Sotah 9a — the Talmud in English

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her face becomes green.

She applied blue eye makeup for him -

for his sake

to her eyes; therefore

she is punished, and

her eyes protrude.

She arranged her hair for him; therefore, the kohen disarranges her hair.

She showed herself to him,

signaling to him

with a finger

that he should come to her;

therefore, her fingernails fall out.

She girded herself for him

for his sake

with a bell -

with a beautiful belt in order to entice him

, therefore, the kohen brings an Egyptian rope and ties it above her breasts.

And as we learned in the Mishna.

She exposed her thigh to him

for a sinful act;

therefore, her thigh falls away

at the time of her death.

She received him

the adulterer

upon her belly; therefore, her belly swells -

it becomes distended at the time of her death.

She fed him -

the adulterer

the delicacies of the world

in order to entice him;

therefore, her offering

comes from

animal food -

for her meal-offering comes from barley, which is animal food.

She gave him fine wine in fine cups; therefore, the kohen gives her the bitter waters -

the waters of the sotah

in an earthenware vessel -

in an inferior and contemptible earthenware vessel.

And all these are measure for measure.

She performed

her deeds

in secret,

and corresponding to this

He who sits in secret

the Holy One, blessed be He,

turns His face toward her.

He makes Himself available to punish her [face - the reversal of secret].

As it is stated: “And the eye of the adulterer awaits the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me.”

That is, the adulterer performs his deeds in secret; but corresponding to this,

“And He hides,”

He who sits in secret,

“He sets His face,”

He sets His face toward them to punish them.

Alternatively,

we find measure for measure for the fact that she committed her sin in secret -

she acted in secret,

and corresponding to this

the Omnipresent publicized her,

her and her deeds,

openly

through the giving of the waters.

As it is stated: “Though hatred is concealed in secret,” -

even if the sinner conceals his detestable deeds from the Omnipresent, in secret—in darkness -

“his evil will be revealed in the assembly.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, will punish him and publicize his evil and his sin before the assembly and the world. And we challenge this -

Since we derive it from “one by one, to find the account” -

after we find in the beraita that even for the very smallest transgressions one is punished, and they combine to produce a severe punishment, and we learn this from the verse “one by one, to find the account,” if so,

“For every battle of the warrior is with tumult” -

why do I need it?

Why is the verse “For every battle” necessary, from which we previously learned that one is punished even for transgressions less than a se’a?

And we answer -

For measure.

From the verse “For every battle” we learn the conduct of the Creator: in addition to punishing for every transgression, He punishes measure for measure, as we learned in the beraita. And we challenge this -

And since he derives it -

since we have already learned the principle of measure for measure from the verse

“With measure, when You send it forth, You contend with it,”

if so, the verse

“With measure, when You send it forth, You contend with it,”

from which we learned the conduct of measure for measure -

why do I need it?

What need is there for this verse, since we have already learned this conduct from the verse “For every battle”?

And we answer -

for the teaching of Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa -

This verse is necessary for what Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa expounded from it.

As Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa said: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact punishment from a nation -

until the time of its expulsion.

The Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact the punishment of a nation until He expels it and destroys it from the world.

As it is stated: “With measure, when You send it forth, You contend with it.”

That is, when You expel it from the world, then You exact the full measure of the sins it committed and give it the punishment it deserves—and You contend with it. And we challenge this:

Is that so?

Is it indeed the case that the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from a nation only when He destroys it from the world?

But Rava said -

The three cups mentioned

in the dream of the chief cupbearer

in Egypt—what

do they come to allude to, and to which three punishments is it alluding that Egypt was destined to suffer?

One, which it drank in the days of Moses -

one cup alludes to the cup of punishment that Egypt drank in the days of Moses our teacher, the ten plagues and so forth.

And one

additional one, corresponding to what

it drank in the days of Pharaoh Neco

Pharaoh whose name was Neco, when Nebuchadnezzar came and struck it.

And one,

the third, alluding to

what it is destined to drink with its companions

when the Messiah comes, when it too will be punished together with the other nations of the world.

It is clear from Rava’s statement that Egypt was punished more than once. This contradicts what we said, that the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from a nation only when He destroys it. For it is impossible that the Holy One, blessed be He, should punish it a second time after He had already destroyed it.

And if you would say: Those have gone, and these are other ones.

And if you wish to resolve this by saying that in each of the three punishments mentioned with regard to Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed the nation, and those who came afterward were other nations that settled in Egypt, and it was they who were punished on the subsequent occasion -

But it was taught in a beraita -

Rabbi Yehuda said: Minyamin the Egyptian convert was a colleague of mine among the students of Rabbi Akiva.

And this is what Minyamin the Egyptian convert said -

I am a first-generation Egyptian,

that is, an Egyptian who converted himself and is the first generation after conversion.

And I married

a woman

who was a first-generation Egyptian. And the two of us are forbidden

to enter the congregation of the Lord and to marry an Israelite, for an Egyptian is forbidden to marry an Israelite until the third generation after conversion, as it is stated: “The third generation may enter the congregation of the Lord.”"

Therefore,

I will marry my son

who is already the second generation

to a second-generation Egyptian woman,

that is, a woman who is also in the second generation after conversion,

so that my grandson

who will already be the third generation after conversion

will be permitted to enter the congregation of Israel.

In any event, it is evident from this beraita that the Egyptians in the time of the Mishna are those Egyptians regarding whom the Torah prohibited entry into the congregation of the Lord. If so, one cannot say that the original Egyptians were destroyed by the first cup of punishment in the days of Pharaoh and Moses, whereas those punished afterward were others who settled in Egypt; for if so, Minyamin would not be the Egyptian regarding whom the Torah said that he may not enter the congregation of the Lord. And we answer -

Rather,

certainly there was an error in the tradition transmitted in the name of Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa, and

if it was stated, it was stated as follows

the correct tradition in his name was stated as follows -

Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa said -

The Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact punishment

from a king

who sinned

until the time of his expulsion

from the kingship.

As it is stated -

“With measure, when You send him forth, You contend with him.”

That is, at the time of his expulsion, You contend with him—you punish him for the full measure of his sins.

Ameimar taught this statement of Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa with regard to this verse,

Ameimar taught Rav Pappa’s statement with regard to a different verse.

What is the meaning of that which is written: “For I, the Lord, have not changed, and you, the sons of Jacob, have not been consumed” -

this is the meaning of the verse.

“I, the Lord, have not changed” -

I did not strike a nation

once

and strike it again

to punish it, but once I struck it, I destroyed and consumed it completely.

“And you, the sons of Jacob,”

although I struck you -

“you have not been consumed”

and you have remained in existence.

This is the meaning of that which is written,

and this is the intention of the verse:

“When My arrows are exhausted in them,”

that is, even

when My arrows are exhausted,

nevertheless,

they

the Jewish people

are not exhausted.

Rav Hamnuna said: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not exact punishment from a person until his measure is full -

the measure of his sins; until then, He waits for him and is slow to anger.

As it is stated: “When his portion is full, He will distress him.”

That is, when his measure is full and he has reached the full extent of his sins, then He will distress him—troubles and punishments will befall him.

Rav Ḥinnana bar Pappa expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Sing joyfully, righteous ones, to the Lord; praise is fitting for the upright.

It should have written, “Sing joyfully, righteous ones, to the Lord,” and not “in the Lord,” with the letter bet; rather, the meaning of the verse is: Sing joyfully, righteous ones—for what the Lord did.

And what did the Lord do for which the righteous sing joyfully? “Praise is fitting for the upright.”

Do not read it: “Praise is fitting,” but rather: “A dwelling of praise,”

that is, for what the Holy One, blessed be He, did for the dwelling of praise, namely, for the Tabernacle and the Temple. For the sake and merit of the upright; and

these

are Moses and David, the upright ones who merited that the Holy One, blessed be He, do something special in the dwelling—in the House that they built: that

their enemies did not prevail

the destroyers of the Temple

over their handiwork. David

—we find that enemies did not prevail over the work of his hands,

as it is written

with regard to the destruction of the Temple,

“Her gates have sunk into the ground,”

for the gates were swallowed by the earth, and the hands of the enemies did not prevail over them to take them.

Moses,

we find that enemies did not prevail over the work of his hands

as the Master said -

when the First Temple was built, the Tent of Meeting, its boards, its hooks, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets were concealed.

Where?

Where were the Tabernacle and its vessels concealed?

Rav Ḥisda said in the name of Avimi: They were concealed beneath the tunnels of the Sanctuary

the Temple.

The Sages taught -

The sotah cast her eyes

with desire

upon one who was not fit for her,

for she is permitted only to her husband.

And her punishment is -

What she sought was not given to her.

For she is forever forbidden to the adulterer.

And what was in her possession,

namely, her husband,

was taken from her,

for she is also forbidden to him.

For anyone who casts his eyes upon that which is not his -

what he seeks is not given to him, and what is in his possession is taken from him.