Gemara Clarity

Arachin 25b

ערכין כ״ה ע״ב

Arakhin 25b

Learn Arachin 25b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Arachin 25b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who keeps a consecrated ancestral field for the family, and what happens to it at the יובל

Overview

The גמרא explains the פסוקים in ויקרא 27 about a consecrated ancestral field. A ברייתא learns from 'לְאִישׁ אַחֵר' that if the son redeems the field it stays in the family. A brother counts as 'another man'. The reason is that a son stands in his father's place for יעידה and עבד עברי, and even יבום only happens when there is no son. רבה בר אבוה asks about a daughter, and a teaching of דבי רבי ישמעאל shows she counts as an outsider when there is a son. רבי זירא asks whether a woman's husband or her son keeps her field for her, and that question ends in תיקו. רב חסדא rules that a field consecrated less than two years before the יובל still goes to the כהנים, because it can be redeemed. A ברייתא learns from 'אחוזתו' that a כהן who redeemed the field does not keep it; it is divided among all the כהנים. A new משנה then records a three-way dispute about a field nobody redeemed: רבי יהודה says the כהנים take it and pay, רבי שמעון says they take it for free, and רבי אליעזר says they never take it. The גמרא traces רבי יהודה's and רבי שמעון's views to different comparisons of the word 'קדש', and its answer to why רבי יהודה prefers the house continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

גְּמָ׳

GEMARA:

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן:

The Sages taught:

״אִם לֹא יִגְאַל אֶת הַשָּׂדֶה״ — בְּעָלִים,

"If he will not redeem the field" refers to the owner;

״וְאִם מָכַר אֶת הַשָּׂדֶה״ — גִּיזְבָּר.

"or if he sold the field" refers to the treasurer.

The steps (26)

  1. StatementExplaining the two cases in the verse: owner and treasurer
  2. Statement"Another man" excludes the son
  3. QuestionMaybe "another" excludes the brother instead
  4. Response"Man" already covers the brother, so "another" excludes the son
  5. QuestionWhy treat the son as family and the brother as an outsider?
  6. ResponseThe son stands in his father's place
  7. ChallengeMaybe the brother should be included instead
  8. Resolutionיבום only happens when there is no son
  9. ChallengeWhy not just count the reasons?
  10. ResolutionThe עבד עברי reason depends on the same יבום logic
  11. QuestionCan a daughter keep the field for her father?
  12. ResponseA daughter counts as an outsider when there is a son
  13. QuestionWho keeps a woman's field for her: husband or son?
  14. QuestionA field consecrated less than two years before יובל
  15. Questionרב חסדא spells out the reasoning behind the question
  16. RejectionOn the contrary: the field can be redeemed, so it goes to the priests
  17. QuestionWhy does the verse say 'his possession shall be for the priest'?
  18. ChallengeA קל וחומר that the priest should keep the field
  19. Response'His possession' means only his own, so the field is shared among the priests
  20. StatementThe new משנה: an unredeemed field at the יובל, opinions of רבי יהודה and רבי שמעון
  21. Statementרבי אליעזר: the כהנים never take an unredeemed field
  22. QuestionWhat is רבי יהודה's source?
  23. ResponseA גזירה שוה from someone who consecrates a house
  24. Responseרבי שמעון learns from the lambs of שבועות
  25. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי יהודה also learn from the lambs?
  26. ResolutionLearn בדק הבית items from בדק הבית items