A Case Study in Sotah: Betrothal v. Adultery

Chazal learn from the text of the sotah that a betrothed woman who was warned by her husband not to be behind locked doors with another man, does not drink from the bitter potion aimed at testing her fidelity or lack thereof. It is interesting, and worth noting, in my humble opinion, that in biblical times, a woman who was engaged to be married a man, was bound in every sense of the word, to the extent that were she to have an affair, it was considered an extramarital affair, and under the circumstances mandated by Jewish law, i.e. prior warning, and witnesses, she would be put to death for having relations with another man.

Thus, it seems surprising to me, that, while on the one hand, a woman could be put to death for a lack of fidelity, the bitter waters were not used to test the extent to which she had been faithful to her husband.

It would seem to be that the bitter waters were only used to reveal whether a woman had acted in an adulterous manner, i.e. choosing another man in lieu of her husband, the word tachat in the biblical text, not meaning "under" – she acted adulterously under the "dominion of her husband," but rather, she chose to be with another man "instead of her husband," in the sense of an "eye for an eye," or a "tooth for a tooth."