Bava Basra 30b

בבא בתרא ל׳ ע״ב

Bava Batra 30b

Learn Bava Basra 30b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

רבא's rulings on land disputes: when a claimant's words or behavior do or do not cost him his claim, and how חזקה competes with a שטר

Overview

This amud is a series of short land cases, and רבא rules on each one. First, a claimant tells the person on his land that he is not the right opponent, since he never claimed to buy the land from him, and רבא agrees. Next, a claimant calls the seller a thief. The possessor says, 'You yourself told me to buy it,' and the claimant answers, 'The second buyer is easier for me to deal with than the first seller.' The גמרא challenges רבא for accepting this, since in a משנה only אדמון holds this view and חכמים disagree. It answers that even חכמים agree here, because signing a document is an action, while casual words count for less. In another case, a claimant asked to buy the land, and רבא accepts that people pay just to avoid a court case. Last, a holder says 'שני חזקה' really meant many years, and רבא accepts this. The גמרא limits that ruling to a holder who used the land for seven years, so that his חזקה was complete before the claimant's four-year-old שטר.

Opening lines

The steps (18)

1. StatementThe claimant says: you are not the one I must argue with
2. Conclusionרבא agrees with the claimant
3. StatementA new case: the seller was a thief
4. ChallengeThe possessor: you yourself told me to buy it
5. ResolutionThe claimant: the second one is easier for me
6. Conclusionרבא accepts the 'easier for me' argument
7. ChallengeIs רבא following אדמון?
8. ProofThe משנה: אדמון versus חכמים
9. ResolutionEven רבנן agree: an action differs from mere words
10. StatementA new case: the seller is called a robber
11. ChallengeThe holder's witnesses: you asked me to sell it to you
12. ResolutionThe claimant: I wanted to buy my way out of a lawsuit
13. Conclusionרבא: people do pay to avoid a lawsuit
14. StatementAnother case: bought and held for the years of חזקה
15. ChallengeThe claimant's document: I bought it from him four years ago
16. ResolutionThe holder: by 'years of חזקה' I meant many years
17. Conclusionרבא: people call many years 'years of חזקה'
18. ConclusionThe holder wins only if he used the land for seven years