Shevuot 39a — the Talmud in English

And

the court says to him,

the person swearing:

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that the entire world was shaken when the Holy One, blessed be He, said

at Sinai, “You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain”!

And the court further says to him:

And concerning all transgressions in the Torah it is stated, “And he shall be absolved,”

meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, absolves the person who commits that transgression.

But here it is stated, “

For

He shall not absolve

the Lord the one who bears His Name in vain”!

They further say to him:

And concerning all transgressions in the Torah, punishment is exacted

for the transgression only

from him

alone,

but here,

with regard to a false oath, they punish and exact punishment

from him

and from his family!

As it is stated: “Do not give your mouth to cause sin

[to cause him to be punished through your sin]—

your flesh.”

And “his flesh” means none other than his relative, as it is stated: “And from your flesh you shall not hide yourself”!

And it is proven that even “his flesh,” namely his family, is seized and punished because of his sin.

And concerning all transgressions in the Torah, punishment is exacted from him

alone,

but here, from him and from the entire world.

As it is stated

[in the Book of Hosea 4:2, when the prophet enumerates the sins of Israel, the inhabitants of the land, and lists them as follows:]

“Oath, and denial,

murder, theft, and adultery,” and so on.

And “oath and denial” is the sin of a false oath. And afterward it is written there: “Therefore the land shall mourn and every inhabitant thereof shall languish”—because of this person who swears falsely.

And this is the meaning of punishment being exacted from him and from the entire world.

And concerning all transgressions in the Torah—

one who transgresses them—

if he has merit, they suspend judgment for him,

they wait for him and do not punish him for

two or three generations. But

here,

punishment is exacted from him immediately.

As it is stated in Zechariah 5 [below the Gemara will explain how these matters are derived from the verses]: “

I lifted my eyes and saw a flying scroll. And he said to me—

This is the curse [the malediction] that goes forth over the face of the entire land …

I have brought it forth

[this curse]

declares the Lord of Hosts, and it shall come

[the curse]

to the house of the thief, and to the house of the one who swears falsely in My Name, and it shall lodge within his house and consume it, and its wood and its stones!”

And the Gemara expounds these verses:

“I have brought it forth”—

immediately.

“And it shall come to the house of the thief”—

this is one who deceives people.

That is,

he has no money with his fellow

and nevertheless

he claims against him

that he owes him

and makes him swear.

And to the house that swears in My Name falsely -

as its plain meaning.

And it shall lodge within his house, and it shall consume it and its wood and its stones -

from this you have learned: that things which fire and water do not destroy,

such as the stones of the house -

a false oath destroys them!

And after the court has warned the one standing ready to swear with all these severe warnings:

If

after all this

he said: “I am not swearing!”

but accepts upon himself to pay -

they release [

send away ]

him immediately,

so that he will not regret it, retract his decision, and ask to swear; rather, he should immediately pay what he accepted upon himself through his unwillingness to swear.

And if

in any event

he said: “I am prepared to swear!” those standing there say to one another: “Please withdraw from the tents of these wicked men!” and so forth.

And when they administer the oath to him, they say to him: Be aware that it is not according to

what is in

your mind that we administer the oath to you, but according to the intention of the Omnipresent and according to the intention of the court [

below, on page b, it is explained what the difference is between his intention, the intention of the Omnipresent, and the intention of the court ].

For so we find with Moses our Teacher, when he administered an oath to Israel [

in the portion “You are standing” ]

he said to them:

Know that it is not according to your intention that I administer the oath to you, but according to the intention of the Omnipresent and according to my intention. As it is stated: “And not with you alone,”

that is, it is not with you, according to what is in your intention and in the thoughts of your heart, that I establish this covenant

but with the one who is here

with us, standing today before the Lord our God!

And the Gemara explains:

I have only

what is stated concerning this oath with which Moses administered an oath to Israel

but

to

those standing at Mount Sinai.

The later generations,

and the converts who are destined to convert,

from where do we know that they too are included in this?

The verse states: “And with the one who is not

here with us today,” but who will exist in the future.

And I have only

within the covenant, the curse, and the oath that were stated at Sinai

but

mitzvot that they accepted upon themselves

at Mount Sinai; but the mitzvot that were destined to be newly instituted, such as the reading of the Megilla,

which was not accepted at Sinai,

from where

do we know that it too is included in this?

The verse states: [

in the Scroll of Esther ]

“The Jews established and accepted upon themselves” -

they established what they had accepted

upon themselves

already

at Mount Sinai!

And the Gemara explains all the words of the beraita from its beginning:

We learned in a beraita: An oath of the litigants is also stated in its language.

And the Gemara discusses explaining:

What is “is also stated in its language”?

As we learned: These are

the matters whose law is that they are said, and they too

are said in every language: the passage of the sota [

when they administer an oath to the sota that she did not become impure, they administer the oath to her in a language that she hears and understands ].

The confession over the tithe,

when a person finishes separating the tithes of the third year, the year of the tithe, and removes them from his house, he confesses: (Deuteronomy 26:13) “I have removed the sacred thing from the house” - this is the second tithe; “and I have also given it to the Levite” - this is the first tithe; “and to the stranger, the orphan, and the widow” - this is the poor tithe. This confession too is said in every language.

The recitation of Shema, prayer, the Grace after Meals, the oath of testimony, and the oath of the deposit

are also said in every language that he understands.

And the tanna said

of the beraita

also the oath of the litigants

is also stated in its language, and therefore one swears in every language that he understands!

The Master said: They say to him

to the one swearing

“Be aware that the entire world trembled at the moment when the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.’”

The Gemara asks:

What is the reason

that the world trembled specifically at this statement of the Holy One, blessed be He?

If you say because

this statement

was given [

given ]

at Sinai,

and therefore the world trembled,

but the statement of the

Ten Commandments

also

was likewise given at Sinai!?

And we do not find that the world trembled in this way.

Rather,

the reason that the world trembled when the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “You shall not take,”

is because it is more severe

than a false oath is than the other transgressions!

And the Gemara asks:

And is it more severe

than a false oath is than all of them?

But it was taught: These are

the

lesser transgressions [

they are lesser in that atonement for them is achieved through repentance alone ] - a transgression of

a positive commandment and a transgression of

a

negative commandment, except for “You shall not take,”

which is the transgression of swearing falsely.

And these are

severe transgressions -

these are excisions and deaths imposed by the court, and “You shall not take” is with them!

And it is proven that the transgression of “You shall not take” is not more severe than those liable for excision and deaths imposed by the court; rather, it is of the same severity as they are. And why was it said that a false oath is more severe than all of them?

Rather,

its severity is

, as the reason is taught

in the continuation of the words of the beraita:

“And concerning all the transgressions in the Torah it is stated, ‘He will forgive,’ but here it is stated, ‘He will not forgive’!”

And the Gemara raises an objection: Is it the case that concerning all the transgressions in the Torah it was not stated “He will not forgive,”

for it is written

in the Thirteen Attributes [Exodus 34]

“He will forgive, he will not forgive,”

and this verse was stated concerning the other sins?

The Gemara answers:

That

the words of the verse “He will forgive” and “He will not forgive,” which were stated in the Thirteen Attributes,

is needed

for what he explained

as Rabbi Elazar, for it was taught: Rabbi Elazar says: It is impossible to say “He will forgive,” for

behold,

it has already been stated

in that same verse

“He will not forgive.” It is impossible to say “He will not forgive,” since “He will forgive” has already been stated. Now

this apparent contradiction in the meaning of the words of the verse,

how

can it be explained? Rather, the explanation is that

He forgives those who repent, but He does not forgive those who do not repent!

But in the case of an oath, He does not forgive even those who repent - rather, until He exacts payment from them!

It was further stated in the beraita:

“Concerning all the transgressions in the Torah, payment is exacted from him. But here, from him and from his family.”

The Gemara raises an objection:

And

is it the case that

concerning all the transgressions in the Torah, payment is not exacted from his family

?

For it is written

in the passage concerning one who transfers his son to Molech:

“And I will set My face against that man and against his family,” and it was taught: Rabbi Shimon said: If he sinned, what sin did his family commit?

And why are they punished?

To tell you: There is no family in which there is

a tax collector who takes money unlawfully

whose entirety is not tax collectors,

and

there is no family

in which there is a bandit whose entirety is not bandits,

and why?

Because they cover up for him.

And because of the covering up, they are considered like him, for they too are considered bandits and tax collectors. If so, we see that concerning other transgressions as well, payment is exacted from him and from his family, and not only in the case of a false oath!?

The Gemara answers:

There,

in the case of one who transfers his son to Molech, indeed his family too is punished. But they are punished

with a different judgment.

By a different law and with a different punishment, since the punishment that comes upon the family is lighter than the punishment that comes upon him.

However,

here,

in the case of one who swears falsely,

with his own judgment,

with him, under the same law and with the same punishment, his family members too are punished.

And this distinction between the punishment of one who transfers his son to Molech and the law of the punishment of his family is learned

as it was taught: Rabbi says, “And I will cut him off” [

which is stated concerning one who transfers his son to Molech ]

what does the verse teach

? Why is “him” stated? Surely, since he is the transgressor, he is judged with excision.

The answer is -

since it is stated, “And I will set My face

against that man and against his family,”

one might

learn from this the law that

the entire family

will be judged

with excision,

the verse states, “him” -

him with excision, but not the entire family with excision!

And this limitation concerning the law of the family was stated only in the case of one who transfers his son to Molech, but not in the case of one who swears falsely, where his family too is judged under his law.

It was further stated in the beraita:

“And concerning all the transgressions in the Torah, payment is exacted from him. But here, from him and from the entire world.”

As it is stated [

Hosea 4:1-3 ]: “Hear the word of the Lord, children of Israel, for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land, for there is no truth, no kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land. [Verse 2:]

Oath and denial

and murder and theft...” “Oath and denial” - this is a false oath.

And it is written,

further there it is stated [verse 3]

“Therefore the land shall mourn

and every inhabitant shall languish in it...” And it implies that because of the sin of a false oath, payment is exacted from the entire world.

The Gemara asks:

And perhaps only when he commits all of them,

it is possible that the world is punished only if all these transgressions have been committed? -

This cannot enter your mind.

It is not possible to say so.

For it is written [

Jeremiah 23:10 ]:

“Because of the oath the land mourns.”

And “oath” is a false oath. And it is proven that for this alone, the entire world is punished!

The Gemara raises an objection:

And

is

it the case that concerning all the transgressions in the Torah, payment is not exacted from the entire world

?

For it is written, “And each man will stumble because of his brother”

they stumbled and were punished

each man because of the sin of his brother; this teaches that all Israel are guarantors for one another

and are punished for the sin of their fellows. If so, we see that concerning other transgressions as well, payment is exacted from everyone?