Sotah 17b (יז:) — the Talmud in English

nor on

dehiptira,

which is hide that has not been fully processed, as it has not yet been treated with gall nuts.

but on the scroll

parchment.

as it is stated: “

and the priest shall write these curses

in a book,”

that is, on parchment.

And he does not write it:

not with kumos,

which is the sap of a tree, which one dissolves in water and writes with, and it is not erased by water.

nor with kankantum,

which likewise is not erased by water.

and

even

not with anything

else

that leaves a mark

and is absorbed into the parchment; that is, whose mark is visible and is not erased by water, as with kumos and kankantum.

but with ink,

whose mark is erased by water.

as it is stated: “

and the priest shall write these curses in a book

and he shall erase

into the bitter waters”; it follows

that the writing must be capable of being erased,

and therefore he cannot write with any of these substances.

Gemara:

The Gemara presents here several rulings concerning the sota scroll:

Rava said:

1.

A sota scroll that one wrote at night,

it is

invalid.

And we explain:

What is the reason?

Because

it is derived by means of a

gezera shava, “

Torah, Torah.”

For

it is written here—

concerning the sota—“

and the priest shall perform for her all this law.”

And it is written there,

in the passage concerning the rebellious elder: “

according to the law that they teach you

the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem,

and according to the judgment

that they tell you, you shall do.”

Just as

as

judgment

is conducted only

during the day.

Likewise, a sota scroll

may be written only

during the day.

b. If

one wrote

the sota scroll

backward,

from the end toward the beginning, writing: “thigh and falling belly to swell in your innards” instead of: “in your innards to swell belly and falling thigh,” it is

invalid.

And we explain the reason: because

it is written: “

and he shall write these curses,”

and this implies

that

just as

they are written,

according to the order in which they are written in the passage.

c. If

one wrote

the sota scroll

before the woman accepted upon herself

the

oath,

it is

invalid.

As it is stated

in the passage concerning the sota: “

And he shall administer an oath

to her, the priest,”

and afterward: “

and he shall write

these curses.”

d. If

one wrote

the sota scroll as one writes

a letter,

without ruling the parchment, it is

invalid.

Because “

in a book”

the Merciful One said,

and it is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai that sacred writings require ruling.