1)

(a)A woman can be acquired (i.e. betrothed) by means of money (or value of money), a Shtar or Bi'ah (intimacy).

(b)And she acquires herself by means of a Get or through the death of her husband.

(c)The connotations of 'acquiring herself' are that she is free to marry whoever she likes.

(d)Besides the above three things, to complete the transaction the man must also declare that he is betrothing her with that money, that Shtar (see Rashi in the Rif) or that Bi'ah.

2)

(a)According to Beis Shamai, 'Kesef' means at least a Dinar. Beis Hillel say at least a Perutah.

(b)There are one hundred and ninety two Perutos in a Dinar!

(c)A Perutah is different than most other coins inasmuch as it is made of copper, whilst most other coins are made of silver.

(d)There are eight Perutos in an Italian Isar.

3)

(a)A Yevamah is acquired with Bi'ah only and nothing else will remove the alternative of Chalitzah.

(b)Ma'amar is the Kidushin of a Yevamah instituted by the Chachamim.

(c)The money of Ma'amar does not acquire a Yevamah. All it achieves is that it forbids her on the other brothers.

(d)She acquires herself either with Chalitzah or with the death of the Yavam.

4)

(a)We learn from the 'Gezeirah-Shavah' of "Kichah" (Ki Setzei) "Kichah" (Vayechi) from Sdei Efron that money acquires a woman just like it acquires a field.

(b)The problem with the Tana's Lashon 'ha'Ishah Nikneis' is that we might have expected him to say 'ha'Ish Mekadesh' (like he does in the second Perek).

(c)Based on what we just learned, we answer that it is appropriate for our Tana to use the term 'Nikneis', seeing as the Tana inserts Kesef, which as we learn from the Gezeirah-Shavah, "Kichah" "Kichah", is a Kinyan by which one acquires a woman.

(d)The Pasuk ...

1. ... "ha'Sadeh Asher Kanah Avraham" teaches us that the "Kichah" mentioned in Chayei Sarah is considered a Kinyan.

2. ... in Yirmiyahu "Sados ba'Kesef Yiknu" is an alternative Derashah from which we can extrapolate the same thing.

5)

(a)The Tana does not say in the second Perek 'ha'Ish Koneh' (like it says here 'ha'Ishah Nikneis') because, having taught us the Torah Lashon of Kinyan (which is a Lashon Torah) here, he opts to change there to 'Kidushin', which is a Lashon d'Rabanan.

(b)The connotations of 'Kidushin' are that when a man betroths a woman, she becomes forbidden to the whole world like Hekdesh (see Tosfos 'DH' d'Asar Lah ... ').

6)

(a)Our Mishnah does not say 'ha'Ish Koneh' because of the Seifa 've'Koneh Es Atzmah ... ' (which incorporates there where her husband died, which is due, not to the actions of her husband, but by the grace of G-d).

(b)Alternatively, it is because 'ha'Ish Koneh' implies that he acquires her even against her will (like he acquires any other object), whereas in fact, he only acquires her with her consent.

(c)We quote the Pasuk "v'Hoda'ata la'Hem Es ha'Derech Yeilchu Bah" here because we learn from it that the gender of the word 'Derech' is sometimes feminine, which, in turn, explains why the Tana of our Mishnah uses the Lashon of 'Shalosh Derachim' (which is feminine too).

7)

(a)When the Tana in Zavin says 'be'Shiv'ah Derachim Bodkin Es ha'Zav' he means that a Zav needs to be examined to make sure that his discharge arrived naturally, and not through an Ones (one of the seven ways that sometimes bring it on).

(b)Four of the seven ways of bringing it on are eating or drinking too much, illness or carrying a heavy load. The other three are jumping, seeing something lewd and immoral thoughts.

(c)We quote the Pasuk "b'Derech Echad Yeitz'u Eilecha u've'Shiv'ah Derachim Yanusu Lefanecha" in connection with the Zav because we learn from it that the gender of the word 'Derech' is sometimes masculine, which, in turn, explains why the Tana of the Mishnah in Zavin uses the Lashon 'Sheloshah Derachim' (which is masculine too).

(d)We are now faced with a contradiction, both between the two Pesukim and between the two Mishnayos, since one of each portrays 'Derech' as masculine, and the other, as feminine.

8)

(a)The reason that ...

1. ... the Pasuk in Yisro treats 'Derech' as a feminine noun, and the Pasuk in Ki Savo as a masculine one is because the former refers to Torah, which is feminine (as we see from the Pasuk "Toras Hash-m Temimah Meshivas Nafesh"), whereas the latter refers to going to war, which pertains exclusively to men.

2. ... our Mishnah treats 'Derech' as a feminine noun, and the Mishnah in Zavin as a masculine one because the former refers exclusively to women, the latter, exclusively to men.

(b)The Tana in Zavin deliberately confines the Mishnah to a Zav because it applies exclusively to him. A woman becomes a Zavah even if her discharge is brought on by an Ones.

9)

(a)We conclude that our Tana uses the feminine 'Shalosh' because of 'Derachim', which has feminine connotations. He does not use the noun 'Devarim', which is exclusively masculine (in which case he could have described it as 'Sheloshah Devarim') because one of the ways of acquiring the woman is through Bi'ah, which the Pasuk in Mishlei refers to as 'Derech" (i.e. "Derech Gever b'Almah").

(b)We account for the fact that Kesef and Shtar ...

1. ... are also listed together with Bi'ah by answering that the Tana uses the Lashon 'Derachim' by them too, on account of Bi'ah.

2. ... are the majority of cases, and it is not the way of the Tana to adjust the Lashon based on the minority of cases by pointing out that when all's said and done, the ultimate objective of Kidushei Kesef and Shtar is Bi'ah. And since Bi'ah is the main objective of the Kidushin, it is the most important of the three, and it is appropriate for the Tana to adjust the Lashon of the other two to suit that of Bi'ah.

(c)Alternatively, we establish our Mishnah like Rebbi Shimon who attributes the Torah's use of the phrase "Ki Yikach Ish Ishah" rather than "Ki Silakach Ishah l'Ish" to the fact that it was Adam who lost the rib from which Chavah was formed, and which he therefore needs to go and seek (when he wants to get married [and not the woman who looks for the man]).

(d)The Tana in Zavin uses the Lashon 'be'Shiv'ah Derachim' rather than 'be'Shiv'ah Devarim' because there too, it is the way of these things to bring on Zivus.