12 Kislev 5781

Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the LORD was standing beside him and He said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants. Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is present in this place, and I did not know it!” Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.” Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father’s house—the LORD shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s abode; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.” Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the Easterners. There before his eyes was a well in the open. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for the flocks were watered from that well. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, “My friends, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “Yes, we do.” He continued, “Is he well?” They answered, “Yes, he is; and there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the flock.” He said, “It is still broad daylight, too early to round up the animals; water the flock and take them to pasture.” But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.” While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock; for she was a shepherdess. And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears. Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father. On hearing the news of his sister’s son Jacob, Laban ran to greet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and took him into his house. He told Laban all that had happened, and Laban said to him, “You are truly my bone and flesh.” When he had stayed with him a month’s time, Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are a kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider. Stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” And Laban gathered all the people of the place and made a feast. When evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and he cohabited with her.— Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.— When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.” Jacob did so; he waited out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife.— Laban had given his maidservant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.— And Jacob cohabited with Rachel also; indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him another seven years. The LORD saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son, and named him Reuben; for she declared, “It means: ‘The LORD has seen my affliction’; it also means: ‘Now my husband will love me.’” She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This is because the LORD heard that I was unloved and has given me this one also”; so she named him Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son and declared, “This time my husband will become attached to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she became envious of her sister; and Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die.” Jacob was incensed at Rachel, and said, “Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?” She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.” So she gave him her maid Bilhah as concubine, and Jacob cohabited with her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. And Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; indeed, He has heeded my plea and given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, “A fateful contest I waged with my sister; yes, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as concubine. And when Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son, Leah said, “What luck!” So she named him Gad. When Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, Leah declared, “What fortune!” meaning, “Women will deem me fortunate.” So she named him Asher. Once, at the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben came upon some mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” But she said to her, “Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel replied, “I promise, he shall lie with you tonight, in return for your son’s mandrakes.” When Jacob came home from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are to sleep with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night. God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore him a fifth son. And Leah said, “God has given me my reward for having given my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. When Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son, Leah said, “God has given me a choice gift; this time my husband will exalt me, for I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. Last, she bore him a daughter, and named her Dinah. Now God remembered Rachel; God heeded her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” So she named him Joseph, which is to say, “May the LORD add another son for me.” After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my own homeland. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go; for well you know what services I have rendered you.” But Laban said to him, “If you will indulge me, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me on your account.” And he continued, “Name the wages due from me, and I will pay you.” But he said, “You know well how I have served you and how your livestock has fared with me. For the little you had before I came has grown to much, since the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. And now, when shall I make provision for my own household?” He said, “What shall I pay you?” And Jacob said, “Pay me nothing! If you will do this thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flocks: let me pass through your whole flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted animal—every dark-colored sheep and every spotted and speckled goat. Such shall be my wages. In the future when you go over my wages, let my honesty toward you testify for me: if there are among my goats any that are not speckled or spotted or any sheep that are not dark-colored, they got there by theft.” And Laban said, “Very well, let it be as you say.” But that same day he removed the streaked and spotted he-goats and all the speckled and spotted she-goats—every one that had white on it—and all the dark-colored sheep, and left them in the charge of his sons. And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock. Jacob then got fresh shoots of poplar, and of almond and plane, and peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white of the shoots. The rods that he had peeled he set up in front of the goats in the troughs, the water receptacles, that the goats came to drink from. Their mating occurred when they came to drink, and since the goats mated by the rods, the goats brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted young. But Jacob dealt separately with the sheep; he made these animals face the streaked or wholly dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. And so he produced special flocks for himself, which he did not put with Laban’s flocks. Moreover, when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they mated by the rods; but with the feebler animals he would not place them there. Thus the feeble ones went to Laban and the sturdy to Jacob. So the man grew exceedingly prosperous, and came to own large flocks, maidservants and menservants, camels and asses. Now he heard the things that Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from that which was our father’s he has built up all this wealth.” Jacob also saw that Laban’s manner toward him was not as it had been in the past. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers where you were born, and I will be with you.” Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field, where his flock was, and said to them, “I see that your father’s manner toward me is not as it has been in the past. But the God of my father has been with me. As you know, I have served your father with all my might; but your father has cheated me, changing my wages time and again. God, however, would not let him do me harm. If he said thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop speckled young; and if he said thus, ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop streaked young. God has taken away your father’s livestock and given it to me. “Once, at the mating time of the flocks, I had a dream in which I saw that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and mottled. And in the dream an angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here,’ I answered. And he said, ‘Note well that all the he-goats which are mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, and mottled; for I have noted all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Beth-el, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now, arise and leave this land and return to your native land.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered him, saying, “Have we still a share in the inheritance of our father’s house? Surely, he regards us as outsiders, now that he has sold us and has used up our purchase price. Truly, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, do just as God has told you.” Thereupon Jacob put his children and wives on camels; and he drove off all his livestock and all the wealth that he had amassed, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Meanwhile Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household idols. Jacob kept Laban the Aramean in the dark, not telling him that he was fleeing, and fled with all that he had. Soon he was across the Euphrates and heading toward the hill country of Gilead. On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days, catching up with him in the hill country of Gilead. But God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.” Laban overtook Jacob. Jacob had pitched his tent on the Height, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, “What did you mean by keeping me in the dark and carrying off my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee in secrecy and mislead me and not tell me? I would have sent you off with festive music, with timbrel and lyre. You did not even let me kiss my sons and daughters good-by! It was a foolish thing for you to do. I have it in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father said to me last night, ‘Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.’ Very well, you had to leave because you were longing for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered Laban, saying, “I was afraid because I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive! In the presence of our kinsmen, point out what I have of yours and take it.” Jacob, of course, did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. Rachel, meanwhile, had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on them; and Laban rummaged through the tent without finding them. For she said to her father, “Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for the period of women is upon me.” Thus he searched, but could not find the household idols. Now Jacob became incensed and took up his grievance with Laban. Jacob spoke up and said to Laban, “What is my crime, what is my guilt that you should pursue me? You rummaged through all my things; what have you found of all your household objects? Set it here, before my kinsmen and yours, and let them decide between us two. “These twenty years I have spent in your service, your ewes and she-goats never miscarried, nor did I feast on rams from your flock. That which was torn by beasts I never brought to you; I myself made good the loss; you exacted it of me, whether snatched by day or snatched by night. Often, scorching heat ravaged me by day and frost by night; and sleep fled from my eyes. Of the twenty years that I spent in your household, I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks; and you changed my wages time and again. Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God took notice of my plight and the toil of my hands, and He gave judgment last night.” Then Laban spoke up and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks; all that you see is mine. Yet what can I do now about my daughters or the children they have borne? Come, then, let us make a pact, you and I, that there may be a witness between you and me.” Thereupon Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a mound; and they partook of a meal there by the mound. Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Gal-ed. And Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” That is why it was named Gal-ed; and [it was called] Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of sight of each other. If you ill-treat my daughters or take other wives besides my daughters—though no one else be about, remember, God Himself will be witness between you and me.” And Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this mound and here the pillar which I have set up between you and me: this mound shall be witness and this pillar shall be witness that I am not to cross to you past this mound, and that you are not to cross to me past this mound and this pillar, with hostile intent. May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Jacob then offered up a sacrifice on the Height, and invited his kinsmen to partake of the meal. After the meal, they spent the night on the Height. Early in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward. Jacob went on his way, and angels of God encountered him.

For My people persists In its defection from Me; When it is summoned upward, It does not rise at all. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah, Render you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart, All My tenderness is stirred. I will not act on My wrath, Will not turn to destroy Ephraim. For I am God, not man, The Holy One in your midst: I will not come in fury. The LORD will roar like a lion, And they shall march behind Him; When He roars, His children shall come Fluttering out of the west. They shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows, From the land of Assyria like doves; And I will settle them in their homes —declares the LORD. Ephraim surrounds Me with deceit, The House of Israel with guile. (But Judah stands firm with God And is faithful to the Holy One.) Ephraim tends the wind And pursues the gale; He is forever adding Illusion to calamity. Now they make a covenant with Assyria, Now oil is carried to Egypt. The LORD once indicted Judah, And punished Jacob for his conduct, Requited him for his deeds. In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; Grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being, He strove with an angel and prevailed— The other had to weep and implore him. At Bethel [Jacob] would meet him, There to commune with him. Yet the LORD, the God of Hosts, Must be invoked as “LORD.” You must return to your God! Practice goodness and justice, And constantly trust in your God. A trader who uses false balances, Who loves to overreach, Ephraim thinks, “Ah, I have become rich; I have gotten power! All my gains do not amount To an offense which is real guilt.” I the LORD have been your God Ever since the land of Egypt. I will let you dwell in your tents again As in the days of old, When I spoke to the prophets; For I granted many visions, And spoke parables through the prophets. As for Gilead, it is worthless; And to no purpose have they Been sacrificing oxen in Gilgal: The altars of these are also Like stone heaps upon a plowed field.

Then Jacob had to flee to the land of Aram; There Israel served for a wife, For a wife he had to guard [sheep]. But when the LORD Brought Israel up from Egypt, It was through a prophet; Through a prophet they were guarded. Ephraim gave bitter offense, And his Lord cast his crimes upon him And requited him for his mockery. When Ephraim spoke piety, He was exalted in Israel; But he incurred guilt through Baal, And so he died. And now they go on sinning; They have made them molten images, Idols, by their skill, from their silver, Wholly the work of craftsmen. Yet for these they appoint men to sacrifice; They are wont to kiss calves! Assuredly, They shall be like morning clouds, Like dew so early gone; Like chaff whirled away from the threshing floor. And like smoke from a lattice. Only I the LORD have been your God Ever since the land of Egypt; You have never known a [true] God but Me, You have never had a helper other than Me. I looked after you in the desert, In a thirsty land. When they grazed, they were sated; When they were sated, they grew haughty; And so they forgot Me. So I am become like a lion to them, Like a leopard I lurk on the way; Like a bear robbed of her young I attack them And rip open the casing of their hearts; I will devour them there like a lion, The beasts of the field shall mangle them. You are undone, O Israel! You had no help but Me. Where now is your king? Let him save you! Where are the chieftains in all your towns Whom you demanded: “Give me a king and officers”? I give you kings in my ire, And take them away in My wrath. Ephraim’s guilt is bound up, His sin is stored away. Pangs of childbirth assail him, And the babe is not wise— For this is no time to survive At the birthstool of babes. From Sheol itself I will save them, Redeem them from very Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Your pestilence where, O Sheol? Revenge shall be far from My thoughts. For though he flourish among reeds, A blast, a wind of the LORD, Shall come blowing up from the wilderness; His fountain shall be parched, His spring dried up. That [wind] shall plunder treasures, Every lovely object. Samaria must bear her guilt, For she has defied her God. They shall fall by the sword, Their infants shall be dashed to death, And their women with child ripped open. Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you And return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Forgive all guilt And accept what is good; Instead of bulls we will pay [The offering of] our lips. Assyria shall not save us, No more will we ride on steeds; Nor ever again will we call Our handiwork our god, Since in You alone orphans find pity!” I will heal their affliction, Generously will I take them back in love; For My anger has turned away from them. I will be to Israel like dew; He shall blossom like the lily, He shall strike root like a Lebanon tree. His boughs shall spread out far, His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s, His fragrance like that of Lebanon. They who sit in his shade shall be revived: They shall bring to life new grain, They shall blossom like the vine; His scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim [shall say]: “What more have I to do with idols? When I respond and look to Him, I become like a verdant cypress.” Your fruit is provided by Me. He who is wise will consider these words, He who is prudent will take note of them. For the paths of the LORD are smooth; The righteous can walk on them, While sinners stumble on them.

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of substance. He had a son whose name was Saul, an excellent young man; no one among the Israelites was handsomer than he; he was a head taller than any of the people. Once the asses of Saul’s father Kish went astray, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take along one of the servants and go out and look for the asses.” He passed into the hill country of Ephraim. He crossed the district of Shalishah, but they did not find them. They passed through the district of Shaalim, but they were not there. They traversed the [entire] territory of Benjamin, and still they did not find them. When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the asses and begin to worry about us.” But he replied, “There is a man of God in that town, and the man is highly esteemed; everything that he says comes true. Let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about the errand on which we set out.” “But if we go,” Saul said to his servant, “what can we bring the man? For the food in our bags is all gone, and there is nothing we can bring to the man of God as a present. What have we got?” The servant answered Saul again, “I happen to have a quarter-shekel of silver. I can give that to the man of God and he will tell us about our errand.”— Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.— Saul said to his servant, “A good idea; let us go.” And they went to the town where the man of God lived. As they were climbing the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer in town?” “Yes,” they replied. “He is up there ahead of you. Hurry, for he has just come to the town because the people have a sacrifice at the shrine today. As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the shrine to eat; the people will not eat until he comes; for he must first bless the sacrifice and only then will the guests eat. Go up at once, for you will find him right away.” So they went up to the town; and as they were entering the town, Samuel came out toward them, on his way up to the shrine. Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed the following to Samuel: “At this time tomorrow, I will send a man to you from the territory of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him ruler of My people Israel. He will deliver My people from the hands of the Philistines; for I have taken note of My people, their outcry has come to Me.” As soon as Samuel saw Saul, the LORD declared to him, “This is the man that I told you would govern My people.” Saul approached Samuel inside the gate and said to him, “Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?” And Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the shrine, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go, after telling you whatever may be on your mind. As for your asses that strayed three days ago, do not concern yourself about them, for they have been found. And for whom is all Israel yearning, if not for you and all your ancestral house?” Saul replied, “But I am only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my clan is the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin! Why do you say such things to me?” Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of the guests, who numbered about thirty. And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you and told you to set aside.” The cook lifted up the thigh and what was on it, and set it before Saul. And [Samuel] said, “What has been reserved is set before you. Eat; it has been kept for you for this occasion, when I said I was inviting the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. They then descended from the shrine to the town, and [Samuel] talked with Saul on the roof. Early, at the break of day, Samuel called to Saul on the roof. He said, “Get up, and I will send you off.” Saul arose, and the two of them, Samuel and he, went outside. As they were walking toward the end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to walk ahead of us”—and he walked ahead—“but you stop here a moment and I will make known to you the word of God.” Samuel took a flask of oil and poured some on Saul’s head and kissed him, and said, “The LORD herewith anoints you ruler over His own people. When you leave me today, you will meet two men near the tomb of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin, at Zelzah, and they will tell you that the asses you set out to look for have been found, and that your father has stopped being concerned about the asses and is worrying about you, saying: ‘What shall I do about my son?’ You shall pass on from there until you come to the terebinth of Tabor. There you will be met by three men making a pilgrimage to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three kids, another will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a jar of wine. They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept. After that, you are to go on to the Hill of God, where the Philistine prefects reside. There, as you enter the town, you will encounter a band of prophets coming down from the shrine, preceded by lyres, timbrels, flutes, and harps, and they will be speaking in ecstasy. The spirit of the LORD will grip you, and you will speak in ecstasy along with them; you will become another man. And once these signs have happened to you, act when the occasion arises, for God is with you. After that, you are to go down to Gilgal ahead of me, and I will come down to you to present burnt offerings and offer sacrifices of well-being. Wait seven days until I come to you and instruct you what you are to do next.” As [Saul] turned around to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs were fulfilled that same day. And when they came there, to the Hill, he saw a band of prophets coming toward him. Thereupon the spirit of God gripped him, and he spoke in ecstasy among them. When all who knew him previously saw him speaking in ecstasy together with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What’s happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul too among the prophets?” But another person there spoke up and said, “And who are their fathers?” Thus the proverb arose: “Is Saul too among the prophets?” And when he stopped speaking in ecstasy, he entered the shrine. Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” “To look for the asses,” he replied. “And when we saw that they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” “Tell me,” said Saul’s uncle, “what did Samuel say to you?” Saul answered his uncle, “He just told us that the asses had been found.” But he did not tell him anything of what Samuel had said about the kingship. Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah and said to them, “Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ But today you have rejected your God who delivered you from all your troubles and calamities. For you said, ‘No, set up a king over us!’ Now station yourselves before the LORD, by your tribes and clans.” Samuel brought forward each of the tribes of Israel, and the lot indicated the tribe of Benjamin. Then Samuel brought forward the tribe of Benjamin by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was indicated; and then Saul son of Kish was indicated. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. They inquired of the LORD again, “Has anyone else come here?” And the LORD replied, “Yes; he is hiding among the baggage.” So they ran over and brought him from there; and when he took his place among the people, he stood a head taller than all the people. And Samuel said to the people, “Do you see the one whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people acclaimed him, shouting, “Long live the king!” Samuel expounded to the people the rules of the monarchy, and recorded them in a document which he deposited before the LORD. Samuel then sent the people back to their homes. Saul also went home to Gibeah, accompanied by upstanding men whose hearts God had touched. But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” So they scorned him and brought him no gift. But he pretended not to mind. Nahash the Ammonite marched up and besieged Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh-gilead said to Nahash, “Make a pact with us, and we will serve you.” But Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “I will make a pact with you on this condition, that everyone’s right eye be gouged out; I will make this a humiliation for all Israel.” The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite, so that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel; if no one comes to our aid, we will surrender to you.” When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and gave this report in the hearing of the people, all the people broke into weeping. Saul was just coming from the field driving the cattle; and Saul asked, “Why are the people crying?” And they told him about the situation of the men of Jabesh. When he heard these things, the spirit of God gripped Saul and his anger blazed up. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces, which he sent by messengers throughout the territory of Israel, with the warning, “Thus shall be done to the cattle of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” Terror from the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. [Saul] mustered them in Bezek, and the Israelites numbered 300,000, the men of Judah 30,000. The messengers who had come were told, “Thus shall you speak to the men of Jabesh-gilead: Tomorrow, when the sun grows hot, you shall be saved.” When the messengers came and told this to the men of Jabesh-gilead, they rejoiced. The men of Jabesh then told [the Ammonites], “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you please.” The next day, Saul divided the troops into three columns; at the morning watch they entered the camp and struck down the Ammonites until the day grew hot. The survivors scattered; no two were left together. The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it said, ‘Shall Saul be king over us?’ Hand the men over and we will put them to death!” But Saul replied, “No man shall be put to death this day! For this day the LORD has brought victory to Israel.” Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there inaugurate the monarchy.” So all the people went to Gilgal, and there at Gilgal they declared Saul king before the LORD. They offered sacrifices of well-being there before the LORD; and Saul and all the men of Israel held a great celebration there. Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have yielded to you in all you have asked of me and have set a king over you. Henceforth the king will be your leader. “As for me, I have grown old and gray—but my sons are still with you—and I have been your leader from my youth to this day. Here I am! Testify against me, in the presence of the LORD and in the presence of His anointed one: Whose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I robbed? From whom have I taken a bribe to look the other way? I will return it to you.” They responded, “You have not defrauded us, and you have not robbed us, and you have taken nothing from anyone.” He said to them, “The LORD then is witness, and His anointed is witness, to your admission this day that you have found nothing in my possession.” They responded, “He is!” Samuel said to the people, “The LORD [is witness], He who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt. Come, stand before the LORD while I cite against you all the kindnesses that the LORD has done to you and your fathers. “When Jacob came to Egypt,…your fathers cried out to the LORD, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the LORD their God; so He delivered them into the hands of Sisera the military commander of Hazor, into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab; and these made war upon them. They cried to the LORD, ‘We are guilty, for we have forsaken the LORD and worshiped the Baalim and Ashtaroth. Oh, deliver us from our enemies and we will serve You.’ And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the enemies around you; and you dwelt in security. But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reigning over us’—though the LORD your God is your King. “Well, the LORD has set a king over you! Here is the king that you have chosen, that you have asked for. “If you will revere the LORD, worship Him, and obey Him, and will not flout the LORD’s command, if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, [well and good]. But if you do not obey the LORD and you flout the LORD’s command, the hand of the LORD will strike you as it did your fathers. “Now stand by and see the marvelous thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. It is the season of the wheat harvest. I will pray to the LORD and He will send thunder and rain; then you will take thought and realize what a wicked thing you did in the sight of the LORD when you asked for a king.” Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel. The people all said to Samuel, “Intercede for your servants with the LORD your God that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins the wickedness of asking for a king.” But Samuel said to the people, “Have no fear. You have, indeed, done all those wicked things. Do not, however, turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn away to follow worthless things, which can neither profit nor save but are worthless. For the sake of His great name, the LORD will never abandon His people, seeing that the LORD undertook to make you His people. “As for me, far be it from me to sin against the LORD and refrain from praying for you; and I will continue to instruct you in the practice of what is good and right. Above all, you must revere the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; and consider how grandly He has dealt with you. For if you persist in your wrongdoing, both you and your king shall be swept away.” Saul was… years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel two years. Saul picked 3,000 Israelites, of whom 2,000 were with Saul in Michmas and in the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the rest of the troops he sent back to their homes. Jonathan struck down the Philistine prefect in Geba; and the Philistines heard about it. Saul had the ram’s horn sounded throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” When all Israel heard that Saul had struck down the Philistine prefect, and that Israel had incurred the wrath of the Philistines, all the people rallied to Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines, in turn, gathered to attack Israel: 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sands of the seashore. They marched up and encamped at Michmas, east of Beth-aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble—for the troops were hard pressed—the people hid in caves, among thorns, among rocks, in tunnels, and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan, [to] the territory of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and the rest of the people rallied to him in alarm. He waited seven days, the time that Samuel [had set]. But when Samuel failed to come to Gilgal, and the people began to scatter, Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the sacrifice of well-being”; and he presented the burnt offering. He had just finished presenting the burnt offering when Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and welcome him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “I saw the people leaving me and scattering; you had not come at the appointed time, and the Philistines had gathered at Michmas. I thought the Philistines would march down against me at Gilgal before I had entreated the LORD, so I forced myself to present the burnt offering.” Samuel answered Saul, “You acted foolishly in not keeping the commandments that the LORD your God laid upon you! Otherwise the LORD would have established your dynasty over Israel forever. But now your dynasty will not endure. The LORD will seek out a man after His own heart, and the LORD will appoint him ruler over His people, because you did not abide by what the LORD had commanded you.” Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the troops who remained with him—about 600 strong. Saul and his son Jonathan, and the troops who remained with them, stayed in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines were encamped at Michmas. The raiders came out of the Philistine camp in three columns: One column headed for the Ophrah road that leads to the district of Shual, another column headed for the Beth-horon road, and the third column headed for the border road that overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward the desert. No smith was to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines were afraid that the Hebrews would make swords or spears. So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, their mattocks, axes, and colters sharpened. The charge for sharpening was a pim for plowshares, mattocks, three-pronged forks, and axes, and for setting the goads. Thus on the day of the battle, no sword or spear was to be found in the possession of any of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and Jonathan had them. Now the Philistine garrison had marched out to the pass of Michmas.

For the leader; with instrumental music. A maskil of David. Give ear, O God, to my prayer; do not ignore my plea; pay heed to me and answer me. I am tossed about, complaining and moaning at the clamor of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they bring evil upon me and furiously harass me. My heart is convulsed within me; terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling invade me; I am clothed with horror. I said, “O that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and find rest; surely, I would flee far off; I would lodge in the wilderness;selah I would soon find me a refuge from the sweeping wind, from the tempest.” O Lord, confound their speech, confuse it! For I see lawlessness and strife in the city; day and night they make their rounds on its walls; evil and mischief are inside it. Malice is within it; fraud and deceit never leave its square. It is not an enemy who reviles me —I could bear that; it is not my foe who vaunts himself against me —I could hide from him; but it is you, my equal, my companion, my friend; sweet was our fellowship; we walked together in God’s house. Let Him incite death against them; may they go down alive into Sheol! For where they dwell, there evil is. As for me, I call to God; the LORD will deliver me. Evening, morning, and noon, I complain and moan, and He hears my voice. He redeems me unharmed from the battle against me; it is as though many are on my side. God who has reigned from the first, who will have no successor, hears and humbles those who have no fear of God.Selah. He harmed his ally, he broke his pact; his talk was smoother than butter, yet his mind was on war; his words were more soothing than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous man collapse. For You, O God, will bring them down to the nethermost Pit— those murderous, treacherous men; they shall not live out half their days; but I trust in You. For the leader; on yonath elem reḥokim. Of David. A michtam; when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Have mercy on me, O God, for men persecute me; all day long my adversary oppresses me. My watchful foes persecute me all day long; many are my adversaries, O Exalted One. When I am afraid, I trust in You, in God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can mortals do to me? All day long they cause me grief in my affairs, they plan only evil against me. They plot, they lie in ambush; they watch my every move, hoping for my death. Cast them out for their evil; subdue peoples in Your anger, O God. You keep count of my wanderings; put my tears into Your flask, into Your record. Then my enemies will retreat when I call on You; this I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can man do to me? I must pay my vows to You, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have saved me from death, my foot from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. For the leader; al tashḥeth. Of David. A michtam; when he fled from Saul into a cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for I seek refuge in You, I seek refuge in the shadow of Your wings, until danger passes. I call to God Most High, to God who is good to me. He will reach down from heaven and deliver me: God will send down His steadfast love; my persecutor reviles.Selah. As for me, I lie down among man-eating lions whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongue is a sharp sword. Exalt Yourself over the heavens, O God, let Your glory be over all the earth! They prepared a net for my feet to ensnare me; they dug a pit for me, but they fell into it.Selah. My heart is firm, O God; my heart is firm; I will sing, I will chant a hymn. Awake, O my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn. I will praise You among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing a hymn to You among the nations; for Your faithfulness is as high as heaven; Your steadfastness reaches to the sky. Exalt Yourself over the heavens, O God, let Your glory be over all the earth! For the leader; al tashḥeth. Of David. A michtam. O mighty ones, do you really decree what is just? Do you judge mankind with equity? In your minds you devise wrongdoing in the land; with your hands you deal out lawlessness. The wicked are defiant from birth; the liars go astray from the womb. Their venom is like that of a snake, a deaf viper that stops its ears so as not to hear the voice of charmers or the expert mutterer of spells. O God, smash their teeth in their mouth; shatter the fangs of lions, O LORD; let them melt, let them vanish like water; let Him aim His arrows that they be cut down; like a snail that melts away as it moves; like a woman’s stillbirth, may they never see the sun! Before the thorns grow into a bramble, may He whirl them away alive in fury. The righteous man will rejoice when he sees revenge; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Men will say, “There is, then, a reward for the righteous; there is, indeed, divine justice on earth.” For the leader; al tashḥeth. Of David. A michtam; when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to put him to death. Save me from my enemies, O my God; secure me against my assailants. Save me from evildoers; deliver me from murderers. For see, they lie in wait for me; fierce men plot against me for no offense of mine, for no transgression, O LORD; for no guilt of mine do they rush to array themselves against me. Look, rouse Yourself on my behalf! You, O LORD God of hosts, God of Israel, bestir Yourself to bring all nations to account; have no mercy on any treacherous villain. Selah. They come each evening growling like dogs, roaming the city. They rave with their mouths, sharp words are on their lips; [they think,] “Who hears?” But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You mock all the nations. O my strength, I wait for You; for God is my haven. My faithful God will come to aid me; God will let me gloat over my watchful foes. Do not kill them lest my people be unmindful; with Your power make wanderers of them; bring them low, O our shield, the Lord, because of their sinful mouths, the words on their lips. Let them be trapped by their pride, and by the imprecations and lies they utter. In Your fury put an end to them; put an end to them that they be no more; that it may be known to the ends of the earth that God does rule over Jacob.Selah. They come each evening growling like dogs, roaming the city. They wander in search of food; and whine if they are not satisfied. But I will sing of Your strength, extol each morning Your faithfulness; for You have been my haven, a refuge in time of trouble. O my strength, to You I sing hymns; for God is my haven, my faithful God. For the leader; on shushan eduth. A michtam of David (to be taught), when he fought with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom—[an army] of twelve thousand men—in the Valley of Salt. O God, You have rejected us, You have made a breach in us; You have been angry; restore us! You have made the land quake; You have torn it open. Mend its fissures, for it is collapsing. You have made Your people suffer hardship; You have given us wine that makes us reel. Give those who fear You because of Your truth a banner for rallying.Selah. That those whom You love might be rescued, deliver with Your right hand and answer me. God promised in His sanctuary that I would exultingly divide up Shechem, and measure the Valley of Sukkoth; Gilead and Manasseh would be mine, Ephraim my chief stronghold, Judah my scepter; Moab would be my washbasin; on Edom I would cast my shoe; acclaim me, O Philistia! Would that I were brought to the bastion! Would that I were led to Edom! But You have rejected us, O God; God, You do not march with our armies. Grant us Your aid against the foe, for the help of man is worthless. With God we shall triumph; He will trample our foes. For the leader; with instrumental music. Of David. Hear my cry, O God, heed my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You; when my heart is faint, You lead me to a rock that is high above me. For You have been my refuge, a tower of strength against the enemy. O that I might dwell in Your tent forever, take refuge under Your protecting wings. Selah. O God, You have heard my vows; grant the request of those who fear Your name. Add days to the days of the king; may his years extend through generations; may he dwell in God’s presence forever; appoint steadfast love to guard him. So I will sing hymns to Your name forever, as I fulfill my vows day after day. For the leader; on Jeduthun. A psalm of David. Truly my soul waits quietly for God; my deliverance comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and deliverance, my haven; I shall never be shaken. How long will all of you attack a man, to crush him, as though he were a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They lay plans to topple him from his rank; they delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, while inwardly they curse.Selah. Truly, wait quietly for God, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him. He is my rock and deliverance, my haven; I shall not be shaken. I rely on God, my deliverance and glory, my rock of strength; in God is my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is our refuge. Selah. Men are mere breath; mortals, illusion; placed on a scale all together, they weigh even less than a breath. Do not trust in violence, or put false hopes in robbery; if force bears fruit pay it no mind. One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard: that might belongs to God, and faithfulness is Yours, O Lord, to reward each man according to his deeds. A psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. God, You are my God; I search for You, my soul thirsts for You, my body yearns for You, as a parched and thirsty land that has no water. I shall behold You in the sanctuary, and see Your might and glory, Truly Your faithfulness is better than life; my lips declare Your praise. I bless You all my life; I lift up my hands, invoking Your name. I am sated as with a rich feast, I sing praises with joyful lips when I call You to mind upon my bed, when I think of You in the watches of the night; for You are my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I shout for joy. My soul is attached to You; Your right hand supports me. May those who seek to destroy my life enter the depths of the earth. May they be gutted by the sword; may they be prey to jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by Him shall exult, when the mouth of liars is stopped. For the leader. A psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, when I plead; guard my life from the enemy’s terror. Hide me from a band of evil men, from a crowd of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords; they aim their arrows—cruel words— to shoot from hiding at the blameless man; they shoot him suddenly and without fear. They arm themselves with an evil word; when they speak, it is to conceal traps; they think, “Who will see them?” Let the wrongdoings they have concealed, each one inside him, his secret thoughts, be wholly exposed. God shall shoot them with arrows; they shall be struck down suddenly. Their tongue shall be their downfall; all who see them shall recoil in horror; all men shall stand in awe; they shall proclaim the work of God and His deed which they perceived. The righteous shall rejoice in the LORD, and take refuge in Him; all the upright shall exult. For the leader. A psalm of David. A song. Praise befits You in Zion, O God; vows are paid to You; all mankind comes to You, You who hear prayer. When all manner of sins overwhelm me, it is You who forgive our iniquities. Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts; may we be sated with the blessings of Your house, Your holy temple. Answer us with victory through awesome deeds, O God, our deliverer, in whom all the ends of the earth and the distant seas put their trust; who by His power fixed the mountains firmly, who is girded with might, who stills the raging seas, the raging waves, and tumultuous peoples. Those who live at the ends of the earth are awed by Your signs; You make the lands of sunrise and sunset shout for joy. You take care of the earth and irrigate it; You enrich it greatly, with the channel of God full of water; You provide grain for men; for so do You prepare it. Saturating its furrows, leveling its ridges, You soften it with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your bounty; fatness is distilled in Your paths; the pasturelands distill it; the hills are girded with joy. The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys mantled with grain; they raise a shout, they break into song. For the leader. A song. A psalm. Raise a shout for God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name, make glorious His praise. Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds, Your enemies cower before Your great strength; all the earth bows to You, and sings hymns to You; all sing hymns to Your name.”Selah. Come and see the works of God, who is held in awe by men for His acts. He turned the sea into dry land; they crossed the river on foot; we therefore rejoice in Him. He rules forever in His might; His eyes scan the nations; let the rebellious not assert themselves.Selah. O peoples, bless our God, celebrate His praises; who has granted us life, and has not let our feet slip. You have tried us, O God, refining us, as one refines silver. You have caught us in a net, caught us in trammels. You have let men ride over us; we have endured fire and water, and You have brought us through to prosperity. I enter Your house with burnt offerings, I pay my vows to You, [vows] that my lips pronounced, that my mouth uttered in my distress. I offer up fatlings to You, with the odor of burning rams; I sacrifice bulls and he-goats.Selah. Come and hear, all God-fearing men, as I tell what He did for me. I called aloud to Him, glorification on my tongue. Had I an evil thought in my mind, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen; He paid heed to my prayer. Blessed is God who has not turned away my prayer, or His faithful care from me. For the leader; with instrumental music. A psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us; may He show us favor,selah that Your way be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. Peoples will praise You, O God; all peoples will praise You. Nations will exult and shout for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity, You guide the nations of the earth.Selah. The peoples will praise You, O God; all peoples will praise You. May the earth yield its produce; may God, our God, bless us. May God bless us, and be revered to the ends of the earth. For the leader. Of David. A psalm. A song. God will arise, His enemies shall be scattered, His foes shall flee before Him. Disperse them as smoke is dispersed; as wax melts at fire, so the wicked shall perish before God. But the righteous shall rejoice; they shall exult in the presence of God; they shall be exceedingly joyful. Sing to God, chant hymns to His name; extol Him who rides the clouds; the LORD is His name. Exult in His presence— the father of orphans, the champion of widows, God, in His holy habitation. God restores the lonely to their homes, sets free the imprisoned, safe and sound, while the rebellious must live in a parched land. O God, when You went at the head of Your army, when You marched through the desert, selah the earth trembled, the sky rained because of God, yon Sinai, because of God, the God of Israel. You released a bountiful rain, O God; when Your own land languished, You sustained it. Your tribe dwells there; O God, in Your goodness You provide for the needy. The Lord gives a command; the women who bring the news are a great host: “The kings and their armies are in headlong flight; housewives are sharing in the spoils; even for those of you who lie among the sheepfolds there are wings of a dove sheathed in silver, its pinions in fine gold.” When Shaddai scattered the kings, it seemed like a snowstorm in Zalmon. O majestic mountain, Mount Bashan; O jagged mountain, Mount Bashan; why so hostile, O jagged mountains, toward the mountain God desired as His dwelling? The LORD shall abide there forever. God’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness. You went up to the heights, having taken captives, having received tribute of men, even of those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there. Blessed is the Lord. Day by day He supports us, God, our deliverance. Selah. God is for us a God of deliverance; GOD the Lord provides an escape from death. God will smash the heads of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks about in his guilt. The Lord said, “I will retrieve from Bashan, I will retrieve from the depths of the sea; that your feet may wade through blood; that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.” Men see Your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king, into the sanctuary. First come singers, then musicians, amidst maidens playing timbrels. In assemblies bless God, the LORD, O you who are from the fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin who rules them, the princes of Judah who command them, the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali. Your God has ordained strength for you, the strength, O God, which You displayed for us from Your temple above Jerusalem. The kings bring You tribute. Blast the beast of the marsh, the herd of bulls among the peoples, the calves, till they come cringing with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in wars! Tribute-bearers shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten its gifts to God. O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; chant hymns to the Lord, selah to Him who rides the ancient highest heavens, who thunders forth with His mighty voice. Ascribe might to God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose might is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in Your holy places; it is the God of Israel who gives might and power to the people. Blessed is God. For the leader. On shoshannim. Of David. Deliver me, O God, for the waters have reached my neck; I am sinking into the slimy deep and find no foothold; I have come into the watery depths; the flood sweeps me away. I am weary with calling; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for God. More numerous than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without reason; many are those who would destroy me, my treacherous enemies. Must I restore what I have not stolen? God, You know my folly; my guilty deeds are not hidden from You. Let those who look to You, O Lord, God of hosts, not be disappointed on my account; let those who seek You, O God of Israel, not be shamed because of me. It is for Your sake that I have been reviled, that shame covers my face; I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my kin. My zeal for Your house has been my undoing; the reproaches of those who revile You have fallen upon me. When I wept and fasted, I was reviled for it. I made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword among them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me; I am the taunt of drunkards. As for me, may my prayer come to You, O LORD, at a favorable moment; O God, in Your abundant faithfulness, answer me with Your sure deliverance. Rescue me from the mire; let me not sink; let me be rescued from my enemies, and from the watery depths. Let the floodwaters not sweep me away; let the deep not swallow me; let the mouth of the Pit not close over me. Answer me, O LORD, according to Your great steadfastness; in accordance with Your abundant mercy turn to me; do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly. Come near to me and redeem me; free me from my enemies. You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace; You are aware of all my foes. Reproach breaks my heart, I am in despair; I hope for consolation, but there is none, for comforters, but find none. They give me gall for food, vinegar to quench my thirst. May their table be a trap for them, a snare for their allies. May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see; may their loins collapse continually. Pour out Your wrath on them; may Your blazing anger overtake them; may their encampments be desolate; may their tents stand empty. For they persecute those You have struck; they talk about the pain of those You have felled. Add that to their guilt; let them have no share of Your beneficence; may they be erased from the book of life, and not be inscribed with the righteous. But I am lowly and in pain; Your help, O God, keeps me safe. I will extol God’s name with song, and exalt Him with praise. That will please the LORD more than oxen, than bulls with horns and hooves. The lowly will see and rejoice; you who are mindful of God, take heart! For the LORD listens to the needy, and does not spurn His captives. Heaven and earth shall extol Him, the seas, and all that moves in them. For God will deliver Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; they shall live there and inherit it; the offspring of His servants shall possess it; those who cherish His name shall dwell there. For the leader. Of David. Lehazkir. Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, to aid me! Let those who seek my life be frustrated and disgraced; let those who wish me harm, fall back in shame. Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!” turn back because of their frustration. But let all who seek You be glad and rejoice in You; let those who are eager for Your deliverance always say, “Extolled be God!” But I am poor and needy; O God, hasten to me! You are my help and my rescuer; O LORD, do not delay. I seek refuge in You, O LORD; may I never be disappointed. As You are beneficent, save me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me and deliver me. Be a sheltering rock for me to which I may always repair; decree my deliverance, for You are my rock and my fortress. My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and the lawless. For You are my hope, O Lord GOD, my trust from my youth. While yet unborn, I depended on You; in the womb of my mother, You were my support; I sing Your praises always. I have become an example for many, since You are my mighty refuge. My mouth is full of praise to You, glorifying You all day long. Do not cast me off in old age; when my strength fails, do not forsake me! For my enemies talk against me; those who wait for me are of one mind, saying, “God has forsaken him; chase him and catch him, for no one will save him!” O God, be not far from me; my God, hasten to my aid! Let my accusers perish in frustration; let those who seek my ruin be clothed in reproach and disgrace! As for me, I will hope always, and add to the many praises of You. My mouth tells of Your beneficence, of Your deliverance all day long, though I know not how to tell it. I come with praise of Your mighty acts, O Lord GOD; I celebrate Your beneficence, Yours alone. You have let me experience it, God, from my youth; until now I have proclaimed Your wondrous deeds, and even in hoary old age do not forsake me, God, until I proclaim Your strength to the next generation, Your mighty acts, to all who are to come, Your beneficence, high as the heavens, O God, You who have done great things; O God, who is Your peer! You who have made me undergo many troubles and misfortunes will revive me again, and raise me up from the depths of the earth. You will grant me much greatness, You will turn and comfort me. Then I will acclaim You to the music of the lyre for Your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing a hymn to You with a harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall be jubilant, as I sing a hymn to You, my whole being, which You have redeemed. All day long my tongue shall recite Your beneficent acts, how those who sought my ruin were frustrated and disgraced. Of Solomon. O God, endow the king with Your judgments, the king’s son with Your righteousness; that he may judge Your people rightly, Your lowly ones, justly. Let the mountains produce well-being for the people, the hills, the reward of justice. Let him champion the lowly among the people, deliver the needy folk, and crush those who wrong them. Let them fear You as long as the sun shines, while the moon lasts, generations on end. Let him be like rain that falls on a mown field, like a downpour of rain on the ground, that the righteous may flourish in his time, and well-being abound, till the moon is no more. Let him rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. Let desert-dwellers kneel before him, and his enemies lick the dust. Let kings of Tarshish and the islands pay tribute, kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. Let all kings bow to him, and all nations serve him. For he saves the needy who cry out, the lowly who have no helper. He cares about the poor and the needy; He brings the needy deliverance. He redeems them from fraud and lawlessness; the shedding of their blood weighs heavily upon him. So let him live, and receive gold of Sheba; let prayers for him be said always, blessings on him invoked at all times. Let abundant grain be in the land, to the tops of the mountains; let his crops thrive like the forest of Lebanon; and let men sprout up in towns like country grass. May his name be eternal; while the sun lasts, may his name endure; let men invoke his blessedness upon themselves; let all nations count him happy. Blessed is the LORD God, God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things; Blessed is His glorious name forever; His glory fills the whole world. Amen and Amen. End of the prayers of David son of Jesse. A psalm of Asaph. God is truly good to Israel, to those whose heart is pure. As for me, my feet had almost strayed, my steps were nearly led off course, for I envied the wanton; I saw the wicked at ease. Death has no pangs for them; their body is healthy. They have no part in the travail of men; they are not afflicted like the rest of mankind. So pride adorns their necks, lawlessness enwraps them as a mantle. Fat shuts out their eyes; their fancies are extravagant. They scoff and plan evil; from their eminence they plan wrongdoing. They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth. So they pound His people again and again, until they are drained of their very last tear. Then they say, “How could God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” Such are the wicked; ever tranquil, they amass wealth. It was for nothing that I kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence, seeing that I have been constantly afflicted, that each morning brings new punishments. Had I decided to say these things, I should have been false to the circle of Your disciples. So I applied myself to understand this, but it seemed a hopeless task till I entered God’s sanctuary and reflected on their fate. You surround them with flattery; You make them fall through blandishments. How suddenly are they ruined, wholly swept away by terrors. When You are aroused You despise their image, as one does a dream after waking, O Lord. My mind was stripped of its reason, my feelings were numbed. I was a dolt, without knowledge; I was brutish toward You. Yet I was always with You, You held my right hand; You guided me by Your counsel and led me toward honor. Whom else have I in heaven? And having You, I want no one on earth. My body and mind fail; but God is the stay of my mind, my portion forever. Those who keep far from You perish; You annihilate all who are untrue to You. As for me, nearness to God is good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may recount all Your works. A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, do You forever reject us, do You fume in anger at the flock that You tend? Remember the community You made Yours long ago, Your very own tribe that You redeemed, Mount Zion, where You dwell. Bestir Yourself because of the perpetual tumult, all the outrages of the enemy in the sanctuary. Your foes roar inside Your meeting-place; they take their signs for true signs. It is like men wielding axes against a gnarled tree; with hatchet and pike they hacked away at its carved work. They made Your sanctuary go up in flames; they brought low in dishonor the dwelling-place of Your presence. They resolved, “Let us destroy them altogether!” They burned all God’s tabernacles in the land. No signs appear for us; there is no longer any prophet; no one among us knows for how long. Till when, O God, will the foe blaspheme, will the enemy forever revile Your name? Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom! O God, my King from of old, who brings deliverance throughout the land; it was You who drove back the sea with Your might, who smashed the heads of the monsters in the waters; it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan, who left him as food for the denizens of the desert; it was You who released springs and torrents, who made mighty rivers run dry; the day is Yours, the night also; it was You who set in place the orb of the sun; You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter—You made them. Be mindful of how the enemy blasphemes the LORD, how base people revile Your name. Do not deliver Your dove to the wild beast; do not ignore forever the band of Your lowly ones. Look to the covenant! For the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of lawlessness. Let not the downtrodden turn away disappointed; let the poor and needy praise Your name. Rise, O God, champion Your cause; be mindful that You are blasphemed by base men all day long. Do not ignore the shouts of Your foes, the din of Your adversaries that ascends all the time.

A virgin is married on the fourth day [of the week] and a widow on the fifth day, for twice in the week the courts sit in the towns, on the second day [of the week] and on the fifth day, so that if he [the husband] had a claim as to the virginity [of the bride] he could go early [on the morning of the fifth day of the week] to the court. A virgin her kethubah is two hundred [zuz], and a widow a maneh (100. A virgin, who is a widow, [or] divorced, or a halutzah from betrothal her kethubah is two hundred [zuz], and there is upon her a claim of non-virginity. A female proselyte, a woman captive, and a woman slave, who have been redeemed, converted, or freed [when they were] less than three years and one day old their kethubah is two hundred [zuz] there is upon them a claim of non-virginity. When an adult has had sexual intercourse with a young girl, or when a small boy has had intercourse with an adult woman, or a girl who was injured by a piece of wood [in all these cases] their kethubah is two hundred [zuz], the words of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say: a girl who was injured by a piece of wood her kethubah is a maneh. A virgin, who was a widow, a divorcee, or a halutzah from marriage her kethubah is a maneh, and there is no claim of non-virginity upon her. A female proselyte, a woman captive and a woman slave, who have been redeemed, converted, or freed [when they were] more than three years and one day old their kethubah is a maneh, and there is no claim of non-virginity upon her. He who eats with his father-in-law in Judea without the presence of witnesses cannot raise a claim of non-virginity against his wife because he has been alone with her. It is the same whether [the woman is] an Israelite widow or a priestly widow her kethubah is a maneh. The court of the priests collected for a virgin four hundred zuz, and the sages did not protest. If a man marries a woman and does not find her to be a virgin: She says, “After you betrothed me I was raped, and so your field has been washed away” And he says, “No, rather [it occurred] before I betrothed you and my acquisition was a mistaken acquisition” Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Eliezer say: she is believed. Rabbi Joshua says: We do not live by her mouth, rather she is in the presumption of having had intercourse before she was betrothed and having deceived him, until she brings proof for her statement. She says, “I was struck by a piece of wood”, And he says, “No, you, rather you have been trampled by a man” Rabban gamaliel and Rabbi Eliezer say: she is believed, And Rabbi Joshua says: We do not live by her mouth, rather she is in the presumption of having been trampled by a man, until she brings proof for her statement. They saw her talking with someone in the marketplace, and they said to her, “What sort of a man is he?” [And she answered, “He is] the so-and-so and he is a priest” Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Eliezer say: she is believed, And Rabbi Joshua says: we do not live by her mouth, rather she is in the presumption of having had relations with a natin or a mamzer, until she brings proof for her statement. She was pregnant and they said to her, “What is the nature of this fetus?’ [And she answered, “It is] from so-and-so and he is a priest.” Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Eliezer say: she is believed, And Rabbi Joshua says: we do not live by her mouth, rather she is in the presumption of having had relations with a natin or a mamzer, until she brings proof for her statement. Rabbi Yose said: it happened that a young girl went down to draw water from a spring and she was raped. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri said: if most of the inhabitants of the town marry [their daughters] into the priesthood, this [girl] may [also] marry into the priesthood. A woman became a widow or was divorced. She says, “I was a virgin when you married me” and he says, “Not so, rather you were a widow when I married you”, If there are witnesses that she went out with a hinuma, and with her head uncovered, her ketubah is two hundred [zuz.] Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka says: the distribution of roasted ears of corn is also evidence. And Rabbi Joshua admits that, if one says to his fellow, “This field belonged to your father and I bought it from him”, he is believed, for the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permitted. But if there are witnesses that it belonged to his father and he says, “I bought it from him”, he is not believed. If witnesses said, “This is our handwriting, but we were forced, [or] we were minors, [or] we were disqualified witnesses” they are believed. But if there are witnesses that it is their handwriting, or their handwriting comes out from another place, they are not believed. [If] one witness says, “This is my handwriting and that is the handwriting of my fellow”, and the other [witness] says, “This is my handwriting and that is the handwriting of my fellow”, they are believed. [If] one says, “This is my handwriting” and the other says, “This is my handwriting” they must join to themselves another [person], the words of Rabbi [Judah Hanasi]. But the Sages say: they need not join to themselves another [person], rather a person is believed to say, “this is my handwriting. If a woman says, “I was married and I am divorced”, she is believed, for the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permitted. But if there are witnesses that she was married, and she says, “I am divorced”, she is not believed. If she says, “I was taken captive but I have remained clean”, she is believed, for the mouth that forbade is the mouth that permitted. But if there are witnesses that she was taken captive and she says, “I have remained clean” she is not believed. But if the witnesses came after she had married, she shall not go out. Two women were taken captive: one says, “I was taken captive and I am pure”, and the other one says, “I was taken captive and I am pure”-- they are not believed. But when they testify regarding one another, they are believed. And likewise two men, [if] one says, “I am a priest”, and the other says, “I am a priest”, they are not believed. But when they testify about one another, they are believed. Rabbi Judah says: one does not raise [a person] to the priesthood through the testimony of one witness. Rabbi Elazar says: When is this true? When there are people who object; but when there are no people who object, one raises [a person] to the priesthood through the testimony of one witness. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says in the name of Rabbi Shimon the son of the assistant chief of priests: one raises [a person] to the priesthood through the testimony of one witness. A woman was imprisoned by non-Jews: if for the sake of money, she is permitted to her husband, and if in order to take her life, she is forbidden to her husband. A town that has been conquered by siege-troops: all the priests’ wives who are in it are prohibited [from their husbands]. If they have witnesses, even a slave, even a female slave, they are believed. However, no one is believed as to himself. Rabbi Zechariah ben Ha-katzav said: “By this temple! Her hand did not move out of my hand from the time that the non-Jews entered Jerusalem until they departed.” They said to him: “No one may testify concerning himself.” The following are believed to testifying when they are grown-up about what they saw when they were minors:A person is believed to say “This is the handwriting of my father”, “This is the handwriting of my teacher”, “This is the handwriting of my brother”; “I remember that that woman went out with a hinuma and an uncovered head”; “That that man used to go out from school to immerse in order to eat terumah”; “That he used to take a share with us at the threshing floor”; “That this place was a bet ha-peras”; “That up to here we used to go on Shabbat”; But a man is not believed when he says: “So-and-so had a path in this place”; “That man had a place of standing up and eulogy in this place”. These are girls to whom the fine is due:If one had intercourse with a mamzeret, a netinah, a Samaritan; Or with a convert, a captive, or a slave-woman, who was redeemed, converted, or freed [when she was] under the age of three years and one day. If one had intercourse with his sister, with the sister of his father, with the sister of his mother, with the sister of his wife, with the wife of his brother, with the wife of the brother of his father, or with a woman during menstruation, he has to pay the fine, [for] although these are punishable through kareth, there is not, with regard to them, a death [penalty inflicted] by the court. And in the following cases there is no fine:If a man had intercourse with a female convert, a female captive or a slave-woman, who was redeemed, converted or freed after the age of three years and a day. Rabbi Judah says: a female captive who was redeemed is considered to be in her state of holiness (a virgin) even if she is of majority age. A man who had intercourse with his daughter, his daughter's daughter, his son's daughter, his wife's daughter, her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter does not pay the fine, because he forfeits his life, for his death is in the hands of the court, and he who forfeits his life pays no monetary fine for it is said, “And yet no other damage ensues he shall be fined” (Exodus 21:2. A girl who was betrothed and then divorced Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: she does not receive a fine. Rabbi Akiva says: she receives the fine and the fine belongs to her. The seducer pays three forms [of compensation] and the rapist four. The seducer pays compensation for embarrassment and blemish and the fine; The rapist pays an additional [form of compensation] in that he pays for the pain. What [is the difference] between [the penalties of] a seducer and those of a rapist? The rapist pays compensation for the pain but the seducer does not pay compensation for the pain. The rapist pays immediately but the seducer [pays only] if he dismisses her. The rapist must “drink out of his pot” but the seducer may dismiss [the girl] if he wishes. What is meant by “he must drink out of his pot”?Even if she is lame, even if she is blind and even if she is afflicted with boils [he may not dismiss her]. If she was found to have committed a licentious act or was unfit to marry an Israelite he may not continue to live with her, for it is said, “And she shall be for him a wife”(Deut. 22:29) a wife that is fit for him. An orphan who was betrothed and then divorced Rabbi Elazar says that one who seduces her is exempt but one who rapes her is liable [to pay the fine]. How is [the compensation that is paid for] embarrassment [reckoned]? It all depends on the status of the offender and the offended. How is [the compensation that is paid for] blemish [reckoned]? She is regarded as if she were a slave to be sold in the market place [and it is estimated] how much she was worth then and how much she is worth now. The fine is the same for all. And any sum that is fixed in the Torah remains the same for all. Wherever there is the right of sale there is a fine and wherever there is a fine there is no right of sale. In the case of a minor there is the right of sale and there is no fine; In the case of a young woman there is a fine but no right of sale. In the case of a girl who has reached majority age there is no right of sale and there is no fine. He who declares, “I seduced the daughter of so-and-so” must pay compensation for embarrassment and blemish on his own admission but need not pay the fine. He who declares, “I have stolen” must make restitution for the principal on his own evidence but need not repay double, fourfold or fivefold. [He who declares,] “My ox has killed so-and-so” or “the ox of so-and-so” must make restitution on his own evidence. [If he said] “My ox has killed the slave of so-and-so” he need not make restitution on his own evidence. This is the general rule: whoever pays more than the actual cost of the damage he has done need not pay it on his own evidence. If a young girl was seduced [the compensation for] her embarrassment and blemish and the fine belong to her father; [and the compensation for] pain in the case of one who was raped. If the girl’s case was tried before her father died [all the forms of compensation] are her father’s. If her father [subsequently] died they are her brothers’. If her father died before her case was tried they are hers. If her case was tried before she became of majority age [all forms of compensation] are her father’s. If her father [subsequently] died they are her brothers’. If she became of majority age before her case was tried they are hers. Rabbi Shimon says if her father died before she could collect [the payments] they belong to her. Her handiwork and anything she finds, even if she had not collected [the proceeds] belong to her brothers if her father died. If a man gave his daughter in betrothal and she was divorced, [and then] he gave her [again] in betrothal and she was widowed, her ketubah belongs to him. If he gave her in marriage and she was divorced [and then] he gave her [again] in marriage and she was left a widow, her ketubah belongs to her. Rabbi Judah said: the first belongs to her father. They said to him: as soon as he gives her in marriage, her father loses all control over her. The daughter of a convert who converted together with her mother and then committed an act of fornication is subject to the penalty of strangulation. She is not [stoned] at the door of her father’s house nor [does her husband pay the] hundred sela’. If she was conceived in unholiness but her birth was in holiness she is subject to the penalty of stoning. She is not [stoned] at the door of her father’s house nor [does her husband pay the] hundred sela’. If she was both conceived and born in holiness she is regarded as a daughter of Israel in all respects. A girl who has a father but no door of her father’s house; or a door of her father’s house but no father, is subject to the penalty of stoning [the verse did not state] “the opening of her father’s house” (Deut. 22:21) except as a precept. A father has authority over his daughter in her betrothal [whether it was effected] by money, document or intercourse. He is entitled to anything she finds, to her handiwork and to annul her vows. He receives her get but he has no usufruct [from her property] during her lifetime. When she marries, the husband surpasses him [in his rights] in that he has usufruct during her lifetime. And he is obligated to feed her, to pay a ransom for her and to provide for her burial. Rabbi Judah says: even the poorest man in Israel must provide no less than two flutes and one lamenting woman. She remains in the domain of her father until she enters the domain of her husband [by going into the bridal chamber] at marriage. If her father delivered her to the agents of the husband she passes into the domain of her husband. If her father went with the husband’s agents or if the father’s agents went with the husband’s agents she remains in the domain of her father. If her father’s agents delivered her to the husband’s agents she passes into the domain of her husband. A father is not obligated to maintain his daughter. This exposition was made by Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah in front of the sages in the vineyard of Yavneh: “The sons shall inherit [their mother’s kethubah] and the daughters shall be maintained [out of their father’s estate” just as the sons do not inherit except after the death of their father, so the daughters are not maintained except after the death of their father. If he did not write a kethubah for her, a virgin still collects two hundred zuz and a widow one mane, because it is a condition laid down by court. If he assigned to her in writing a field that was worth one mane instead of the two hundred zuz and did not write for her, “All property that I possess is a lien for your ketubah”, he is liable [for the full amount] because it is a condition laid down by the court. If he did not write for her, “if you are taken captive I will ransom you and take you again as my wife”, or in the case of a priest’s wife, “I will restore you to your people”, he is liable [to carry out these obligations], because it is a condition laid down by court. If she was taken captive he is obligated to ransom her; And if he said, “Here is her get and her ketubah, let her ransom herself”, he is not allowed [to act accordingly]. If she was injured it is his duty to provide for her medical treatment; And if he said, “Here is her get and her ketubah, let her heal herself”, he is allowed [to act accordingly]. If he did not write for her, “The male children that will be born from our marriage shall inherit the money of your ketubah over and above their shares with their brothers”, he is nevertheless liable, because [this clause] is a condition laid down by the court. If he did not write for her, “the female children that I will have from you will dwell in my house and be maintained out of my estate until they are taken in marriage”, he is nevertheless liable, because [this clause] is a condition laid down by the court. If he did not write for her, “You shall live in my house and be maintained from my estate throughout the duration of your widowhood”, he is nevertheless liable, because [this clause] is a condition laid down by the court. Thus did the men of Jerusalem write. The men of Galilee wrote as did the men of Jerusalem. The men of Judea used to write: “Until the heirs wish to pay you your ketubah”. Therefore if the heirs wish to, they may pay her her ketubah and dismiss her. Although [the Sages] have said: a virgin collects two hundred and a widow one maneh, if he wishes to add, even a hundred maneh, he may do so.After betrothal [but before marriage], a virgin collects two hundred zuz and a widow only one maneh, for the man wrote her [the additional amount] in order to marry her. If she was widowed or divorced, either after betrothal or after marriage, she is entitled to collect the entire amount. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says: [a woman widowed or divorced] after marriage receives the entire amount; Rabbi Judah says: if he wishes he may write for a virgin a document for two hundred zuz and she writes “I have received from you a maneh”, or for a widow [he may write a document for] a maneh and she writes, “I have received from you fifty zuz”. Rabbi Meir says: Any man who gives a virgin less than two hundred zuz or a widow less than a maneh is engaging in licentious sex. A virgin is given twelve months from the [time her intended] husband claimed her, [in which] to prepare herself for marriage. Just as [such a period] is given to the woman, so is it given to the man to prepare himself. A widow is given thirty days. If the time has come and they were not married they are entitled to receive maintenance from the man’s estate and [if he is a priest] they may eat terumah. Rabbi Tarfon says: They give her [all of her food] in terumah. Rabbi Akiva says: One half unconsecrated food and one half terumah. A yavam [who is a priest] does not allow [his sister-in-law] to eat terumah. If she had spent six months waiting for her husband and six months waiting for the yavam, or even [if she spent] all of them waiting for her husband less one day waiting for the yavam, or all of them waiting for the yavam less one day waiting for her husband, she may not eat terumah. This [was the ruling according to] the first mishnah. The court that followed afterwards ruled: a woman may not eat terumah until she has entered the bridal chamber. If a man consecrated his wife’s handiwork, she continues to work and to consume [that which she makes]. [Concerning the] surplus: Rabbi Meir says: it is consecrated. Rabbi Yohanan Hasandlar says: it is unconsecrated. The following are the kinds of work which a woman must perform for her husband: Grinding, Baking, If she brought one slave-woman into the marriage she need not grind or bake or wash. Washing, Rabbi Eliezer says: even if she brought him a hundred slave-women he may compel her to work in wool; for idleness leads to unchastity. Cooking, Nursing her child, Preparing his bed, And working in wool. [If she brought] two slave-women, she need not cook or nurse her child. If three, she need not prepare his bed or work in wool. If four, she may lounge in an easy chair. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says: if a man forbade his wife under a vow to do any work he must divorce her and give her kethubah to her for idleness leads to insanity. A man forbade himself by vow from having intercourse with his wife: Beth Shammai says: two weeks; Beth Hillel says: one week. Students may go away to study Torah, without the permission [of their wives for a period of] thirty days; workers for one week. The times for conjugal duty prescribed in the torah are: For independent men, every day; For workers, twice a week; For donkey-drivers, once a week; For camel-drivers, once in thirty days; For sailors, once in six months. These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. If a wife rebels against her husband her ketubah is reduced by seven denarii a week. Rabbi Judah says: seven tropaics. How long does he continue to reduce? Until the amount of her ketubah. Rabbi Yose says: he may continue to reduce, and if she receives an inheritance he may collect from it. Similarly, if a husband rebels against his wife, an addition of three denarii a week is made to her ketubah. Rabbi Judah said: three tropaics. If a man provides for his wife through an agent, he must give her [every week] not less than two kavs of wheat or four kavs of barley. Rabbi Yose said: only Rabbi Ishmael, who lived near Edom, granted her a supply of barley. He must also give her half a kav of pulse and half a log of oil; and a kav of dried figs or a maneh of pressed figs, and if he has no [such fruit] he must supply her with a corresponding quantity of other fruit. He must also provide her with a bed, a mattress and a mat. He must also give her a hat for her head and a girdle for her loins; shoes, from festival to festival; and clothing worth fifty zuz every year. She is not to be given new [clothes] in the summer or worn-out clothes in the winter, but must be given clothes worth fifty zuz during the winter, and she wears them when they are worn-out during the summer; and the worn-out clothes remain her property. He must also give her [every week] a silver ma'ah for her [other] needs and she is to eat with him every Friday eve. If he does not give her a silver ma'ah for her other needs, her handiwork belongs to her. And what [is the quantity of work that] she must do for him? The weight of five sela’s of warp in Judea, which amounts to ten sela's in Galilee, or the weight of ten sela's of woof in Judea, which amounts to twenty sela's in Galilee. If she was nursing, her handiwork is reduced and her maintenance is increased. All this applies to a poor person in Israel, but in the case of a more respectable [husband] all is fixed according to his dignity. A wife’s find and her handiwork belong to her husband. And [concerning] her inheritance: He has the usufruct during her lifetime. [Any compensation for] an embarrassment or blemish [that may have been inflicted upon] her belongs to her. Rabbi Judah ben Batera says: [if the embarrassment or blemish was inflicted upon her] on a hidden place [on her body] she receives two-thirds while he receives one-third; if on an open place [on her body] he receives two-thirds and she receives one-third. His share is to be given to him immediately, but with hers land is to be bought and he enjoys the usufruct. If a man agreed to give a fixed sum of money to his son-in-law and his son-in-law died: the Sages say that he may say “I was willing to give to your brother but I am unwilling to give to you.” If a woman agreed to bring her husband one thousand denarii he must agree to give her a corresponding sum of fifteen maneh. As a corresponding sum for appraised goods, he agrees to give one-fifth less. [If a husband is requested to enter in his wife's ketubah] “goods assessed at one maneh”, and these are in fact worth a maneh, he only [must agree to] a maneh. [Otherwise, if he is requested to enter in the ketubah:] “goods assessed at a maneh”, his wife must give him thirty-one sela and a denar, and if “at four hundred”, she must give [him goods valued at] five hundred. Whatever a bridegroom agrees to give [his wife in her ketubah] he writes one fifth less [than the appraised value]. If a woman agreed to bring him cash, every sela’ counts as six denarii. The bridegroom must accept upon himself [to give his wife] ten denarii for her [perfume] basket for call maneh [which she brings as dowry]. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel said: in all matters the local usage shall be followed. If a man gives his daughter in marriage without specifying any conditions, he must give her not less than fifty zuz. If [the father] cut a deal [with the husband] that he would take her naked [i.e. without a dowry], the husband may not say “When I have taken her into my house I shall clothe her with clothes of my own”, rather he must provide her with clothing while she is still in her father’s house. Similarly if an orphan is given in marriage she must be given not less than fifty zuz. If [charity] funds are available she is to be provided in accordance with the dignity of her position. If an orphan was given in marriage by her mother or her brothers with her consent and they gave her a dowry of a hundred, or fifty zuz, she may, when she reaches majority age, legally claim from them the amount that was due to her. Rabbi Judah says: if the father had given his first daughter in marriage, the second must receive as much as the first. The Sages say: sometimes a man is poor and becomes rich or rich and becomes poor. Rather the estate should evaluated and [the appropriate amount] given to her. If a man deposited a sum of money with an agent for his daugher, and [after she was betrothed] she says, “I trust my husband”, the trustee must act in accordance with the condition of his trust, the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yose says: were [the trust] a field and she wished to sell it, it would be as if it was sold immediately! To whom does this apply? To [a daughter] who has reached majority age, but in the case of a minor, there is no validity at all to the act of a minor. If a man forbade his wife by vow to have any benefit from him, for thirty days, he may appoint a provider, but if for a longer period he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. Rabbi Judah ruled: if he was an Israelite he may keep her [as his wife, if the vow was] for one month, but must divorce her and give her the ketubah [if it was for] two months. If he was a priest he may keep her [as his wife, if the vow was] for two months, but must divorce her and give her the ketubah [if it was for] three. If a man forbade his wife by vow from tasting any kind of produce he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. Rabbi Judah ruled: if he was an Israelite he may keep her [as his wife, if the vow was] for one day, but must divorce her and give her the ketubah [if it was for] two days. If he was a priest he may keep her [as his wife, if the vow was] for two days, but must divorce her and give her the ketubah [if it was for] three. If a man forbade his wife by vow that she should not adorn herself with any type of adornment he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. Rabbi Yose says: [this refers] to poor women if no time limit is given, and to rich women [if the time limit is] thirty days. If a man forbade his wife by vow that she may not go to her father’s house: --When the father lives with her in the same town, the husband may retain [her as his wife, if the prohibition was for] one month; but if for two months he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. --When the father lives in another town, the husband may retain [her as his wife, if the prohibition was for] one festival, but if for three festivals, he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. If a man forbade his wife by vow from visiting a house of mourning or a house of feasting, he must divorce her and give her the ketubah, because he has closed [peoples doors] against her. If he claims [that his vow] was due to some other cause he is permitted [to forbid her]. If he said to her: “[There shall be no prohibition] provided you tell so-and-so what you have told me” or “what I have told you” or “that you will fill and pour out in the garbage”, he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. These leave [their marriage] without their ketubah: A wife who transgresses the law of Moses or Jewish law. And what is the law of Moses? Feeding her husband with untithed food, having intercourse with him while in the period of her menstruation, not separating dough offering, or making vows and not fulfilling them. And what is Jewish practice? Going out with her head uncovered, spinning wool in the marketplace or conversing with every man. Abba Shaul says: also one who curses her husband’s parents in his presence. Rabbi Tarfon says: also one who has a loud voice. And who is regarded as one who has a loud voice? A woman whose voice can be heard by her neighbors when she speaks inside her house. If a man betrothed a woman on condition that she was under no vows and she was found to be under vows, she is not betrothed. If he married her without making any conditions and she was found to be under vows, she leaves without her ketubah. [If a woman was betrothed] on condition that she has no bodily defects, and she was found to have defects, she is not betrothed. If he married her without making any conditions and she was found to have defects, she leaves without her ketubah. All defects which disqualify priests also disqualify women. If she had bodily defects while she was still in her father’s house, her father must produce proof that these defects arose after she had been betrothed and that [consequently] it was the husband’s field that was flooded. If she was brought into her husband’s domain, [and the defects were discovered there] the husband must produce proof that these defects existed before she had been betrothed and [that consequently] his bargain was made in error the words of Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: To what does this apply? Only to concealed defects; but with regard to defects that are exposed he cannot make any claim. And if there was a bath-house in the town he cannot make any claim even about concealed defects, because he [is assumed to have had her] examined by his female relatives. A man in whom defects have arisen [after marriage] cannot be forced to divorce [his wife]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: To what does this apply: to minor defects, but with regard to major defects he can be forced to divorce her. These are the ones who are forced to divorce [their wives]: one who is afflicted with boils, one who has a polypus, a gatherer [of dog feces for the treatment of hides], a coppersmith or a tanner whether they were [in such a condition] before they married or whether they arose after they had married. And concerning all these Rabbi Meir said: although the man made a condition with her [that she accept him despite these defects] she may nevertheless say, “I thought I could accept him, but now I cannot accept him.” The Sages say: she must accept [such a person] against her will, the only exception being a man afflicted with boils, because she [by her intercourse] will enervate him. It once happened at Sidon that a tanner died, and he had a brother who was also a tanner. The Sages said: she may say, “I was able to accept your brother but I cannot accept you.” If a woman came into the possession of property before she was betrothed, Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel agree that she may sell it or give it away and her act is legally valid. If she came into the possession of property after she was betrothed, Bet Shammai says: she may sell it, and Beth Hillel says: she may not sell it. Both agree that if she had sold it or given it away her act is legally valid. Rabbi Judah said: they argued before Rabban Gamaliel, “Since the man acquires the woman does he not also acquire her property?” If she came into the possession of property after she was married, both agree that, even if she had sold it or given it away, the husband may seize it from the buyers. [If she came into possession] before she married and then she married, Rabban Gamaliel says: if she sold it or gave it away her act is legally valid. Rabbi Hanina ben Akavya said: they argued before Rabban Gamaliel, “Since the man acquires the woman does he not also gain acquires her property?” He replied, “We are embarrassed with regard to her new possessions and you wish to roll over on us her old ones as well?” Rabbi Shimon distinguishes between one kind of property and another: Property that is known to the husband [the wife] may not sell, and if she has sold it or given it away her act is void; [Property] which is unknown to the husband she may not sell, but if she has sold it or given it away her act is legally valid. [If a married woman] came into the possession of money, land should be bought with the money and the husband is entitled to the usufruct. [If she came into the possession of] produce that was detached from the ground, land should be bought and the husband is entitled to the usufruct. [If it was] produce attached to the ground Rabbi Meir says, the land is to be valued as to how much it is worth with the produce and how much without the produce, and with the difference land should be bought and the husband is entitled to the usufruct. The Sages say: produce attached to the ground belongs to the husband and produced detached from it belongs to the wife; [with the proceeds from the latter] land should be bought and the husband is entitled to the usufruct. Rabbi Shimon says: In respect to that in which the husband is at an advantage when he marries his wife he is at a disadvantage when he divorces her and in respect to that in which he is at a disadvantage when he marries her he is at an advantage when he divorces her. Produce which is attached to the ground is the husband’s when he marries his wife and hers when he divorces her, Produce that is detached from the ground is hers when she marries but the husband’s when she is divorced. If she inherited old slaves or female slaves, they are to be sold, and land purchased with the proceeds, and the husband can enjoy the usufruct. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: she need not sell them, because they are the glory of her father’s house. If she inherited old olive-trees or vines they must be sold, and land purchased with the proceeds, and the husband can enjoy the usufruct. Rabbi Judah says: she need not sell them, because they are the glory of her paternal house. He who spent money in connection with his wife’s property, whether he spent much and consumed little, [or spent] little and consumed much, what he has spent he has spent, and what he has consumed he has consumed. If he spent but did not consume he may take an oath as to how much he has spent and receive compensation. If a woman awaiting yibbum came into possession of money: Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel agree that she may sell it or give it away, and that her act is legally valid. If she dies, what shall be done with her ketubah and with property that comes in and goes out with her? Beth Shammai says: the heirs of her husband are to share it with the heirs of her father; Beth Hillel says: the property is to remain with those in whose possession it is, the ketubah is to remain in the possession of the heirs of the husband and the property which comes in and goes out with her remains in the possession of the heirs of her father. If his brother left money, land shall be bought with it and he enjoys the usufruct.Rabbi Meir says, the land is to be valued as to how much it is worth with the produce and how much without the produce, and with the difference land should be bought and the husband is entitled to the usufruct. [If the his brother left] produce that was detached from the ground, land shall be bought [out of the proceeds] and he enjoys the usufruct.The Sages say: produce attached to the ground belongs to the husband but that which is detached from the ground belongs to the first person who takes it: [If it was] produce attached to the ground: If he [seized it] first he acquires ownership; and if she [seized it] first land shall be bought with it and he enjoys the usufruct. If he married her she is his wife in every respect save that her ketubah remains a debt on her first husband’s estate. He cannot say to her, “Behold your ketubah lies on the table’, rather all of his property has on it a lien from her kethubah. So too, a man may not say to his wife, behold your ketubah lies on the table, but all of his property has on it a lien from her ketubah. If he divorced her she is entitled only to her ketubah. If he remarried her she is like all other wives, and is entitled only to her ketubah. If a husband writes to his wife, “I have no claim whatsoever upon your property”, he may enjoy its usufruct during her lifetime and, when she dies, he is her heir. If so, why might he have written to her, “I have no claim whatsoever upon your property”?That if she sold it or gave it away her act is valid. If he wrote, “I have no claim whatsoever upon your property and upon their produce”, he may not enjoy their usufruct during her lifetime but, when she dies, he inherits her. Rabbi Judah says: he may in all cases enjoy the usufruct from the usufruct unless he wrote to her: “I have no claim whatsoever upon your property and upon its produce and the produce of its produce and so on without end.” If he wrote, “I have no claim whatsoever upon your property, its produce and the produce of its produce during your lifetime and after your death”, he may neither enjoy it produce during her lifetime nor does he inherit her when she dies. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: when she dies he inherits her because [by his declaration] he is making a condition which is contrary to what is written in the Torah and whenever a man makes a condition which is contrary to what is written in the Torah, his condition is null and void. A man died and left a wife, a creditor, and heirs and he also had a deposit or a loan in the possession of others: Rabbi Tarfon says: It shall be given to the one who is under the greatest disadvantage. Rabbi Akiva says: We do not show mercy in a matter of law. Rather it shall be given to the heirs, for whereas all the others must take an oath the heirs need not take any oath. If he left produce that was detached from the ground, whoever seizes it first acquires possession. If the wife took possession of more than the amount of her ketubah, or a creditor of more than the value of his debt, the balance: Rabbi Tarfon says: it should be given to the one who is under the greatest disadvantage. Rabbi Akiva says: we do not show mercy in a matter of law. Rather it shall be given to the heirs, for whereas all the others must take an oath the heirs need not take any oath. If a husband set up his wife as a shopkeeper or appointed her guardian he may impose upon her an oath whenever he wants. Rabbi Eliezer said: even in respect of her spindle and her dough. If he (the husband) wrote to her (his wife), “I have no claim upon you for either a vow or an oath”, he cannot make her swear an oath. However, he may make her heirs and upon those who have done business with her swear an oath. [If he wrote,] “I have no claim upon you for either a vow or an oath nor upon your heirs nor upon those who have done business with you”, he may not impose an oath either upon her or upon her heirs or upon those who have done business with you. However his heirs may impose an oath upon her or upon her heirs or upon those who have done business with her. [If he wrote] “Neither I nor my heirs nor those who have done business with me shall have any claim upon you or upon your heirs or upon those who have done business with you for either a vow or an oath”, neither he nor his heirs nor those who have done business with him may impose an oath either upon her or upon her heirs or upon those who have done business with her. If she went from her husband’s grave to her father’s house, or returned to her father-in-law’s house but was not made a guardian, the heirs may not make her swear an oath. But if she was made a guardian the heirs may make her swear an oath in respect of [her administration] during the subsequent period but not in respect of the past. A woman who impairs her kethubah is not paid except by an oath. If one witness testifies against her that [her kethubah] has been paid, she is not be paid except by an oath. From the property of orphans, from property with a lien on it and [from the property of] an husband who is not present she is not paid except by an oath. “A woman who impairs her kethubah”: How is this so? If her ketubah was for a thousand zuz and [her husband] said to her, “You have already received your kethubah”, and she says, “I received only a maneh”, she is not paid [the balance] except by an oath. “If one witness testifies against her that [her kethubah] has been paid”: How is this so? If her ketubah was for a thousand zuz and [her husband] said to her, “You have already received your ketubah”, and she says, “I have not received it” and one witness testifies against her that [the ketubah] has been paid, she is not paid except by an oath. “From property with a lien on it”: How is this so? He had sold his property to others and she seeks to recover payment from the buyers, she is not paid except by an oath. “From the property of orphans”: How is this so? He died and left his estate to his orphans and she seeks to recover payment from the orphans, she is not paid except by an oath. “An husband who is not present” How is this so? If her husband went to a country beyond the sea and she seeks to recover payment in his absence, she is not paid except by an oath. Rabbi Shimon says: whenever she claims her ketubah the heirs may impose an oath upon her but whenever she does not claim her ketubah the heirs can not impose an oath upon her. If she produced a get without a ketubah, she collects her kethubah. [If she produced her] ketubah without a get, and she says, “My get was lost”, and he says, “My receipt was lost”, and also a creditor who produced a debt document that was unaccompanied by a prosbul, these are not paid back. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says: from the time of danger a woman collects her ketubah with out a get and a creditor collects [his debt] without a prosbul. [A woman who produced] two letters of divorce and two ketuboth collects two kethuboth. Two kethuboth and one get or one kethubah and two gittin, or a kethubah, a get and [evidence of her husband’s] death, she collects one kethubah only, for a man who divorces his wife and then remarries her contracts his second marriage on the condition of the first kethubah. A minor whose his father had given him in marriage, the ketubah of his wife is valid, since it is on this condition that he kept her as his wife. A convert who converted with his wife, the kethubah remains valid, since it is on this condition that he kept her as his wife. If a man was married to two wives and died, the first wife takes precedence over the second, and the heirs of the first wife take precedence over the heirs of the second. If he married a first wife and she died and then he married a second wife and he died, the second wife and her heirs take precedence over the heirs of the first wife. If a man was married to two wives and they died, and subsequently he died, and the orphans [of one of the wives] claim their mother’s kethubah and there is only enough for the two kethuboth,[all the orphans] they divide it equally. If there was a surplus of [at least] one dinar, these take their mother’s ketubah and these take their mothers ketubah. If the orphans [of one of the wives] says, “We are raising the estate of our father by a denar [more than the total amount of the kethuboth]”, in order that they can take their mother's kethubah, they are not listened to, rather the estate is evaluated by the court. If there was property that would soon belong to the estate, it is not [regarded] as [property held] in possession. Rabbi Shimon says: even if there was movable property it is not regarded unless there was real estate worth one denar more than [the total amount of] the two kethuboth. If a man who was married to three wives died, and the kethubah of one was a maneh, and of the other two hundred zuz, and of the third three hundred zuz and the estate [was worth] only one maneh they divide it equally. If the estate [was worth] two hundred zuz [the woman whose ketubah] is a maneh receives fifty zuz [and the woman whose ketubah] was two hundred and [the woman whose ketubah] was three hundred [receive each] three gold denarii (=seventy-five. If the estate [was worth] three hundred zuz, [the woman whose ketubah] was a maneh receives fifty zuz and [the woman whose ketubah] was two hundred [receives] a maneh and [the woman whose ketubah] was worth three hundred [receives] six gold denarii (=one hundred and fifty. Similarly, if three persons contributed to a joint fund and the fund lost or gained they share in the same manner. If a man who was married to four wives died, his first wife takes precedence over the second, the second over the third and the third over the fourth. The first must take an oath to the second, the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and the fourth recovers payment without an oath. Ben Nannus says: Should she be rewarded because she is the last? She too may not exact payment except by an oath. If all were issued on the same day then the woman [whose kethubah] preceded that of the other, even if only by one hour, gets [her ketubah first]. And so it was the custom in Jerusalem to write the hours. If all kethuboth were issued at the same hour and the estate is worth no more than a maneh, they divide it equally. If a man who was married to two wives sold his field, and the first wife wrote to the buyer, “I have no claim whatsoever upon you”, the second wife may take [the field] away from the buyer, and the first wife from the second, and the buyer from the first wife; and so they go on in turn until they arrange a compromise between them. The same law applies also to a creditor and to a woman creditor. A widow is to be maintained out of the estate of [her husband's] orphans [and], her handiwork belongs to them but it is not their obligation to bury her. Her heirs, who inherit her ketubah, are obligated to bury her. A widow, whether [her husband died] after betrothal or after marriage may sell [her husband's estate] without [permission from] a court. Rabbi Shimon says: [If her husband died] after marriage she may sell without [permission from] a court, but if after betrothal, she may not sell except with [permission from] a court, since she is not entitled to maintenance, and anyone who is not entitled to maintenance may not sell except with [permission from] a court. [A widow who] sold her ketubah or part of it; or pledged her ketubah or part of it; or gave it away to someone else or part of it, may not sell [her husband’s property] in order to receive the remainder of her ketubah except with [the permission of] a court. But the Sages say: she may sell [the land pledged for her kethubah] even in four or five installments. And [meanwhile] she may sell [of her husband’s estate to provide] for her maintenance without [the permission of] the court, and she writes, “I sold [the land to provide] for my maintenance”. A divorced woman must not sell [her husband’s property] except with [the permission of] the court. If a widow whose ketubah was two hundred zuz sold [land] worth a maneh for two hundred zuz or [land] worth two hundred zuz for one maneh, she has received her ketubah. If her kethubah was one maneh, and she sold [land] worth a maneh and a denar’ for one maneh, her sale is void. Even if she says, “I will return the denar to the heirs”, her sale is void. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says: her sale is always valid unless there was so much land there as to allow her to leave a field of nine kab, and from a garden an area of half a kab, or, according to Rabbi Akiba, a quarter of a kab. If her ketubah was four hundred zuz and she sold [land] to [three] persons, to each for one maneh, and to a fourth [she sold] what was worth a maneh and a denar for one maneh, [the sale] to the last person is void but [the sale] to all the others are valid. If an assessment of the judges was one sixth less, or one sixth more [than the actual value of the property] their sale is void. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: their sale is valid for, otherwise, of what advantage is the power of a court? But if they made a bill for inspection, their sale is valid even if they sold for two hundred zuz what was worth one maneh or for one maneh what was worth two hundred zuz. [A minor] who refused her husband, a secondary incest prohibition, or an aylonit is not entitled to a ketubah or to the usufruct [of her dowry] or to maintenance, or to the worn-out articles [of her dowry]. If from the outset he had married on the understanding that she is an aylonit she is entitled to a ketubah. A widow who was married to a high priest, a divorced woman or a halutzah who was married to a regular priest, a mamzereth or a netinah who was married to an Israelite, or the daughter of an Israelite who was married to a Natin or a mamzer is entitled to a ketubah. If a man married a woman and she cut a deal with him that he should maintain her daughter for five years, he must maintain her for five years. If she was [subsequently] married to another man and cut a deal with him [as well] that he should maintain her daughter for five years, he must maintain her for five years. The first husband may not plead, “If she will come to me I will maintain her”, rather he must send her maintenance to her at the place where her mother [lives]. Similarly, the two husbands cannot plead, “We will maintain her jointly”, but one must maintain her and the other give her the cost of her maintenance. If she married, her husband must supply her with maintenance and they give her the cost of her maintenance. If they die, their daughters are maintained out of their free assets only but she must be maintained even out of assigned property, because she is like a creditor. Clever men used to write, “On condition that I shall maintain your daughter for five years while you are with me”. A widow who says, “I do not want to move from my husband’s house”, the heirs cannot tell her, “Go to your father’s house and we will maintain you”, rather they must maintain her in her husband’s house and they give her a residence according to her honor. If she said, “I have no desire to move from my father’s house”, the heirs can say to her, “If you stay with us you will have your maintenance, but if you do not stay with us you will receive no maintenance”. If she claimed [that she didn’t want to live there] because she is young and they are young, they must maintain her while she lives in the house of her father. As long as she lives in her father’s house she may collect her kethubah at any time. As long as she lives in her husband’s house she may recover her ketubah, only within twenty-five years, because in the course of twenty-five years she has sufficient opportunities to give favors equal [in value to the amount of] her ketubah, the words of Rabbi Meir who spoke in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel. The Sages say: as long as she lives in her husband’s house she may collect her ketubah at any time. As long as she lives in her father’s house she may collect her ketubah only within twenty-five years. If [the widow] died, her heirs must mention her ketubah within twenty-five years. There were two judges of fines in Jerusalem, Admon and Hanan ben Avishalom. Hanan stated two rulings and Admon stated seven. If a man went to a country beyond the sea and his wife claimed maintenance: Hanan says: she must take an oath at the end but not at the beginning. The sons of the high priests differed from him and ruled that she must take an oath both at the beginning and at the end. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas agreed with their ruling. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said: Hanan has spoken well; she need take an oath only at the end. If a man went to a country beyond the sea and someone came forward and financially supported his wife, Hanan says: he lost his money. The sons of the high priests differed from him and said: let him take an oath as to how much he spent and recover it. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas agreed with their ruling. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said: Hanan has spoken well [the man] put his money on the horn of a deer. Admon said seven [rulings]:If a man dies and leaves sons and daughters, if the estate is large, the sons inherit it and the daughters are maintained [from it]. And if the estate is small, the daughters are maintained from it, and the sons can go begging. Admon said, “Just because I’m a male I lose out!” Rabban Gamaliel said; I agree with the words of Admon. If he claims from his neighbor jars of oil, and he admits [his claim to the empty] jars, Admon says, since he admits to him a portion of the claim, he must swear. But the Sages say: the admission is not of the same kind as the claim. Rabban Gamaliel said: I agree with the words of Admon. If a man promised a money to his [prospective] son-in-law and then defaulted, [his daughter] shall sit until her hair turns white. Admon says: She may say, “Had I myself promised the sum I would sit until my hair turns white, but now that my father has promised it, what can I do? Either marry me or set me free.” Rabban Gamaliel said: I agree with the words of Admon. If a man contests [the ownership of] a field and he has signed as a witness on [its deed of sale], Admon says: He can say, “[Litigation with] the second is easier for me, since the first is a more difficult person than he”. But the Sages say: He lost his right. If [the protester] made it a boundary mark [when selling an adjacent piece of land to] another person he has lost his right [to protest]. If a man went to a country beyond the sea and [in his absence] the path to his field was lost, Admon ruled: let him walk [to his field] by the shortest way. But the Sages say: let him purchase a path for himself even if it costs him a hundred maneh or let him fly through the air. If a man produced a debt document against another, and the latter produced [a deed of sale showing] that the former had sold him a field, Admon ruled: [The other] can say, had I owed you [anything] you should have been paid pack when you sold me the field”. But the Sages say: This [seller] was clever, since he may have sold him the land in order to be able to take it from him as a pledge. If two men produced debt documents against one another, Admon says; [the holder of the later document can say to the other,] “Had I owed you [any money] how is it that you borrowed from me?” But the Sages say: This one collects his debt and this one collects his debt. [The following regions are regarded as] three countries in respect of marriage: Judaea, Transjordan and Galilee. [A husband] may not take out [his wife with him] from one town to another or from one city to an other. But within the same country he may take her out with him from one town into another town or from one city into an other city, but not from a town to a city nor from a city to a town. [A man] may take out [his wife with him] from an inferior to a superior dwelling, but not from a superior to an inferior dwelling. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says: not even from an inferior dwelling to a superior dwelling, because the [change to a] superior dwelling tests. Everyone may compel [their spouse] to go up to the land of Israel, but none may compel [their spouse] to leave. Everyone may compel [their spouse] to go up to Jerusalem, but none may compel [their spouse] to leave. The same is true for both men and women and [slaves]. If a man married a woman in the land of Israel and divorced her in the land of Israel, he must pay her [her ketubah] in the currency of the land of Israel. If he married a woman in the land of Israel and divorced her in Cappadocia he must pay her [her ketubah] in the currency of the land of Israel. If he married a woman in Cappadocia and divorced her in the land of Israel, he must a gain pay [her ketubah] in the currency of the land of Israel. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel says that he must pay her [her ketubah] in the Cappadocian currency.

(1) For the leader. A song. A psalm. Raise a shout for God, all the earth; (2) sing the glory of His name, make glorious His praise. (3) Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds, Your enemies cower before Your great strength; (4) all the earth bows to You, and sings hymns to You; all sing hymns to Your name.”Selah. (5) Come and see the works of God, who is held in awe by men for His acts. (6) He turned the sea into dry land; they crossed the river on foot; we therefore rejoice in Him. (7) He rules forever in His might; His eyes scan the nations; let the rebellious not assert themselves.Selah. (8) O peoples, bless our God, celebrate His praises; (9) who has granted us life, and has not let our feet slip. (10) You have tried us, O God, refining us, as one refines silver. (11) You have caught us in a net, caught us in trammels. (12) You have let men ride over us; we have endured fire and water, and You have brought us through to prosperity. (13) I enter Your house with burnt offerings, I pay my vows to You, (14) [vows] that my lips pronounced, that my mouth uttered in my distress. (15) I offer up fatlings to You, with the odor of burning rams; I sacrifice bulls and he-goats.Selah. (16) Come and hear, all God-fearing men, as I tell what He did for me. (17) I called aloud to Him, glorification on my tongue. (18) Had I an evil thought in my mind, the Lord would not have listened. (19) But God did listen; He paid heed to my prayer. (20) Blessed is God who has not turned away my prayer, or His faithful care from me.

(1) For the leader; with instrumental music. A psalm. A song. (2) May God be gracious to us and bless us; may He show us favor,selah (3) that Your way be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations. (4) Peoples will praise You, O God; all peoples will praise You. (5) Nations will exult and shout for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity, You guide the nations of the earth.Selah. (6) The peoples will praise You, O God; all peoples will praise You. (7) May the earth yield its produce; may God, our God, bless us. (8) May God bless us, and be revered to the ends of the earth.

(1) For the leader. Of David. A psalm. A song. (2) God will arise, His enemies shall be scattered, His foes shall flee before Him. (3) Disperse them as smoke is dispersed; as wax melts at fire, so the wicked shall perish before God. (4) But the righteous shall rejoice; they shall exult in the presence of God; they shall be exceedingly joyful. (5) Sing to God, chant hymns to His name; extol Him who rides the clouds; the LORD is His name. Exult in His presence— (6) the father of orphans, the champion of widows, God, in His holy habitation. (7) God restores the lonely to their homes, sets free the imprisoned, safe and sound, while the rebellious must live in a parched land. (8) O God, when You went at the head of Your army, when You marched through the desert, selah (9) the earth trembled, the sky rained because of God, yon Sinai, because of God, the God of Israel. (10) You released a bountiful rain, O God; when Your own land languished, You sustained it. (11) Your tribe dwells there; O God, in Your goodness You provide for the needy. (12) The Lord gives a command; the women who bring the news are a great host: (13) “The kings and their armies are in headlong flight; housewives are sharing in the spoils; (14) even for those of you who lie among the sheepfolds there are wings of a dove sheathed in silver, its pinions in fine gold.” (15) When Shaddai scattered the kings, it seemed like a snowstorm in Zalmon. (16) O majestic mountain, Mount Bashan; O jagged mountain, Mount Bashan; (17) why so hostile, O jagged mountains, toward the mountain God desired as His dwelling? The LORD shall abide there forever. (18) God’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness. (19) You went up to the heights, having taken captives, having received tribute of men, even of those who rebel against the LORD God’s abiding there. (20) Blessed is the Lord. Day by day He supports us, God, our deliverance. Selah. (21) God is for us a God of deliverance; GOD the Lord provides an escape from death. (22) God will smash the heads of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks about in his guilt. (23) The Lord said, “I will retrieve from Bashan, I will retrieve from the depths of the sea; (24) that your feet may wade through blood; that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.” (25) Men see Your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king, into the sanctuary. (26) First come singers, then musicians, amidst maidens playing timbrels. (27) In assemblies bless God, the LORD, O you who are from the fountain of Israel. (28) There is little Benjamin who rules them, the princes of Judah who command them, the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali. (29) Your God has ordained strength for you, the strength, O God, which You displayed for us (30) from Your temple above Jerusalem. The kings bring You tribute. (31) Blast the beast of the marsh, the herd of bulls among the peoples, the calves, till they come cringing with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in wars! (32) Tribute-bearers shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten its gifts to God. (33) O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; chant hymns to the Lord, selah (34) to Him who rides the ancient highest heavens, who thunders forth with His mighty voice. (35) Ascribe might to God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose might is in the skies. (36) You are awesome, O God, in Your holy places; it is the God of Israel who gives might and power to the people. Blessed is God.

“Bind [isru] with dense-leaved branches [ba’avotim] on the Festival until the horns of the altar” (Psalms 118:27), which alludes to both the binding of the lulav and to the myrtle branch, referred to in the Torah as the branch of a dense-leaved tree [anaf etz avot]. Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, and Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon HaMeḥozi, who said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan HaMakkoti: With regard to anyone who establishes an addition [issur] to the Festival on the day after the Festival by eating and drinking, the verse ascribes him credit as though he built an altar and sacrificed an offering upon it, as it is stated: “Add [isru] to the Festival with fattened animals [ba’avotim] until the horns of the altar.” § Apropos the halakha cited by Rabbi Yirmeya in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, the Gemara cites additional halakhot. Ḥizkiya said that Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: With regard to all objects used in performance of each and every one of the mitzvot, a person fulfills his obligation only when the objects are positioned in the manner of their growth. One must take the lulav with the bottom of the branch facing down, as it is stated with regard to the beams of the Tabernacle: “Acacia wood, standing” (Exodus 26:15), indicating that the beams stood in the manner of their growth. That was also taught in a baraita: “Acacia wood, standing,” indicating that they stand in the Tabernacle in the manner of their growth in nature. Alternatively, standing means that the beams support their gold plating that is affixed to the beams with nails. Alternatively, standing teaches: Lest you say that after the destruction of the Tabernacle their hope is lost and their prospect is abolished, and they will never serve a sacred purpose again, therefore the verse states: “Acacia wood, standing,” meaning that they stand forever and for all time and will yet be revealed and utilized again. And Ḥizkiya said that Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: I am able to absolve the entire world from judgment for sins committed from the day I was created until now. The merit that he accrued through his righteousness and the suffering that he endured atone for the sins of the entire world. And were the merit accrued by Eliezer, my son, calculated along with my own, we would absolve the world from judgment for sins committed from the day that the world was created until now. And were the merit accrued by the righteous king, Jotham ben Uzziah, calculated with our own, we would absolve the world from judgment for sins committed from the day that the world was created until its end. The righteousness of these three serves as a counterbalance to all the evil deeds committed throughout the generations, and it validates the ongoing existence of the world. And Ḥizkiya said that Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: I have seen members of the caste of the spiritually prominent, who are truly righteous, and they are few. If they number one thousand, I and my son are among them. If they number one hundred, I and my son are among them; and if they number two, I and my son are they. The Gemara asks: Are they so few? But didn’t Rava say: There are eighteen thousand righteous individuals in a row before the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is stated: “Surrounding are eighteen thousand” (Ezekiel 48:35)? Apparently, the righteous are numerous. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai is referring to the very few who view the Divine Presence through a bright, mirror-like partition, while that statement of Rava is referring to those who do not view the Divine Presence through a bright partition. The Gemara asks further: And are those who view the Divine Presence through a bright partition so few? But didn’t Abaye say: The world has no fewer than thirty-six righteous people in each generation who greet the Divine Presence every day, as it is stated: “Happy are all they that wait for Him [lo]” (Isaiah 30:18)? The numerological value of lo, spelled lamed vav, is thirty-six, alluding to the fact that there are at least thirty-six full-fledged righteous individuals in each generation. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This statement of Abaye is referring to those who enter to greet the Divine Presence by requesting and being granted permission, while that statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai is referring to those who enter even without requesting permission, for whom the gates of Heaven are open at all times. They are very few indeed. § The mishna asks: At the time of their departure at the end of the Festival, what would they say? The mishna answers that they would praise the altar and glorify God. The Gemara challenges this: But in doing so aren’t they joining the name of Heaven and another entity, and it was taught in a baraita: Anyone who joins the name of Heaven and another entity is uprooted from the world, as it is stated: “He that sacrifices unto the gods, save unto the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19)? The Gemara answers that this is what the people are saying when they depart the Temple: To the Lord, we acknowledge that He is our God, and to you, the altar, we give praise; to the Lord, we acknowledge that He is our God, and to you, the altar, we give acclaim. The praise to God and the praise to the altar are clearly distinct. § The mishna continues: As its performance during the week, so is its performance on Shabbat. And according to Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka, on the seventh day of the Festival they would bring palm branches to the Temple. Rav Huna said: What is the rationale for the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka? It is as it is written: “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of a date palm” (Leviticus 23:40). Branches in the plural indicates that two branches must be taken, one for the lulav and one for placement around the altar. And the Rabbis say: Although the word is vocalized in the plural, based on tradition it is written kappot, without the letter vav. Therefore, it is interpreted as if it were written kappat, indicating that only one palm branch need be taken. Rabbi Levi says: The rationale for the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka is not based on a verse. Rather, it is a custom that developed to express praise for the Jewish people, likening them to a date palm. Just as the date palm has only one heart, as branches do not grow from its trunk but rather the trunk rises and branches emerge only at the top, so too, the Jewish people have only one heart directed toward their Father in Heaven. § Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The blessing over the mitzva of lulav is recited seven days and the blessing over the mitzva of sukka is recited one day. What is the rationale for this distinction? It is written explicitly in the Torah that the mitzva to sit in the sukka applies all seven days. The Gemara explains: With regard to the lulav, where the nights are distinct from the days, as the mitzva of lulav is not in effect at night, each day is a mitzva in and of itself. A separate blessing is recited over each mitzva. However, with regard to sukka, where the nights are not distinct from the days, as the mitzva of sukka is in effect at night just as it is during the day, the legal status of all seven days of the Festival is like that of one long day. But Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The blessing over the mitzva of sukka is recited seven days and the blessing over the mitzva of lulav is recited one day. What is the rationale for this distinction? The Gemara explains: The mitzva of sukka is a mitzva by Torah law all seven days of the Festival. Therefore, a blessing is recited for seven days. However, the mitzva of lulav, other than on the first day, is a mitzva by rabbinic law, as the Sages instituted an ordinance to take the lulav for all seven days to commemorate the practice in the Temple. Therefore, it is enough to recite the blessing one day, on the first day. When Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One recites a blessing over both this, the mitzva of sukka, and over that, the mitzva of lulav, all seven days. Rav Yosef said: Take the statement of Rabba bar bar Ḥana in your hand, as all the amora’im who transmitted statements of Rabbi Yoḥanan hold in accordance with his opinion in matters related to sukka. The Gemara raises an objection based on a baraita:

The Gemara asks: But let him render the leaven null and void during the sixth hour, when he burns it. The Gemara answers: Since there is a rabbinic prohibition that takes effect on the leaven, as it is prohibited to derive benefit from it after the fifth hour, its legal status is like that of leaven prohibited by Torah law, and therefore it is not in his possession and he is unable to nullify it. The Gemara continues: There is proof that the Sages were stringent with regard to leaven prohibited by rabbinic law, as Rav Giddel said that Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yosef said that Rav said: With regard to a man who betroths a woman on the fourteenth of Nisan from the beginning of the sixth hour and onward, even if he does so with wheat from the mountains [kurdanaita], which is particularly hard and there is no certainty that it will ferment even if water falls on it, nevertheless, as it is possible that the wheat leavened, its legal status is that of leaven. Consequently, it is prohibited to derive benefit from this wheat, which is legally worthless. Therefore, if a man gives the wheat to a woman for the purpose of betrothal, one need not be concerned that it is a betrothal. The reason is that a betrothal is effective only if the man gives the woman an object worth at least a peruta. In this case the Sages disqualify the betrothal and allow the woman to marry another man, despite the fact that by Torah law she is betrothed to the first man, as the leaven with which he betrothed her is prohibited only by rabbinic law. The Gemara raises a difficulty: And is it indeed the case that after the leaven has become prohibited one is unable to render it null and void? But wasn’t it taught in a baraita: If one was sitting in the study hall and he remembered that there is leavened bread in his house, he should render it null and void in his heart, both on Shabbat and on the Festival? The Gemara analyzes this statement: Granted, on Shabbat you can find this case, as one can nullify the leaven before it becomes prohibited, in a case where the fourteenth of Nisan occurs on Shabbat and he remembers to nullify the leaven before the prohibition takes effect. However, if he remembered on the Festival itself, it is after the prohibition has taken effect, as the Festival has already begun, and yet the baraita says that one may render the leaven null and void. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: Here we are dealing with a student sitting before his teacher, and he remembers that there is kneaded dough in his house, and he is afraid lest it leaven before he can return home to warn the members of his household. Since the dough has not yet leavened and is not yet prohibited, he can take earlier action and render it null and void before it becomes leavened. The Gemara comments: The language of the baraita is also precise in accordance with this explanation, as the baraita teaches: If one was sitting in the study hall. This indicates that the dough has not yet risen, and the problem is that he cannot arrive home in time to prevent it from rising. However, if it had already become leavened, rendering it null and void will not remedy the situation even if he were home. The Gemara concludes: Indeed, learn from this proof that Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov’s interpretation is correct. Rabba bar Rav Huna said that Rav said: With regard to a vessel that contains several loaves in which there was bread that became moldy, and it is not evident whether it is leaven or matza, once there was more matza than leaven in the vessel, it is permitted. The Gemara first analyzes the case itself: What are the circumstances? If you say that he knows that this loaf is leavened bread, even if there were more matza, what of it? What difference does it make that most of the food is matza, if it is clear that this loaf is leaven? Rather, Rav must be speaking of a case where we do not know whether it is leavened bread or whether it is matza. However, in that case, why discuss specifically a situation where there was more matza in the vessel? Even in a case where there was not more matza in the vessel as well, the questionable loaf is likely to be matza, as let us follow the last item placed in the vessel, which even on the first day of Passover would be matza. Didn’t we learn in a mishna: With regard to coins that were found before animal merchants in Jerusalem, they are always assumed to be money of the second tithe, as most of the animals purchased in Jerusalem were bought with that money. This halakha applies both during a Festival and throughout the year, as people would purchase animals for meat with their second-tithe money, and it can therefore be assumed that these coins have the status of second tithe. However, if the money was found on the Temple Mount it is non-sacred money, even during a Festival. It can be assumed that one who enters the Temple Mount has already purchased all the animals that he required beforehand. Any coins in his possession are non-sacred money, not tithes. If the money was found elsewhere in Jerusalem during the Festival, when many people came to Jerusalem with their second-tithe money, the coins are presumed to be second-tithe money. However, if the coins were found during the rest of the year, it is non-sacred money. The Gemara explains the proof. And Rav Shemaya bar Zeira said: What is the reason that during the rest of the year the coins are considered non-sacred money, even on the day after the Festival? Since the markets of Jerusalem tend to be cleaned every day, any money left there would already have been found by the street cleaners. Consequently, any coins found there were left there recently. Apparently, we say that the first ones are gone and these objects are later ones. Here too, with regard to moldy bread, let us say: The first ones have been eaten and are gone, and this food is from now and is undoubtedly matza. The Gemara rejects this proof: It is different here, as the mold proves about the loaf that it is leaven, as food does not become moldy unless it has been sitting for a long time. The Gemara retorts: If its mold proves about the loaf that it is leaven, if there was more matza in the vessel, what of it? Even in that case, the very fact that it is moldy proves that it is leaven. Rabba said: Do not say there was more matza than leaven in the vessel; rather, say that several days of eating matza have passed over the vessel. In other words, several days of the Festival, during which matza is consumed, have passed. Therefore, it is more likely that the moldy loaf is matza. The Gemara asks: If so, it is obvious that the moldy loaf is matza, not leaven. The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary to teach this halakha with regard to a situation where its mold is extensive. Lest you say: Since its mold is extensive the matter is revealed that it is certainly leavened bread, therefore Rav teaches us that one cannot be entirely sure that this is the case. The Gemara explains the reason for the uncertainty. Since several days of eating matza have passed over the vessel, we say: Each and every day he baked warm loaves, which he placed upon the previous days’ matza, causing it to grow moldier. Therefore, it is possible that even though only a brief time has passed, the matza has grown very moldy, due to the moisture and heat inside the vessel. In regard to the aforementioned principle, the Gemara asks: And do we, in general, follow the last item in determining the identity of the item in question? But wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda says: With regard to a box that people used for both non-sacred coins and second-tithe coins, if the majority of its use was for non-sacred money, the coins are considered non-sacred. If the majority of its use was for second-tithe coins, the coins are considered second-tithe money. The Gemara asks: But why is this so? Let us follow the last item placed in the box. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: With what are we dealing here? We are dealing with a case where people used the box for both non-sacred coins and second-tithe coins, and he does not know which of the two kinds of money was placed there last.
Rav Zevid said: The baraita is referring to a case where he used one part of the box for piles of non-sacred coins and another part of the box for piles of second-tithe coins. In this case, there was no definitive most recent use of the box, as a coin may have moved from one side of the box to the other.
Rav Pappa said: We are dealing with a case where the coin was found in a hole in the box. The concern is that this coin might not be of the type last placed into the box. Instead, it is possible that this coin remained from a previous use and was not removed because it was obscured in the hole. Rav Yehuda said: One who searches for leaven must recite a blessing. The Gemara asks: What blessing does he recite, i.e., what is the correct formula of the blessing? Rav Pappi said in the name of Rava that one recites: Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us to remove leavened bread. Rav Pappa said in the name of Rava: One should recite: Concerning the removal of leavened bread. The Gemara comments: With regard to the formula: To remove, everyone agrees that it certainly refers to the future. This formulation undoubtedly indicates that the person reciting the blessing is about to begin fulfilling the mitzva of removing leaven, and it is therefore an appropriate blessing. Where they disagree is with regard to the formula: Concerning the elimination of leaven. One Sage, Rav Pappi, maintains that it is referring to an act that was performed previously. Since this formula is referring to the removal of leaven as a task already completed, it would be more appropriate for a blessing recited after performance of that mitzva was completed. And the other Sage, Rav Pappa, maintains that this expression refers to the future. The Gemara raises an objection to Rav Pappi’s opinion from the formula of the blessing recited just prior to circumcision: Blessed are You…Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us concerning circumcision. Apparently this expression indeed is referring to a future act. The Gemara rejects this contention: That is no proof, as what alternative formula can we recite there? If we say: He, Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and commanded us to circumcise, is there no alternative to he himself, i.e., the boy’s father, circumcising his son? The father is commanded to circumcise his son, and he may appoint one who is not commanded to circumcise his son to act in his stead. Therefore, the more general formula of the blessing is recited: About the circumcision. The Gemara raises a difficulty: In a case where the child’s father himself circumcises his son, what can be said? The Gemara responds: Yes, it is indeed so. If the father himself performs the circumcision he in fact recites the blessing: And has commanded us to circumcise. The Gemara raises an objection to Rav Pappi’s opinion. The blessing recited over ritual slaughter is: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us concerning slaughtering. This blessing likewise indicates that this formula is appropriate prior to an action. The Gemara again rejects this claim: There too, what alternative formula can we recite? If we say: Who has commanded us to slaughter, is there no alternative to his slaughtering the animal? There is no mitzva to slaughter an animal. It is merely the necessary preparation before one may eat meat. Therefore, the more general formula of the blessing is recited: Concerning slaughtering. The Gemara raises a difficulty: If so, with regard to the slaughter of the Paschal lamb and other consecrated animals, what can be said? One is indeed commanded to slaughter these animals. The Gemara answers: Yes, it is indeed so. When slaughtering the Paschal lamb or any other offering, one recites: Who has commanded us to slaughter. The Gemara raises an objection to Rav Pappi’s opinion from the Tosefta: One who prepares a lulav for himself recites the blessing: Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time. When he takes it to fulfill with it the obligation to take the lulav, he says: Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us concerning the taking of the lulav. Although he has yet to perform the mitzva, he does not recite the formula: To take. The Gemara answers: It is different there, as at the time when he lifts the lulav before he recites the blessing, he already fulfilled his obligation by Torah law. Consequently, the formula: Concerning the taking, is indeed more appropriate for an action that he has already performed. The Gemara raises an objection: If so, the statement that he takes it to fulfill his obligation with it is imprecise, as the tanna should have said that he took the lulav with which he already fulfilled his obligation. The Gemara answers: Yes, it is indeed so; the tanna should have formulated the halakha in that manner. But due to the fact that he wants to teach the latter clause of the baraita: One who comes to sit in the sukka, he likewise taught in the first clause: To fulfill his obligation with it. This phrase maintains the consistency of the language of the Tosefta, even though it is imprecise with regard to the halakha of lulav. As it teaches in the latter clause of this baraita: One who erects a sukka for himself recites: Blessed are You, God, Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time. When he enters to sit in the sukka he says: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us to sit in the sukka. In summary, no conclusive proof has been found for either side of this debate. The Gemara concludes: And the halakha is that one should recite: Concerning the removal of leaven, as that expression is referring to the future as well. The Gemara poses a question: In any event, it is clear from the previous discussion that everyone agrees that one is required to recite a blessing prior to performing a mitzva. From where do we derive this principle? It is as Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: With regard to all the mitzvot, one recites a blessing over them prior to [over] their performance. The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that the word over is the language of priority? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that the verse said: “And Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran [vaya’avor] the Cushite” (II Samuel 18:23), i.e., Ahimaaz overtook the Cushite. Abaye said: It is derived from here: “And he passed [avar] before them” (Genesis 33:3). And if you wish, say instead that the proof is from here: “And their king passed [vaya’avor] before them and God at their head” (Micah 2:13). In the school of Rav they say: One recites a blessing prior to performing all mitzvot, except for the ritual immersion after a nocturnal emission and the blowing of the shofar. The Gemara elaborates: Granted one does not recite a blessing prior to immersion, as this man who has not yet immersed is still unfit to recite a blessing because he is ritually impure. However, with regard to a shofar, what is the reason that one does not recite a blessing before sounding the shofar? And lest you say the reason is due to a concern lest the sounding of the shofar emerge flawed, and the blessing will be in vain, if so, one should not recite a blessing even prior to ritual slaughter and circumcision, as in those cases too one might fail to perform the action in the requisite manner. Rather, Rav Ḥisda said: Except for prior to immersion alone was stated, due to the aforementioned reason. The Gemara adds: That was also taught in a baraita: With regard to one who immersed for ritual purification after a nocturnal emission and emerged, as he emerges he recites: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and commanded us concerning immersion. The mishna states that one searches for leaven by the light of the lamp, etc. The Gemara asks: From where are these matters, i.e., that the search should be conducted by the light of the lamp, derived? Rav Ḥisda said: We derive it by the hermeneutic principles of verbal analogy and juxtaposition: The term finding in one context is derived from finding in another context, and finding is derived from the word searching, and this searching is derived from searching elsewhere, and searching there is derived from the word lamps, and lamps is derived from lamp. The Gemara cites the relevant verses included in the above derivation. Finding in one context is derived from finding in another context by verbal analogy, as it is written here: “Seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses” (Exodus 12:19), and it is written there: “And he searched, starting with the eldest, and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found in Benjamin’s sack” (Genesis 44:12). And the word finding in this verse is connected to searching in that same verse by juxtaposition, as the verse says: “And he searched... and was found.” And searching is derived from lamps by means of juxtaposition, as it is written: “And it shall come to pass that at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps” (Zephaniah 1:12). And finally, the word lamps is derived from lamp by means of juxtaposition, as it is written: “The spirit of man is the lamp of God, searching all the inward parts” (Proverbs 20:27). Together these verses indicate that the search for leaven must be conducted by the light of the lamp. Similarly, the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: On the night of the fourteenth one searches for leavened bread by the light of the lamp. Although there is no absolute proof for this matter, there is an allusion to this matter, as it is stated: “Seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses,” and it says: “And he searched, starting with the eldest, and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found.” And it says: “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,” and it says: “The spirit of man is the lamp of God, searching all the inward parts.” With regard to this teaching, the Gemara asks a question: What is the reason for the last citation introduced by the final And the verse says? Why doesn’t the previous verse, “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,” provide sufficient proof that the search must be conducted by the light of the lamp? And the Gemara answers: The last verse is necessary, lest you say that this verse: “At that time, etc.” is a leniency, as God is saying: I will not search Jerusalem by the light of a torch, whose light is great, and through which I will expose every sin. Rather, I will search by the light of a small lamp, whose light is smaller, which will ensure that great sins will be discovered and small sins will not be discovered. To counter this argument, the tanna states: Come and hear, “The spirit of man is the lamp of God, searching all the inward parts.” This verse indicates that everything will be found by the light of the lamp, which is the most effective manner of searching. The Sages taught: One does not search for leaven, neither by the light of the sun, nor by the light of the moon, nor by the light of a torch. Rather, the search should be conducted by the light of a lamp,

implies that the mishna teaches a case in which ḥalitza is performed ab initio. This indicates that this is the first course of action and the only way to resolve the situation. The Gemara asks further: And let him say to him the following: The mishna prohibits levirate marriage ab initio in this case, due to a rabbinic decree lest he proceed and perform the ḥalitza with the first sister first, whereby it would be prohibited to consummate the levirate marriage with the second. Perhaps for this reason the Sages decreed that it is prohibited to consummate the levirate marriage even if ḥalitza was performed with the second sister. The Gemara answers: It teaches: They may not enter into levirate marriage. This indicates that the halakha of levirate marriage does not apply here at all. Accordingly, even after the fact, if he performed ḥalitza with the second sister, the halakha of levirate marriage would not apply to the first sister. The Gemara asks: And let him say to him a different reason for the ruling of the mishna: It is due to a rabbinic decree lest the second brother die, and it is prohibited to negate the mitzva of levirate marriage. Perhaps for this reason it would be forbidden to consummate the levirate marriage in the case where two sisters happened before him for levirate marriage, and not due to the prohibition proscribing the sister of a woman with whom he has a levirate bond. The Gemara answers: Rabbi Yoḥanan was not concerned over the possibility of the death of a brother, and in his opinion there is no need to make a decree to address such cases. The Gemara asks: And let Rabbi Yoḥanan say to him that this mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, who said: Once the yevama stood before him at one time as forbidden, even if it was not at the time that she happened before him, she remains forbidden to him forever. Perhaps the mishna could be explained according to Rabbi Elazar’s opinion. The Gemara answers: Since the opinion of Rabbi Elazar is cited explicitly in the latter clause of the mishna, it can be deduced that the first clause is not according to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar. Therefore, this ruling cannot be attributed to Rabbi Elazar. The Gemara asks: And let him say to him that here the reference is to a situation where the two brothers died at once, and consequently both of the women happened before the yevamin for levirate marriage at the same time. And this mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, who says: It is possible to be precise. It is possible to determine that two events occurred at exactly the same moment, both sisters were forbidden at the time that they happened before the brothers-in-law. The Gemara answers: The tanna did not teach an unattributed mishna in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili. Any time the mishna is cited in accordance with Rabbi Yosei HaGelili’s opinion, it is always attributed to him explicitly. The Gemara asks: And let him say to him a different explanation for the ruling: This mishna is indeed addressing a case where the brothers died one after the other, yet we do not know which sister happened before the yevamin for levirate marriage first. In that case, it would be impossible to determine which sister would be permitted. The Gemara answers: If so, that which the mishna teaches in the latter clause: And if they married their wives before consulting the court they should divorce them, is difficult. Why must they divorce their wives in this situation? Granted, the brother who took the first sister in levirate marriage must divorce her, as we say to him: Who permitted her to you? Indeed, she was forbidden as the sister of a woman with whom he had a levirate bond, and so he must divorce her. However, the brother who took the second sister could say: My fellow brother consummated the levirate marriage with the second sister, but I am consummating the levirate marriage with the first sister. It is possible that after the other brother consummated the levirate marriage with the second sister, the first sister would then be permitted to him after the fact, and he is not required to divorce her unless it is certain that he violated a prohibition. The Gemara concludes: Indeed, this is what Rabbi Yoḥanan meant when he said to Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina: I do not know who taught: Sisters, for according to these considerations he cannot properly resolve the ruling of this mishna. We learned in the mishna: If one of the sisters was forbidden to one of the brothers due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives because she was a relative of his wife or a relative from his mother’s side, then he is prohibited from marrying her but permitted to marry her sister. But the second brother, who is not a close relative of either sister, is prohibited from marrying both of them. It enters your mind to say that a forbidden woman, such as his mother-in-law, happened before the yavam for levirate marriage first. Accordingly, the Gemara asks: And why would both women be forbidden to the second brother? Let the son-in-law rise and consummate the levirate marriage with the sister who is not his mother-in-law first. Consequently, with regard to the other brother, his mother-in-law would be considered a yevama who was permitted to perform levirate marriage at the time that she happened before him, and then forbidden when her sister happened before him for levirate marriage as well, and then subsequently became permitted when his brother consummated the levirate marriage with her sister. If so, the mother-in-law should return to her original permitted status and may enter into levirate marriage with him. Rav Pappa said: The mishna is referring to a case where the woman who was not his mother-in-law happened before the brothers for levirate marriage first, in which case she was permitted to both of them. When her sister, i.e., the mother-in-law, happened before them for levirate marriage as well, both women were rendered forbidden to the second brother, as each one is the sister of a woman with whom he has a levirate bond. Because the mother-in-law was forbidden from the time that she happened before the yavam for levirate marriage, she can never be permitted to him. § With regard to the case of two brothers who married their wives before consulting the court, the mishna states that the women should be divorced. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says that this is a matter of dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, as Beit Shammai say: They may maintain them as their wives, and Beit Hillel say: They should divorce them. An expanded version of this discussion is taught in the Tosefta (5:1): Rabbi Eliezer says that Beit Shammai say: They may maintain them as their wives, and Beit Hillel say: They should divorce them. Rabbi Shimon says: They may maintain them as their wives. Abba Shaul disagrees with Rabbi Eliezer and says: This was a matter of leniency for Beit Hillel. They were the ones who put forth a lenient ruling, as Beit Shammai say: They should divorce them, and Beit Hillel say: They may maintain them as their wives. The Gemara asks about this baraita: In accordance with whose opinion is the statement of Rabbi Shimon? This matter is a dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, with different versions of their opinions, and therefore Rabbi Shimon should not have formulated the halakha in this manner. Indeed, if he holds in accordance with the opinion of Beit Shammai, then that is the same as the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. He would thereby conclude that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Beit Shammai, as per Rabbi Eliezer’s version. If so, he should have formulated his opinion in that way. If, however, he holds in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel, then that is the opinion of Abba Shaul. The Gemara responds: This is what he is saying: Rabbi Shimon actually maintains a third opinion: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not dispute this matter; both agreed that the marriages may be maintained. § The mishna stated: If one of the sisters was forbidden to one of the brothers due to a prohibition against forbidden relations, then he is prohibited from marrying her but permitted to marry her sister. The Gemara asks: We already learned this on one occasion: When her sister, who is a forbidden relative to the yavam, is her yevama as well, she either performs ḥalitza or enters into levirate marriage. The Gemara answers: It is necessary that this be said here as well, for if it taught us this halakha only there in its more general formulation (Yevamot 20a), then I might have said: The yavam is permitted to marry the sister because there is no reason to issue a rabbinic decree due to a second brother. There, there is only one yavam, to whom one sister is permitted and the other is forbidden. Here, however, in the case of two brothers, where there is reason to issue a rabbinic decree due to the second brother, lest he consummate the levirate marriage as well, I would say that we do not allow even the first brother to perform levirate marriage, and both sisters-in-law should be forbidden to both brothers. And if the mishna had taught us the halakha only here, it would have been possible to say that the permissibility of levirate marriage here is because there is a second brother who indicates, by refraining from performing levirate marriage, that the sister of a woman bound by a levirate bond is forbidden. However, there, where there is not a second brother, I would say no, this halakha would not apply, due to a concern that people might wrongly conclude that the sister of a woman bound by a levirate bond is permitted. Therefore, it is necessary to state this halakha in both places. It was taught in the mishna: If one of the sisters was forbidden to one of the brothers due to a prohibition resulting from a mitzva or due to a prohibition stemming from sanctity, then her sister must perform ḥalitza and may not enter into levirate marriage. The Gemara wonders: We already learned this as well: If a prohibition resulting from a mitzva or a prohibition stemming from sanctity will be transgressed through the levirate marriage, then the woman must perform ḥalitza and she may not enter into levirate marriage. The Gemara answers: There is a novelty here: There, where the halakha is reviewed in general terms, it speaks of a prohibition due to a mitzva alone. One woman happened before the yavam for levirate marriage and it is only as a result of this prohibition that she is prevented from entering levirate marriage. Here, there is a prohibition resulting from a mitzva and, in addition, her sister happened before the yevamin for levirate marriage together with her. It might enter your mind to say: Let the prohibition resulting from a mitzva stand in the same place, i.e., level of severity, as the prohibition against forbidden relatives. Consequently, the woman who is forbidden to the yavam is considered a forbidden relative and her sister is permitted to him. Despite the fact that the prohibition resulting from a mitzva is not as severe, here is it is given equal status, and we might say: Let her sister enter into levirate marriage. Therefore, this comes to teach us that this is not the case. The Gemara asks: And why in fact does her sister not enter into levirate marriage? The Gemara answers: Her sister is forbidden to him because by Torah law the prohibited woman is still set before the yavam for levirate marriage. Were he to take the sister in levirate marriage he would essentially be encountering the sister of the woman with whom he has a levirate bond. It might enter your mind to say that due to the mitzva of levirate marriage, the Sages did as they did and nullified their decree prohibiting the sister of a woman with whom the yavam has a levirate bond from entering levirate marriage, when the original sister is forbidden only as the result of a mitzva. Therefore, it teaches us that they did not cancel their decree in this situation. It was taught in the mishna: If one of those women was forbidden to this one brother due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives and the second was forbidden to that second brother due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives, then she who is forbidden to this brother is permitted to that brother, and she who is forbidden to that brother is permitted to this one. The Gemara asks: Why do I need this halakha as well, for this is identical to that which was taught earlier, when the mishna stated that if one of the sisters was forbidden to one of the brothers due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives, then he is forbidden to marry her but permitted to marry her sister. However, the second brother, who is not a close relative of either sister, is prohibited from marrying both of them. Once the mishna taught that the yavam is permitted to marry the woman to whom he is not related, what is the difference to me if there is one brother or two brothers? If this happened to both brothers, clearly both should be allowed. The Gemara answers: It is necessary to state this, for if it taught us the halakha only there, in the case where only one brother is permitted, one might have said: This is because there is a second brother who indicates that the sister of a woman bound by a levirate bond is forbidden to him by refraining from levirate marriage with her. However, here, where there is not a second brother who indicates this, as both brothers are performing levirate marriage, then I would say no; this halakha would not apply, due to the concern that people might wrongly conclude that the sister of a woman with whom the yavam has a levirate bond is permitted even in cases where the other woman is not a forbidden relative. And the opposite could also be said: If it taught us the ruling only here, in the case of two brothers, one might have said: On the contrary, they both indicate the nature of each other’s status. Each of the brothers married a specific sister-in-law, i.e., the woman who was not his close relative, indicating he does not have a levirate bond with the other sister. But in the other case, where one brother is allowed to consummate the levirate marriage and the second brother is forbidden to both sisters, I might say that no, we would not allow marriage to the first brother either. Therefore, it is necessary to state the halakha in both instances. It was taught in the mishna: And this is the case that was referred to when they said: When her sister is also her yevama, she either performs ḥalitza or enters into levirate marriage. The Gemara asks: What does the expression: This is, come to exclude? The Gemara answers: It excludes the case where there is a prohibition resulting from a mitzva for this one and a prohibition resulting from a mitzva for that one. Although each woman is forbidden to a different brother due to a prohibition resulting from a mitzva, they may not both enter into levirate marriage. The Gemara asks: Why do I need this as well? This is identical to that which was taught previously, that if one of the sisters was forbidden to the yavam due to a prohibition resulting from a mitzva, then he is not permitted to consummate the levirate marriage with either of them. What difference is there to me if she happened before one brother or two? The Gemara answers: Lest you say: There is only one instance when we do not say: Let the prohibition resulting from a mitzva stand in the same place, i.e., level of severity, as a prohibition against forbidden relatives. It occurs in a case where it is appropriate to issue a rabbinic decree due to the second brother, who is prohibited from marrying both sisters. But in a case where it is not appropriate to issue a rabbinic decree due to the second brother, as the second sister is permitted to the second brother as well, I might say: For this brother, let us stand the prohibition resulting from a mitzva in the same place as a prohibition against forbidden relatives, and for this brother let us stand the prohibition resulting from a mitzva in the same place as a prohibition against forbidden relatives, and as a result both brothers may consummate the levirate marriage. Therefore, it teaches us that this is not so. § Incidental to this halakha, the Gemara cites the following statement: Rav Yehuda said that Rav said, and similarly Rabbi Ḥiyya teaches in a baraita: With regard to all of those women enumerated in the first mishna of the tractate, who are forbidden to the yevamin as forbidden relatives, the following situation could arise: These women could also be two sisters who were married to two brothers who happen before their yevamin for levirate marriage while each one is a forbidden relative to one of the yevamin. In these situations, I could apply the ruling that she who is forbidden to this brother is permitted to that brother, as well as the ruling that when her sister is also her yevama she may either perform ḥalitza or enter into levirate marriage. But Rav Yehuda interprets these principles as applying only to those cases found in the list from the mother-in-law of the yavam and onward, but not to the six cases at the beginning, which include his daughter, and his wife’s daughter, and their descendants. What is the reason for Rav Yehuda’s distinction? This is because you find the scenario where two women who are candidates for levirate marriage are both sisters as well as the daughters of the two yevamin only in a case where the women are the daughters of the yevamin through rape, but you cannot find it in a case where they are his daughters through marriage. If one brother married a woman and had a daughter with her, then this woman, the wife of a brother who has children, is forbidden to all of his brothers. Therefore, it would be impossible for another brother to have a daughter with that same woman, and therefore the two daughters could never be sisters. The scenario of daughters who are also sisters is possible only when the first brother raped a woman and gave birth to a daughter, such that the woman is not forbidden to his brothers. If one of the brothers then had a daughter with this woman and both daughters married other brothers who then died, it is possible that these daughters would happen before their fathers for levirate marriage. Rav Yehuda maintains that the current mishna deals with cases of marriage but does not deal with cases of rape, and therefore he does not apply the principles governing sisters to those cases. And Abaye interprets these principles as applying even to his daughter from a woman he raped. Since you can find this scenario, if the statement wants to deal with cases of rape, let it; if it wants to deal with cases of marriage, let it. It is preferable to explain this matter with regard to cases of marriage, but if that is not possible, it can still be explained as dealing with cases of rape. However, it cannot be explained as referring to the wife of a brother with whom he did not coexist. Even according to the opinion of Abaye, this case cannot be included, since you can find a situation where two sisters happen before two brothers for levirate marriage while each woman is the wife of a brother with whom he did not coexist only according to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, while such a case cannot be found according to the opinion of the Rabbis. And Rabbi Ḥiyya does not deal with cases that are subject to dispute. And Rav Safra interprets these principles as applying to the wife of a brother with whom he did not coexist, and you can find this scenario in the case of the six brothers and according to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon. And your mnemonic to remember how this might come about is as follows: Died, born, consummated the levirate marriage; died, born, consummated the levirate marriage. How could this come about? There were two brothers, Reuven and Shimon, who were married to two sisters. And there were two other brothers, Levi and Yehuda, who were married to two unrelated women. Reuven died, Yissakhar was born, and Levi consummated the levirate marriage with Reuven’s wife. Afterward, Shimon died, Zevulun was born, and Yehuda consummated the levirate marriage with Shimon’s wife. Later, Levi and Yehuda died childless and these two sisters happened before Yissakhar and Zevulun for levirate marriage. In this scenario, the woman who had been Reuven’s wife is forbidden to this brother, Yissakhar, as the wife of a brother with whom he did not coexist, because he was not alive at the same time as Reuven, and yet she is nevertheless permitted to this brother, Zevulun, because when Zevulun was born this woman was already the wife of Levi, a brother with whom he did coexist. According to Rabbi Shimon, the fact that she had previously been the wife of Reuven, a brother with whom he did not coexist, is not taken into account. Similarly, with regard to Shimon’s wife, we find that she who is forbidden to this one is permitted to that one. Shimon’s wife is forbidden to Zevulun as the wife of a brother with whom he did not coexist, but she is nevertheless permitted to Yissakhar. Accordingly, the situation of her sister who is her yevama, i.e., two sisters who are yevamot and yet are allowed to perform levirate marriage, can be applied to this case as well. The Gemara asks: Why do I need to assume that this is referring to a scenario where Yehuda consummated the levirate marriage? You can find this possibility in a case where Yehuda did not consummate the levirate marriage as well. This scenario can also take place with only five brothers and without Yehuda: Reuven and Shimon were married to two sisters, Reuven died, Yissakhar was born, and Levi consummated the levirate marriage with Reuven’s wife. Then Shimon died and Zevulun was born. If Levi then dies, Levi’s wife is forbidden to Yissakhar as the wife of his brother Reuven, with whom he did not coexist, but she would be permitted to Zevulun because she was already the wife of Levi when Zevulun was born. Shimon’s wife would be forbidden to Zevulun but permitted to Yissakhar. The Gemara responds: This is due to the rival wife. It was taught in this way in order to make the principle applicable not only to the wives, but also to their rival wives. In this scenario, Levi and Yehuda were previously married to two sisters who then became the rival wives of a wife of a brother with whom one did not coexist. This allows the ruling to apply to the case of rival wives as well. The Gemara notes: This works out well if the mishna comes to include only a rival wife herself, but what can be said about the rival wife of a rival wife? How can this case explained? If one aims to include all of the details of the mishna in Rabbi Ḥiyya’s principle, then the mishna must be referring not only to a case involving the brothers’ rival wives, but also to the rival wives of those rival wives mentioned in the mishna. The Gemara answers: Therefore, one must include a case where Gad and Asher subsequently consummated the levirate marriage with these women as well. That is, initially there were two other brothers, Gad and Asher, who consummated the levirate marriage with the previous wives of Levi and Yehuda, each of whom had taken one of the wives of Reuven and Shimon. Later, when Gad and Asher died, their previous wives, who are the rival wives of the rival wives of Reuven and Shimon’s wives, happen before Yissakhar and Zevulun for levirate marriage. MISHNA: In the case of three brothers, two of whom were married to close relatives, e.g., two sisters; or a woman and her daughter; or a woman and her daughter’s daughter; or a woman and her son’s daughter, if the two brothers who were married to two close relatives died and their wives happened before a third brother for levirate marriage, then these two women must perform ḥalitza and may not enter into levirate marriage, as each of them is a relative of a woman with whom he has a levirate bond. And Rabbi Shimon exempts them even from the obligation to perform ḥalitza. If one of them was forbidden to him, the third brother, due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives, then he is prohibited from marrying her but is permitted to marry her sister. Because the woman who is forbidden to him is not considered to be a woman who requires him for levirate marriage, there is only one woman who happens before him for levirate marriage. However, if one of the women was forbidden due to a prohibition resulting from a mitzva or a prohibition stemming from sanctity, then they must perform ḥalitza and may not enter into levirate marriage. This is because these prohibitions do not completely cancel the levirate bond. GEMARA: It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon exempts both of them from ḥalitza and from levirate marriage, as it is stated: “And you shall not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival to her” (Leviticus 18:18). This indicates that at the time that a situation arises wherein they are to become rival wives to each other, e.g., two sisters happen before one yavam for levirate marriage, you shall not have the ability to take even one of them in marriage. In his opinion, both women are exempt from both levirate marriage and ḥalitza at the moment that they happen before the yavam, just as a forbidden relative is exempt from both levirate marriage and ḥalitza. It was taught in the mishna: If one of them was forbidden to him due to a prohibition against forbidden relatives, he is prohibited from marrying her but is permitted to marry her sister. The Gemara asks: Why do I need this statement as well? This is identical to that which was taught in the previous mishna. The Gemara answers: It was necessary to state this again here according to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon. It might enter your mind to say: Since Rabbi Shimon said that two sisters may not perform ḥalitza and may not enter into levirate marriage, as the very fact that they require levirate marriage from the same man and stand to become rival wives to each other renders them forbidden, we should issue a rabbinic decree in this case as well. Although in this case only one of the sisters is eligible for levirate marriage, as the other is a forbidden relative, perhaps there should be a rabbinic decree prohibiting the yavam from marrying the permitted sister, due to the similarity to the case of two sisters in general who happen before him for levirate marriage. This teaches us that even Rabbi Shimon does not hold that there is a rabbinic decree in this case. It was taught in the mishna that if the wives are forbidden to the yavam due to a prohibition resulting from a mitzva or sanctity, they must perform ḥalitza and may not enter into levirate marriage.

(18) The House of Jacob shall be fire, And the House of Joseph flame, And the House of Esau shall be straw; They shall burn it and devour it, And no survivor shall be left of the House of Esau —for the LORD has spoken.