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Bava Basra 112a

בבא בתרא קי״ב ע״א

Bava Batra 112a

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Topic

How the פסוקים and stories prove that a husband inherits his wife (בעל יורש את אשתו), and the debate over whether land 'already transferred' still counts as moving between tribes.

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא from the previous daf that proves a husband inherits his wife (בעל יורש את אשתו). The ברייתא ends with יאיר, who owned cities his father שגוב never had. The גמרא asks why the ברייתא needs so many פסוקים, each introduced with 'ואומר'. It explains that each פסוק from במדבר could be pushed off: maybe it is about the son, or maybe it only adds a לאו. That is why the ברייתא turns to the stories of אלעזר and פנחס and of יאיר. Two such stories cannot both be about a son, so together they prove the point. רב פפא challenges this to אביי: maybe פנחס and יאיר bought their land or got it as a שדה חרמים. אביי answers from the פסוק itself: the 'son' reading still lets the mother's land leave her tribe, and we do not say 'already transferred'. Finally רב יימר asks רב אשי how marrying within the father's tribe could ever help without that idea. רב אשי answers that she marries a man whose father and mother match her own parents' tribes.

Opening lines

וְכִי מִנַּיִן לְיָאִיר

And from where did Yair have [land]

שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה לוֹ לִשְׂגוּב?

that Seguv did not have?

מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנָּשָׂא יָאִיר אִשָּׁה

This teaches that Yair married a woman

וּמֵתָה, וִירָשָׁהּ.

and she died, and he inherited her.

The steps (21)

  1. ProofYair's cities came from his wife
  2. QuestionWhy does the ברייתא keep saying 'and it says'?
  3. RejectionMaybe the first verse is only worried about the son
  4. ProofSecond verse: the land must not move between tribes
  5. RejectionMaybe the second verse only adds a prohibition
  6. ProofThird verse: from one tribe to another tribe
  7. RejectionMaybe the third verse only adds a second prohibition
  8. ProofTurning to the verse about אלעזר בן אהרן
  9. RejectionMaybe פנחס inherited the land from his mother
  10. ProofA new proof from יאיר son of שגוב
  11. RejectionMaybe יאיר also inherited from his mother
  12. ConclusionTwo stories would not be needed to teach the same thing
  13. Challengeרב פפא: maybe the husband does not inherit, and they bought the land
  14. Resolutionאביי: פנחס could not have bought the land
  15. ChallengeMaybe פנחס got the land as a dedicated field
  16. Resolutionאביי: in the end the land still leaves the mother's tribe
  17. RejectionMaybe the land counts as already transferred
  18. Resolutionאביי: we don't use 'already transferred'
  19. Challengeרב יימר begins a challenge: 'already transferred' lets the פסוק fit both cases
  20. ChallengeWithout 'already transferred,' even marrying inside her father's tribe moves land
  21. ResolutionMarry her to a man who matches both her parents' tribes