Introduction This mishnah discusses the validity of two gittin written side by side on one sheet of paper, with one set of witnesses testifying (or appearing to testify) to the validity of both of them.
If two gittin are written [on the same sheet] side by side and the signatures of two witnesses in Hebrew [stretch] from under one to under the other and then signatures of two witnesses in Greek [stretch] from under one get to under the other, the one with which the two first signatures are read is valid. The question in this mishnah is, are the witnesses testifying to the validity of both or only of the gittin, or perhaps can we not consider them as testifying to either. Hebrew is written from right to left. Hence, if the first two witnesses signed in Hebrew, their own names will be under the get on the right side, and their father’s names under the get on the left side, since people signed “so-and-so son of so-and-so.” Since the get on the right side has the witnesses actual name it is valid. However, we cannot be sure that the Greek witnesses are testifying to either get, since there is a break between their signatures and the get itself. Hence, only the get on the right side is valid. Had the Greek witnesses signed first, the left get would have been valid, since Greek is written from left to right.
If there is one signature in Hebrew and one in Greek and then another signature in Hebrew and a signature in Greek [stretching] from under one [get] to under the other, both are invalid. In this case, the signatures alternate between Hebrew and Greek. This is problematic, because the Hebrew signatures can only work for the get on the right side and the Greek signatures can only work for the get on the left side. If the first signature is in Hebrew, it counts for the right get. The next signature in Greek counts for the left get. The third signature, which is in Hebrew, is for the right get but it cannot be counted together with the first signature because the second signature interferes. Similarly, the fourth signature, which is in Greek, cannot count with the second signature, for the third interferes. Hence, neither the left nor right get is valid.