Study Yevamot folio 13A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ורב זביד אמר: אין בנים בלא סימנים. ונבדוק! חיישינן שמא נשרו. הניחא למאן דאמר חוששין.
§ And Rav Zevid said: There are no children without signs of puberty. In other words, if a girl gives birth, she definitely possesses the signs of puberty. The Talmud asks: But if so, let us examine to see whether these physical signs are present, so that there is no need to depend on a presumption. The Talmud answers: We are concerned lest the hairs that constitute the sign have fallen off. The Talmud comments: This works out well according to the one who said that in general we are concerned lest signs fall off, i.e., that there are cases in which she is in fact mature but the hairs have come off.
אלא למאן דאמר אין חוששין — מאי איכא למימר? אפילו למאן דאמר אין חוששין — משום צער לידה חיישינן.
However, according to the one who said that if there are in fact hairs they will certainly be found, and we are not concerned that they may have fallen out, what is there to say? The Talmud answers: Even according to the one who said that in ordinary circumstances we are not concerned that the hairs may have fallen out, in this case, due to the pain of childbirth we are concerned that they might have fallen out, and therefore it is impossible to examine the matter conclusively.
כיצד פוטרות צרותיהן וכו׳. מנהני מילי? אמר רב יהודה, דאמר קרא: ״לצרור״ — התורה ריבתה צרות הרבה.
§ The Talmud returns to the Mishnah: How do they exempt their rival wives and the rival wives of their rival wives? The Talmud asks: From where are these matters, that not only is a rival wife exempt but the rival wife of a rival wife is exempt as well, derived? Rav Yehuda said that this is as the verse states: “And you should not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival [litzror] to her” (Leviticus 18:18). The term litzror is written, with the letter reish appearing twice, rather than latzor, with a single reish, which means that the Torah amplified and included many rival wives. In other words, this verse includes not only the rival wife of a forbidden relative, but also the rival wife of a rival wife.