For the source text click/tap here: Kiddushin 47
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The Gemara comments: It is taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rava: If one said to a woman: Be betrothed to me with the fruit of an oak tree, i.e., an acorn, with a pomegranate, and with a nut, or if he said to her: Be betrothed to me with these, if combined they are worth one peruta, she is betrothed.
Rav teaches that, “Ha-mekadesh be-milveh, einah mekudeshet – a marriage cannot be accomplished by means of a loan.” This means that if a man lends money to a woman, he cannot tell her that instead of paying back she can simply keep the money if she agrees to marry him. The explanation offered by the Gemara for this rule is that “Milveh lehotza’ah nitnah – a loan is meant to be spent by the borrower.”
We explore the means of Kiddushin via a loan with Rav Baruch Gigi’s analysis and Laura Novick’s majestic analysis.