Yerushalmi Gittin 4:1 ירושלמי גיטין ד׳:א׳

MISHNAH: If somebody sent a bill of divorce to his wife and caught up with the agent, or he sent another agent after him and said: the bill of divorce I gave you is annulled, it is annulled¹It is not active and cannot be reactivated. If the husband changed his mind again, he would have to write a new bill.. If he met his wife or he sent an agent to her and said: the bill of divorce I sent to you is annulled, it is annulled. After the bill of divorce came into her possession, he no longer can annul it.

HALAKHAH: “If somebody sent a bill of divorce to his wife,” etc. This disagrees with Rebbi Joḥanan, since Rebbi Joḥanan said that a person invalidates the agent appointed by him by a declaration²If a person can declare the agency void by a declaration at his place without informing the agent, why does the Mishnah accept voiding the agency only if either the agent for delivery or the recipient of the bill is informed of the annulment? R. Joḥanan’s statement is also in Qiddušin 4:9; in the parallel in the Babli, Qiddušin 59a, his reason is that words can be invalidated by words; he is opposed by R. Simeon ben Laqish. As an Amora, R. Joḥanan should not have the authority to contradict a Mishnah.. He explains it by the stringency of the rules of incest³Adultery is always included under the rules of incest. R. Joḥanan may hold his opinion in matters of agency in civil law, but marriages and divorces are also matters of criminal law since as long as a woman is married, she is forbidden by criminal law to have relations with men other than her husband. Therefore, agency for delivery of a bill of divorce has to follow the standards of criminal law.. If he appointed an agent to deliver the bill of divorce, the latter has to deliver it in the presence of two [witnesses]; the agent is not counted as one of the two⁴Since the agent represents the husband, he is party and cannot be a witness under the rules of criminal procedure.. If another agent went to invalidate the bill of divorce, he has to invalidate it in the presence of two [witnesses] and the agent is counted as one of the two⁵This follows the rules of civil procedure since the husband could have invalidated the agency alone and without witnesses.. If he met him on the road and asked him, what about the bill of divorce I gave you? He answered, I delivered it to her⁶The husband cannot invalidate the divorce retroactively.. While they were talking there, he dropped it⁷The bill of divorce fell from the agent’s hand. This seems to indicate that it was not delivered and the husband still can invalidate it.. He said, did you not tell me that you delivered it to her? He explained, I delivered it to her and she said, keep it for me. What? Can he be believed since it is in his power to divorce, or can he not be believed because it is in his hand⁸The question is not answered; it can easily be resolved by asking the (ex-)wife.? If the agent⁹The second agent, sent to inform the first that his agency was terminated. It already was stated in Chapter 3 that the original agent can appoint successor agents. fell sick, how do you treat this? By the rules of divorces or the rules of preliminary marriages? By the rules of divorces one can divorce through the agency of anybody. By the rules of preliminary marriages one cannot preliminarily marry through the agency of anybody¹⁰Cf. Chapter 3, Notes 114–115..