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Bava Basra 70a

בבא בתרא ע׳ ע״א

Bava Batra 70a

Learn Bava Basra 70a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which trees count as significant enough for the seller to keep back from a field sale (שיור), and what happens when a seller excludes one specific carob tree or sycamore trunk from the sale

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a discussion about which trees a seller keeps for himself when he sells a field. The דייני גולה say that a tree the oxen's yoke can bend back is too minor to keep, and the גמרא explains that this fits with רב's rope test: רב's rule is for palm trees, and theirs is for other trees. Next, רב אחא בר הונא asks רב ששת about a seller who says 'except for this carob tree' or 'except for this sycamore trunk.' Do the other ones go to the buyer? רב ששת says no. He reads a ברייתא his way and proves his point with a field example: excluding a neighboring field does not sell all the seller's other fields. In a second version (איכא דאמרי), the question is about holding back half of one tree, and רב ששת rules that the buyer does not get even the other half. Finally, רב עמרם asks רב חסדא whether a שומר is believed to say 'I returned the deposit' while the owner still holds the שטר. רב חסדא says he is believed, because he has a מיגו: he could have claimed the items were taken by force. When רב עמרם pushes back, רב חסדא answers that the שטר would not help the owner against that claim either. רב עמרם's reply begins at the end of the amud and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְדַיָּינֵי גוֹלָה אָמְרִי:

And the judges of the exile say:

כֹּל שֶׁהָעוֹל כּוֹבְשׁוֹ –

Any tree that the yoke bends back,

לָא הָוֵי שִׁיּוּר,

is not something kept back by the seller.

כֹּל שֶׁאֵין הָעוֹל כּוֹבְשׁוֹ –

Any tree that the yoke does not bend back

The steps (17)

  1. StatementThe judges of the exile: the yoke test
  2. ResolutionNo real argument: palms versus other trees
  3. QuestionExcluding one specific carob tree
  4. Responseרב ששת: the buyer does not get them
  5. ChallengeChallenge from a ברייתא
  6. ResolutionReading the ברייתא differently
  7. ProofProof from excluding a neighboring field
  8. QuestionSecond version: what about holding back half of one tree?
  9. Responseרב ששת: the buyer does not get the rest of the tree
  10. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to say only the other trees are excluded
  11. ResolutionThe ברייתא means even the rest of that tree is not sold
  12. ProofProof from holding back half of another field
  13. QuestionIs a שומר believed to say 'I returned it' when the owner holds the שטר?
  14. Responseרב חסדא: the שומר is believed
  15. ChallengeWhy is the document still with the owner?
  16. ResolutionThe same document would not help against 'they were taken by force'
  17. Challengeרב עמרם begins his reply