Kiddushin 2a (ב.) — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

The woman is acquired

by her husband, becoming his wife and becoming forbidden to every other man besides him,

in three ways,

which will be explained below.

And

a married woman

acquires herself,

becoming permitted to marry another man,

in two ways,

which will also be explained below: The woman

is acquired

in three ways:

a.

With money —

the husband gives her money or an item worth money and says to her, “Behold, you are betrothed to me.”

b.

With a document —

the husband writes on paper, “Behold, you are betrothed to me,” and gives it to her. And even if the paper is not worth a peruta, she is nevertheless betrothed through the document.

c.

Through intercourse —

he has intercourse with her and says to her, “Be betrothed to me through this intercourse.”

The Mishna now explains the amount of money through which the woman is acquired by her husband: “

With money” —

Beit Shammai say: With a dinar

of silver,

or with the value of a dinar,

or with an object worth a dinar.

And Beit Hillel say:

It is sufficient for her to be acquired by her husband

with a peruta

of copper,

or with the value of a peruta,

or with an object worth a peruta, but not with less than this.

And since the value of a peruta is not fixed, but varies according to currency fluctuations, the Mishna explains:

And how much is it

worth,

a peruta?

One-eighth of an Italian issar.

An eighth of an Italian issar, which is the name of a particular coin whose value is fixed, while the value of perutot rises or falls relative to it.

Thus far the Mishna has explained the three ways in which the woman is acquired by her husband.

The Mishna now proceeds to explain the two ways in which the woman acquires herself, becoming under her own authority so that she can marry another man:

And she acquires herself

becoming permitted to marry another man —

a. When her husband divorces her

with a bill of divorce.

b. Or when she becomes permitted automatically,

through the death of her husband.

Thus far the Mishna has explained the acquisitions of the woman and the ways in which she becomes permitted.

The Mishna now explains the law of yibbum and the permission effected by chalitza.

a. If a man was married to a woman and died without leaving a son or daughter, it is a mitzva incumbent upon his paternal brother [called the yavam] to have intercourse with his brother's wife.

This mitzva is called the mitzva of “yibbum,” and through it the yavam acquires her as his wife, in order to establish a name for his brother in Israel.

b. As long as the yavam has not performed yibbum with her, the yevama [called a “woman awaiting yibbum”] is forbidden to marry a stranger.

c. A yavam who does not wish to perform yibbum with his deceased brother's wife must perform chalitza with her, thereby permitting her to marry anyone. He does not send her away with a bill of divorce, as will be explained below. But if he has already had intercourse with her, she is his wife in every respect and can leave him only through a bill of divorce.

The yevama,

the wife of the deceased, whom his brother is commanded to take in yibbum,

is acquired

by the yavam completely, to be considered his wife, in one way —

through intercourse

alone. Even if he did not have intercourse with her in order to acquire her as a wife through it, and did not say to her that she would be acquired by him as a wife through this intercourse.

Once the yavam has had intercourse with her, she becomes his complete wife. If he wishes to send her away from him, he divorces her with a bill of divorce, and she does not require chalitza.

But if the yavam betrothed his yevama with money or a document, she is not acquired by him by Torah law, but only by rabbinic law. Then, if he wishes to send her away, she requires a bill of divorce by rabbinic law, in addition to chalitza by Torah law.

For a bill of divorce alone does not permit her to marry another man, since betrothal by a yavam does not take effect with a yevama by Torah law, and a bill of divorce does not permit the yevama to marry everyone; only chalitza does, as stated below.

And

a yevama with whom the yavam has not had intercourse, and who was not acquired by him as a wife through intercourse —

acquires herself,

becoming under her own authority so that she can marry another man, in two ways:

a.

Through chalitza.

b.

And through the death of the yavam.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna:

The woman is acquired

in three ways.

The Gemara discusses:

Why is it different here,

what is different and distinctive about our Mishna,

that it teaches,

that the tanna teaches in it

“The woman is acquired,”

and the tanna refers to betrothal with the language of “acquisition”?

And why is it different there,

at the beginning of the second chapter [41a],

that it teaches,

that the tanna teaches there

“The man betroths”

“by himself or through his agent,” and refers to betrothal with the language of “betrothal,” and not with the language of acquisition!?

The Gemara explains: The tanna uses the language of “acquisition” here rather than the language of betrothal

because he wishes to teach

that later in the Mishna one of the ways in which the woman is acquired is through the giving of

money.

And we find that the Torah calls the giving of money “acquisition.”

The Gemara explains:

And from where do we know money,

that the woman is acquired through it?

He derived

the law of acquisition through money in the case of a woman by means of the gzera shava

“taking” —

“taking,”

from the field of Ephron,

which was acquired with money.

It is written here,

it is stated here, concerning the betrothal of a woman, with the language of “taking” [Deuteronomy 22]:

“When a man takes a woman.”

And it is written there,

it is also stated concerning the acquisition of the field of Ephron, with the language of “taking” [Genesis 23]:

“I have given the money for the field; take it from me.”

And Scripture teaches through the gzera shava —

Just as the “taking,” the taking mentioned concerning the field of Ephron, is an acquisition through money [as stated there in the verse, and as the Gemara will explain immediately], so too the “taking” mentioned in the verse concerning the betrothal of a woman is an acquisition through money.

And

the

“taking”

mentioned concerning the field of Ephron

is called

“

acquisition” —

As it is written

concerning the field of Ephron [Genesis 49]:

“The field that Abraham acquired.”