Jastrow: סָתַר II

סָתַר II (= סחתר, Saf. of חתר; cmp. Arab. šatar) [to dig under,] 1) to upset, tear down. Meg. 31ᵇ אם אמרו לך זקנים סְתוֹר וכ׳ if the old tell thee, tear down, and the young, build, tear down and build not, v. סְתִירָה II; Ned. 40ᵃ. Sabb. VII, 2 הבונה והסוֹתֵר he who builds (on the Sabbath) or who tears down. Yoma 10ᵃ שיפלו בונין ביד סוֹתְרִין that the builders (of the Temple, the Persians) should fall through the hands of the destroyers (the Romans), v. סָתוֹרָא. Ab. d’R. N. ch. VI סְתָרוֹ ועקרו וכ׳ he dug under it (the rock) and broke it loose &c. Koh. R. to VII, 26 כותל קשה … וסוֹתְרוֹ a wall is strong, but man has more power and tears it down; a. fr. —2) [to stir up,] to loosen, unravel. Sot. I, 5 סותר את שערה the priest loosens her hair (Num. V, 18 ופרע); אם … לא היה סוֹתְרוֹ if her hair was beautiful, he did not loosen it. Treat. S’maḥ.ch. ch. VIII סוֹתְרִים שערות וכ׳ you may untie the hair of dead brides; a. e. —3) to dissolve, decompose. Lam. R. introd. (R. Ḥănina 1) (ref. to Prov. XXV, 20) כזה … וסוֹתְרוֹ כך היו סוֹתְרִים וכ׳ as one pours vinegar on natron and decomposes it, so they decomposed (counteracted) the words of the Law; v. infra. —4) to undo, reverse, invalidate. Snh. III, 8 כל זמן … סותר את הדין whenever he offers new evidence, he reverses the decision, i.e. the court has to try his case again; לאחר שלשים יום אינו סותר after thirty days, the judgment cannot be disturbed.—Esp. to make void the days of a Nazarite’s vow which have been observed, to begin anew. Naz. II, 10 סותר שבעים he must count seventy days again. Ib. III, 3 ס׳ את הכל he must count over the whole period (of days); אינו ס׳ אלא שבעה he has to count only seven days over. Tosef. ib. II, 13 יש לו לִסְתּוֹר סותר וכ׳ if there is a portion of the period left to undo, i.e., if the period of his vow has not yet expired, he must count thirty days again; כל … ואין לו לסתור סותר וכ׳ whenever he becomes unclean on a day on which it is improper to offer a sacrifice, and he has nothing left to undo, i.e. his term has expired, and he lacks only a sacrifice to be released: he must count seven days; a. fr.—5 (logics) to contradict, disprove. Succ. 26ᵇ, a. fr. מעשה לסתור, v. מַעֲשֶׂה. Sabb. 13ᵇ שאלמלא … שהיו דבריו סוֹתְרִין וכ׳ but for him, the Book of Ezekiel would have been expunged from the canon, because its words seemed to contradict the words of the Law. Ib. 30ᵃ לא דייך שדבריך סותרין וכ׳ not only do thy words contradict those of David, but they contradict one another; a. fr.—Num. R. s. 13 לא אחד מהן סותר על חבירו neither of them conflicts with the other.—[Yalk. Ex. 356 שלא יסתרו, v. סָרַס I Hithpa.]