Bava Kamma 59a

בבא קמא נ״ט ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 59a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Appraising damage to produce: what 'sixty' means, valuing crops by how they would grow, subtracting the owner's savings, and the final ruling on destroyed palms.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing אביי's proof. A ברייתא about an animal that ate budding grapes has חכמים saying 'how much it was worth and how much it is worth,' and that wording must mean appraising against sixty, so the other ברייתא means sixty too. אביי then shows that רבי יוסי הגלילי and רבי ישמעאל agree: damage is valued by what is left in the field as it grows. רבי ישמעאל's 'מיטב' is not read like רב אידי בר אבין, because the one who wants to collect must bring proof. Next the גמרא resolves a contradiction inside the words of רבי שמעון בן יהודה, and רבינא joins the two parts into one statement. This makes him sound like רבי יהושע, so the גמרא says they differ about subtracting the 'weakening of the vine.' אביי proves that רבי שמעון בן יהודה is the one who subtracts it, from his ruling that a rapist does not pay for pain. אביי then links this to רבי יוסי and בן עזאי, who subtract the midwife cost or the extra food in a miscarriage case. Finally the גמרא rules on a destroyed palm: an Aramean palm is valued through its land, and a Persian palm follows the ריש גלותא. A new story about אליעזר זעירא begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (24)

1. ProofAn animal ate budding grapes: two ways to value the loss
2. Proofרבי שמעון limits the Rabbis' rule to eaten branches
3. ProofThe Rabbis don't say 'sixty' outright
4. ResolutionIt must mean sixty, so the other ברייתא means sixty too
5. Statementאביי: two תנאים share the same view
6. ProofThe source for רבי יוסי הגלילי
7. ProofThe source for רבי ישמעאל: the best of the damaged person's field
8. RejectionDon't read רבי ישמעאל like רב אידי בר אבין
9. ResponseWhy not? The one who wants to collect must bring proof
10. Conclusion'מיטב' means the best the field was going to become
11. StatementQuoting רבי שמעון בן יהודה and drawing an inference about budding grapes
12. ChallengeThe end of the ברייתא implies the opposite about budding grapes
13. Resolutionרבינא reads the ברייתא as one connected statement
14. ChallengeThen רבי שמעון בן יהודה says the same as רבי יהושע
15. ResolutionThey differ about the weakening of the vine, but we don't know who holds what
16. Resolutionאביי: We can tell who holds which side
17. ProofProof from the rapist who does not pay for pain
18. Statementאביי: Other תנאים say the same thing
19. Responseרבי יוסי and בן עזאי: Subtract the savings from a miscarriage
20. StatementWhy the midwife view surely includes food, but not the reverse
21. Statementרב פפא and רב הונא ruled like רב נחמן: appraise in sixty
22. StatementAnother version: they appraised the palm by its patch of land
23. ConclusionFinal ruling: Aramean palm by the land, Persian palm like the ריש גלותא
24. StatementA new story begins about אליעזר זעירא