Resources for Nedarim 25
1. The גמרא discusses the case where someone said פּרעתיך and was told to swear that in fact he had paid back and then swore on a ספר תורה. The simple translation of פּרעתיך is that I paid you back in full, and in fact the person was told explicitly “אישתבע דפּרעיה כל מה דהוה ליה בידיה” which sounds like the person was being כופר הכל. The שבועה for a כופר הכל is a שבועת היסת which is a שבועה דרבנן. If so, this should be a proof that even when a person swears a שבועת היסת they still need to swear on a ספר תורה. The ריטב"א in fact brings this proof and says it הלכה למעשה. However, he quotes the גאונים who said that there is no דין of נקיטת חפץ by anything other than a שבועה דאורייתא. The ר"ן as well says that our גמרא is לאו דוקה and the גמרא meant he paid back some of the loan but that it was really a מודה במקצת which is a שבועה דאורייתא. The ריטב"א in שבועות דף מ"א brings a proof from that גמרא to his own שיטה that you do need קיטת חפץ by a שבועה דרבנן from the fact that the גמרא there asks what’s the difference between a שבועה דרבנן and a שבועה דאורייתא and doesn’t give needing to swear on a ס"ת as a חילוק. תוספות there in ד"ה מאי makes this point as well and brings this as a proof against רש"י in כתובות דף פּ"ח who holds like the גאונים mentioned above that a שבועה דרבנן doesn’t need נקיטת חפץ. What’s fascinating is that the רמ"א in חו"מ סימן פּ"ז סעיף י"ג based on the מהרי"ק goes so far as to say that if a דיין paskens that you need a ספר תורה by a שבועת היסת and the person refuses to swear and the דיין is מוציא ממון we would consider it a טעות בדבר משנה and be מחזיר the דין!The ש"ך in ס"ק ל"ח disagrees and says the מהרי"ק was טועה בדבר משנה and says לכתחילה we should require a נקיטת חפץ like the other ראשונים who require it here.
2. The גמרא mentions that משה רבינו made כלל ישראל swear that they would keep the תורה. There is an interesting discussion based on תוספות on שבועות on דף כ"ט (which quotes our גמרא) as to what the purpose of this שבועה was. תוספות there asks that if you are afraid they wont keep the Torah then what does it help to make them swear? Swearing is also part of the Torah! The מהרש"א there explains that the שבועה itself was the קבלת התורה and without it there is no קבלה. Another possibility is רבינו פּרץ who says that בני נח are actually מצווה in the איסור of swearing falsely in which case the purpose of them swearing is so that as בן נח (which before קבלת התורה the Jews in some sense were) they would need to keep it. This concept that בני נח need to keep their word is based on the concept that swearing falsely is part of ברכת ה because it is a חילול ה. A different possibility as to why they would be חייב for swearing falsely is a sweeping חידוש said by many גדולים: any מצוה that makes sense on its own must be kept by בני נח. The מנחת אשר in פּרשת תולדות brings many of the sources, most notably from the ר"ן in his introduction to the גמרא that anything תלויין בסברא ובאובנתא דליבא are incumbent upon all humans. The פּחד יצחק in ראש השנה סימן ט"ו quotes a different חידוש which is less sweeping: specifically, lying is special because “אמת מיסודי הנפש” and Rav Hutner therefore suggests that all the שבועות taken by אבימלך and the like were binding because specifically telling the truth is incumbent upon all humans, and swearing falsely is therefore forbidden.
New Daf Hashavua newsletter - Shavua Matters
Rabbi Yechiel Grunhaus - Points to Ponder
Daf HaShavua Choveres - compiled by Rabbi Pinchas Englander
Rabbi Ari Keilson - Maarei Mekomos