now taught us that he acted from love?
6. 1. If a man had warned his wife and she nevertheless went aside in secret, if he but heard thereof from a flying bird he may put her away and give her her Ketubah. So R. Eliezer. R. Joshua says: [He may not do so] until the women that spin their yarn by moonlight gossip about her.
2. If one witness said, ‘I saw her that she was defiled’, she does not need to drink;8 and not so only but even if a bondman or bondwoman [bore like witness] they are accounted trustworthy even to disqualify her from receiving her Ketubah. Her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law’s daughter, her co-wife, her husband’s brother’s wife, and her husband’s daughter — these are accounted trustworthy, not, however, to disqualify her from receiving her Ketubah, but [to prove her guilt] so that she has no need to drink [the bitter water].
3. For the inference might be: Since the first testimony9 (which does not render her forbidden for all time)10 cannot be sustained by less than two witnesses, should we not, therefore, infer that the last testimony11 (which renders her forbidden for all time) cannot be sustained by less than two witnesses! But Scripture says, And there be no witness against her 12 — [meaning] any manner of evidence against her. From this to the first testimony is an argument from the less to the greater: If the last testimony (which renders her forbidden for all time) can be sustained by one witness, should we not therefore infer that the first testimony (which does not render her forbidden for all time) can also be sustained by one witness! But Scripture says, Because he hath found some unseemly matter in her,13 and elsewhere it says, At the mouth of two witnesses...shall a matter be estab¬ lished.14 As the matter there spoken of must be at the mouth of two wit¬ nesses, so, here, it must be at the mouth of two witnesses.
4. If one witness said, ‘She was defiled’, and another said, ‘She was not defiled’; or if one woman said, ‘She was defiled’, and another woman said 1 Pss. 113-18. The congregation responds to each verse with aome brief refrain. Cf. Sukk. 3". Some text* here quote: ‘1 will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously’, as the refrain to each verse of the Song of Moses.
J App. I. 38. The congregation repeats the whole of it. 4 Job. 13“.
* The Hebrew homophone IS or lo‘ means both ‘for him’ or ‘not’. 6 Job. 27*. 1 Job. i*.
* But can be divorced, receiving her Ketubah. * Concerning her going aside in secret.
14 But only until she has been tested by the bitter water.
" Of her having become defiled. 14 Num. 5n. 'J Deut. 241. 14 Deut. 19'*.
THIRD DIVISION: NASHIM ‘She was not defiled’, she must be made to drink. If one said, ‘She was defiled’, and two said, ‘She was not defiled’, she must be made to drink.1 But if two said, ‘She was defiled’, and one said, ‘She was not defiled’, she need not be made to drink.2 7. i. These may be said in any language: the paragraph of the Suspected Adulteress,3 the Avowal concerning the [Second] Tithe,4 the recital of the Shema,5 the Tefillah,6 the Benediction over food,7 the oath of testimony,8 and the oath concerning a deposit.'’
2. These must be said in the Holy Language: the paragraph of the First-fruits,10 the words of halitzah,1! the Blessings and the Cursings,12 the Blessings of the Priests,13 and the blessings of the High Priest,14 the para¬ graph of the king,15 the paragraph of the heifer whose neck is to be broken,'6 and [the words of] the Anointed for Battle17 when he speaks unto the people.
3. Why does this apply to the paragraph of the First-fruits? [Here it is written,] And thou shalt answer and say before the Lord thy God,l& and there it is written, And the Levites shall answer and say;19 as there the answering must be in the Holy Language, so here the answering must be in the Holy Language.
4. Why does this apply to the words of halitzah? [Here it is wrritten,j And she shall answer and say,20 and there it is written, And the Levites shall answer and say;2' as there the answering must be in the Holy Language, so here the answering must be in the Holy Language. R. Judah says'. And she shall answer and say thus;21 [therefore it is not valid] unless she speaks according to this very language.
5. Why does this apply to the Blessings and the Cursings? When Israel crossed the Jordan and came unto mount Gerizim and unto mount Ebal in Samaria, near by Shechem, beside the oaks of Moreh, as it is written. Are not they beyond Jordan...23 (there it is written, And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem unto the oak of Moreh;24 as there the oak of Moreh that is spoken of is [at] Shechem, so here the oak of Moreh that is spoken of is [at] Shechem), six tribes went up to the top of mount Gerizim and six tribes went up to the top of mount Ebal. And the priests and the levites and the Ark stood below in the midst; and the priests sur¬ rounded the Ark and the levites surrounded the priests, and all Israel were on this side and on that, as it is written, And all Israel and their elders and officers and their judges stood on this side of the ark and on that...25 They turned their faces towards mount Gerizim and began with the blessing.26 Blessed be the man that maketh not a graven or molten image. And both these and these answered, ‘Amen!’ They turned their faces towards mount Ebal and began with the curse, Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image 21 And both these and these answered, ‘Amen!’ — until they completed the Blessings and the Cursings. And afterward they brought In these three cases her guilt is in doubt and needs to be put to the test.
Since her guilt is no longer in doubt. * Num. 51*'”.
Cf. Shebu. 4,a. * Cf. Shebu. s,B. 10 Deut. 26’' Deut. 2j'- •; cf. Yeb. 12*. >2 Deut. 27“-“ (cf. Deut. 28*-", Josh. 8M).
Num. 6l4~*. On the Day of Atonement. See below, T ■ Deut. i7u~**. See below, 7*. 16 Deut. 2i’f. 17 Deut. 20 See below, 8lfi.
22 Separating ‘thus’ or ‘so’ from the following clause. 12 Deut. nM. 24 Gen. 12*. 2* Josh. 8**. 24 First reciting all the curses in the form of blessings.
1 2 4 s it IS IS the stones and built the altar and plastered it with plaster. And they wrote thereon all the words of the Law in seventy languages, as it is written, Very plainly A And they took the stones and came and spent the night in their own place.
6. After what manner was the blessing of the priests? In the provinces it was pronounced as three blessings,2 but in the Temple as a single blessing; in the Temple they pronounced the Name as it was written,3 but in the provinces by a substituted word; in the provinces the priests raised their hands as high as their shoulders, but in the Temple above their heads, excepting the High Priest who raised his hand only as high as the frontlet.4 R. Judah says: The High Priest also raised his hand above the frontlet, for it is written. And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them A 7. After what manner w'ere the blessings of the High Priest? The minister0 of the synagogue used to take a scroll of the Law and give it to the chief of the synagogue, and the chief of the synagogue gave it to the Prefect and the Prefect gave it to the High Priest, and the High Priest received it standing and read it standing. And he read, After the death.. A and Howbeit on the tenth day.. A Then he used to roll up the [scroll of the] Law and put it in his bosom and say, ‘More is written here than I have read out before you’. And on the tenth...which is in the Book of Numbers9 he recited by heart, thereupon he pronounced eight Benedictions: for the Law, for the Temple-Service, the Thanksgiving, on the Forgiveness of Sin, and for the Temple and for the Israelites, and for the priests and for Jerusalem,10 and, for the rest, a [general] prayer.