Kiddushin, Daf Bet, Part 4

 

Introduction

The Talmud now begins to examine why the Mishnah uses the feminine form of the word for three (shalosh), and not the masculine form (sheloshah).

 

ומאי איריא דתני שלוש ליתני שלושה משום דקא בעי למיתני דרך ודרך לשון נקבה הוא דכתיב והדעת להם את הדרך ילכו בה (שמות יח,כ)

 

Now, why does it to teach shalosh? Let it teach sheloshah? Because it wants to

state derekh [way], which is feminine, as it is written, And you shall show them the way [bah] in which they must go (Exodus 18:20).

 

The mishnah uses the feminine form of shalosh (three) because it uses the word derekh (way) which is also feminine, as we can see from Exodus 18:20.

 

ואלא הא דתניא בשבעה דרכים בודקין את הזב ניתני שבע

משום דקא בעי למיתני דרך ואשכחן דרך דאיקרי לשון זכר דכתיב בדרך אחד יצאו אליך ובשבעה דרכים ינוסו לפניך (דברים כח,ז)

 

If so, that which is taught, a zav is examined in seven [shiv’ah] ways [derakhim] let it teach sheva ?

Because it wants to state derekh , and we find derekh as masculine, as it is written, They shall come out against you in one way [be-derekh ehad], and flee before you seven ways [shiv’ah derakhim] (Deuteronomy 28:7).

 

A different mishnah, concerning a zav, a man with unnatural genital discharge, uses the masculine form of the number seven, because the word derekh is masculine. I think you can anticipate the difficulty on its way!

 

אי הכי קשו קראי אהדדי וקשיא נמי מתני’ אהדדי

קראי אהדדי לא קשיין הכא דבתורה קאי ותורה איקרי לשון נקבה דכתיב תורת ה’ תמימה משיבת נפש (תהילים יט,ח) כתב לה בלשון נקבה התם דבמלחמה קאי דדרכו של איש לעשות מלחמה ואין דרכה של אשה לעשות מלחמה כתב לה בלשון זכר

 

If so, the verses are contradictory, and the mishnayot are contrary?

The verses are not contradictory: here [the first verse quoted], the reference is from the Torah, which is a feminine noun, as it is written, The law [Torah] of the Lord is perfect [temimah], restoring [meshivat] the soul (Psalms 19:8), so the feminine form was used. There the reference is to war, and it is the practice of man to wage war, not of woman. Therefore the masculine is used.

 

The Talmud first explains why some verses use derekh in a feminine form and why some use it in a masculine form. The word for Torah is feminine, as proven from a verse in Psalms. Therefore, the word for derekh is feminine. The word was used in masculine form in the context of war because men wage war, women do not.

I should note that this is not the type of explanation that would be acceptable to linguists. Just because the name for a document is in one gender, does not mean that the gender of words in that document should shift to that gender. Nor should context affect gender.

 

מתני’ אהדדי לא קשיין הכא דלגבי אשה קאי קתני לה בלשון נקבה התם דלגבי איש קאי דדרכו של איש ליבדק ואין דרכה של אשה ליבדק דהא אשה נמי באונס מיטמאה תני לשון זכר

 

The mishnayot are not contradictory: here, since the reference is to a woman, it is taught in the feminine. There, the reference is to a man, since it is the nature of a man to be examined, but not of a woman, for a woman becomes unclean even through an accident, the masculine form is employed.

 

The Talmud offers a similar resolution with regard to the mishnah s use of both feminine and masculine forms. When the context is women, the feminine is used. When the context is men, the masculine is used.