שתי הערות לכתובתה של בבתא

The ketubah of Babtha was published, with a commentary, in Israel Exploration Journal, 1-2 (1994), pp. 75-99. The present writer wishes to point out two errors in the comments of the authors who published this document. 1. It is stated in lines 8-9 of the ketubah (ibid., p. 78) that the husband of Babtha promises his wife in her ketubah the sum of 400 zuzim, which is the equivalent of 100 selaim. The authors of the commentary state that this undertaking conforms to the mishnaic halakhah, stipulating that a widow should receive 'mina' (=me'a) in her ketubah. However, the mina in the Mishnah is not 100 selaim but only 100 zuzim. Babtha received four times the amount that the halakhah requires, since the husband is permitted to add whatever he wishes to the mina, and can enter into an agreement with his wife. 2. In Lines 10-11 in the ketubah the husband undertakes to ransom his wife in the event that she is taken captive, and return her to his home. The authors state that the husband is obligated to believe his wife that she did not become defiled in captivity. However, according to the halakhah, in both Talmuds, as emerges in quite a few cases, it is clear that the husband is obligated to return his wife to his home, not because he has to believe her statement that she had not been defiled, but because her captivity was enforced upon her, and a wife who has been forced, even if she has become defiled, and even if she admits to having been defiled, is permissible to her Israelite husband, and he undertakes in the ketubah to ransom her and to return her to his home.