Bava Kamma 44a

בבא קמא מ״ד ע״א

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Topic

An ox that kills children (תם and מועד, death and injury), and an ox that kills without meaning to: is it killed, and does its owner pay כופר?

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about an ox that kills a child. A קל וחומר tries to prove the ox is liable just as for killing an adult, but it is rejected, so the פסוק ״אוֹ בֵן יִגָּח אוֹ בַת יִגָּח״ is needed. The ברייתא then asks whether this applies to a שור תם too, not just a שור מועד. Two logical proofs are offered and both are rejected. So the doubled word יִגָּח teaches that the rule covers תם and מועד, and covers goring that kills as well as goring that injures. Then a new משנה rules that an ox that kills by accident, or while aiming at a different target, is פטור. שמואל says it is exempt only from death, but the owner still pays כופר; רב says it is exempt from both. The גמרא defends שמואל: the ox has a known habit of rubbing against walls until they fall, but it does this for its own pleasure, as shown by its rubbing on even after the wall falls.

Opening lines

The steps (18)

1. ChallengeShouldn't logic alone tell us an ox is liable for killing children?
2. RejectionRejecting the comparison: a person pays four extra payments, an ox's owner does not
3. ConclusionSo the פסוק is needed: an ox is liable for killing children as for adults
4. QuestionDoes this apply only to a forewarned ox, or also to an innocuous one?
5. ProofA proposed logical proof: just as with adults, תם and מועד should be the same
6. ProofA second proof: a קל וחומר from adults to children
7. RejectionWe cannot be stricter with the lenient case based on the strict case
8. RejectionAdults are different because they are obligated in מצוות
9. ConclusionThe פסוק teaches that תם and מועד, and killing and injury, are all included
10. StatementNew משנה: oxen that killed without meaning to
11. Statementשמואל and רב argue: exempt from what?
12. ChallengeChallenge to שמואל: this ox is only a first-timer
13. ResolutionAnswer: the ox was a מועד for knocking walls onto people
14. ChallengeNew problem: then the ox should be put to death
15. ChallengeWhy the pit case works but the wall case does not
16. ResolutionThe ox was rubbing the wall for its own pleasure
17. QuestionHow do we know what the ox wanted?
18. ResponseIt kept rubbing even after the wall fell