Bava Basra 172a

בבא בתרא קע״ב ע״א

Bava Batra 172a

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Topic

Accuracy and safeguards in שטרות: true dates and places, not rewriting loan notes, and the new משנה on shared inheritance and two people with the same name

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a discussion about a safeguard against a lender collecting the same debt twice. The answer is that the רבנן set up the safeguard, and anyone who skips it has only hurt himself. Next come rules for scribes: a שטר must give a true date and the true place where it was written, so it never looks like a lie. רבא then rules that בית דין will not split one hundred-זוז שטר into two fifties, or merge two fifties into one hundred, because each setup already balances benefits for the מלוה and the לוה. רב אשי adds that בית דין will not shrink a hundred-זוז שטר into a fifty, because of a possible trick with a receipt for a debt that was already paid. A new משנה follows. It covers two brothers, one rich and one poor, who inherit a bathhouse and an olive press. It also covers two men in one city both named יוסף בן שמעון, and how they should write their names so their שטרות are not confused. The גמרא then begins with a story about a שטר brought to רב הונא's בית דין that does not name the lender.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. ChallengeBut nowadays people do not follow this safeguard
2. ResolutionThe Sages set it up, and whoever skips it only hurts himself
3. StatementWrite the real date of the acquisition, or else the day of writing
4. StatementWrite the place where you are actually writing
5. StatementWe do not split a hundred-זוז note into two fifty-זוז notes
6. ResponseWhy בית דין won't split a 100-זוז note into two 50s
7. StatementTwo 50-זוז notes are not merged into one 100
8. ResponseWhy the two small notes stay separate
9. StatementA 100-זוז note is not rewritten as a 50
10. ResponseWhy a hundred-זוז שטר is not rewritten as a fifty-זוז שטר
11. StatementA rich brother and a poor brother inherit a bathhouse and an olive press
12. StatementTwo people in one city both named יוסף בן שמעון
13. StatementA note saying 'יוסף בן שמעון's שטר is paid' cancels both
14. StatementHow two people with the same name should write their documents
15. StatementA note with no lender's name comes before רב הונא