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Bava Basra 164b

בבא בתרא קס״ד ע״ב

Bava Batra 164b

Learn Bava Basra 164b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How documents are dated (tied documents and a ruler's titles), Greek number-words in two ברייתות, and stories and teachings about לשון הרע.

Overview

The amud opens with רבי's challenge to רבי חנינא בן גמליאל, who allowed a שטר מקושר to be opened and used as a שטר פשוט. A tied document counts the king's years one ahead, so opening it makes it look a year later. A creditor could use this to claim an already-repaid loan is a new one. The גמרא answers that רבי חנינא בן גמליאל holds אין כותבין שובר, so that trick cannot happen. It also explains that רבי learned this dating custom from זונין. Next comes a document dated 'the year of so-and-so ארכן'. The גמרא shows that ארכן is the title for a ruler's first year, so we check when he took office. Because the Greek word דיגון came up, the גמרא brings two ברייתות that use Greek number-words: one about a נזיר vow and one teaching that only a four-walled house can get נגעים, learned from the word 'walls' appearing twice. The amud ends with stories about רבי's son naming the writer of a document and a ספר תהלים. They teach that even praise can lead to לשון הרע. Then comes רב's teaching that no one escapes three sins each day, and the גמרא's surprise about לשון הרע, which is answered on the next amud.

Opening lines

וַהֲלֹא אֵינוֹ דּוֹמֶה זְמַנּוֹ שֶׁל זֶה

But is not the date of this one unlike

לִזְמַנּוֹ שֶׁל זֶה!

the date of that one!

פָּשׁוּט; מָלַךְ שָׁנָה – מוֹנִין לוֹ שָׁנָה,

An ordinary one: if he reigned one year, they count one year for him,

שְׁתַּיִם – מוֹנִין לוֹ שְׁתַּיִם.

two, they count two for him.

The steps (22)

  1. ChallengeThe two documents are dated differently
  2. ChallengeThe early repayment and the receipt
  3. ChallengeThe creditor's trick
  4. ResolutionWe do not write receipts
  5. ChallengeDid רבי really know the dating rules of a tied document?
  6. Resolutionרבי learned the custom from זונין
  7. StatementA document dated 'in the year of so-and-so ארכן'
  8. ChallengeMaybe the word means 'his reign was long'
  9. ResolutionIn that nation, ארכן is the title for the first year only
  10. ChallengeMaybe the ruler was removed and then put back
  11. ResolutionA reinstated ruler gets a different title
  12. StatementA נזיר vow using Greek number-words
  13. StatementOnly a four-sided house can get נגעים
  14. QuestionWhere do we learn the four-wall rule?
  15. ResponseTwo plural 'walls' make four
  16. StatementA tied document seems to have no date
  17. StatementBlaming the writer is called לשון הרע
  18. StatementNaming the writer of a praised ספר תהלים is also called לשון הרע
  19. ChallengeWhy is praise considered לשון הרע?
  20. ResolutionPraise can lead to criticism
  21. StatementThree sins no one escapes each day
  22. ChallengeDoes everyone really speak לשון הרע every day?