Sotah 24B

שעמום. ורבי יאשיה, האי ״תחת אישה״ מאי עביד ליה? מיבעי ליה להקיש איש לאשה ואשה לאיש.

a mentally ill person [shiamum], whom the court warns on behalf of the husband. The Talmud asks: And according to R' Yoshiya, what does he do with this term “while under her husband”? The Talmud answers: R' Yoshiya requires it in order to compare a man to a woman and a woman to a man, as explained later (27a).

אלא, טעמא דכתיבי הני קראי, הא לאו הכי, הוה אמינא ארוסה שתיא? והא כי אתא רבי אחא בר חנינא מדרומא, אתא ואייתי מתניתא בידיה: ״מבלעדי אישך״, משקדמה שכיבת בעל לבועל, ולא שקדמה שכיבת בועל לבעל.

The Talmud asks: But according to both opinions, the reason for the exclusion of a betrothed woman is that these verses are written; if it were not so, I would say that a betrothed woman drinks. But when R' Aḥa bar Ḥanina came from the South, he came and brought the following baraita with him: The verse states: “But if you have gone astray while under your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband” (Numbers 5:20). This indicates that the halakhot of a sota apply only when sex with the husband preceded sex with the paramour, and not in a case when sex with the paramour preceded sex with the husband. In the case of a betrothed woman who committed adultery, sex with the paramour preceded sex with the betrothed, and this verse excludes her from drinking the bitter water of the sota.

אמר רמי בר חמא: משכחת לה ⁠— כגון שבא עליה ארוס בבית אביה.

Rami bar Ḥama said: You find the necessity for an additional exclusion in a case where her betrothed had sex with her in her father’s house, i.e., before they were married, and before the sex with the paramour.