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Bava Basra 86a

בבא בתרא פ״ו ע״א

Bava Batra 86a

Learn Bava Basra 86a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether a buyer's vessel acquires in the seller's domain, and when movable items are acquired by משיכה versus הגבהה

Overview

The amud opens with רבא finishing a ברייתא about goods unloaded into the buyer's house. He uses it to argue that a buyer's vessel standing in the seller's domain does not acquire for him. רב נחמן בר יצחק and then מר בר רב אשי push off that proof, saying the case may have no vessels at all, such as bundles of garlic. רבינא explains that fixing a price matters because it shows a firm decision to sell. He then tries a proof from רב and שמואל, who say 'a person's vessel acquires for him in any place.' רב אשי limits that rule to where the seller said 'go acquire.' Next the גמרא quotes a משנה: movable items are acquired by משיכה. An אמורא limits it: items people usually lift must be acquired by הגבהה, not by pulling. That rule is tested twice. First comes a ברייתא about a stolen purse, which אביי explains as a purse heavy enough to need a rope. Then comes a ברייתא about buying in the seller's domain, which רב נחמן בר יצחק reads as two separate cases.

Opening lines

פֵּירְקָן וְהִכְנִיסָן לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ;

If he unloaded them and brought them into his house;

פָּסַק עַד שֶׁלֹּא מָדַד –

if he fixed the price before he measured,

אֵין שְׁנֵיהֶן יְכוֹלִין לַחֲזוֹר בָּהֶן,

neither of them can back out;

מָדַד עַד שֶׁלֹּא פָּסַק –

if he measured before he fixed the price,

The steps (19)

  1. ProofEnd of the ברייתא: unloading into the buyer's house
  2. Proofרבא's inference: vessels don't override the domain
  3. Rejectionרב נחמן בר יצחק: the goods were poured out
  4. Challengeרבא objects: the ברייתא says 'unloaded,' not 'poured'
  5. Rejectionמר בר רב אשי: bundles of garlic
  6. ChallengeWhy should fixing the price matter?
  7. ResolutionA fixed price shows a firm decision
  8. Proofרבינא's proof from רב and שמואל: 'in any place'
  9. Rejectionרב אשי: only where the seller said 'Go acquire'
  10. StatementThe משנה on how land and movable items are acquired
  11. StatementItems usually lifted need lifting, not pulling
  12. ChallengeThe ברייתא of the stolen purse on שבת
  13. ChallengeA purse is liftable, yet it is acquired by pulling
  14. Resolutionאביי answers: with a rope
  15. ChallengeEven with a rope, it is still pulling
  16. ResolutionA purse so heavy it needs a rope
  17. ChallengeA new ברייתא about buying in the seller's domain
  18. ChallengeThe inference: a liftable item can be acquired either way
  19. ResolutionThe ברייתא is talking about two different kinds of items