Bava Basra 175b

בבא בתרא קע״ה ע״ב

Bava Batra 175b

Learn Bava Basra 175b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A late ערב in the משנה, and the גמרא's question whether a loan's lien on property (שעבוד) comes from the Torah, as argued by עולא and רבה and by רב and שמואל against רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a משנה about collecting debts. A note in the borrower's own handwriting, or a ערב added after the שטר was signed, lets the lender collect only from נכסים בני חורין. בן ננס argues that such a late ערב owes nothing at all, because the lender never lent the money trusting him. רבי ישמעאל then praises money law and tells students to learn it from בן ננס. The גמרא asks whether a loan's lien on the borrower's property (שעבוד) comes from the Torah. עולא says it does, and the חכמים removed it from oral loans to protect buyers. רבה says it does not, and the חכמים added it to written loans so people would keep lending. A ruling of רבה's about a בכור seems to contradict him, and the גמרא answers that he was only explaining בני מערבא. רב and שמואל say an oral loan cannot be collected from heirs or buyers, while רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש say it can. A ברייתא about a pit digger's heirs is used to challenge רב and שמואל, and the גמרא defends them: the digger had already been judged in court before he died.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. StatementA loan written in the borrower's own handwriting
2. StatementA guarantor who joins after the document is signed
3. StatementA real case before רבי ישמעאל
4. Challengeבן ננס disagrees: the late guarantor pays nothing
5. Questionרבי ישמעאל asks why
6. ResponseThe example of the man stopping an attack
7. ResponseWhich guarantor is truly obligated
8. Statementרבי ישמעאל praises the study of money law
9. Statementעולא: by Torah law, every loan reaches sold property
10. QuestionWhy then can oral loans not reach sold property?
11. ResponseTo protect buyers from loss
12. ChallengeThen written loans should be limited too
13. ResolutionWith a written loan, buyers caused their own loss
14. Statementרבה: by Torah law, no loan reaches sold property
15. QuestionWhy then can written loans reach sold property?
16. ResponseSo people will keep lending
17. ChallengeThen oral loans should also collect from sold land
18. ResolutionOral loans are not publicly known
19. Challengeרבה's ruling about a בכור seems to contradict him
20. RejectionSwapping רבה and עולא does not work
21. Resolutionרבה was only explaining בני מערבא
22. Statementרב and שמואל: an oral loan cannot be collected from heirs or buyers
23. Statementרבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש: an oral loan can be collected from heirs and buyers
24. ChallengeChallenge from the case of a pit digger whose heirs must pay for the ox
25. ResolutionThe pit digger had already been judged in court
26. ChallengeBut the ברייתא says the ox killed him
27. ResolutionThe ox left him fatally wounded, not dead on the spot
28. ChallengeAnother version says he died and was buried right away
29. ResolutionJudges were sitting right at the pit