The Mishnah says that the oath of declaration we’ve been talking about in earlier Perakim (chapters) applies both to men and women. It applies both to Rechokim, far people—that means people who are non-relatives—and to relatives as well. That means if somebody swears that he is going to give something to somebody, he has to follow through with that oath, whether that person is related to him or not. It applies to people who are kasher (qualified) to testify in court and to those who are not qualified to testify in court. It applies to all of these people.
It applies to oaths made in a Bet Din (rabbinical court), and also to oaths made outside one. Outside of a Bet Din, a Shevuat Bitui is personal. It’s not something that’s done in court. Therefore, it makes no difference where the oath was made. It simply has to have come from his own mouth; he must not have been forced or coerced into the oath, and it must not have come from the mouth of others. We’ll elaborate more on this in the next Perek, when it comes to other Shevuot (oaths) that a person could be coerced into taking.
Having stated all these laws about a Shevuat Bitui, we’ll sum it up with the punishments. If a person violated the Shevuat Bitui he made on purpose—intentionally—he would receive Malkut lashes. If he violated it by mistake, he would have to bring a Korban Chatat Oleh Veyored (variable sin offering). That would be for an unintentional violation. We’re repeating this here because we want to make sure it’s clear that everyone we mentioned in our Mishnah is not only involved with Shevuat Bitui and has to follow through with it, but would also be punished if they did not.