Bava Metzia 102b

בבא מציעא ק״ב ע״ב

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Topic

The extra leap-year month in a rental (רב, שמואל, and רב נחמן), and who must prove that rent was paid on the due date.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a משנה about renting a bathhouse in ציפורי for 'twelve gold coins a year, a gold dinar a month'. In that case, רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and רבי יוסי ruled that the two sides split the extra leap-year month. The גמרא asks how this story fits the משנה's earlier rule that a yearly rental gives the extra month to the renter. It answers that the משנה is missing a case (חסורי מחסרא): mixed wording means a split. רב says he would give the whole month to the landlord, because we follow the last words (תפוס לשון אחרון), even when they truly contradict the first words. שמואל explains that the month is split only when they come to court mid-month, since whoever holds the thing in question keeps it, and the גמרא defends him from a grain-sale ruling. רב נחמן gives the month to the landlord because land stays with its owner, even if the wording is reversed. Then a new question is asked of רבי ינאי: if a renter says he paid and the landlord denies it, who must bring proof? The גמרא narrows this to a claim made on the due date itself, and רבי יוחנן begins to show that a משנה already answers it.

Opening lines

The steps (18)

1. StatementThe story ends: the judges split the leap month
2. ChallengeHow can a story contradict the rule?
3. ResolutionThe משנה is missing a case
4. Statementרב would give the whole month to the landlord
5. ChallengeWhat is רב adding?
6. ProofProof that רב already taught the last-words rule
7. ResolutionThe coin case could be read as just explaining
8. Statementשמואל: the split depends on when they came to court
9. ChallengeDoesn't שמואל elsewhere follow the last words?
10. ResolutionThe grain ruling was about holding, not about last words
11. Statementרב נחמן: Land stays with its owner
12. ChallengeIsn't רב נחמן just saying what רב said?
13. ResolutionEven when the order is reversed, the landlord wins
14. QuestionA question to רבי ינאי: Who must prove the rent was paid?
15. ChallengeWhen was this claim made? Both cases seem already known
16. ProofThe proof: the משנה about redeeming a firstborn
17. ResolutionThe question is about the last day of the rental
18. Proofרבי יוחנן says a משנה already answers this