Ki Seitzei 21:11 · unit 5

TT #7 · Parashas Ki Seitzei · First aliya · Passuk 21:11

The Complete Passuk

וְרָאִ֙יתָ֙ בַּשִּׁבְיָ֔ה אֵ֖שֶׁת יְפַת־תֹּ֑אַר וְחָשַׁקְתָּ֣ בָ֔הּ וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ לְךָ֖ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃

And you see among the captives a woman of beautiful form, and you desire her, and you would take her for yourself as a wife.

Chabad.org — 21:11

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Kiddushin 22a.

Sefaria — Kiddushin 22a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
בָהּ – וְלֹא בָהּ וּבַחֲבֵרְתָּהּ.

English: “Her” — and not her and her companion.

On the daf / in context: Because the entire permission rests on genuine desire (the yetzer-hara concession), the Torah requires that the soldier’s desire be focused on one woman alone. Desire for two at once shows that the craving is not the kind the Torah accommodates.

Type of Learning

Mi’ut (exclusion) from the singular pronoun “bah.”

What Is Learned

The captive-woman permission applies only when the soldier desires one specific woman, not two at once.