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Sotah ( or , "strayer") is a tractate of the
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
in
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
. The tractate explains the ordeal of the bitter water, a trial by ordeal of a woman suspected of adultery, which is prescribed by the
Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...
in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Nashim, and it is divided into nine chapters. The tractate exists in the
Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
, Tosefta, and both the Babylonian and
Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
. ''Sotah'' is also the term used for the woman tried in this manner.


Mishnah

The '' mishnas'' (''mishnayot'') are devoted in the main to an exact definition of the rules of procedure in the case of a wife who was either actually or supposedly unfaithful. The mishnas discuss other rituals in which speech is a key component, such as ''egla arufa'', breaking the heifer's neck; '' Hakheil'', the Jewish King's septa-annual public
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
reading; and the Blessings and Curses of
Mount Gerizim Mount Gerizim ( ; ; ; , or ) is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the nor ...
and Mount Ebal.


Tosefta

The Tosefta of Sotah is divided into fifteen chapters and contains a large number of aggadic and exegetic interpretations, as well as various historical statements and narratives.


Gemara

Both Gemaras, Bavli, and Yerushalmi, contain many tales and legends,
aggadic Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...
interpretations, sayings, and proverbs, in addition to their elucidations of Mishnaic passages.


Further reading


Tractates Sotah and Nedarim''. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2005.



References

{{mishnah Mishnah Jewish law and rituals Jewish marital law Mount Ebal Mount Gerizim Tractates of the Talmud