2,017. Combining Oaths
Hilchos Sotah 4:16
If a man warns his wife against seclusion with several men and she was subsequently secluded with each of them, she must bring one meal offering for all of them combined when her husband has her drink the bitter water. This is derived from Numbers 5:15: “the flour offering of jealousies,” from which we see that one offering can be brought for multiple jealousies.
Hilchos Sotah 4:17
Incidental to her oath that she didn’t commit adultery with the object of her husband’s jealousy, a man may require that his wife also swear that she didn’t commit adultery with anyone else, neither between betrothal and the marriage’s finalization, nor after its finalization. He may not require her to swear that she wasn’t intimate with another man before betrothal or while divorced in a case where the couple was divorced and remarried. The reason he cannot require these oaths is because even if she had such relations, it wouldn’t prohibit her to him. A man can’t make conditions about his wife’s behavior when it doesn’t prohibit her to him. Because of this, if a man marries his deceased brother’s widow, he can’t make her include in her oath that she wasn’t intimate with others while she awaiting yibum (levirate marriage), though he may have her include that she wasn’t unfaithful while married to his brother. This is because if she had committed adultery while married to his brother, she would be prohibited to him. Similarly, if he divorced and remarried her, he may have her include in her oath that she wasn’t unfaithful the first time they were married. He may likewise have her include that she won’t commit adultery in the future, nor will she commit adultery if he divorces and remarries her. In such a case, if she commits adultery in the future, the bitter water will test her and she will suffer the physical consequences. All this is derived from Numbers 5:22, in which she responds, “amen, amen,” i.e., “amen regarding this man, amen regarding others;” “amen regarding while married, amen regarding while betrothed;” “amen regarding past infidelities, amen regarding future infidelities.”