Commentary for Ketubot 10:5

מִי שֶׁהָיָה נָשׂוּי אַרְבַּע נָשִׁים וּמֵת, הָרִאשׁוֹנָה קוֹדֶמֶת לַשְּׁנִיָּה, וּשְׁנִיָּה לַשְּׁלִישִׁית, וּשְׁלִישִׁית לָרְבִיעִית. הָרִאשׁוֹנָה נִשְׁבַּעַת לַשְּׁנִיָּה, וּשְׁנִיָּה לַשְּׁלִישִׁית, וּשְׁלִישִׁית לָרְבִיעִית, וְהָרְבִיעִית נִפְרַעַת שֶׁלֹּא בִשְׁבוּעָה. בֶּן נַנָּס אוֹמֵר, וְכִי מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהִיא אַחֲרוֹנָה נִשְׂכֶּרֶת, אַף הִיא לֹא תִפָּרַע אֶלָּא בִשְׁבוּעָה. הָיוּ יוֹצְאוֹת כֻּלָּן בְּיוֹם אֶחָד, כָּל הַקּוֹדֶמֶת לַחֲבֶרְתָּהּ אֲפִלּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת, זָכְתָה. וְכָךְ הָיוּ כוֹתְבִין בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם שָׁעוֹת. הָיוּ כֻלָּן יוֹצְאוֹת בְּשָׁעָה אַחַת וְאֵין שָׁם אֶלָּא מָנֶה, חוֹלְקוֹת בְּשָׁוֶה:

If a man were married to four women, and he died, the first comes before the second; the second, before the third; and the third, before the fourth. [The one whose kethubah is dated earliest comes before the second, and so with all. The first swears to the second; the second, to the third; the third, to the fourth, and the fourth collects without an oath. [(The first swears to the second) if the second says to the first: Swear to me that you collected nothing from my husband (in his lifetime), for (if you did), there might not be enough left for me to collect my kethubah from. And, similarly, if the third says thus to the second, and the fourth to the third; but the fourth collects without swearing (in an instance where there is no heir or other creditor to make her swear)]. Ben Naness says: Now should she profit just because she is the last! She, too, collects only if she swears. [The gemara explains the difference between the first tanna and Ben Naness as applying to an instance where one of the fields received by the three first women was found not to belong to him (the husband), it having been discovered to have been stolen, so that in the end the owner will come and claim it. When the fourth woman comes to collect her kethubah from the fourth field, this one (the woman with the stolen field) comes and says to her: The owner of this stolen field is bound to come and take it from me; I want you to swear that you did not collect your kethubah in my husband's lifetime. The first tanna holds that if a later creditor were beforehand in collecting (before an earlier creditor), what he collected is not (validly) collected. Therefore, why should she swear? If the robbed one comes and seizes (his field) from this woman, she will go to the fourth one and take from her what she had collected, the fourth woman being a "later creditor." And Ben Naness holds that if a later creditor were beforehand in collecting, what he collected is (validly) collected, so that if she holds this field, the third woman cannot come to her (and claim it). Therefore, she swears to her that she had collected nothing from her husband's property. The halachah is in accordance with the first tanna. We infer, in any event, that if she seized chattel she must swear according to all, there being no law of precedence vis-à-vis chattel, and what she has collected is (validly) collected.] If all (of the kethuboth) were issued on the same day, if one is even one hour earlier than the other, that woman takes precedence (in collecting). And, in Jerusalem, they would, accordingly, write the hour (of the kethubah). If all were issued in the same hour, and there were only a manah (of property), they all share equally.

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