Sometimes commandments are understood as local and specific, while at other times the rabbis interpret them as global and beyond the specific scenario described.  How are we to understand when to be specific, when to generalize, and what is the scope of any particular commandment?

The Gemara near the end of Amud Beis discusses the various mitzvos involved in sexual relation in marriage, aside from having children.

וְהָאָמַר רָבָא: חַיָּיב אָדָם לְשַׂמֵּחַ אִשְׁתּוֹ בִּדְבַר מִצְוָה! סָמוּךְ לְוִוסְתָּהּ.

⁦The Gemara asks further: Even so, didn’t Rava say that a man is obligated to please his wife through a mitzva? That is to say, he must engage in sexual intercourse with her when she so desires, even if it is not the time of her conjugal rights. The Gemara answers that we are dealing with a case where it was near her expected date of menstruation, when sexual relations are prohibited due to a concern that the woman may already be menstruating or that she may begin to menstruate during the sexual act.

It is not clear what the source is for the “mitzvah to please his wife”.

From Nishmas Adam (147:1) it is seems he derives it from the verse (Shemos 21:10) that it is forbidden to deprive a wife of her sexual desires ועונתה לא תגרע.

The Sefer Mitzvos Kattan (285) learns this is based on the mitzvas Aseh of ושמח את אשתו even though the pashut pshat is that the verse is referring to shanah rishonah, the first year of marriage.  The context of the verse is that a newly married person should not go to war and instead, stay home and “make his wife merry”. Yet it seems the Smak understands the language that our Gemara uses, חייב לשמח אשתו בדבר מצוה as a clear reference to that mitzvah as it is similar in language to the verse. 

While the similarity in the language of our Gemara is a good proof, but from where did the Gemara derive it? As clearly the context of the verse is referring to a newly wed. For this, we must employ what I call the underdog principle. Sometimes the Torah states the mitzvah in regard to the one who is most in need of reinforcement, even if the obligation refers to others as well. 

The best example, is Rashi on the following verse (Shemos 22:21):

כָּל־אַלְמָנָ֥ה וְיָת֖וֹם לֹ֥א תְעַנּֽוּן׃

⁦You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan.

Rashi: 

כל אלמנה ויתום לא תענון. הוּא הַדִּין לְכָל אָדָם, אֶלָּא שֶׁדִּבֵּר הַכָּתוּב בַּהוֹוֶה, לְפִי שֶׁהֵם תְּשׁוּשֵׁי כֹחַ וְדָבָר מָצוּי לְעַנּוֹתָם (מכילתא):

YOU SHALL NOT AFFLICT ANY WIDOW, OR FATHERLESS CHILD — That is also the law regarding any person, but Scripture is speaking of what usually happens and therefore mentions these in particular, for they are feeble in defensive power (i. e. they have no one to protect them) and it is a frequent occurrence for people to afflict them (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 22:21).

Or consider that the fundamental verses that explain marital and support obligations from husband to wife are in reference to a Jewish maid servant who eventually became betrothed to her master or her master’s son, however the rabbis learn it as applying to all marriages (Kesubos 47b):

Shemos 21:10

אִם־אַחֶ֖רֶת יִֽקַּֽח־ל֑וֹ שְׁאֵרָ֛הּ כְּסוּתָ֥הּ וְעֹנָתָ֖הּ לֹ֥א יִגְרָֽע׃

⁦If he marries another, he must not withhold from this one her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.

Another example of this is that we learn the fundamental prohibition against striking a fellow Jew from the verse that warns the agent of the court who is administering corporal lashes against exceeding 39 (Devarim 25:3, and Sanhedrin 85.)

The upshot of all these sources show that the Torah gives the example of the prohibition or the command from an extreme situation but we are to derive that it surely applies to other situations. Given this concept, we may say that the Semak considered the directive to “make merry with his wife” as applying to all years of marriage, but especially important during the first year of marriage where he may feel obliged to go out to war.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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