Study Sotah folio 25B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ובית הלל סברי: שטר העומד לגבות — לאו כגבוי דמי.
And Beit Hillel hold that a promissory note that stands to be collected is not considered as though it was already collected. Therefore, the payment of the marriage contract is not considered to be in the wife’s possession, and as this means that she is the claimant, she is not entitled to the money unless she proves that she did not commit adultery.
מעוברת חבירו כו׳. אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: מחלוקת בעקרה וזקינה.
§ The Mishnah states (24a): A woman who was pregnant with the child of another man at the time of her marriage…A sexually underdeveloped woman, who is incapable of bearing children [ailonit], and an elderly woman, and a woman who is incapable of giving birth for other reasons, neither collect payment of their marriage contracts nor drink the bitter water. R' Elazar says: He can marry another woman and procreate through her; therefore these are considered permitted marriages, and the women can drink the bitter water. Rav Naḥman says that Rabba bar Avuh says: The dispute between the first tanna and R' Elazar is only in the case of a barren woman and an elderly woman.
אבל איילונית — דברי הכל לא שותה ולא נוטלת כתובתה, שנאמר: ״ונקתה ונזרעה זרע״, מי שדרכה להזריע, יצאה זו שאין דרכה להזריע.
However, with regard to a sexually underdeveloped woman, all agree that she neither drinks the bitter water nor collects payment of her marriage contract. This is as it is stated with regard to a sota who is found to be innocent of adultery: “And she should be cleared, and should conceive seed” (Numbers 5:28), indicating that the sota ritual pertains only to one whose way is to bear seed and give birth, excluding this sexually underdeveloped woman, whose way is not to bear seed.