- Kiddushin money not given by the husband or not received by the wife: ערב and עבד כנעני
Rava said that if a woman says: תן מנה לפלוני ואקדש לך – Give a maneh to Ploni, and I will thereby become married to you, מקודשת מדין ערב – she is married, based on the principle of a guarantor. Just as with a guarantor, אף ע"ג דלא מטי הנאה לידיה – even though no benefit came to him (i.e., he did not receive the loan money), קא משעביד נפשיה – he still obligates himself to pay if the borrower defaults, this woman, too, becomes married despite the money being given to a different party. If one says to a woman: הילך מנה והתקדשי לפלוני – Here is a maneh for you, and become married to Ploni with it, מקודשת מדין עבד כנעני – she is married based on the principle found when freeing an עבד כנעני. Although the slave gave nothing, he acquires himself (and goes free) when others redeem him. So too, the husband marries this woman by someone else giving her money. These principles can be combined. If a woman says: תן מנה לפלוני ואקדש אני לו – Give a maneh to Ploni, and I will thereby become married to him, מקודשת מדין שניהם – she is married based on a combination of both principles, although she did not receive the money, and the husband did not give it.
- “Half” a man marrying vs. marrying “half” a woman, “spreading” kedushah to second half
Rava said that if a man says: התקדשי לי לחציי מקודשת – “Become married to half of me,” she is married. But if he said: חצייך מקודשת לי – “Half of you should become married to me,” she is not married at all. After Abaye challenged him, Rava explained the distinction: התם איתתא לבי תרי לא חזיא – There, in the second case, a woman is ineligible to marry two men, and kiddushin allowing her to are invalid, אלא גברא מי לא חזי לבי תרי – but is a man not fit to marry two women? He is! When he said she would marry “half” of him, he simply meant he can marry another woman if he wishes. Mar Zutra brei d’Rav Mari asked Ravina: וניפשטו לה קידושי בכולה – Let the kiddushin “spread” through all of her, allowing the kiddushin to take effect!? For we find that when one is makdish half an animal (or any vital limb), the entire animal becomes hekdesh. The Gemara answers that here, since she must consent to any kiddushin, no “part” can become married without her consent. This is analogous to an animal owned by partners, that the hekdesh of one party does not make the entire animal hekdesh.
- If items of undetermined value must be appraised for kiddushin
A story is related: ההוא גברא דאקדיש בשיראי – A certain man married someone with silk. Rabbah said: לא צריכי שומא – It does not need appraisal before she accepts it, and Rav Yosef said it does. The Gemara first explains that if he said, "בכל דהו" – whatever it is worth, all agree the kiddushin would be valid. The argument is where he claimed it was worth fifty zuz (for example), and in truth it is, but it was not appraised beforehand. Rabbah holds that since she received the correct value, the kiddushin is valid, but Rav Yosef holds: כיון דאיתתא לא בקיאה בשומא – since a woman is not an expert in appraisal, לא סמכה דעתה – she is not certain that it is worth what he says and does not wholeheartedly agree to the marriage. In a second version, their argument applies even where he said, “whatever it is worth,” and Rav Yosef holds that שוה כסף – items worth money, must be similar to true money: מה כסף דקיץ – just as money’s value is set, אף שוה כסף נמי דקייץ – so too, items worth money require a set value which is known.
