Which town is "Sha'ar ha"Ir ha'Hi" referring to?
Sifri: To the town where the act took place. 1
See Torah Temimah Parshas Shoftim, 17:5, note 12 DH 've'Da'.
Why is the girl executed specifically by the gate of the town where she sinned?
Oznayim la'Torah: Since many people pass there and "all the women will be chastized" to avoid following in her footsteps". 1
Why does the Torah insert the (otherwise superfluous) words "Al D'var asher Lo Tza'akah"?
Sanhadrin, 61a: (Bearing in mind thar the word "D'var" always implies speech), it teaches us that Beis-Din may only punish a sinner if he has been warned.
"ve'es ha'Ish al_D'var asher Inah es Eishes Re'eihu". What sort of Inu is the Torah referring to?
Seforno: It refer to the fat that he rendered her unfit to her Chasan. 1
Seforno: As in Michah, 2:9 "N'shei Ami Tegarshun mi'Beis Ta'anugehah".
Why is the girl liable if the incident occurred in town, and exempt if it occurred in a field?
Ramban (in Pasuk 23) #1, Rashbam and Seforno: Because if it occurred in town she ought to have cried out, 1 whereas if it occurred in a field, she may well have cried out 2 but nobody heard her.
Ramban (in Pasuk 23) #2: In fact she is exempt even if we know that she did not cry out - because she did not do so due to the fact that there was nobody there to hear her. 3
Targum Yonasan: She is exempt from the death-sentence since she may have cried out. On the other hand, she is forbidden to her husband who is obligated to divorce her - because she may not have cried out.
What is the significance of the fact that the girl cried out?
Refer to 22:24:1:1-3.
Ramban (in Pasuk 23): It is the most common sign that she was raped, but the same will apply if the witnesses see her crying and struggling with the rapist, grabbing his clothes or his hair.
Bearing in mind that the Pasuk is referring to where the girl is a willing partner, why does the Torah use the expression "asher Inah ... " which implies rape?
Ramban (in Pasuk 23): Seeing as the man seized the girl by force without enticing her, he is technically considered a rapist irrespective of the fact that the girl consented.
Oznayim la'Torah: Because we can assume that, bearing in mind the consequences - refer to 22:22:55:1 -the girl did not initially consent to the act, and it was the man who caused her anguish by talking her into it.
Why does the Torah prescribe the most stringent death (Sekilah) for an Arusah and the lightest death (Chenek) for a Nesu'ah?
Ha'amek Davar: The Gemara in Yoma 77b states that Sh'chem afflicted Dinah also with regard to other Bi'os - she was no longer permitted to marry someone who would otherwise have been eligible to marry her. Here too, as opposed to a Nesu'ah, where the rapist will persuade her not to tell her husband, the Chasan of an Arusah will realize that she is not a virgin and separate from her, since she is forbidden to him. 1
Lev Eliyahu (Sh'mos, p.190, citing R. Yitzchak Blazer): A Nesu'ah fears her husband, lest he come suddenly, so her Hana'ah is not complete. The punishment is not only based on the Aveirah, but also based on how much the person enjoyed it!
And the same applies when he forced her in the field, even though she is not forbidden to her husband. Perhaps this is because her husband will despise her, and not want to marry her. One who rapes a Kohen's Nesu'ah wife should be stoned, for she must be divorced! Beis Din executes only one who received warning. If so, she knew that her husband will find out, and even if Beis Din does not kill her, he will divorce her! Why does she get the harshest Misah when she becomes forbidden to her husband Bal Korchah (against her will)? This requires investigation. (PF)
Seeing as Beis-Din only executes someone who was warned (Sanhedrin 41a), why does the Sifri need to state that there was warning? Moreover, if she was warned, what is the difference between the field and the town?
Ha'amek Davar: One who entices a married woman will persuade her not to tell her husband whereas the Chasan of a girl who is betrothed will realize when he subsequently marries her that she is not a virgin, and separate from her, since she is forbidden to him. We may have thought that he is killed for this, even without warning.
Meshech Chochmah: If the beginning of the intimacy was be'Oneis, the entire Bi'ah is considered Oneis, even if she later consents (refer to 22:26:1:3*). In the town, if in the middle of Bi'ah she states that she is Meizid, we assume that she was Meizid also from the beginning, whereas in the field, we assume that the beginning was be'Oneis.
Perhaps the Torah is discussing a Chaverah (the wife of a Talmid-Chacham), who does not need warning (Kesuvos, 41a). Only in the town, we assume that she consented. The Sifri therefore teaches us that even though she is killed without warning, if the man is not a Chaver, he is killed only if he was warned (PF).
Refer to 22:29:0.1:1 and note.
Why does the Pasuk insert the (otherwise superfluous) word "Sheneihem"?
Meshech Chochmah: To teach us that the obligation to stone them in the town where the act occurred (Kesuvos, 45b) is confined to where both of them are sentenced to death - because then the Pasuk in Yechezkel, 23:48 "ve'Nivasru Kol ha'Nashim" will be fulfilled, but if only he is guilty, he is executed in the town where he is sentenced, like other Misos Beis-Din.
