Kommentar zu Sotah 1:7
בַּמִדָּה שֶׁאָדָם מוֹדֵד, בָּהּ מוֹדְדִין לוֹ. הִיא קִשְּׁטָה אֶת עַצְמָהּ לַעֲבֵרָה, הַמָּקוֹם נִוְּלָהּ. הִיא גִלְּתָה אֶת עַצְמָהּ לַעֲבֵרָה, הַמָּקוֹם גִּלָּה עָלֶיהָ. בַּיָּרֵךְ הִתְחִילָה בָעֲבֵרָה תְחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ הַבֶּטֶן, לְפִיכָךְ תִּלְקֶה הַיָּרֵךְ תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ הַבֶּטֶן. וּשְׁאָר כָּל הַגּוּף לֹא פָלֵט:
In dem Maß, das eine Person misst, wird es ihm gemessen. Sie schmückte ihren Körper, um zu überschreiten, Gott hat sie beschämt; Sie hat ihren Körper freigelegt, um zu überschreiten. Gott hat sie freigelegt. Sie begann die Übertretung mit dem Oberschenkel und danach mit dem Bauch; Darum wird zuerst der Oberschenkel und danach der Bauch geschlagen, und der Rest ihres Körpers wird nicht entkommen.
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
המקום ניולה – that a Kohen reveals her head and unravels her hair and rends her clothing.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Introduction
This mishnah and those that follow are about the concept “measure for measure”. The Sotah’s humiliation and punishment fits her crime of adultery.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
היא גלתה את עצמה – she sat at the crossroads and revealed herself to an adulterer.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
In the measure with which a person metes out to others, they mete out to him. She adorned herself for a sin; the Omnipresent made her repulsive. She exposed herself for a sin; the Omnipresent exposed her. She began the transgression with the thigh and afterwards with the womb; therefore she is punished first in the thigh and afterwards in the womb, nor does all the body escape. According to the theology of this mishnah, God acts upon a person in relation to that person’s actions. So too, the Torah’s punishments for the Sotah are commensurate with her crimes. The mishnah now illustrates this. She is made repulsive, her clothes are ripped and her hair is torn, in response to her adorning herself in preparation for adultery. She is exposed for all to see, because she exposed herself to her lover. Finally, the Torah states that if the waters find her to be guilty, her thigh and then womb (belly) will be disfigured. These are two of the areas of her body that were involved in the affair. She exposed to him her thigh, which is often understood to be the genitalia, and then she allowed him to enter her womb. The mishnah notes that this is only the beginning of her curse. She should not think that only her thigh and belly will be disfigured. Rather they are just the start.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
המקום גלה עליה – that a Kohen places her at the Nicanor Gate and shows her disgrace to everyone.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
בירך התחילה בעבירה תחילה – on the way to sexual intercourse, the thigh benefits first through the closeness of the flesh.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
ושאר כל הגוף לא פלט the other limbs of her body are not spared from the illness, even though they are not mentioned in the Bible other than the stomach and the thigh.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy