Gemara Clarity

Bava Kamma 49b

בבא קמא מ״ט ע״ב

Learn Bava Kamma 49b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Kamma 49b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who acquires a dead גר's rights and property (miscarriage payments, documents, collateral), and the start of the laws of a pit that crosses domains

Overview

The גמרא finishes fixing a ברייתא to read 'זכתה' (she acquires). It then asks whether two ברייתות, one saying חייב and one saying פטור, match the argument between רבה and רב חסדא. The case is someone who injures the pregnant wife of a גר after the גר has died. רב חסדא can explain both ברייתות in his favor, in two different ways. The second way separates שבח ולדות, which the woman gets because she already had a share, from דמי ולדות, which she never shared and so does not get. Next, רב ייבא סבא and רב נחמן discuss whether someone who grabs a dead גר's loan documents acquires the paper itself. רבה then rules on collateral held when a גר dies, and the גמרא limits קנין חצר to an owner who is nearby. A new משנה follows about a pit dug in one domain and opened into another. רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא disagree about which case is the Torah's בור, and רבה begins explaining exactly where they disagree, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּתְנִי: ״זָכְתָה״.

And teach it as: 'She acquires.'

לֵימָא כְּתַנָּאֵי:

Let us say it is like a dispute between תנאים:

בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּישֵּׂאת לְגֵר

A Jewish woman who was married to a convert

וְנִתְעַבְּרָה מִמֶּנּוּ, וְחָבַל בָּהּ;

and she became pregnant from him, and someone injured her,

The steps (24)

  1. ResolutionFixing the wording: read it as 'she acquires'
  2. QuestionIs this an old argument between two ברייתות?
  3. QuestionFor רבה it is an argument, but must it be one for רב חסדא?
  4. ResolutionBoth ברייתות fit רב חסדא: one follows the רבנן, one follows רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
  5. ChallengeWhy mention 'after death' if she already gets half while he is alive?
  6. ResolutionHalf while he is alive, all of it after his death
  7. ResolutionSecond answer: both ברייתות follow רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
  8. ChallengeChallenge: the two payments should follow the same rule
  9. ResolutionAnswer: she gets only what she already had a share in
  10. QuestionNew question: grabbing the loan documents of a dead גר
  11. Responseרב נחמן: Who wants the paper itself?
  12. Rejectionרב ייבא סבא: Yes, even to cover a jar
  13. StatementA Jew's collateral held by a גֵּר who died
  14. StatementA גֵּר's collateral held by a Jew
  15. ChallengeWhy doesn't the lender's courtyard acquire everything?
  16. ResolutionA courtyard acquires only when its owner is nearby
  17. ConclusionThe ruling: if he is not there, his courtyard does not acquire
  18. StatementNew משנה: a pit dug in one domain and opened into another
  19. Statementרבי ישמעאל: this is the pit the Torah talks about
  20. Statementרבי עקיבא: the Torah's pit is one on ownerless land
  21. Statementרבה: Everyone agrees a pit in the public domain makes one liable
  22. QuestionWhy is he liable in the public domain?
  23. ResponseThe verse's double wording: opening and digging
  24. Statementרבה begins to say where they do disagree