Pt2 Dealing with Dangerous Snakes: Swallowing, Bites, Pursuits, and Attacks (Shabbat 109b-110a)

This is the second and final part of a two-part series; Part 1 here. The outline can be found at Part 1.

A Woman Being Sexually Pursued by a Snake

• Scenario: A woman fears a snake has targeted her for sex.¹

• Test: Remove her garment and throw it before the snake. If the snake wraps itself in the garment,² it is targeting her, otherwise, it is not.

• Remedies:

  • She should have sex (תשמש) in front of the snake.

  • However, another opinion argues that if she has sex in the snake's presence, it will only intensify its desire (יצריה) even further. So an alternative solution is given: Take some of her hair and nail clippings, throw them at the snake, and say: "I am a menstruating woman (דישתנא)."

האי איתתא דחזיא חיויא,

ולא ידעה אי יהיב דעתיה עילוה, אי לא יהיב דעתיה עילוה —

תשלח מאנה, ותשדי קמיה,

אי מכרך בהו — דעתיה עילוה,

ואי לא — לא יהיב דעתיה עילוה.

מאי תקנתה?

תשמש קמיה.

איכא דאמרי:

כל שכן דתקיף ליה יצריה

אלא, תשקול ממזיה ומטופרה

ותשדי ביה,

ותימא: ״דישתנא אנא״.

A woman who is seen by a snake

and does not know whether it has directed his attention toward her or whether it has not directed his attention toward her,

she should remove her garment and throw it before the snake.

If the snake wraps itself in the garments, it is an indication that it has directed his attention toward her;

and if not, it is an indication that it has not directed his attention toward her.

What is her remedy so the snake will leave her alone?

She should have relations with her husband before the snake.

Some say:

If she has relations in front of the snake, all the more so that its desire will become stronger.

Rather, she should take from her hair and her nails

and throw them at the snake,

and say the following to it as an incantation:

I am a menstruating woman [dishtana].

A Woman Being Raped by a Snake

If a snake has entered a woman’s body:

1. Spread her legs (ליפסעוה) and place each leg on a jug (חביתא).

2. Roast fatty meat and mix (ליטרוקינהו) a bowl (אגנא) of cress and fragrant (ריחתנא) wine to lure the snake out.

3. Use tongs to remove the snake when it emerges.

4. Burn (ליקלייה) the snake; otherwise, it’ll return.

האי איתתא דעייל בה חיויא,

ליפסעוה ולותבוה אתרתי חביתא,

וליתי בישרא שמינה

ולישדי אגומרי,

וליתי אגנא דתחלי, וחמרא ריחתנא

ולותבו התם,

וליטרוקינהו בהדי הדדי,

ולינקוט צבתא בידה,

דכי מורח ריחא — נפיק ואתי,

ולישקליה וליקלייה בנורא,

דאי לא — הדר עילוה.

A woman whom a snake has entered,

let them spread her legs and place her on two barrels,

and let them bring fatty meat

and throw it onto coals.

And let them bring her a bowl of cress and fragrant wine

and place them there

and mix them together.

And she should take tongs in her hand, as when the snake smells the fragrance it emerges.

And then one should take the snake and burn it in the fire,

as if it is not burned, it will come back onto her.

Appendix - Hyperbolic Vows and the Giant Snake in the time of King Shapur (Nedarim 25a)

Nedarim.25a.15

The Mishnah states that if one vows using exaggerated language, such as claiming to have seen a snake as large and thick as an olive press (בית הבד) beam,³ it is considered a hyperbolic statement.⁴

The Talmud refutes the straightforward reading of the Mishnah, stating that a snake of such immense size could indeed exist. It cites an example from the time of King Shapur, describing a snake so enormous that “they threw thirteen bundles (אורוותא) of straw (תיבנא) [at it], and it swallowed them,” indicating the plausibility of such a colossal creature.⁵

"אם לא ראיתי נחש כקורת בית הבד"

ולא?!

והא ההוא חויא דהוה בשני שבור מלכא,

רמו ליה תליסר אורוותא דתיבנא, ובלע יתהון

It was taught in the mishna that if one prohibits an item with a konam vow: If I did not see a snake as large as the beam of an olive press, it is a vow of exaggeration.

The Gemara asks: And is there not a snake like this?!

But a certain snake that lived in the days of King Shapur

was so big that they threw thirteen bundles of straw and it swallowed them, so it was certainly bigger than the beam of an olive press.

1. Regarding snakes desiring sex with women, see this section and next.

Some Midrashim suggest that the biblical primordial serpent lusted for Eve, e.g., Bereshit Rabbah 18:6:

שראה אותן מתעסקין בדרך ארץ, ונתאוה לה

“It saw them having sex, and it lusted for her”

The Talmud states that the serpent "injected pollution (זוהמא) into Eve," a phrase understood most straightforwardly as literal sex, see Shabbat.145b.16-146a.1:

מפני מה גוים מזוהמין?

שלא עמדו על הר סיני.

שבשעה שבא נחש על חוה, הטיל בה זוהמא,

ישראל, שעמדו על הר סיני — פסקה זוהמתן,

גוים, שלא עמדו על הר סיני — לא פסקה זוהמתן.

Rabbi Yoḥanan then explained to them: Why are gentiles ethically contaminated?

It is because they did not stand on Mount Sinai.

As when the snake came upon Eve, i.e., when it seduced her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, it infected her with moral contamination, and this contamination remained in all human beings.

When the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai, their contamination ceased,

whereas gentiles did not stand at Mount Sinai, and their contamination never ceased

Compare the modern Christian racist idea of Serpent seed - Wikipedia.

And compare these examples in Greek mythology of snakes—or more precisely: men in the form of snakes—raping women, in List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology - Wikipedia, section “Greek mythology" > “Female":

• Dryope; raped by Apollo in the form of a snake.

• Persephone; raped by her uncle Hades and in Orphic tradition by her father Zeus disguised as a snake or as Hades himself. This resulted in the birth of Zagreus and Melinoë.

2. מכרך בהו. Alternative translation: “constricts it”. Refer to my note in Part 1 regarding the snake's constriction.

3. On the olive press beam, and its centrality to the olive press, compare Mishnah_Bava_Batra.4.5:

המוכר את בית הבד,

מכר

1. את הים

2. ואת הממל

3. ואת הבתולות,

אבל לא מכר

1. את העכירין

2. ואת הגלגל

3. ואת הקורה.

בזמן שאמר לו: “הוא וכל מה שבתוכו” — הרי כלן מכורין.

רבי אליעזר אומר: המוכר בית הבד, מכר את הקורה

One who sells an olive press without specifying what is included in the sale

has sold with it

1. the yam

2. and the memel

3. and the betulot, the immovable elements of the olive press.

But he has not sold with it

1. the avirim

2. and the galgal

3. and the kora, the movable utensils of the olive press.

When the seller says to the buyer: I am selling you it and everything that is in it, all these components are sold along with the olive press, even the movable utensils.

R’ Eliezer says: One who sells an olive press has sold the kora as well, as it is the most fundamental element of the olive press.

4. הבאי. On hyperbole in the Mishnah’s own language, in the Talmud’s interpretation, see my piece here.

5. This “snake” may be closer to what we might think of as a dragon, see Wikipedia, “Dragon“, section “Overview“: “The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes.“

The Talmud then quotes Shmuel as saying that indeed the "exaggerated vow” in the Mishnah isn’t referring to a giant snake at all; Shmuel says that the Mishnah is discussing a vow where the speaker referred to a snake with spots (טרוף - Jastrow: “spotted”) on its back, like the texture of an olive press beam. The Talmud then states that while most snakes have spots, the vow specifies “on the snake’s back” (Jastrow, ibid.: “he meant a serpent spotted on the back (and not only around the neck)”.)