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Bava Basra 33b

בבא בתרא ל״ג ע״ב

Bava Batra 33b

Learn Bava Basra 33b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Proving ownership of land: admissions, מיגו against witnesses, an incomplete חזקה, claims about produce, and a חזקה with only one witness

Overview

This עמוד opens with the last words of an earlier story: once a relative admitted he was not the closer heir, he is bound by that admission and must pay. Then two people each claim a field came from their ancestors. One brings witnesses about his ancestors, and the other brings witnesses that he used the field for the years of חזקה. רב חסדא backs the one using the field with a 'why would he lie' (מיגו) argument, but אביי ורבא hold that a מיגו does not work against witnesses. Next, a man claims he bought a field but can prove only two years of use. רב נחמן rules that the land and the produce he ate both go back to the owner. רב זביד adds that if he had claimed he only bought the produce, he would be believed, because people are not brazen enough to openly eat what isn't theirs. The גמרא explains that land needs a document of sale, but produce sales usually don't. Finally, a man brings only one witness to his three years of use. The students before אביי compare this to רבי אבא's case of snatched metal, and that story begins, with רבי אמי's ruling continuing on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

כֵּיוָן דְּאוֹדִי – אוֹדִי.

Since he admitted, he admitted.

זֶה אוֹמֵר: ״שֶׁל אֲבוֹתַי״,

This one says: 'It belonged to my ancestors,'

וְזֶה אוֹמֵר: ״שֶׁל אֲבוֹתַי״;

and that one says: 'It belonged to my ancestors';

הַאי אַיְיתִי סָהֲדִי דַּאֲבָהָתֵיהּ הוּא,

this one brought witnesses that it was his ancestors',

The steps (15)

  1. ConclusionAn admission settles the earlier case
  2. StatementTwo people each claim the land came from their ancestors
  3. Responseרב חסדא: the one using the land wins, because why would he lie
  4. Rejectionאביי and רבא: no 'why would he lie' against witnesses
  5. StatementA man claims he bought the land but proves only two years
  6. Conclusionרב נחמן: the land and the produce go back
  7. StatementA claim of only eating the produce is believed
  8. ProofProof from the man with the sickle
  9. ChallengeThen believe him about the land too
  10. ResolutionFor land we ask to see a document
  11. ChallengeThen ask for a document for the produce too
  12. ResolutionPeople don't write documents for produce
  13. StatementA land claim with only one witness
  14. ProofThe students compare it to רבי אבא's metal case
  15. StatementThe story of the snatched metal