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Bava Metzia 14b

בבא מציעא י״ד ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 14b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Metzia 14b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

A field sold by someone who did not own it: when the buyer can back out, whether he recovers the שבח, and רבא's challenge to שמואל from the משנה about collecting שבח and produce

Overview

The עמוד opens by finishing a ruling about a buyer of a contested field. Before he takes חזקה (by walking its borders) he may back out, but after that he may not. A second version says this holds even if the sale came with אחריות. Next, רב and שמואל argue about a field that turns out not to belong to the seller: רב says the buyer gets back his מעות and the שבח, while שמואל says only the מעות. רב הונא is unsure whether an explicit promise of שבח would help in שמואל's view, but רב נחמן reports that שמואל denies the שבח even then, because it looks like ריבית. רבא challenges this from a משנה in גיטין that lets שבח be collected from free property. The גמרא defends שמואל by reading that clause as a creditor case, and works through two ברייתות about שבח and produce. רבא explains the produce ברייתא as a robber who ate the produce and ruined the field. רבה בר רב הונא then begins another explanation, which continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

יָכוֹל לַחֲזוֹר בּוֹ,

he can back out of it.

מִשֶּׁהֶחְזִיק בָּהּ – אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לַחֲזוֹר בּוֹ.

Once he took possession of it, he cannot back out of it.

דְּאָמַר לֵיהּ:

Because the seller can say to him:

חַיְיתָא דְקִטְרֵי סְבַרְתְּ וְקַבֵּלְתְּ.

You knowingly accepted a tied-up sack.

The steps (22)

  1. StatementAfter taking possession, the buyer cannot back out
  2. QuestionWhen does taking possession happen?
  3. ResponsePossession begins when he walks the borders
  4. StatementAnother version: even with a guarantee he cannot back out
  5. Statementרב and שמואל on repaying the improvement
  6. QuestionWhat if the seller explicitly promised the improvement?
  7. Responseרב הונא answers 'yes and no' and stays unsure
  8. Statementשמואל: No improvement money even if it was spelled out
  9. ResponseThe reason: it looks like interest
  10. Challengeרבא quotes a משנה about collecting improvement
  11. ChallengeSo improvement is collected from free property, even for a stolen field
  12. ResolutionNo, the משנה is about a creditor
  13. ChallengeThe produce clause cannot be about a creditor
  14. ChallengeSo the whole משנה must be about a robber
  15. RejectionEach clause can describe a different case
  16. ChallengeA ברייתא sets the שבח case with a robber
  17. ChallengeWho does the robber collect from?
  18. ResolutionIf you add details, read it as a creditor
  19. ChallengeA second ברייתא about produce
  20. ChallengeAgain: who does the robber collect from?
  21. Resolutionרבא: The robber ate the produce and dug up the field
  22. Resolutionרבה bar רב הונא begins another explanation