1,979. Beginning Hilchos Sotah

Naarah Besulah 3:12

When the Torah says “They will spread out the sheet,” (Deuteronomy 22:17), it’s a metaphor. What it means is that they’ll discuss the private details of the matter. Similarly, “These are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity” refers to the father’s witnesses who will contradict the testimony of the husband’s witnesses. The capital punishment if the charge is found to be true is only administered if she committed adultery after being betrothed, as testified to by witnesses, as per Deuteronomy 22:21, “behaving promiscuously in her father’s house.” There is no liability for relations before betrothal and one who engages in relations with her would only be liable for the financial penalties of a seducer or a rapist.

Hilchos Sotah 1:1

The warning of jealousy stated in Numbers 5:14 means that a husband tells his wife in front of witnesses not to be secluded alone with a certain other man. This applies even if the warning is made about the woman’s father or brother, a non-Jew, a servant, or a man who is impotent and incapable of performing sexually or fathering children.