Commentaire sur Sotah 4:3
מְעֻבֶּרֶת חֲבֵרוֹ וּמֵינֶקֶת חֲבֵרוֹ, לֹא שׁוֹתוֹת וְלֹא נוֹטְלוֹת כְּתֻבָּה, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, יָכוֹל הוּא לְהַפְרִישָׁהּ וּלְהַחֲזִירָהּ לְאַחַר זְמַן. אַיְלוֹנִית וּזְקֵנָה וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ רְאוּיָה לֵילֵד, לֹא שׁוֹתוֹת וְלֹא נוֹטְלוֹת כְּתֻבָּה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יָכוֹל הוּא לִשָּׂא אִשָּׁה אַחֶרֶת וְלִפְרוֹת וְלִרְבּוֹת הֵימֶנָּה. וּשְׁאָר כָּל הַנָּשִׁים, אוֹ שׁוֹתוֹת אוֹ לֹא נוֹטְלוֹת כְּתֻבָּה:
Celui qui est enceinte d'un précédent mariage et celui qui allaite d'un précédent mariage, ne boit pas les eaux et ne prend pas sa Ketouba . Ce sont les paroles du rabbin Meir. Les Sages disent qu'il est capable de se séparer d'elle et de revenir vers elle après un certain temps. Une femme sans utérus, une vieille femme et une femme qui ne peut pas accoucher, ne boivent pas et ne prennent pas leur Ketouba . Le rabbin Eliezer dit qu'il est capable d'épouser une autre femme et de procréer d'elle. Toutes les autres femmes boivent ou ne prennent pas leur Ketubah .
Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
מעוברת חבירו – who died or divorced her and left her pregnant or nursing and the Sages forbid her to marry until the child born would be two years old and he went and married her prior to that time and was jealous of her and she had retired under suspicious circumstances.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
Introduction
This mishnah continues to discuss situations where a man married a woman prohibited to him, and therefore should she become a sotah she doesn’t drink the bitter waters or receive her ketubah.
We should note that according to the mishnah it is dangerous for a nursing woman to become pregnant again, for fear that her milk would dry up. This was probably a greater possibility when nutrition was not as good as it is today. Despite this, rabbis did not prohibit pregnant women from having sexual relations with their husbands.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
לא שותה – for she is not appropriate to fulfill it for Rabbi Meir holds ha a person who marries a woman who was impregnated by another or who had her become a nursing mother from another should divorce her and never ever return her. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
[A wife] who was pregnant by a former husband or was nursing a child by a former husband does not drink and does not receive the ketubah, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages says: he may separate her [from himself] and take her back after the period [of two years]. A man may not marry a widow who is either pregnant or nursing a child from her former husband. The rabbis feared that a new baby with a new husband would cause a problem for the nursing child (and pregnant women will eventually be nursing women), for the mother could not don’t nurse two babies at the same time. While a husband may continue to have sexual relations with his wife even when she is nursing, in that case we can assume that if the milk is not sufficient for both children, the husband will supplement it with eggs and goat’s milk, which were used as supplements before formula existed. However, concering a new husband we cannot be sure that he will also do so (since the first child is not his), therefore the rabbis forbade the marriage. Since the marriage was prohibited, Rabbi Meir says that she doesn’t drink the waters, nor does she collect her ketubah. The Sages hold that the marriage is not truly prohibited, because he may remain married to her while at the same time staying separate from her (sexually) for two years. This refers to the standard length of time in which women nursed their children. This way she won’t become pregnant while still nursing. Since the marriage can be maintained, she can become a sotah, and drink the water.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
יכול הוא להפרישה – until twenty-four months [have passed] and then to retore her. Therefore, we can her worthy of marriage.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
An aylonit [who is incapable of giving birth], an old woman, and one who is unfit to bear children do not drink and do not receive the ketubah. Rabbi Eliezer says: he may marry another wife and be fruitful and multiply with her. The women listed in this section can all, by definition, not have children. An aylonit is a girl who never develops physical signs of maturity. By definition she cannot conceive. The old woman referred to here is one past child-bearing age. The woman who is unfit to bear children refers to one who drank a sterilizing potion. According to the first opinion in the mishnah, it is forbidden for a man to marry these types of women because they cannot bear children, and he is commanded to have children. Since this is a forbidden marriage, she does not drink the water. We should note that in Yevamoth 6:5 we learned that this prohibition only refers to someone who does not yet have children. A man who has children may marry a woman who cannot have children, since he has already performed his commandment. Rabbi Eliezer points out that this marriage too, while originally prohibited, may be maintained if he marries another woman with whom he can have children. Therefore, if she becomes a sotah she can drink the water.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
אילונית – she is man-like and does not give birth (i.e., barren, incapable of conception – see Talmud Ketubot 11a for its etymology from "איל"–ram-like).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sotah
All other women either drink or do not receive the ketubah. All other women, if they don’t want to drink the water, also do not receive their ketubah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
ושאינה ראויה לילד – for she had drank that cup of impotence–sterility, and it is prohibited to establish them for one who has not children.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sotah
ר"א אומר יכול הוא לישא אשה אחרת – and he will be permitted to uphold this one. Therefore, she is appropriate for marriage. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.
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