The Book of Oaths

It is necessary that I conclude my words with the explication of five issues regarding the matter of oaths.

The first is what an oath is. We say that it is when he [i.e., the defendant] makes a disavowal before the plaintiff regarding that thing which he denies and says “amen.” When he has pronounced it, his utterance counts as an oath, according to the text of Bible: And the priest causes the woman to take an oath (Numbers 5:21), and it says at the end: and the woman says amen, amen (Numbers 5:22). It is not necessary to do this in Hebrew or in Nabatean [Aramaic], but rather it can be done in any language the person who pronounces the oath understands, as the Mishnah says: “These can be said in any language” [see b. Shevu‘ot 29b]. Of those that are enumerated there is the oath concerning testimony and the oath concerning a deposit, and the same applies to all oaths.

The second is how an oath is made. We say, just as we have already enumerated in the definition of an “imposed oath” [shevu‘at heset; see Shevu‘ot 40b], that one does not need the oathtaker to carry a sefer Torah while making it; an imposed oath does not require that. If the plaintiff obliges a defendant to take an imposed oath, he must do so on Monday or on Thursday, when the Torah scroll is in the ark. If the person who takes the oath is a scholar, we do not require him to carry a Torah scroll but we require him to wear tefillin instead, as it is said:

An oath [is taken] by means of a Torah scroll: scholars [take it] by means of tefillin ab initio. [b. Shevu‘ot 38b]

Concerning the definition of a scholar, the sages have spoken at length concerning this, but the definition used here is the following saying: Who is a scholar? Anyone who puts on tefillin [see b. Berakhot 47b].

Know that we do not require virtuous women to take oaths publicly in the synagogues, in the presence of the community, because it is only to be done that way in the [biblical case of the] unfaithful wife [sotah], about whom the prophetic tradition has said: For that reason, thus said the Lord: The congregation shall be brought up against them [and make them an object of horror and plunder] (Ezekiel 23:46). And scripture says this of them on account of what it contains by way of warning, as the mishnah says:

He who wants to see her, sees her, as it is said: all women may be admonished (Ezekiel 23:48). [m. Sotah 1:6]

If the opposing party asks for blowing the shofar at the time of the ban, we grant him this, since it evokes the day of judgment, according to which it has been said: a day of horns and blowing of horns. Similarly, if he requests to bring biers, [we allow him to do that,] since they evoke death. And bringing shrouds [is permitted], because they break the soul, and everything that is similar to these, if the opposing party requests them, we do not deny them to him. Nobody should think that what we said about the woman contradicts the saying of the sages that equates a woman with a man with regard to all rulings in the Torah [b. Bava Kamma 15a], since we are not invalidating any ruling, [rather we are protecting her honor]. And it is like the stoning we do when inflicting punishment because of it, as the Mishnah says:

A man is stoned naked, but a woman is not stoned naked; a man is hanged, but a woman is not hanged. [b. Sanhedrin 44b]

It must be known that we never require a married woman to take an oath because of someone’s request, since an oath that is taken because of a claim is in place of payment, as it is said: The oath of the Lord shall be between both of them (Exodus 22:11). Similarly, if she owed something, we would not require her to pay, since she has no property, in accordance with the saying of the Mishnah:

[Regarding] a slave and a married woman, an encounter with them is disadvantageous, as one who injures them is liable. But if they injured others, they are exempt. [m. Bava Kamma 8:4]

Similarly, we do not require her to take an oath, but we put in writing the claim which may be demanded back after some time, when she has authority over herself [and therefore has her own property], again according to their saying:

But they [the woman and the slave] pay at a later time. [If] the woman becomes divorced or the slave becomes emancipated, [they then are] liable to pay. [m. Bava Kamma 8:4]

The third is the place where the oath shall be taken. We say it should be taken in the place which the plaintiff chooses. If the plaintiff wants the oath to be taken where the defendant is, he can request that. If he wants the oath to be taken in the town in which both of them live, in the presence of the people and the leading personalities, he can request that, in accordance with the text of the Mishnah:

Concerning that woman who was obligated to take an oath in the court of law of R. Bevay bar Abaye: The defendant said to them: She must come and take an oath in the town. She said to them: Write a document granting rights for me, so that when I take the oath it will be given to me. R. Bevay bar Abaye said: Write it for her! [b. Ketubbot 85a]

And the ruling follows R. Bevay bar Abaye, and the sage required them to do that.