Kiddushin 62A

״חרב תאכלו״? אמר רבא: מילחא גללניתא, נהמא דשערי אקושא, ובצלי. דאמר מר: פת פורני חריבה במלח, ובצלים ⁠– קשים לגוף כחרבות.

“You should be devoured by the sword” (Isaiah 1:20)? Rava says: This verse should be interpreted as if it states: You should devour the sword, i.e., you should eat food that harms the body like a sword, e.g., coarse grains [gelalenita] of salt, hard barley bread, and onions. As the Master said: Dried bakery [purnei] bread eaten with salt and onions harms the body like swords.

בשלמא לרבי חנינא בן גמליאל, היינו דכתיב: ״אם לא שכב איש אתך ואם לא שטית טמאה תחת אישך הנקי״, אלא לרבי מאיר, ״חנקי״ מיבעי ליה! אמר רבי תנחום: ״הנקי״ כתיב.

The Talmud asks: Granted, according to the opinion of R' Ḥanina ben Gamliel, this is the reason that it is written with regard to a sota: “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, you should be free [hinnaki]” (Numbers 5:19), without specifying the negative side of this condition. But according to the opinion of R' Meir, the verse should have stated: And if a man has lain with you, you should choke [ḥinnaki] and die. According to the opinion of R' Meir, the verse should have clarified the other side of the condition and its ensuing punishment. R' Tanḥum said: Indeed, a truncated form of hinnaki without the letter yod is written. This indicates that the word should be interpreted in two ways, as both hinnaki and ḥinnaki.

בשלמא לרבי מאיר, היינו דכתיב: ״הנקי״, אלא לרבי חנינא בן גמליאל למה לי? אצטריך, סלקא דעתך אמינא: ״אם לא שכב איש״⁠ – הנקי, ״ואם שכב״⁠ – לא הנקי ולא חנקי, אלא איסורא בעלמא, קא משמע לן.

The Talmud continues: Granted, according to the opinion of R' Meir, this is the reason that it is written hinnaki without the yod, to allude to the other side of the condition. But according to the opinion of R' Ḥanina ben Gamliel, why do I need this word to be written in this way? The Talmud answers: It is necessary, as it might enter your mind to say: If no man has lain with you, you should be free, and if he has lain with you, you should neither be free nor choke; rather, it is merely a prohibition that does not warrant a severe punishment. The unusual form of the term hinnaki teaches us that this is not the case.