Bava Kamma 44b

בבא קמא מ״ד ע״ב

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Topic

Intent and ownership in the laws of an ox that kills: כופר, מיתה, injuries, and the ox's status before and after its verdict

Overview

This amud first finishes the מחלוקת between רב and שמואל about an ox that kills without meaning to. The גמרא defends שמואל's case of an ox that pushes over a wall: it is not indirect damage like צרורות, because the wall gave way while the ox was still pushing it. Next, a ברייתא lists four outcomes. It shows that a מועד ox that kills שלא בכוונה is not put to death, but its owner still pays כופר, which supports שמואל and refutes רב. The ברייתא adds a מחלוקת about injuries done without intent. רבי יהודה learns from כופר and makes the owner pay, while רבי שמעון learns from the ox's death penalty and exempts him. The גמרא then shows that our משנה does not follow רבי שמעון, who exempts an ox that aimed at one person and killed another. It traces his view to 'וְאָרַב לוֹ', and explains that the רבנן use that פסוק for someone who throws a stone into a group, a case decided by the rule of קבוע. A new משנה lists unusual oxen that are stoned. רבי יהודה exempts ownerless oxen, even ones that lose their owner after goring, because the owner must exist at the death, the trial and the verdict. A final משנה teaches what happens when the owner consecrates or slaughters the ox before and after the verdict, and that whoever is holding the ox takes the owner's place. A ברייתא about selling the ox before its verdict begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. ChallengeIsn't the falling wall just indirect damage?
2. ResolutionThe wall gave way gradually while the ox pushed
3. ProofA ברייתא supports שמואל: four combinations of death and ransom
4. ProofThe four cases explained: מועד or תם, intending or not
5. StatementUnintentional injuries: רבי יהודה obligates, רבי שמעון exempts
6. QuestionWhat is רבי יהודה's reason?
7. Responseרבי יהודה learns from כופר
8. Responseרבי שמעון learns from the ox being put to death
9. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי יהודה learn from the ox's death?
10. ResolutionPayment is learned from payment
11. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי שמעון learn from כופר?
12. ResolutionThe ox's liability is learned from the ox's liability
13. StatementQuoting the משנה and learning from its wording
14. ConclusionThe משנה does not follow רבי שמעון
15. QuestionWhat is רבי שמעון's reason?
16. ResponseThe ox's death is like the owner's death
17. QuestionWhere do we learn the rule for the owner himself?
18. ResponseFrom the words 'And he lay in wait for him'
19. QuestionHow do the רבנן use 'וְאָרַב לוֹ'?
20. ResponseIt exempts throwing a stone into a mixed group
21. ChallengeWhich crowd could the rule be talking about?
22. ResolutionNine Jews and one gentile: the rule of קבוע
23. StatementOxen with unusual owners or no owner: are they stoned?
24. StatementThe source: the word 'ox' appears seven times
25. Statementרב הונא: רבי יהודה exempts even if ownership was dropped after the goring
26. QuestionWhere does רב הונא learn this from?
27. ProofProof from the extra case of the convert's ox
28. ProofA ברייתא says it openly and gives the פסוק
29. ChallengeWhat about the verdict?
30. ResolutionCorrect the wording: death, trial, and verdict
31. StatementConsecrating or slaughtering an ox before and after its verdict
32. StatementWatchmen, borrowers and renters take the owner's place
33. StatementA ברייתא begins: an ox that killed and was sold before its verdict