פירוש על במדבר 5:20

ואת כי שטית BUT IF THOU HAST BUT IF THOU HAST GONE ASIDE ASIDE — The word כי must here be employed in the meaning of “if” (cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:15).

BUT IF THOU HAST GONE ASIDE. This is connected with [the expression in the following verse], the Eternal make thee,⁹⁵Verse 21. the verses stating: “But if thou hast gone aside to uncleanness, being under thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides thy husband — the Eternal make thee a curse, and an oath among thy people. ”⁹⁵Verse 21. But due to the length of the conditions [mentioned in Verses 19-20] Scripture restates [in the following Verse 21] and the priest shall cause the woman to swear [although that has already been said at the beginning of Verse 19; and accordingly the phrase before us in Verse 20, but if thou hast gone aside etc. is connected with the expression the Eternal make thee in Verse 21], in order to explain that [the Eternal make thee a curse etc.] constitutes the oath of cursing.⁹⁵Verse 21. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that the first expression of swearing [and the priest shall cause her to swear, in Verse 19] means [that she must swear] by G-d’s Name, and the second one [in Verse 21] implies by means of the curse, as is clearly explained there [in Verse 21: and the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing]. But it is not correct, for the priest would not have caused her to swear by the Name of G-d using an expression of “if” [as in Verse 19: and the priest shall cause her to swear, and shall say unto the woman: ‘If’ no man have lain with thee etc.].⁹⁶For if she is innocent of the charge, then she will have invoked the name of G-d in vain.
Now there is nothing amongst all the ordinances of the Torah which depends upon a miracle, except for this matter, which is a permanent wonder and miracle that will happen in Israel, when the majority of the people live in accordance with the Will of G-d; for He was pleased for His righteousness’ sake⁹⁷Isaiah 42:21; Ezekiel 23:48. to teach the women that they do not do after the lewdness⁹⁷Isaiah 42:21; Ezekiel 23:48. of the other nations, and to purify Israel from adulterous offspring, so that they are worthy that the Divine Presence dwell among them. Therefore this matter [i.e., the effect of the water on the sotah] stopped from the time that the people became debauched with [sexual] sins, as the Rabbis have said:⁹⁸Sotah 47 a-b. “When adulterers became frequent, the water of sotah⁴³A sotah is a woman suspected of adultery, and is subject to the laws explained further on in Verses 11-31. The law concerning her meal-offering is found in Verse 15, where it is called a meal-offering of jealousy. ceased, for it is said, I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they themselves consort with lewd women, and they sacrifice with harlots, and the people that is without understanding is distraught.⁹⁹Hosea 4:14. Now this verse does not mean to say that adulterous women will be free from [punishment for their] sin, because their husbands [likewise] commit adultery; it [is only saying] that this great miracle will not be done for them, for it occurs as a sign of honor for them because of their being a holy people,¹⁰⁰See Deuteronomy 26:19. but they do not understand this goodness, nor do they desire it. Therefore the verse states, and the people that is without understanding is ‘yilaveit’ (distraught),⁹⁹Hosea 4:14. that is to say, trapped by its foolishness. Similarly, but a prating fool ‘yilaveit, ’¹⁰¹Proverbs 10:8. which the Jerusalem Targum¹⁰²Reference here is to the Targum Yonathan ben Uziel. translated: “but the fool is caught by his lips.” This is the reason for what the Sages have said:⁹⁸Sotah 47 a-b. “And the man shall be clear from iniquity.¹⁰³Further, Verse 31. When the man is clear of iniquity, the water [of the sotah] tests his wife; but if the man is himself not free from iniquity, the water does not put his wife to the proof.” Now the “freedom from iniquity” of the husband means [in this context] that he had no sexual relations with her after he had warned her and she [nevertheless] had secret contact [with the suspected adulterer]. And there are scholars¹⁰⁴Mentioned in Rashi, Sotah 47b, and in Rambam, Hilchoth Sotah 2:8. who explain that if the husband had ever in his lifetime had a forbidden sexual intercourse, the water [of the sotah] no longer tests his wife. And according to the final decision of the law, even if his sons or daughters committed adultery and he did not rebuke them the water did not put his wife to the test [even though he himself is clear from iniquity]. In short, this procedure was miraculous, as [a sign of] honor for Israel.

ואת, accept it also.

ואת כי שטית, “but you who have strayed, etc.” According to Nachmanides the words above relate to the words יתן ה' אותך לאלה וגו', “may Hashem render you as a curse, etc.” in verse 21, so that we may understand the sequence as follows: “may you who have strayed and lain with someone other than your husband become a curse, etc.” The reason why the Torah repeated the introductory words והשביע הכן once more in verse 21 is not that the priest adjures the woman a second time, but seeing that so many words had intervened since the words above in verse 10, the reader might have lost track of the proper meaning. Ibn Ezra explains that the first time we encounter the words והשביע הכהן the priest adjures her in the name of Hashem, but not spelling out the nature of the curse, whereas the second time in verse 21 he adjures her on pain of a curse spelling out precisely what would happen to her. This, according to Nachmanides, cannot be right, as an oath in the name of the Tetragram cannot possibly be linked to a conditional word such as אם. This would be tantamount to using the name of the Lord in vain. Our author draws attention to another anomaly in these verses, In verse 19, where the priest allows for the possibility that the woman is in fact not guilty of what she has been accused of, the possibility that she might have defiled herself is mentioned only after the possibility that she is innocent, and the words תחת אישך appear at the end of that phrase, whereas in verse 20 the words תחת אישך, “other than your husband,” appear before the priest spelled out that she had thereby defiled herself. Also, while in verse 19 where the possibility of the woman being innocent of the accusations leveled against her is mentioned first, the priest speaks to her directly, i.e. “you have done, you will be found pure, etc.,” in verse 21, where she is presumed guilty, priest phrases her sin in such a manner that even coitus interruptus would make her liable to the same punishment as if the act had been completed. This is implied in the words ויתן איש בך את שכבתו, “another man has lain with you,” (verse 20). The words יתן ה' are spoken by the priest when he turns his face away from her already, signaling his disgust. This is why the Torah did not add the words אל האשה, i.e. “to the woman directly.”

In the sense of “if”. Rashi is answering the question: The word כי (which would have been translated here as ‘since’) implies that she had certainly been promiscuous, and if she had certainly been promiscuous then one would not cause her to drink.

מבלעדי אישך, in other words: “leave him.”

VV. 20 u. 21. בשבעת האלה .ואת כי וגו׳ והשביע וגו׳, hier, für den bejahenden Wechselfall, unterwirft der Priester die Frau der wirklichen Übernahme des Fluches, יתן ד׳ וגו׳: ihr Zustand wird ein solcher werden, dass, wer künftig eine אלה und eine שבועה aussprechen wolle, seine Meinung in den Satz kleiden werde: Gott soll es dem Betreffenden wie ihr ergehen lassen. Man bemerke, wie in der ganzen bisherigen und folgenden Prozedur immer wiederholt der כהן als der Handelnde bezeichnet wird. Es ist kein gerichtlicher Vorgang, es ist ein Appell an das Gesetzesheiligtum, dessen Herold und Vertreter der Priester ist und als dessen Stifter und Garant seiner Anforderung Gott sich erweisen will. Darum ist es auch der Name ד׳, der Name der Leben und Segen spendenden Gottesliebe, von dem hier die verhängnisvolle Wirkung erwartet wird. Nicht der strafende Untergang der Verbrecherin, sondern die dadurch zu sichernde und zu fördernde züchtige Sittlichkeit, von der allen Heil und aller Segen im Volke bedingt ist, ist das letzte Ziel dieses ernsten Vorganges.

ואת כי שטית, “but since you have strayed, etc.” the priest did not say to her: “if you have strayed,” but he said to her that there was no question that she had strayed, the question was only to what extent she had strayed. She definitely deserved to have been shamed. Having caused her husband to suspect her, and having subsequently secreted herself with a man that her husband had specifically told her not to do, was disgraceful behaviour, even if no intimacy had occurred.

כי שטית תחת אישך וכי נטמאת, that the curse will apply on account of your having defiled yourself and for no other reason at all. However, if the reason you have to drink this proves to be a false accusation you have nothing to fear from this curse.

וכי נטמאת, “the priest left the end of the sentence unsaid, i.e. “you will be punished through drinking these waters.” And in the event you have become ritually defiled;” he also implied that if she had not had carnal relations with someone other than her husband the waters would not harm her.

מבלעדי אישך, the wording means that only if she had engaged in carnal relations with another man after her husband had been her husband in the full sense of the word, not during the period when she was merely betrothed, would she be forced to drink these waters if she wanted to clear her name. (B’chor shor)