Gemara Clarity

Bava Basra 78a

בבא בתרא ע״ח ע״א

Bava Batra 78a

Learn Bava Basra 78a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 78a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Overpaying for a yoke, and which of a donkey's equipment is sold with the donkey

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier case: a buyer paid a very high price for a yoke, and the רבנן said the price does not prove the oxen were included. The גמרא asks why the sale is not then cancelled for overcharging. It gives two answers: the sale really is cancelled, or the overpayment was so obvious that it counts as a gift. Then a new משנה asks whether a donkey's equipment is sold with the donkey. The תנא קמא says no, נחום המדי says yes, and רבי יהודה says it depends on how the buyer asked. עולא explains that the argument is only about load gear (sack, saddlebag, כומני), while the saddle and similar gear are sold according to everyone. The גמרא defends עולא from a ברייתא and explains that a כומני is a women's riding seat. Finally, it asks whether the argument is about gear on the donkey or gear off it. It tries proofs from the ברייתא and from רבי יהודה, and the rejection of the second proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְכִי תֵּימָא בִּיטּוּל מִקָּח

And if you would say that cancelling the sale

לְרַבָּנַן לֵית לְהוּ, וְלָא?!

the Rabbis do not accept, do they really not?!

וְהָתְנַן, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר:

But didn't we learn: Rabbi Yehuda says:

הַמּוֹכֵר סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, בְּהֵמָה וּמַרְגָּלִית –

One who sells a Torah scroll, an animal, or a pearl,

The steps (16)

  1. ChallengeDon't the רבנן accept cancelling a sale for overcharging?
  2. Resolution'The price is no proof' means the sale is cancelled
  3. ResolutionA huge overpayment counts as a gift
  4. StatementSelling a donkey: is its equipment included?
  5. Statementרבי יהודה: it depends on how the buyer asked
  6. Statementעולא: the dispute is only about the carrying gear
  7. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to say the saddle is sold only when the seller mentions the gear
  8. ResolutionThe ברייתא's real point is about the carrying gear
  9. QuestionWhat is a כומני?
  10. ResponseA כומני is a women's riding seat
  11. QuestionIs the argument about gear on the donkey or gear off it?
  12. ProofA proof from the ברייתא: 'it and everything on it'
  13. ProofWhich opinion could the end of the ברייתא follow?
  14. RejectionRereading the ברייתא as 'everything fit to be on it'
  15. ProofA new proof from רבי יהודה in the משנה
  16. RejectionThe proof from רבי יהודה starts to be rejected