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Bava Basra 160b

בבא בתרא ק״ס ע״ב

Bava Batra 160b

Learn Bava Basra 160b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The פשוט and מקושר documents: the sources for their witnesses, why חכמים made the מקושר, where its עדים sign, and how forgery is prevented.

Overview

The amud asks where the Torah hints to the two kinds of שטרות: the plain פשוט and the tied מקושר, and why a פשוט needs two עדים while a מקושר needs three. רבי חנינא, רפרם and רמי בר יחזקאל each bring a different פסוק. Each time the גמרא asks why we shouldn't flip the numbers, and each time it answers that the document with more ties gets more witnesses. Then the גמרא shows from a ברייתא that each of these פסוקים really teaches something else. It concludes that the מקושר is a rabbinic rule and the פסוקים are only an אסמכתא. חכמים made it for hot-tempered כהנים, so that the slow process of a tied גט would give them time to calm down, and they extended it to all שטרות. Next comes a dispute about where the עדים sign on a מקושר. רב חסדא explains that רב הונא means between the ties, on the outside. The גמרא then works through worries about forgery, with ״שריר וקיים״ as the safeguard. Its answer from רבי יוחנן continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

זֶה פָּשׁוּט.

this is an ordinary document.

״וְחָתוֹם״ – זֶה מְקוּשָּׁר.

"And seal" — this is a tied document.

״וְהָעֵד״ – שְׁנַיִם,

"And have bear witness" — two,

״עֵדִים״ – שְׁלֹשָׁה.

"witnesses" — three.

The steps (29)

  1. StatementThe verse hints to two documents and two numbers of witnesses
  2. ChallengeWhy not reverse the numbers?
  3. ResolutionMore ties means more witnesses
  4. Statementרפרם's source: a different verse in ירמיהו
  5. StatementThe differences between the two documents
  6. ChallengeChallenge to רפרם: Maybe Reverse the Witnesses
  7. ResolutionThe Tied Document Gets More of Everything
  8. Statementרמי בר יחזקאל: A New Source from 'Two or Three Witnesses'
  9. ChallengeChallenge to רמי בר יחזקאל: Maybe Reverse It
  10. ResolutionSame Answer: The Tied Document Gets More
  11. ChallengeDo These Verses Really Teach About Documents?
  12. ProofA ברייתא Shows Each Verse's Own Purpose
  13. ConclusionThe tied document is rabbinic, and the verses are only a hint
  14. QuestionWhy did the Rabbis create the tied document?
  15. ResponseHot-tempered priests needed time to calm down
  16. ChallengeThat explains a גט, but why other documents?
  17. ResolutionTreat all documents the same
  18. QuestionWhere do the witnesses sign on a tied document?
  19. Responseרב הונא: between the ties
  20. Responseרב ירמיה בר אבא: on the back, opposite the writing
  21. Proofרמי בר חמא brings a story with רבי about a tied document
  22. Challengeרבי should have said the witnesses were missing too
  23. Resolutionרב חסדא: רב הונא meant the outside
  24. ChallengeWorry that someone could add forged text
  25. ResolutionThe document ends with ״שריר וקיים״
  26. ChallengeWhat if the forger writes a second 'confirmed and established'?
  27. ResolutionA document only has one 'confirmed and established'
  28. ChallengeWhat if the forger erases the original 'confirmed and established'?
  29. Resolutionרבי יוחנן's rule about corrections between the lines