Bava Basra 49a

בבא בתרא מ״ט ע״א

Bava Batra 49a

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Topic

Witnesses undoing a שטר by claiming מודעא or אמנה, and a husband's חזקה in his wife's property

Overview

This amud opens with the end of a קשיא. רב נחמן rules that witnesses who say 'it was a מודעא' are not believed, so how could the מודעא that רבה בר בר חנה signed cancel the sale שטר he also signed? The גמרא answers that רב נחמן's rule covers only an oral claim. A written מודעא is a document, and one document can weaken another. The גמרא then quotes רב נחמן's ruling in full, and מר בר רב אשי disagrees. He believes witnesses about a מודעא but not about אמנה, because a שטר with a מודעא may be written and an אמנה שטר may not. Next the גמרא turns to the משנה's rule that a husband has no חזקה on his wife's property, and asks why it is needed. It answers that the case is where he wrote 'I have no claim on your property.' When a ברייתא shows that such words mean nothing, דבי רבי ינאי answer that he wrote it while she was still an ארוסה, before his rights began. They support this with רב כהנא, whose words come on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (9)

1. ChallengeWitnesses cannot cancel their own document by claiming it had a protest
2. ResolutionAn oral claim cannot weaken a document, but another document can
3. Statementרב נחמן's full ruling on trust documents and protests
4. Statementמר בר רב אשי believes witnesses about a protest
5. ResponseWhy a protest is different: it may be written, a trust document may not
6. ChallengeIsn't the husband's rule obvious?
7. ResolutionThe case is where he gave up his rights in writing
8. ChallengeA ברייתא says such words mean nothing
9. ResolutionHe wrote it while she was still an ארוסה