Sotah
Encyclopedia
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers
in . Part of the Biblical ritual to determine if a wife suspected and accused of adultery, but not proven to have done so based on any reliable witnesses that obviates this ritual, is the so-called "ordeal of bitter water" to be applied in certain cases of suspected adultery
.
Specifically, the Hebrew Bible
requires that a pregnant woman, suspected of adultery, be subjected to this ordeal if her husband becomes fiercely jealous about the pregnancy (literally has the storm-wind of jealousy), and there are not enough witnesses able to confirm the woman's guilt or innocence.
The ritual is fairly unique in the Torah, and although some scholars think that it might be mentioned by a psalm, there is no other Biblical evidence for the ritual ever having been carried out, nor is its existence acknowledged elsewhere in the Bible.
According to the Mishnah
, the ritual of Sotah was formally abolished in the middle of the first century (20 years before the destruction of the Second Temple
in Jerusalem).
, or when she is brought before God. The Talmud
reports that, for the latter situation, in the time of the Second Temple
, this equated with the Nikanor gate.
The woman is required by the Biblical passage to have loosened hair during the ritual; this is often taken to be a symbol of the woman's supposed shame, but according to Josephus
, it was merely the standard behaviour for anyone accused of any crime, when they appeared before the Sanhedrin
. The Mishnah, however, argues that the clothing on the woman's upper body was also stripped away, leaving her bare-breasted, which could only have the significance that she was treated as a harlot (note that at this point she had not yet even been found guilty).
/abortion
if she was guilty, but to have no malign effect if she were innocent. The text does not specify the amount of time needed for the potion to take effect; the Mishnah
argues for a period of two or three years (despite pregnancies rarely taking more than 9 months), but 19th century scholars suspect it was probably intended to have a fairly immediate effect.
The text specifies that the potion should be made from water and dust; in the masoretic text
, the water used for the potion must be holy water, and the Targum
interpret it as water from the Molten Sea
, but the Septuagint instead requires running water. The passage argues that the curse (against adultery) was washed into the water; it is thought that this idea derives from a belief that the words of a curse exist in their own right.
The potion also had to be mixed in an earthenware vessel; this may have been because the potion was regarded as a taboo which could be spread by contact, and therefore also made the vessel taboo, necessitating its subsequent destruction (as do the biblical rules concerning taboo animals, for any earthenware vessels into which such animals fall).
to God
, as part of the ritual, probably due to a general principle that no-one should seek answers from God without giving something in return. This offering is required to be placed in the wife's hands, and is literally described as her offering for her; scholars think that it is the man's offering, in relation to the ordeal of his wife, and that her holding of it is merely symbolic of this.
The offering specified is one tenth of an ephah
of barley
meal, unaccompanied by oil or frankincense; this is the cheaper type of flour
, unlike the flour specified for all other biblical sacrifices. The specification is now thought to a rare survival of an earlier period, in which there was no restriction on the types of flour which could be used for sacrifices, although the Mishnah argues that it was a reference to the bestial nature of adultery, coarse flour being the food of beasts.
Secular scholars claim that due of the awkwardness of the idea that the wife has to drink the potion twice, textual scholars
argue that either the first drinking must be a later addition to the text, or that the whole account of the ordeal must be spliced together from two earlier descriptions.
Noting that there are two descriptions of the location for the ritual (in the presence of a priest, and before Yahweh), and two occasions on which the punishment for the woman is mentioned, the division into two earlier documents, first suggested by Bernhard Stade
, is typically as follows:
. In other historic semitic cultures there are many instances in which holy water was regarded as taboo, and therefore that contact with it, or its consumption, was dangerous.
Historic Arabic culture similarly had an adultery ordeal, although in scientific terms, compared to the Israelite ritual it relied more on nausea, than on directly poisoning the woman. In this Arabic ritual, the woman simply took oaths at Mecca
attesting to her innocence, and asking the divinity to cause her to have a miscarriage/abortion, should she be lying; but, on the way to Mecca, she would be forced to travel on a camel, between two bags of dung.
Ordeals involving the risk of harm, including potential injury resulting from the drinking of certain potions, were common in antiquity; in parts of Europe, their judicial use even lasted until the late Middle Ages. Such ordeals were once believed to result in a direct decision by a deity, about the guilt or innocence of the party/parties undertaking the ordeal; typically divine intervention
was believed to prevent the innocent being harmed, or to ensure that the guilty were, although in the case of some - witch ducking for example - the innocent were more likely to come to harm.
, which pertains to when a man accuses his wife of pre-marital relations; when accusation is disproven, the husband is to be whipped
and fined, and is no longer to have the right of divorcing the wife. There is more reason to fine and whip the man who accuses his wife of pre-marital relations than the husband of the sotah woman. The man who accuses his wife of pre-marital relations has no proof about his wife when he accuses her, whereas by a Sotah woman, the husband initially warned her not to seclude herself with a particular man, which she thereafter did. Therefore, whether she is innocent of the accusation of adultery or not, she still has caused reasonable suspicion in the eyes of her husband.
, it became the practice for women suspected of adultery to first be brought to the Sanhedrin
, before being subjected to the ordeal. Repeated attempts would be made to persuade the women to confess, including multiple suggestions to her of possible mitigating factors; if she confessed, the ordeal was not required.
Regardless of whatever its original significance was, at the time the Talmud was compiled the ordeal was simply regarded as a method of pressuring the woman into a confession. Eventually, in 70 CE, under the leadership of Johanan ben Zakkai, the Sanhedrin abolished
the ordeal completely, on the basis that the men of that era were not above the suspicion of wickedness themselves
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
in . Part of the Biblical ritual to determine if a wife suspected and accused of adultery, but not proven to have done so based on any reliable witnesses that obviates this ritual, is the so-called "ordeal of bitter water" to be applied in certain cases of suspected adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
.
Specifically, the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
requires that a pregnant woman, suspected of adultery, be subjected to this ordeal if her husband becomes fiercely jealous about the pregnancy (literally has the storm-wind of jealousy), and there are not enough witnesses able to confirm the woman's guilt or innocence.
The ritual is fairly unique in the Torah, and although some scholars think that it might be mentioned by a psalm, there is no other Biblical evidence for the ritual ever having been carried out, nor is its existence acknowledged elsewhere in the Bible.
According to the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, the ritual of Sotah was formally abolished in the middle of the first century (20 years before the destruction of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
in Jerusalem).
Preparations
The regulations require that the ordeal take place when the woman is brought to an Israelite priestKohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
, or when she is brought before God. The Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
reports that, for the latter situation, in the time of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
, this equated with the Nikanor gate.
The woman is required by the Biblical passage to have loosened hair during the ritual; this is often taken to be a symbol of the woman's supposed shame, but according to Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, it was merely the standard behaviour for anyone accused of any crime, when they appeared before the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
. The Mishnah, however, argues that the clothing on the woman's upper body was also stripped away, leaving her bare-breasted, which could only have the significance that she was treated as a harlot (note that at this point she had not yet even been found guilty).
The ordeal
This trial consisted of the wife having to drink a specific potion, which was believed to trigger a miscarriageMiscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
/abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
if she was guilty, but to have no malign effect if she were innocent. The text does not specify the amount of time needed for the potion to take effect; the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
argues for a period of two or three years (despite pregnancies rarely taking more than 9 months), but 19th century scholars suspect it was probably intended to have a fairly immediate effect.
The text specifies that the potion should be made from water and dust; in the masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
, the water used for the potion must be holy water, and the Targum
Targum
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
interpret it as water from the Molten Sea
Molten Sea
The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in and . It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five cubits high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and...
, but the Septuagint instead requires running water. The passage argues that the curse (against adultery) was washed into the water; it is thought that this idea derives from a belief that the words of a curse exist in their own right.
The potion also had to be mixed in an earthenware vessel; this may have been because the potion was regarded as a taboo which could be spread by contact, and therefore also made the vessel taboo, necessitating its subsequent destruction (as do the biblical rules concerning taboo animals, for any earthenware vessels into which such animals fall).
The offering
The husband was required to make a sacrificeKorban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
to God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
, as part of the ritual, probably due to a general principle that no-one should seek answers from God without giving something in return. This offering is required to be placed in the wife's hands, and is literally described as her offering for her; scholars think that it is the man's offering, in relation to the ordeal of his wife, and that her holding of it is merely symbolic of this.
The offering specified is one tenth of an ephah
Ephah
Ephah was one of Midian's five sons as listed in the Hebrew Bible. The son of Abraham, Midian's five sons were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah...
of barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
meal, unaccompanied by oil or frankincense; this is the cheaper type of flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, unlike the flour specified for all other biblical sacrifices. The specification is now thought to a rare survival of an earlier period, in which there was no restriction on the types of flour which could be used for sacrifices, although the Mishnah argues that it was a reference to the bestial nature of adultery, coarse flour being the food of beasts.
Original form of ritual(s)
The text appears to suggest first that the offering should occur before the ordeal, and then that it should occur after it.Secular scholars claim that due of the awkwardness of the idea that the wife has to drink the potion twice, textual scholars
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
argue that either the first drinking must be a later addition to the text, or that the whole account of the ordeal must be spliced together from two earlier descriptions.
Noting that there are two descriptions of the location for the ritual (in the presence of a priest, and before Yahweh), and two occasions on which the punishment for the woman is mentioned, the division into two earlier documents, first suggested by Bernhard Stade
Bernhard Stade
Bernhard Stade was a German Protestant theologian, born at Arnstadt, in Thuringia.He studied at Leipzig and Berlin, and in course of time became professor ordinarius at Giessen...
, is typically as follows:
- one account is the ordeal and sacrifice before God, in which the possible miscarriage/abortion results from drinking the potion
- the other is merely a condemnation by a priest, in which the women stands with hair loosened, her guilt is assumed, and divine intervention (due to the priest's involvement) will cause a miscarriage/abortion as punishment.
Origin and similar rituals elsewhere
Secular Biblical scholars think that the ordeal is itself a fusion of two earlier rituals (pre-dating the original priestly text), one using water, and the other dust. The use of dust might be connected to necromancyNecromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
. In other historic semitic cultures there are many instances in which holy water was regarded as taboo, and therefore that contact with it, or its consumption, was dangerous.
Historic Arabic culture similarly had an adultery ordeal, although in scientific terms, compared to the Israelite ritual it relied more on nausea, than on directly poisoning the woman. In this Arabic ritual, the woman simply took oaths at Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
attesting to her innocence, and asking the divinity to cause her to have a miscarriage/abortion, should she be lying; but, on the way to Mecca, she would be forced to travel on a camel, between two bags of dung.
Ordeals involving the risk of harm, including potential injury resulting from the drinking of certain potions, were common in antiquity; in parts of Europe, their judicial use even lasted until the late Middle Ages. Such ordeals were once believed to result in a direct decision by a deity, about the guilt or innocence of the party/parties undertaking the ordeal; typically divine intervention
Divine Intervention
Divine intervention is a term for a miracle caused by God's/a god's active involvement in the human world.Divine Intervention may also refer to:*"Divine Intervention", a 1991 song on Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend....
was believed to prevent the innocent being harmed, or to ensure that the guilty were, although in the case of some - witch ducking for example - the innocent were more likely to come to harm.
False accusations
If the woman was unharmed by the sotah drink, the rules regard her as innocent of the accusation. The Priestly Code states that the man shall be free from blame. This is not to be confused with the Deuteronomic CodeDeuteronomic Code
The Deuteronomic Code is the name given by academics to the law code within the Book of Deuteronomy. It contains "a variety of topics including religious ceremonies and ritual purity, civil and criminal law, and the conduct of war"...
, which pertains to when a man accuses his wife of pre-marital relations; when accusation is disproven, the husband is to be whipped
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
and fined, and is no longer to have the right of divorcing the wife. There is more reason to fine and whip the man who accuses his wife of pre-marital relations than the husband of the sotah woman. The man who accuses his wife of pre-marital relations has no proof about his wife when he accuses her, whereas by a Sotah woman, the husband initially warned her not to seclude herself with a particular man, which she thereafter did. Therefore, whether she is innocent of the accusation of adultery or not, she still has caused reasonable suspicion in the eyes of her husband.
Later attitudes to the ordeal
The death penalty (for all crimes) was abolished in 40 CE, meaning that confession to the crimes was no longer as dangerous. Thus, according to the MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, it became the practice for women suspected of adultery to first be brought to the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
, before being subjected to the ordeal. Repeated attempts would be made to persuade the women to confess, including multiple suggestions to her of possible mitigating factors; if she confessed, the ordeal was not required.
Regardless of whatever its original significance was, at the time the Talmud was compiled the ordeal was simply regarded as a method of pressuring the woman into a confession. Eventually, in 70 CE, under the leadership of Johanan ben Zakkai, the Sanhedrin abolished
Repeal
A repeal is the amendment, removal or reversal of a law. This is generally done when a law is no longer effective, or it is shown that a law is having far more negative consequences than were originally envisioned....
the ordeal completely, on the basis that the men of that era were not above the suspicion of wickedness themselves
See also
- Jewish views of marriage
- Trial by ordealTrial by ordealTrial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience...
- Women in Judaism
- NoceboNoceboIn medicine, a nocebo reaction or response refers to harmful, unpleasant, or undesirable effects a subject manifests after receiving an inert dummy drug or placebo...
Further reading
- Daniel Friedmann: From the Trial of Adam and Eve to the Judgments of Solomon and Daniel