Then the Jerushalmi, like the Bavli, debated the various technicalities that also limited the ordeal. The actual curse had to be written for this specific woman and could not be prepared in advance, just as a divorce document or a document emancipating a slave(J. Sotah. 2:2). There is also a good bit of technical discussion about the nature of the scroll, its text, mistakes in the text, written from memory, and so forth.
Exceptions to the ordeal were discussed, so if the woman had once undergone the ordeal, it could not later be repeated. There was some doubt whether a proselyte or a freed slave girl would face the ordeal. The husband could not accuse for anything that may have occurred before marriage or after a divorce(when he later took her back as his wife)(J. Sotah 2:5). The Bavli expanded this with details that made it more protective of women(B. Sotah 18b f).
There was strong belief that the water of the ordeal accurately tested the woman’s behavior, but also that merit might suspend the effect for one year or more(J. Sotah 3:3). If the woman survived the ordeal, however, and was innocent, R. Judah b. Petera in the name of Eleazar b. Matya indicated that she would be blessed— no longer be barren, have an easy birth, produce males not females, pretty not ugly children, fair, not dark, tall, not short, twins rather than a single baby. In other words, the path of her later life meant more than surviving the ordeal cleared her(J. Sotah 3:4).
The Yerushalmi also dealt with the question of a negative outcome to the ordeal- what happened if merit suspended or canceled the effect? The Mishnah indicated that this led to an inconclusive outcome. R. Hunah stated that as long as the specific effects of the ordeal did not strike the woman, even if she suffered other ailments, the marriage continued as before and sexual relations were permitted. The husband should not think that merit alone suspended the curse(J. Sotah 3:5).:
In the discussion of categories that did not undergo the ordeal, such as barren women or those past menopause, as the waters