Pisqa’ 2421
1
“Should there be a virginal young lady, who is betrothed to a man” (Dt.22:23)—
this teaches that
there is no liability unless the young lady is
in her virginal and betrothed to a man.
“And another man found her in town” (Dt.22:23)—
had she not gone into town,
he could not have bumped into her.
“And he bedded her” (Dt.22:23)—
this teaches that
every hole in the wall calls out to its own thief.
“And he bedded her” (Dt.22:23)—
any sort of bedding.
2
“Then you shall bring both of them out to the gate of that town” (Dt.22:24)—
as we have taught:
To the gate where they were discovered,
but not to the gate where they are to be judged.2
“Where you shall pelt them with stones till they die” (Dt.22:24)—
Is it possible to say that many stones are used?
The Teaching states:
“With stone” (Lv.20:2).
If “with stone”—
is it possible to say, then, that only one stone is used?
The Teaching states:
“With stones” (Dt.22:24)!
From this you may conclude that
if they don’t die from the first stone, let them die from the second!3
3
“The young lady, for the reason of not calling out” (Dt.22:24).
When He says, for the reason of4 Dt.22:24),
[it implies that she ignored] “an oral warning.”5
Thus the rule applies to a woman who–
warned by onlookers [of the Torah’s severity in this matter]—
brazenly ignores their warnings.
4
“And the man, for the reason of assaulting his kinsman’s wife” (Dt.22:24)—
when He says, for the reason of,
[it implies that the man ignored] “an oral warning”
[that raping a married woman is a capital offense].
I might infer only that
this rule applies in a town.
How do I apply it in the countryside?
The Teaching states:
“But if the man found her in the countryside, and he bedded her” (Dt.22:25)—
this excludes [an attack in which]
one man holds her down while the other beds her down:
Words of R. Judah.
“Then, only the man who bedded her shall die” (Dt.22:25)—
That is, the first assailant, [who “bedded” her,] is executed by stoning
[like any rapist of a married woman],
while the second, [who pinned her down,]
is executed by strangulation.6