“This is the law of jealousy when a woman will stray while married to her husband, and become defiled” (Numbers 5:29). “This is the law of jealousy” – I have derived only for the present; for all generations, from where is it derived? The verse states: “This is the law of jealousy [hakenaot]”105The use of the plural indicates that the law applies in several places. – the jealous man [hamekaneh] shall warn [yekaneh] in Shilo and in the eternal Temple.
Is it, perhaps, at private altars, as well? The verse states: “This [zot].”106Zot is a restrictive phrase, limiting the sota procedure exclusively to the Tabernacle and the Temple. “When a woman will stray” – this is to include one whose husband became a deaf mute, went insane, or was incarcerated in prison, that the court warns on their behalf to disqualify them from their marriage contract. Can the court cause them even to drink?
The verse states: “The man shall bring his wife to the priest” (Numbers 5:15) – the man causes to drink, but the court does not cause to drink. “While married to her husband, and become defiled” – to exclude the betrothed woman and the woman with a levirate bond.