Bava Kamma 57a

בבא קמא נ״ז ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 57a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Kamma 57a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Is a שומר אבידה like a שומר חנם or a שומר שכר? רבה and רב יוסף test the question on several ברייתות, and אביי tests it on רבי יוחנן's ruling about כפל.

Overview

Earlier on the daf, רבה holds that someone guarding a lost item he found is like a שומר חנם, who pays only for carelessness. רב יוסף holds he is like a שומר שכר, who also pays for theft and loss. רב יוסף challenges רבה from a ברייתא that makes the finder pay if the item is stolen or lost. רבה answers that this is about returning the item at midday, when the owner is not around, which counts as carelessness. A morning return frees the finder. רב יוסף then quotes the line 'he is always responsible.' רבה concedes that lost animals need extra guarding, but only animals. רבה next argues from ״הָשֵׁב תְּשִׁיבֵם״ that the item may be returned to the owner's unguarded garden or ruin, which would fit a שומר חנם. רב יוסף answers that the garden is guarded, and the lesson is רבי אלעזר's rule that returning a lost item does not need the owner's knowledge. Finally אביי challenges רב יוסף from רבי יוחנן's ruling that a finder who falsely claims theft pays כפל. רב יוסף answers that the claim was about an armed bandit, who counts as a גנב because he hides from people. At the end of the amud, אביי begins a new challenge from a ברייתא, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. ChallengeThe ברייתא: returning the item where the owner will see it
2. ChallengeStolen or lost from the finder's own house?
3. RejectionNo: stolen or lost from where he put it back
4. ChallengeBut the ברייתא says he no longer has to deal with it
5. Resolutionרבה: the item was returned at midday
6. ResolutionThe ברייתא teaches two separate cases
7. Challenge'He is always responsible' suggests the finder is a שומר שכר
8. Resolutionרבה agrees only for animals
9. Challengeרבה quotes a ברייתא about returning to the garden or ruin
10. ChallengeThe garden must be unguarded, so the finder is like an unpaid guard
11. Resolutionרב יוסף: it is a guarded garden, and the point is that the owner need not know
12. Statementרבי אלעזר: returning a lost item does not need the owner's knowledge
13. Challengeאביי challenges רב יוסף from the double payment rule
14. Resolutionרב יוסף: the finder claimed an armed bandit took it
15. Challengeאביי: an armed bandit is a robber, not a thief
16. Resolutionרב יוסף: an armed bandit hides from people, so he is a thief
17. Challengeאביי prepares to challenge רב יוסף from a ברייתא