Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Nedarim

Folio 66a

MISHNAH. THE SABBATHS AND FESTIVALS²  ARE GIVEN AS AN OPENING. THE EARLIER RULING WAS THAT FOR THESE DAYS THE VOW IS CANCELLED, BUT FOR OTHERS IT IS BINDING; UNTIL R. AKIBA CAME AND TAUGHT: A VOW WHICH IS PARTIALLY ANNULLED IS ENTIRELY ANNULLED. E.G., IF ONE SAID, KONAM THAT I DO NOT BENEFIT FROM ANY OF YOU, IF ONE WAS [SUBSEQUENTLY] PERMITTED [TO BENEFIT HIM], THEY ARE ALL PERMITTED. [BUT IF HE SAID, 'KONAM] THAT I DO NOT BENEFIT FROM A, B, C, ETC.', IF THE FIRST WAS PERMITTED, ALL ARE PERMITTED; BUT IF THE LAST-NAMED WAS PERMITTED, HE ALONE IS PERMITTED, BUT THE REST ARE FORBIDDEN. (IF THE MIDDLE PERSON WAS PERMITTED, THOSE MENTIONED AFTER HIM ARE [ALSO] PERMITTED, BUT THOSE MENTIONED BEFORE HIM ARE FORBIDDEN.)³  [IF ONE VOWS,] 'KORBAN BE WHAT I BENEFIT FROM THIS [MAN], KORBAN BE WHAT I BENEFIT FROM THAT [MAN],' AN OPENING [FOR ABSOLUTION] IS NEEDED FOR EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY. [IF ONE VOWS,] 'KONAM, IF I TASTE WINE, BECAUSE IT IS INJURIOUS TO THE STOMACH: WHEREUPON HE WAS TOLD, BUT WELL-MATURED WINE IS BENEFICIAL TO THE STOMACH, HE IS ABSOLVED IN RESPECT OF WELL-MATURED WINE, AND NOT ONLY IN RESPECT OF WELL-MATURED WINE, BUT OF ALL WINE. KONAM, IF I TASTE ONIONS, BECAUSE THEY ARE INJURIOUS TO THE HEART', THEN HE WAS TOLD, 'BUT THE WILD ONION⁴  IS GOOD FOR THE HEART,' — HE IS PERMITTED TO PARTAKE OF WILD ONIONS, AND NOT ONLY OF WILD ONIONS, BUT OF ALL ONIONS. SUCH A CASE HAPPENED BEFORE R. MEIR, AND HE GAVE ABSOLUTION IN RESPECT OF ALL ONIONS.

GEMARA. IF THE LAST-NAMED WAS PERMITTED, HE ALONE IS PERMITTED, BUT THE REST ARE FORBIDDEN. Which Tanna [ruled thus]? — Raba said: It is R. Simeon, who maintained, unless he declared 'i swear' to each one separately.⁵

'KONAM, IF I TASTE WINE,' etc. But let it follow [from the fact] that it is not injurious?⁶  — R. Abba said: It means: Moreover, it is beneficial.⁷

'KONAM, IF I TASTE ONIONS,' etc. But let it follow [from the fact] that they are not injurious? — Said R. Abba: It means: Moreover, they are beneficial.

MISHNAH. A MAN'S OWN HONOUR, AND THE HONOUR OF HIS CHILDREN, MAY BE GIVEN AS AN OPENING. [THUS:] WE SAY TO HIM, 'HAD YOU KNOWN THAT TO-MORROW IT WILL BE SAID OF YOU, THAT IS HIS REGULAR HABIT TO DIVORCE HIS WIFE"; AND OF YOUR DAUGHTERS THEY WILL SAY, THEY ARE THE DAUGHTERS OF A DIVORCED WOMAN. WHAT FAULT DID HE FIND IN THIS WOMAN TO DIVORCE HER?"'⁸  IF HE REPLIES, 'HAD I KNOWN THAT IT IS SO. I WOULD NOT HAVE VOWED,' HE IS ABSOLVED.

[IF ONE VOWS,] 'KONAM IF I MARRY THAT UGLY WOMAN, WHEREAS SHE IS BEAUTIFUL; THAT BLACK [-SKINNED] WOMAN, WHEREAS SHE IS FAIR; 'THAT SHORT WOMAN, WHO IN FACT IS TALL, HE IS PERMITTED TO MARRY HER, NOT BECAUSE SHE WAS UGLY, AND BECAME BEAUTIFUL, OR BLACK AND TURNED FAIR, SHORT AND GREW TALL, BUT BECAUSE THE VOW WAS MADE IN ERROR. AND THUS IT HAPPENED WITH ONE WHO VOWED NOT TO BENEFIT FROM HIS SISTER'S DAUGHTER, AND SHE WAS TAKEN INTO R. ISHMAEL'S HOUSE AND MADE BEAUTIFUL. MY SON, EXCLAIMED R. ISHMAEL TO HIM, 'DID YOU VOW NOT TO BENEFIT FROM THIS ONE!' 'NO,' HE REPLIED, WHERE UPON R. ISHMAEL PERMITTED HER [TO HIM]. IN THAT HOUR R. ISHMAEL WEPT AND SAID, 'THE DAUGH TERS OF ISRAEL ARE BEAUTIFUL, BUT POVERTY DISFIGURES THEM.'⁹  AND WHEN R. ISHMAEL DIED, THE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL RAISED A LAMENT, SAYING, YE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL WEEP FOR R. ISHMAEL. AND THUS IT IS SAID TOO OF SAUL, YE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL, WEEP OVER SAUL.¹⁰

GEMARA. A story [is quoted] contradicting [the ruling]!¹¹  — The text is defective¹²  and was thus taught: R. Ishmael said: Even if she was ugly and became beautiful, black and turned fair, or short and grew tall. AND THUS IT HAPPENED WITH ONE WHO VOWED NOT TO BENEFIT FROM HIS SISTER'S DAUGHTER; SHE WAS TAKEN INTO R. ISHMAEL'S HOUSE AND MADE BEAUTIFUL, etc.

1. I.e.. though the debtor may he exempted of part payment now, the debt always remains, in case his prospects improve later. Thus R. Akiba merely meant that the debt of the kethubah would always hang over him.
2. Here the reading is, The Festivals and the Sabbaths; but on 25b it is quoted in the order given here, and Asheri gives the same reading here too.
3. This is quoted on 26b, but as part of a Baraitha, not a Mishnah; hence it should he omitted, and Asheri too omits it.
4. Or, Cyprus onions.
5. V. Shebu. 38a. If a man is dunned by a number of creditors, and he takes a false oath, saying, 'I swear that I owe nothing to you, nor to you, nor to you etc.,' he is liable only to one sacrifice, as for one false oath; unless he declares, 'I swear that I owe nothing to you', 'I swear that I owe nothing to you', 'I swear that I owe nothing to you', etc., in which case he is liable to a sacrifice for each false oath — this is R. Simeon's view. Thus here too, if he declared, 'Korban be what I benefit from A', 'Korban be what I benefit from B', etc., mentioning 'Korban' in the case of each separately, each is regarded as a separate vow. Otherwise they would all be forbidden or permitted alike by the same vow, or its absolution. (The earlier clause in which 'Korban' was not mentioned in the case of each refers to an enumeration in which each person was made dependent upon the preceding). Although the caption of this passage is. IF THE LAST-NAMED, ETC., it appears from Ran, Asheri and Tosaf. that the deduction as to authorship is based on 'KORBAN BE WHAT I BENEFIT FROM THIS (MAN).
6. Even if not beneficial, that is sufficient to annul the vow.
7. I. e., firstly. it is not injurious, which itself is sufficient; but what is more, it is even beneficial.
8. I.e., there must he something wrong with her, and her daughters probably follow in her footsteps. This refers to a vow to divorce one's wife.
9. R. Ishmael flourished during the latter portion of the first century and the early part of the second C.E. This period, falling roughly between the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Cochba revolt, and extending some time beyond the fall of Bethar is 135 C.E., must have been one of hardship and poverty for many Jews.
10. II Sam. I, 24. — In ancient days women were professional mourners, and chanted dirges in chorus at the bier of the dead.
11. The Mishnah, after ruling that the vow is annulled only if she was actually beautiful when it was made, then quotes a story in which R. Ishmael annulled it in respect of a woman who was subsequently made beautiful.
12. Cf. p. 2, n. 3.

A man once said to his wife, 'Konam that you benefit not from me, until you make R. Judah and R. Simeon taste of your cooking.' R. Judah tasted thereof, observing, 'It is but logical:³  If, in order to make peace between husband and wife, the Torah commanded, Let My Name, written to sanctity, be dissolved in "the utters that curse",⁴  though 'tis but doubtful,⁵  how much more so I!' R. Simeon did not taste thereof, exclaiming, 'Let all the widows' children perish,⁶  rather than that Simeon be moved from his standpoint, lest they fall into the habit of vowing.'

A man once said to his wife, 'Konam that you benefit not from me until you expectorate on R. Simeon b. Gamaliel.' She went and spat upon his garment, and he [R. Simeon b. Gamaliel] absolved her.⁷  R. Aha of Difti⁸  said to Rabina: But his aim was to insult him! — He replied: To expectorate upon the garments of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel is a great insult.

A man once said to his wife, 'Konam that you benefit not from me, until you shew aught beautiful⁹  in yourself to R. Ishmael son of R. Jose.' Said he to them:¹⁰  'Perhaps her head is beautiful?' — 'It is round,' they replied.¹¹  'Perhaps her hair is beautiful?' — 'It is like stalks of flax.' 'Perhaps her eyes are beautiful?' — 'They are bleared.' 'Perhaps her nose is beautiful?' — 'It is swollen.' 'Perhaps her lips are beautiful?' — 'They are thick.' 'Perhaps her neck is beautiful?' — 'It is squat.' 'Perhaps her abdomen is beautiful?' — 'It protrudes.' 'Perhaps her feet are beautiful?' — 'They are as broad as those of a duck.' 'Perhaps her name is beautiful?' — 'It is liklukith.'¹²  Said he to them, 'She is fittingly called liklukith, since she is repulsive through her defects'; and so he permitted her [to her husband].

A certain Babylonian went up to the Land of Israel and took a wife [there]. 'Boil me two [cows'] feet,' he ordered, and she boiled him two lentils,¹³  which infuriated him with her. The next day he said, 'Boil me a griwa',¹⁴  so he boiled him a griwa. 'Go and bring me two bezuni;'¹⁵  so she went and brought him two candles.¹⁵  'Go and break them on the head of the baba.'¹⁶  Now Baba b. Buta was sitting on the threshold, engaged in judging in a lawsuit. So she went and broke them on his head. Said lie to her,¹⁷  'What is the meaning of this that thou hast done?' — She replied, 'Thus my husband did order me.' 'Thou hast performed thy husband's will,' he rejoined; 'may the Almighty bring forth from thee two sons like Baba b. Buta.

CHAPTER X

MISHNAH. IN THE CASE OF A BETROTHED MAIDEN,¹⁸  HER FATHER AND HER BETROTHED HUSBAND ANNUL HER VOWS.¹⁹

1. Lit., 'An inserted tooth'.
2. Continuing as in II Sam. I, 24, q.v.
3. Lit., '(it follows) a fortiori' (that I should do so.
4. V. Num. V, 23.
5. Whether the wife was guilty of adultery.
6. I.e., let the husband die, so that she becomes a widow, and all her children — of course, hardly to he taken literally.
7. So emended by BaH.
8. Identified with Bibtha in the vicinity of Wasit on the lower reaches of the Tigris; Obermeyer, op. cit., p. 197.
9. So BaH. [Cur. ed. 'a becoming defect'.]
10. Either to the husband and wife, or to those who reported the matter to him.
11. Perhaps it was Esquimaux-shaped, which both in the East and in the West would hardly he considered beautiful.
12. Which means repulsive.
13. Misunderstanding his Babylonian pronunciation, and mistaking telafe (feet) for telaf he (lentils) Rashi. Another version: Boil me two (meaning 'some') lentils, and she boiled him (just) two lentils, taking him literally.
14. A large measure (of lentils). Thinking that she had intentionally boiled only two the previous day through laziness or meanness, he asked for an extraordinary large quantity, believing that she would scale it down.
15. Denoting either 'melons' or 'candles'.
16. Threshold; i.e., break them on the top of the threshold.
17. no note.
18. There were two stages of marriage. (i) erusin, betrothal, and (ii) nissu'in, hometaking. The betrothed maiden was called arusah, and her husband arus. Erusin was as binding as marriage, and could be annulled only by divorce, but cohabitation was forbidden, and the arusah remained in her father's house until the nissu'in. By maiden — na'arah — a girl between twelve years and one day and twelve and a half years plus one day old is meant, after which she becomes a bogereth. The reference to a maiden here is to exclude a bogereth, not a minor.
19. V. Num. XXX, 3ff. But not separately, because she is partly under the authority of both. A bogereth is not under her father's authority, and is therefore excluded.