Bava Kamma 7b

בבא קמא ז׳ ע״ב

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Topic

Seasonal land prices, how 'מיטב' and 'ישיב' fit together in paying damages, and how 'best' land is measured

Overview

The amud opens inside an older discussion that אביי quotes. A landowner with no cash may take מעשר עני only up to half his land's value. רבה explains why: land is cheap in תשרי and expensive in ניסן, and it never drops more than half. אביי uses this seasonal idea to settle a contradiction in the פסוק between 'מיטב' (pay from the best land) and 'ישיב' (pay with anything). רב אחא בר יעקב rejects applying it to damages and moves it to a lender. רב אחא בריה דרב איקא rejects that too and moves it to a כתובה, so the original contradiction returns. רבא suggests that every payment must be the best of its kind. Because the פסוק says 'of his field,' the גמרא replaces his reading with another one: movables always count as 'best,' and only land must be top quality. Finally, רבי אבא rules that 'best' land is measured against the injurer's own fields, and רב שמואל בר אבא begins a challenge from a ברייתא about the three grades of land. That challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. ChallengeHe should not get even a little
2. ResolutionLand is expensive in ניסן and cheap in תשרי
3. ResolutionWhy he may take up to half
4. Resolutionאביי applies the seasonal idea to damages
5. ResolutionIf the injured person asks for medium-quality land, it is valued at the future price
6. ChallengeThis would weaken the injured person, whom the תורה favors
7. ResolutionBetter to compare the case to a lender
8. ChallengeThis would discourage people from lending
9. ResolutionThe seasonal-price rule fits a woman collecting her כתובה
10. ChallengeThe original difficulty is still unanswered
11. ResolutionWhatever he pays with must be the best of its kind
12. ChallengeBut the פסוק says 'the best of his field'
13. ResolutionAll movables count as 'best'; only land must be top quality
14. QuestionIs 'best land' measured against the payer's own fields or land in general?
15. StatementNo question according to רבי ישמעאל
16. StatementThe question applies according to רבי עקיבא
17. QuestionThe question spelled out: what does 'his field' rule out?
18. Responseרבי אבא: the פסוק says 'his field,' so measure by his own land
19. ChallengeChallenge from a ברייתא: when a person owns only one grade of land
20. ChallengeThe ברייתא continues: owning two or three grades of land