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Bava Basra 109a

בבא בתרא ק״ט ע״א

Bava Batra 109a

Learn Bava Basra 109a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The order of inheritance: why a son outranks a brother, why the daughter comes before the father, and why the father comes before the deceased's brothers

Overview

This amud continues the question of who inherits first. The גמרא first asks whether a son ranks above a brother just by counting advantages, two for the son against one for the brother. It answers that the son's advantage with שדה אחוזה really comes from the rule that a son cancels יבום. Next it suggests reading 'שארו' so that the father comes before the daughter, and rejects this: for יבום a son and a daughter count the same, so for נחלה they count the same too. Then it suggests that 'שארו' only puts the father ahead of his own brothers. It rejects this as well, since the father's brothers inherit only through the father, so no פסוק is needed for that. When the order of the פסוקים seems to put the father last, the גמרא answers that they are not written in order. Finally it brings a ברייתא of רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי, who learns from the word 'והעברתם' that only a daughter takes the inheritance away from the father. The amud ends with a challenge to that reading, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּהָכָא תַּרְתֵּי,

for here there are two,

וְהָכָא חֲדָא!

and here only one!

שְׂדֵה אֲחוּזָּה גּוּפַהּ,

The ancestral field itself,

מֵהַאי טַעְמָא הוּא;

is from this same reason;

The steps (10)

  1. QuestionThe son has two advantages, the brother only one
  2. ResolutionThe ancestral field comes from the same idea as יבום
  3. ChallengeSuggestion: the father should come before the daughter too
  4. RejectionFor יבום son and daughter are equal, so for inheritance too
  5. ChallengeMaybe 'his kinsman' only puts the father ahead of his own brothers
  6. RejectionNo פסוק is needed for the father to beat his own brothers
  7. ChallengeBut the פסוקים put the father after the brothers
  8. ResolutionThe פסוקים are not written in order
  9. ProofAnother source: the word 'והעברתם'
  10. ChallengeMaybe the daughter only takes the inheritance from the brothers