Kesubos, Chapter Nine, Mishnah 5. This mishnah deals with a case in which the husband wishes to exempt his wife from the obligation to swear an oath, or to take a vow, that she managed his property properly.
In the previous mishnah we learned that a woman appointed by her husband to run a store or to serve as a steward may be made to swear by her husband, and he may even obligate her to swear regarding her own household utensils. We will also see later in the chapter that there are cases in which she must swear if she wishes to collect her kesubah. Our mishnah discusses the possibility that the husband exempt her from this, and the different wordings of that exemption.
The first wording - "neder u'shevuah ein li alayich":
The husband wrote to his wife: "neder u'shevuah ein li alayich" - I have no claim against you to take a vow or to swear an oath. The law is "eino yachol l'hashbiah" - he cannot compel her to swear, neither regarding the monetary matters she handled for him nor regarding her kesubah.
However, this exemption was stated for her alone, and not for those who come in her place:
"aval mashbia hu es yorsheha" - the exemption does not release her heirs from the oath. For example, he divorced her and had not yet paid her kesubah, and afterward she died, and her heirs are claiming the kesubah by virtue of the right they inherited from her. These heirs must swear at the very least that their mother did not tell them, at the time of her death or before it, that the kesubah had been paid, and that they did not find among her documents any indication that the kesubah had already been paid.
"v'al ba'ei b'reshusah" - those who come in her place, such as when she sold her kesubah to others. The buyers must swear in order to collect the kesubah, and her exemption does not help them.
The second wording - "ein li alayich v'al yorshayich v'al ba'ei b'reshusayich":
He wrote to her: "neder u'shevuah ein li alayich v'al yorshayich v'al ba'ei b'reshusayich" - I have no claim to obligate a vow or an oath from you, from your heirs, or from those who come in your place, such as those to whom you sold your kesubah. With this wording, "eino yachol l'hashbia lo hi v'lo yorsheha v'lo haba'im b'reshusah".
Nevertheless, the exemption was stated regarding him alone: "aval yorshav mashbi'in osah v'al yorsheha v'al haba'im b'reshusah" - after his death his heirs may make her swear before she collects her kesubah, and likewise they may make her heirs and those who come in her place swear.
The case in which the kesubah is collected from the heirs is as follows: the woman was divorced from her husband and afterward died, and after her the husband died, and now her heirs come to collect the kesubah from his heirs.
"Ein adam moris shevuah l'vanav":
The Gemara explains that there is an exception to this law of one group of heirs collecting from another by means of an oath. In the scenario presented above - that the woman died first and the husband died after her - the law stands as stated. But if the husband died first and only afterward the woman died, then since she outlived him she herself already became obligated to swear to his heirs, and she could not have collected except by swearing to them. And there is a rule: "ein adam moris shevuah l'vanav" - one who can collect his money only by means of an oath does not bequeath that right to his children. Therefore, in this scenario her heirs cannot collect at all, because their mother was obligated to swear to the husband's heirs.
The third wording - the complete exemption:
The final scenario in the mishnah is that he wrote to her: "neder u'shevuah ein li v'lo l'yorshai v'lo laba'im b'reshusi alayich v'al yorshayich v'al haba'im b'reshusayich" - there is no claim to obligate a vow or an oath, not for him, not for his heirs, and not for those who come in his place and stead, and not against her, not against her heirs, and not against those who come in her place, to whom she sold her kesubah. With this comprehensive wording, none of the parties is required to swear.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned three wordings of an exemption from an oath that a husband writes to his wife: an exemption for her alone - which does not have the power to release her heirs and those who come in her place from the oath; an exemption for her, her heirs and those who come in her place - which still leaves his heirs the right to make them swear; and a complete exemption that includes his heirs and those who come in his place as well, in which everyone is exempt from the oath. We also learned the rule "ein adam moris shevuah l'vanav", according to which if the husband died first and the woman died after him, her heirs can no longer collect the kesubah.