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Bava Basra 6a

בבא בתרא ו׳ ע״א

Bava Batra 6a

Learn Bava Basra 6a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 6a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Whether מה לי לשקר works against a חזקה, how much a neighbor pays for a wall he uses, and how far rights gained in a neighbor's wall or courtyard reach.

Overview

The גמרא asks whether a borrower who says 'I paid you before the due date' is believed. He could have said 'I paid on time' (מה לי לשקר), but people normally do not pay early (a חזקה). It tries to prove the answer from two lines in our משנה about neighbors who build a wall, and from another משנה about a borrowed מנה. All three proofs are pushed off, so the question is not decided here. Next the גמרא discusses a neighbor who leans a new wall on the high wall. רב הונא says leaning on half means paying for all of it, while רב נחמן says he pays only for what he used, and each admits one exception. רב הונא then rules that openings in the wall do not prove the neighbor paid his share. רב נחמן and רב יוסף argue about how far a right gained through use reaches, first with thin and thick beams, then with dripping and pouring rainwater. Each argument is reported in two versions, and רב יוסף actually ruled about a willow-branch hut. The amud ends as רב נחמן, quoting רבה בר אבוה, begins a new teaching about someone who rents out a room.

Opening lines

אוֹ דִילְמָא,

Or perhaps,

בִּמְקוֹם חֲזָקָה –

where there is a presumption,

לָא אָמְרִינַן ״מַה לִּי לְשַׁקֵּר״?

we do not say 'Why would I lie?'

תָּא שְׁמַע:

Come and hear:

The steps (25)

  1. QuestionDoes a presumption cancel the 'Why would I lie?' argument?
  2. ProofProof from the shared wall in the משנה
  3. ProofThe משנה must mean he claimed he paid early
  4. RejectionWith a wall, each row is its own due date
  5. ProofProof from the wall above four אמות
  6. ProofHere he is not believed, so the presumption wins
  7. RejectionHe never expected to owe at all
  8. ProofA third proof begins: the case of the borrowed מנה
  9. ProofThe proof: paying early is not believed even with a better claim available
  10. RejectionRejected: 'You have nothing with me' means 'there never was a loan'
  11. StatementBack to our משנה: leaning a new wall against the high wall
  12. Statementרב הונא: leaning on half counts as leaning on all
  13. Statementרב נחמן: he pays only for what he used
  14. Statementרב הונא admits: a corner-type attachment
  15. Statementרב נחמן admits: a roof beam or carved beam holes
  16. StatementOpenings in the wall do not prove the neighbor paid
  17. StatementRights to thin beams versus thick beams
  18. Statementרב יוסף: thin beams include thick beams
  19. StatementAnother version of רב נחמן agrees with רב יוסף
  20. StatementRights to dripping water versus pouring water
  21. Statementרב יוסף: even pouring includes dripping
  22. StatementAnother version of רב נחמן: pouring and dripping include each other, but not a willow hut
  23. Statementרב יוסף: even dripping from a willow hut is included
  24. Conclusionרב יוסף ruled this way in a real case
  25. StatementNew teaching begins: someone who rents a room to another