Vayeira 20:3 · unit 4

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 20:3

The Complete Passuk

וַיָּבֹ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶל־אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ בַּחֲל֣וֹם הַלָּ֑יְלָה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ הִנְּךָ֥ מֵת֙ עַל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֔חְתָּ וְהִ֖וא בְּעֻ֥לַת בָּֽעַל׃

And God came to Avimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Yerushalmi Kiddushin 1:1.

TT lemma: בעולת בעל.

Sefaria — Yerushalmi Kiddushin

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
בְּעֻלַת בָּעַל. תָּנָא רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, וְהִיא בְּעֻלַת בָּעַל; עַל הַנְּשׂוּאוֹת הוּא חַיָּב וְאֵין חַיָּב עַל הָאֲרוּסוֹת.

English: “A man’s wife.” Rabbi Abbahu taught in the name of Rabbi Elazar: “And she is a man’s wife”—he is liable for married women, but he is not liable for betrothed women.

On the daf / in context: The Yerushalmi uses the verse to limit Noachide liability to fully married women, excluding those only betrothed (arusot).

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Yerushalmi) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The phrase distinguishes the stages of marriage for Noachide law.

What Is Learned

Under the laws of the children of Noach, liability for adultery attaches only to fully married women, not to those who are merely betrothed.