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1 ‎[1] It is referring **to** a woman **who became a steward during her husband’s lifetime,** as it was common for a man to leave his wife in charge of his property while exempting her from taking an oath. **Rav Naḥman** said that **Rabba bar Avuh said:** It is referring **to a woman who claims that she received partial payment of her marriage contract,** who must take an oath that she received no more than the amount she admits to. The mishna is referring to a husband who exempted his wife from this oath.
‎[2] **Rav Mordekhai went** and **said** this ***halakha* before Rav Ashi** and asked him the following question: **Granted, according to the one who says** that **it is referring to a woman who claims that she received partial payment of her marriage contract,** it makes sense **that it enters her mind** that this might happen, as she thinks: **Perhaps I will require money, and I will take** what I need **from my marriage contract** up front. **And she** therefore **says to him** before their marriage: **Write for me that you will not administer an oath to me** when I come to collect the rest of my marriage contract. **However, according to the one who says** that it **is referring to** a woman **who became a steward during her husband’s lifetime, did she know** beforehand **that** her husband **would establish her as a steward,** to know **to say to him: Write for me that you will not administer an oath to me?**
‎[3] Rav Ashi **said to him: You teach this** *halakha* of Rav Yehuda **with regard to that** part of the mishna, and therefore you find it difficult. **We,** however, **teach it with regard to this** part of the mishna: If **she went from her husband’s grave to her father’s house** without handling her late husband’s property, **or** in a case **where she returned to her father-in-law’s house and did not become a steward** over the property at all throughout this period, then **the heirs cannot administer an oath to her** with regard to her actions in their father’s lifetime, as the husband exempted her from an oath to the heirs. **And if she became a steward, the heirs may administer an oath to her about the future,** i.e., anything she did with the property after the death of her husband, **but they cannot administer an oath to her with regard to what** took place **in the past,** during her husband’s lifetime.
‎[4] It was with regard to this statement that the Gemara asked: **What is the purpose of** mentioning **the past?** What oath would they have wanted her to take with regard to the past? And it was in response to this question that **Rav Yehuda said** that **Rav said:** It is referring **to** a woman **who became a steward during her husband’s lifetime.**
‎[5] The Gemara presents a dispute as to what is considered the past, first continuing the quote from Rav Yehuda: **But they can administer an oath to her** with regard to her conduct **between** her husband’s **death and** his **burial. And Rav Mattana said: Even** concerning her actions **between** her husband’s **death and** his **burial, they cannot administer an oath to her, as** the Sages of **Neharde’a say: For** the purpose of paying **head tax [*karga*], and for** payment to provide for children’s **sustenance, and for burial, we sell** property inherited by orphans **without an announcement.** In these urgent matters, the court is not particular about a possible loss incurred by the heirs. Similarly, a woman need not take an oath with regard to how she conducted her affairs for her husband’s funeral, because in such a time of stress she cannot manage her accounts in a precise manner.
‎[6] § **Rabba said** that **Rabbi Ḥiyya said:** If a husband wrote: **Not a vow and not an oath,** this means that **he cannot administer an oath to her, but** his **heirs can administer an oath to her.** If he wrote: She is **clear,** i.e., exempt, from **a vow** and **clear** from **an oath, neither he nor** his **heirs can administer an oath to her.** This is because in effect **this is what he is saying to her: You are clear** from **the oath,** no matter who seeks to administer it to you.
‎[7] **But Rav Yosef** said that **Rabbi Ḥiyya said** the opposite ruling with regard to the second clause: If he wrote: **Not a vow and not an oath, he cannot administer an oath to her, but** his **heirs can administer an oath to her.** If he wrote: She is **clear** from **a vow** and **clear** from **an oath, either he or** his **heirs can administer an oath to her.** This is because in effect **this is what he is saying to her: Clear yourself** from any suspicion **by** means of **an oath.**
‎[8] **Rabbi Zakkai sent** the following ruling **to Mar Ukva** from Eretz Yisrael: **Whether** he wrote: **Not an oath,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **an oath,** and **whether** he wrote: **Not a vow,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **a vow,** if he added the phrase: **With regard to my property, he cannot administer an oath to her, but** his **heirs can administer an oath to her.** However, if he added the phrase: **From these properties, neither he nor his heirs can administer an oath to her.**
‎[9] **Rav Naḥman said** that **Shmuel said in the name of Abba Shaul ben Imma Miriam: Whether** he wrote: **Not an oath,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **an oath,** and **whether** he wrote: **Not a vow,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **a vow,** and **whether** he added: **From my property,** or **whether** he added: **From these properties, neither he nor his heirs can administer an oath to her** according to the letter of the law. **However, what can I do, as the Sages said** that **one who comes to collect** a debt **from the property of orphans may collect** it **only by** means of **an oath?** Therefore, she is compelled to take an oath in any case involving a claim from the orphans.
‎[10] **And some say** this *halakha* in the form of **a *baraita*,** not as a quote from an *amora*: **Abba Shaul ben Imma Miriam said: Whether** he wrote: **Not an oath,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **an oath,** and **whether** he wrote: **Not a vow,** or **whether** he wrote: **Clear** from **a vow,** and **whether** he added: **From my property,** or **whether** he added: **From these properties, neither he nor his heirs can administer an oath to her** according to the letter of the law. **However, what can I do, as the Sages said** that **one who comes to collect** a debt **from the property of orphans may collect** it **only by** means of **an oath?** The Gemara comments: **Rav Naḥman said** that **Shmuel said:** The practical ***halakha* is in accordance with** the opinion of **ben Imma Miriam.**
‎[11] **MISHNA:** A woman **who vitiates her marriage contract** by acknowledging that she has received partial payment **can collect** the rest of her marriage contract **only by** means of **an oath.** Similarly, if **one witness testifies that** her marriage contract **is paid, she can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.** In any case where she seeks to claim her marriage contract **from the property of orphans, or from liened property** that has been sold to a third party, **or when not in** her husband’s **presence,** she **can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.**
‎[12] The mishna elaborates: With regard to a woman **who vitiates her marriage contract, how so,** how does this situation arise? If **her marriage contract was a thousand dinars, and** her husband **said to her: You** already **received your marriage contract, and she says: I received only one hundred dinars,** she has made a partial admission and **can collect** her marriage contract **only** by means of **an oath.**
‎[13] If **one witness testifies that** her marriage contract **is paid, how so?** If **her marriage contract was a thousand dinars, and** her husband **said to her: You** already **received your marriage contract, and she says: I did not receive** payment, **and one witness testifies about** the marriage contract **that it is paid,** she **can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.**
‎[14] **From liened property, how so?** If while they were married the husband **sold his property to others, and she** comes to **collect** her marriage contract **from the purchasers, she can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.** She may seize property from the purchasers because her husband’s obligation undertaken in the marriage contract predates his obligation in the document of sale.
‎[15] **From the property of orphans, how so?** If the husband **died and left his property to orphans, and she** comes to **collect** her marriage contract **from the orphans,** she **can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.**
‎[16] **Or when not in his presence, how so?** If **he went** to **a country overseas and** sent her a bill of divorce, so that **she collects** her marriage contract **when not in his presence,** she **can collect** it **only by** means of **an oath.**
Mishneh Torah, Creditor and Debtor
Mishneh Torah, Agents and Partners
Version: William Davidson Edition - English
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