Bava Basra 71a

בבא בתרא ע״א ע״א

Bava Batra 71a

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Topic

What is included when a field is sold, given, inherited, taken from a גר, or consecrated, and why a sale includes less than a gift.

Overview

The amud opens with a short line, איפכא מתנינן לה, that finishes the earlier discussion by learning the ברייתא in reverse. Then a new משנה teaches that selling a field does not include the בור, the גת or the שובך. רבי עקיבא and חכמים argue about whether the seller must buy a path to reach them, and their positions flip when the items themselves are sold to someone else. The משנה limits these exclusions to a sale. A gift, brothers dividing an estate, taking hold of a גר's property, and (for חכמים) הקדש all include the whole field. The גמרא asks why a sale differs from a gift and concludes that the buyer should have spelled out the extras, while a gift recipient could not be expected to. מר זוטרא and רב אשי then disagree about a gift of a 'house holding 100 barrels' that actually holds 120. Finally, רב הונא begins explaining the הקדש clause by contrasting the rules about trees and land, and his statement continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. ResolutionClosing the earlier discussion by reversing the text
2. StatementCistern, winepress and dovecote are not sold with the field
3. Statementרבי עקיבא agrees when the seller said 'apart from these'
4. StatementWhen the items themselves are sold to someone else
5. StatementThese exclusions apply only to a sale, not to a gift
6. StatementBrothers dividing an estate and taking a convert's property
7. StatementConsecrating a field: all of it, or only a little more?
8. QuestionWhy is a sale different from a gift?
9. Responseיהודה בן נקוסא: one specified, one did not
10. ChallengeBut nobody specified anything
11. ResolutionThe buyer should have specified; the receiver could not
12. StatementA gift of a 'house holding 100 barrels' that holds 120
13. Statementמר זוטרא: he gets only what was said
14. Proofרב אשי: A gift-giver gives generously, so the receiver gets the whole house
15. StatementQuoting the משנה: one who consecrates a field consecrates everything
16. Statementרב הונא begins: the רבנן's rules about two trees and land
17. StatementEven רבי עקיבא's 'generous seller' rule is limited to a pit and cistern