Bava Basra 62a
בבא בתרא ס״ב ע״א
Bava Batra 62a
Learn Bava Basra 62a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.
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Topic
How far a sale reaches: what the word נכסי includes, and how the way boundaries are written in a sale document decides how much land the buyer gets
Overview
The amud first finishes a rule about sale wording: if the seller says he is selling his נכסי (property), even houses and slaves are included. Then a new case begins. A sale document lists a long boundary on one side of a field and a short boundary on the other. רב rules that the buyer gets only a strip as wide as the short side. רב כהנא and רב אסי challenge him: why not also give the buyer the triangle (ראש תור) made by joining the end of the short side to the end of the long side? רב is silent. The גמרא then shows a case where רב agrees the triangle is included: the document names two neighbors on one side and only one on the other, even though the seller could easily have named matching neighbors. Next, if one neighbor borders the field on two opposite sides and another neighbor borders the other two, the document must say 'two sides' for each one. Finally, the גמרא asks what the buyer gets if the seller marked only the corners, or only two sides shaped like an L (gamma). That discussion continues on the next amud.
Opening lines
וְאִי אֲמַר לֵיה:ּ ״נִכְסֵי״ –
And if he said to him: "my property" —
אֲפִילּוּ בָּתֵּי וְעַבְדֵי.
even houses and slaves are included.
מָצַר לוֹ מֶצֶר אֶחָד אָרוֹךְ
If he marked out for him one boundary long
וּמֶצֶר אֶחָד קָצָר –
and one boundary short —
The steps (6)
- StatementSelling 'my property' includes houses and slaves
- StatementLong boundary and short boundary: buyer gets only the short width
- ChallengeWhy not give the buyer the triangle too?
- StatementWhen רב agrees the triangle is included
- StatementEach neighbor's two sides must be spelled out
- QuestionTwo questions: only the corners, or an L-shaped boundary