Bava Basra 125a

בבא בתרא קכ״ה ע״א

Bava Batra 125a

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Topic

אביי challenges both רבה and רב נחמן on whether a בכור gets a double portion (פי שנים) of a debt that the heirs collected after their father's death.

Overview

בני מערבא ruled that a בכור takes a double portion of a debt that the heirs collected after their father died. רבה tried to explain that ruling by limiting it to collected land, not money. רב נחמן explained it the opposite way, limiting it to collected money, not land. The background rule is that a בכור gets a double portion only of what the father actually held (מוחזק), not of what was only due to him (ראוי). אביי challenges each of them twice. First, each one's reason fits the other case just as well. Second, each one said something elsewhere that seems to contradict his distinction. רבה answers that these distinctions were only ways of explaining בני מערבא, and he and רב נחמן themselves do not hold that a בכור gets a double portion of a debt. The גמרא then begins to tell the full story of the grandmother (סבתא) case that was mentioned along the way.

Opening lines

The steps (6)

1. ChallengeMoney and land are the same: neither is what the father left
2. Challengeרבה's own agreement with בני מערבא shows liened land is only ראוי
3. ChallengeThe same argument turned against רב נחמן
4. Challengeרב נחמן elsewhere treats liened land as already the creditor's
5. Resolutionרבה explains they were only giving the reason of בני מערבא
6. QuestionWhat is the case of the grandmother?