Sotah 34

הדיפתרא אלא על המגילה שנאמר (במדבר ה, כג) בספר

DIFTERA<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Animal's hide prepared with salt and flour but not with gallnut. It was consequently more absorptive than fully prepared parchment. V. Krauss, T A. II, 262, v. Git. (Sonc. ed.) p. 87, n. 2. ');">¹</span> BUT ON A [PARCHMENT] SCROLL, AS IT IS SAID, IN A BOOK.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. V, 23. The book was then in the form of a scroll. ');">²</span>

ואינו כותב לא בקומוס ולא בקנקנתום ולא בכל דבר שרושם אלא בדיו שנאמר (במדבר ה, כג) ומחה כתב שיכול למחות

NOR DOES HE WRITE WITH A [PREPARATION OF] GUM OR VITRIOL<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Kankantun, v. Git. (Sonc. ed.) p. 10, n. 8.] ');">³</span> OR WITH ANYTHING WHICH INDENTS [THE PARCHMENT] BUT WITH INK,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It was really black paint, consisting of lampblack mixed with oil. V. Krauss, op. cit., III, 148ff., v. Git. (Sonc. ed.) p. 70, n. 9. ');">⁴</span>

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> אמר רבא מגילת סוטה שכתבה בלילה פסולה מ"ט אתיא תורה תורה כתיב הכא (במדבר ה, ל) ועשה לה הכהן את כל התורה הזאת וכתיב התם (דברים יז, יא) על פי התורה אשר יורוך ועל המשפט מה משפט ביום אף מגילת סוטה ביום

AS IT IS SAID, AND BLOT OUT<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. V, 23. ');">⁵</span> — WRITING WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING BLOTTED OUT.

כתבה למפרע פסולה דכתיב וכתב את האלות האלה כי דכתיבא

<b><i>GEMARA</i></b>. Raba said: A scroll for a suspected woman which one wrote at night is invalid. What is the reason? An analogy is drawn between two passages where the word 'law' occurs: here it is written: And the priest shall execute upon her all this law,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. V, 30. ');">⁶</span> and elsewhere it is written: According to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XVII, II. ');">⁷</span>

כתבה קודם שתקבל עליה שבועה פסולה [שנא'] והשביע ואחר כך וכתב

As judgment [could only be delivered] in the daytime,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This was the rule of judicial procedure; v. Sanh. 32a. ');">⁸</span> so a scroll for a suspected woman [could only be written] in the daytime. If he wrote the text not in its proper order,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Lit., 'backward'; probably as an incantation, v. Blau, Das altjudische Zauberwesen, pp. 146ff.] ');">⁹</span>

כתבה איגרת פסולה בספר אמר רחמנא

it is invalid; for it is written: And he shall write these curses<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. V, 23. ');">¹⁰</span> — just as they are written [in the Scriptural text]. If he wrote it before she took the oath upon herself, it is invalid; as it is said: He shall cause her to swear and after that, He shall write.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 19 and 23. ');">¹¹</span> If he wrote it in the form of a letter,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., without first tracing lines to secure evenness of script, as is required with a scroll of the Law, v. Git. (Sonc. ed.) p. 20, n. 3. ');">¹²</span> it is invalid — 'in a book' said the All-merciful.