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Bava Kamma 118a

בבא קמא קי״ח ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 118a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Returning stolen, borrowed and deposited items: where to return them, doubts about owing, and quietly returning a stolen lamb

Overview

The amud opens with the last line of the earlier discussion about a stolen field. A cow lying on the field is swept away by a river, and רבי אלעזר and the רבנן each rule by their own known view. Then a משנה teaches that a robber, borrower or שומר who received something in a settled area may not give it back in the wilderness, unless that was agreed at the start. אביי settles a contradiction from a ברייתא: a lender may demand his loan anywhere, but a borrower cannot force repayment in the wilderness. A second משנה rules that someone who is unsure whether he paid back must pay, but someone unsure whether he ever owed is exempt. The גמרא brings the famous argument over 'You owe me a מנה' met by 'I don't know': ברי ושמא ברי עדיף against leaving money with its holder. A third משנה deals with a thief who quietly returns a stolen lamb. רב, שמואל, רבי יוחנן and רב חסדא each read differently when the owners' count of the flock frees him. The amud ends as רבא begins to speak, and his words continue on the next amud.

Opening lines

פָּרָה רְבוּצָה בּוֹ,

A cow lying in it,

וּשְׁטָפָהּ נָהָר;

and a river swept it away;

דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר לְטַעְמֵיהּ,

Rabbi Elazar follows his own reasoning,

וְרַבָּנַן לְטַעְמַיְיהוּ.

and the Rabbis follow their own reasoning.

The steps (18)

  1. ResponseThe cow in the stolen field: each side stays consistent
  2. Statementמשנה: no returning in the wilderness what was received in a settled area
  3. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to say a loan can be repaid anywhere
  4. Resolutionאביי: the ברייתא is about the lender demanding, not the borrower paying
  5. ChallengeWhy teach that a condition works? Isn't it obvious?
  6. ResolutionThe case: the condition came up only as a passing remark
  7. StatementNew משנה: unsure if he paid versus unsure if he ever owed
  8. StatementThe dispute over 'You owe me a מנה' and 'I don't know'
  9. StatementThe reasons on each side
  10. ChallengeThe end of the משנה challenges רב הונא and רב יהודה
  11. ResolutionThe משנה's exempt case is where the lender is not claiming
  12. Proofרבי יוחנן also speaks of being liable 'to fulfill duty to Heaven'
  13. StatementNew משנה: a lamb stolen and quietly returned
  14. Statementרב: if the owners knew of the theft, they must know of the return
  15. Statementשמואל: Counting Works Whether or Not the Owners Knew
  16. Statementרבי יוחנן: If the Owners Never Knew, Not Even Counting Is Needed
  17. Statementרב חסדא: If the Owners Never Knew, They Must Be Told
  18. Statementרבא Begins to Speak