Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Commentary for Sanhedrin 106:14

אלא כיון דחד גופא הוא אע"ג דתרי איסורי נינהו כתיב ערותה הכא נמי כיון דחד גופא הוא אע"ג דתרי איסורי נינהו כתיב ערותה

and it applies to her whethershe is his mother or not; whence do we know then that one's mother who isnot his father's wife is likewise forbidden? — From the verse, the nakednessof thy mother shalt thou not uncover. [Hence the phrase,] 'she is thy mother'teaches that he is guilty only on account of her maternal relationship, butnot because she is his father'swife.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Thus, Raba agrees with Abaye that R. Judah's reason is the limitation implied in the phrase 'she is thy mother'. But he disposes of the consequent difficulty. viz., that of the verse, it is thy father's nakedness in the following way: The dictum, The nakedness of thy father shalt thou not uncover, refers to his father's wife, whether his mother or not; and so far, (without an additional limiting phrase) it is implied that in both cases the interdict is on account of paternal, not maternal consanguinity. Hence, when the following verse states, (The nakedness of thy father's wife thou shalt not uncover:) it is thy father's nakedness, it cannot mean that guilt is incurred only on account of paternal, but not maternal relationship, since that has already been implied in the preceding verse, the nakedness of thy father&nbsp;… shalt thou not uncover. Therefore the limitation undoubtedly intended by the latter verse must be otherwise interpreted. (This is done further on.) Now, since the nakedness of thy father should imply that whether she is his mother or not he is penalised on account of paternal consanguinity, it follows that when the same verse inserts a limiting clause, 'she is thy mother', the limitation must apply to that which has already been expressed, viz., that the father's wife, if also one's mother, is forbidden on account of maternal, not paternal, consanguinity. This is more fully explained in the next passage. ');"><sup>20</sup></span>

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