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Bava Basra 104b

בבא בתרא ק״ד ע״ב

Bava Batra 104b

Learn Bava Basra 104b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Returning extra land in a sale: רב נחמן's margin rule, רב אשי's questions, and the new משנה on 'measured by the rope'

Overview

This amud first finishes רב נחמן's rule about a seller who gave more land than agreed. The buyer may keep a small margin of a רובע (a quarter קב) for each סאה. Extra is returned only if it goes past that margin and is also a meaningful size. רבא challenges him three times from the משנה's measures: nine קבין in a field, half a קב in a garden, and רבי עקיבא's quarter קב. Each time, רב נחמן answers that the משנה means a smaller sale, so the extra really is beyond the margin. רב אשי then asks two sets of questions that stay as תיקו: what if a field became a garden or the reverse, and whether a pit, water channel, public road or row of palms separates the extra land from the seller's own field. Next, a ברייתא teaches that land bordering the seller's field is returned even in a tiny amount. רבין בר רב נחמן reverses the order of a line in the משנה: once the limit is passed, even the allowed quarters go back. Finally, a new משנה begins about a seller who says both 'measured by the rope' and 'whether less or more'. The ruling for the reverse order continues on the next amud. Math to keep in mind: 1 כור = 30 סאה, and 1 סאה = 6 קבין.

Opening lines

וְאִי אִיכָּא מִילְּתָא יַתִּירָא,

And if there is something extra,

דְּהָוֵי לְתִשְׁעַת קַבִּין – הָדְרִי.

that amounts to nine kav – they return it.

אֵיתִיבֵיהּ רָבָא לְרַב נַחְמָן:

Rava raised an objection to Rav Naḥman:

״שֶׁאִם שִׁיֵּיר בַּשָּׂדֶה בֵּית תִּשְׁעַת קַבִּין״ –

"That if he left over in the field an area of nine kav" –

The steps (15)

  1. StatementEnd of רב נחמן's rule: a large surplus is returned
  2. Challengeרבא challenges from the field case: what if he sold two כור?
  3. ResolutionAnswer: the משנה means a sale of one כור
  4. Challengeרבא challenges from the garden case: what if he sold two סאה?
  5. ResolutionAnswer: the garden sale was one סאה
  6. Challengeרבא challenges from רבי עקיבא's quarter-קב case
  7. ResolutionAnswer: the sale was half a סאה
  8. QuestionWhat if a field became a garden, or a garden became a field?
  9. StatementIf the land is next to the seller's field, even a tiny extra is returned as land
  10. QuestionWhat counts as separating the extra land from the seller's field?
  11. StatementThe משנה: not just the quarter, but all the extra
  12. ChallengeThe wording seems backwards
  13. Resolutionרבין בר רב נחמן teaches it in reverse
  14. StatementNew משנה: 'Whether less or more' cancels 'measured by the rope'
  15. StatementThe reverse order: 'Whether less or more, measured by the rope'