Gemara Clarity

Bava Kamma 108a

בבא קמא ק״ח ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 108a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Kamma 108a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When חומש and כפל are owed or cancelled for false oaths about a deposit, and who receives the thief's כפל when a שומר swore and then paid

Overview

This amud deals with the חומש (an added fifth) and the כפל (double payment) that a dishonest שומר or thief may owe. First the גמרא asks about a שומר who swore twice falsely, first 'stolen,' then 'lost.' Witnesses disproved the first oath, and he admitted the second himself. רבא proves from a משנה about a thief in the market that owing כפל money on the item is what cancels the חומש, no matter which oath caused it. רבינא then asks what happens when one שומר owes the חומש and a second שומר owes the כפל on the same ox. That question ends in תיקו, unresolved. רב פפא asks whether one man can owe two חומשים or two כפלים on one item, and רבא's reading of the plural word "its fifths" shows that many חומשים can be owed. Finally אביי and רבא argue over who gets the thief's כפל when a שומר swore and still paid: the owner or the שומר. Each bases his view on a different clause of a משנה, and אביי's reading continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּבָאוּ עֵדִים אַקַּמַּיְיתָא,

And witnesses came about the first one,

וְהוֹדָה אַבָּתְרָיְיתָא. מַאי?

and he admitted about the last one. What is the law?

מָמוֹן הַמְחַיְּיבוֹ כֶּפֶל

Is it the money that makes him owe double

פּוֹטְרוֹ מִן הַחוֹמֶשׁ –

that frees him from the fifth?

The steps (21)

  1. QuestionWitnesses disprove the first oath, and he admits the second
  2. QuestionThe two sides of the question
  3. Proofרבא quotes a משנה about a stolen ox
  4. Proofרבא explains the proof from the משנה
  5. ProofIf the oath were the cause, he should owe the fifth here
  6. ConclusionConclusion: owing double money is what cancels the fifth
  7. QuestionNew question: fifth and double split between two guards
  8. QuestionThe two sides: one person or one item of money
  9. ConclusionThe question stays unanswered
  10. Questionרב פפא asks about two fifths or two double payments for one person
  11. QuestionDefining the cases of the double obligation
  12. QuestionThe two ways to understand the Torah's limit
  13. Responseרבא's reading: many fifths for one principal
  14. ConclusionThe גמרא accepts the answer
  15. QuestionA guardian swore, paid anyway, and then the thief was found
  16. Statementאביי and רבא argue about who gets the double payment
  17. StatementThe reasons behind each view
  18. StatementThe משנה's first clause: the שומר paid instead of swearing
  19. StatementThe משנה's second clause: the שומר swore instead of paying
  20. StatementEach reads a different clause
  21. Proofאביי begins his inference from the first clause