Talmud - Ketubot 46b כתובות מ״ו ב׳

we require both this, i.e., the act of intercourse between the husband and wife, and that, i.e., the woman’s alleged act of intercourse with another man, to be performed in a typical manner in order for the laws of a defamer to apply, as Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov interprets the verses literally, meaning that the husband had intercourse with her and discovered she was not a virgin. Rather, Rav Kahana sent word in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan that the statement was as follows: He is obligated to pay the fine only if he had intercourse in a typical manner and defamed her with regard to intercourse performed in a typical manner, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov.

MISHNA: A father has authority over his daughter with regard to her betrothal through money, through a marriage document, or through intercourse. Likewise, a father is entitled to items she has found, and to her earnings, and to effect the nullification of her vows, i.e., a father may nullify his daughter’s vows. And he accepts her bill of divorce on her behalf if she is divorced from betrothal before she becomes a grown woman. And although he inherits her property when she dies, e.g., property she inherited from her mother’s family, he does not consume the produce of her property during her lifetime.

If the daughter married, the husband has more rights and obligations than her father had before the marriage, as he consumes the produce of her property during her lifetime, and he is obligated to provide her sustenance, her redemption if she is captured, and her burial upon her death. Rabbi Yehuda says: Even the poorest man of the Jewish people may not provide fewer than two flutes and a lamenting woman, which it was customary to hire for a funeral, as these too are included in the duties of burial.

GEMARA: The mishna indicates that a father receives the money of his daughter’s betrothal. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that the father is entitled to the money of her betrothal? Rav Yehuda said that the verse states, with regard to an emancipated Hebrew maidservant: “Then she shall go out for nothing, without money” (Exodus 21:11), from which it is inferred: There is no money for this master, i.e., her master does not receive money when she leaves him, but there is money for a different master, and who is this? Her father, who also had authority over her, like her master. When she leaves her father’s jurisdiction via betrothal, he is entitled to the betrothal money.

The Gemara asks: But one can say that the betrothal money should go to her, as one can derive from the verse that there is no money for this master but there is money for the woman herself when she leaves her father’s domain. The Gemara refutes this suggestion: Now consider, her father accepts her betrothal, i.e., he can accept the money or document of betrothal from the man of his choice, as it is written: “I gave my daughter to this man” (Deuteronomy 22:16). Can one then say that she takes the money when her father accepts the betrothal on her behalf?

The Gemara raises a difficulty: But one can say that this applies only to a minor, who does not have a hand, i.e., she is not legally competent to carry out transactions on her own behalf. However, in the case of a young woman, who does have a hand, she should betroth herself and she should also take her own betrothal money. The Gemara answers that there is a different exposition in this regard, as the verse states: “Being in her youth, in her father’s house” (Numbers 30:17), which teaches that all gains that a daughter accrues in her youth, i.e., when she is a young woman, belong to her father.

The Gemara asks: But consider that which Rav Huna said that Rav said: From where is it derived that the earnings of a daughter belong to her father? It is as it is stated: “And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant” (Exodus 21:7); just as with regard to a maidservant, her earnings belong to her master, so too with regard to a daughter, her earnings belong to her father. Why do I need this exposition? Let him derive it from the phrase “being in her youth, in her father’s house.” Rather, that phrase, “being in her youth, in her father’s house,” is written with regard to the nullification of vows, but it is not referring to monetary matters.

And if you would say: Let us derive from here that just as she is under her father’s authority with regard to vows, the same applies to monetary matters, this is not possible, because there is a principle that we do not derive monetary matters from ritual matters, as these are two separate areas of halakha. And if you would say: Let us derive this halakha from the fine paid by the rapist of a young woman, which the Torah explicitly states goes to her father (Deuteronomy 22:29), there is another principle, that we do not derive monetary matters from fines. Each fine imposed by the Torah is a novel law, from which nothing can be learned with regard to other monetary liabilities.

And if you would say: Let us derive it from the compensation paid by a rapist for his victim’s humiliation and degradation, which is also paid to her father, the compensation for humiliation and degradation is different, as her father also has a share in it, because he too is humiliated and harmed by this unfortunate episode, and therefore one cannot learn the halakhot of other monetary matters from here.

Rather, the Gemara returns to the previous exposition of the verse: “Then she shall go out for nothing, without money” (Exodus 21:11). As for the question of why she does not receive the money herself, the Gemara explains that it is reasonable to assume that when the Merciful One excludes a case by means of this verse, He excludes a case where a girl leaves someone’s authority in the corresponding situation to the case of the Hebrew maidservant.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: But this leaving of her father’s authority is not comparable to that leaving of her master’s authority: There, with regard to a master, when he frees her she leaves his authority entirely, whereas in the case of a girl who goes out from the jurisdiction of her father, she still lacks the process of being brought to the wedding canopy. As long as she is not fully married she remains partially under her father’s authority, as he is her heir and has rights to her earnings.

The Gemara answers: From the perspective of her father’s right to effect the nullification of her vows, at least, she has left his domain via betrothal, as he no longer maintains exclusive rights to nullify her vows. As we learned in a mishna (Nedarim 66b): With regard to a betrothed young woman, her father and her husband nullify her vows together. Since her father cannot nullify her vows on his own, the two types of leaving are indeed comparable.

§ The mishna taught that a father is entitled to accept betrothal of his daughter through a marriage document or through intercourse. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? The Gemara answers that the verse states: “And she becomes another man’s wife” (Deuteronomy 24:2). Since the verse does not specify how she becomes his wife, the different ways of becoming a wife are compared to each other, i.e., they are considered equal. Accordingly, the various methods of betrothal are the same with regard to the authority of the father.

The mishna further taught that a father is entitled to items she has found.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Ketuvot 46b examines a father's legal rights over his unmarried daughter, including betrothal money, and the greater marital obligations a husband later assumes.