Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

The commandment of the suspected adulteress (sotah) for the husband to bring her to the priest and that he do to her according to the statute that is written: To bring the sotah woman to the priest, so that he do to her according to the statute that is written about her in the [relevant] section of the Torah. And the matter of the sotah is explained in Scripture — that she is a woman whose husband has become jealous about her. And they, may their memory be blessed, have already explained (Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 5) what is [the meaning of] the expression, sotah, [that it is] meaning to say, she wandered from her husband — as most jealousy comes from the reason of the woman’s licentiousness. And hence she is called a “sotah from her husband,” since he is jealous about her. And the Scripture that teaches about this commandment is “If any man’s wife should stray, etc. And he shall bring his wife to the priest” (Numbers 5:12-15).

The root of this commandment is revealed to all that see the sun: that it is a great benefit within the nation that we have a mechanism to remove suspicion about our wives from our hearts and to truly know if she was unfaithful from her husband, which is impossible for any nation or country to have [something] like this among them. And about them, it is stated (Proverbs 30:20), “she eats, wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’” As who will reveal “about their daughters if they have been unfaithful, and about their daughters-in-law if they have been adulterous.” But our nation is sanctified with every matter of sanctification, and [so] God gave us a sign to know this matter which is hidden from the rest of the nations. And through this, love and peace between a man and his wife will be augmented and our seed will be holy. And [for] what [reason] should I write at more length about the details of these matters, as all of it is revealed to the heart of anyone with understanding. And therefore in that the reason of the matter is a miracle with our people and a great honor for them, it stopped from the time they became corrupted by sins; as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 47a), “From when adulterers proliferated, the sotah waters stopped; as it is stated (Hosea 12:4), ‘I will not punish your daughters when they are unfaithful, etc.’” And the understanding of the verse is to say that He will [no longer] do this great miracle for them, that the waters should test whether the woman was unfaithful.

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 2a) that the matter of jealousy is such that he said to his wife in front of two witnesses, “Do not seclude yourself with x” — and even if it were her father, or her brother or a gentile or slave or one impotent, and that is a man who cannot have children — and she secludes herself with one of them in front of witnesses [and] she remains with him enough [time] for impurity, which is enough to roast an egg and swallow it. Behold, [in this case] she is prohibited to her husband until she drinks the bitter waters, and the matter is tested. And at the time when there is no sotah waters, she is prohibited to her husband forever and she leaves [the marriage] without [collecting the value of her] marriage contract. But if he said to her, “Do not speak with Mr. x,” this is not [considered] jealousy. And she is not prohibited to him with this jealousy, even though she secluded herself with him. If he was jealous in front of two witnesses, and he saw her seclude herself with the one with which he was jealous about her without witnesses, behold she is prohibited to him and he [must divorce her] and he gives her [the value of her] marriage contract — as he is not able to have her drink based on his own [testimony]. And so [too,] if he heard the people chattering about her that she was unfaithful with the man with whom he was jealous about her — to the point that the women who spin by the light of the moon are talking about her — he [must divorce her] and he gives her [the value of her] marriage contract.

And that which they, may their memory be blessed, also said (Sotah 24a) that there are women that the court becomes jealous against; and they are the one whose husband has become deaf, or insane or that he has [gone] to another country or that he was imprisoned in a jail. And [it is not] to have her drink [that they do this], but rather to disqualify her from [collecting the value of] the marriage contract. And this matter is that if the court heard that the people are chattering about her [regarding] another man, they call her and say to her, “Do not seclude yourself with him.” And if she secludes herself with him afterwards, the court prohibits her to her husband forever and they tear up her marriage contract. And when the husband arrives, he gives her a bill of divorce. And that which they said (Sotah 18b) that if she drank the bitter waters once about another man and she was rendered innocent by them, and he went back and was jealous about her from him [again], and she secluded herself with him [again] — she never drinks another time on his account. Rather, she is prohibited to her husband and leaves [the marriage] without [collecting the value of her] marriage contract. But if he became jealous about her [regarding] different men, she must drink, even a hundred times. And we never force her to drink — whether she said, “I have become impure,” or she says, “I am not impure, but I will not drink.” Rather, [if she refuses to drink,] she leaves [the marriage] without [collecting the value of her] marriage contract and she becomes prohibited to her husband forever. And if it is her husband that says, “I do not want to have her drink,” she leaves [the marriage], but takes [the value of her] marriage contract.

And there are women that do not drink even though they and their husbands want [it]. And they are fifteen women and these are them: a raped woman (see note), and one waiting to perform levirate marriage, as it is written (Numbers 5:29), “underneath (tachat) her husband” — and these are not yet underneath a husband; a minor [who is] the wife of an adult, as it is written, “whereby a woman strays” — and this one is not yet a woman; an adult [who is] the wife of a minor, as it is written, “underneath her husband (literally, man)” — and this one is not yet a man; the wife of a man of unclear sex (androginos), as it is written, “her man” — and this one is not completely a man; the wife of a blind man, as it is written (Numbers 5:13), “and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband” — and this one has no eyes; a lame woman, as it is written (Numbers 5:18), “And the priest will make the woman stand” — and this one is not able to stand; one who does not have a palm of the hand, as it is written, “and he gives into her palms” — and this one does not have a palm; so [too] if her hand is crooked or paralyzed, such that she can only take it with one hand alone, she does not drink, as it is written, “into her palms”; a mute, as it is written (Numbers 5:22), “and the woman says”; one who does not hear, as it is written (Numbers 5:19) “and he says to the woman”; so [too,] [if] he be lame or stump-armed or mute or deaf, and so [if] she is blind, as it is written (Numbers 5:29), “a woman tachat her husband” (here, the word tachat is understood as “corresponding to”) — until she be complete like he, and he like her. [These] and the rest of all its details, the order of the drinking of the sotah and which angles does the water test and which angles does it not test is all well elucidated in the tractate that is built on it, and that is Tractate Sotah. (See Tur, Even HaEzer 148.)

And this commandment is practiced at the time of the Temple by males, as it is incumbent upon them to do this process to women to test them, if they see that they require it. And [this is] only when there is a court of seventy-one [judges]. As so have we received in tradition (Sotah 7b), that we only make a sotah drink with the court of seventy-one in the Temple. And one who transgresses it and became jealous of his wife and she [then] isolated herself, and he did not bring her to the priest to do to her the process that is written in this section of the Torah, has violated this positive commandment.