Gemara Clarity

Bava Metzia 45b

בבא מציעא מ״ה ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 45b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Metzia 45b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Exchanging מעשר שני coins for gold, and whether a coin can take part in a חליפין transaction

Overview

This amud opens in the middle of a dispute between בית שמאי and בית הלל about exchanging silver מעשר שני coins for gold דינרים. One view says the argument is only a rabbinic גזירה, because a person might delay his trip to ירושלים. On that view, everyone allows produce onto דינרים, since produce rots. Another view says produce is also disputed. The גמרא shows that the משנה's wording, "יעשה / לא יעשה," fits a rabbinic גזירה, so the Torah-law version is left with a קשיא. Then a new topic begins: רב and לוי argue whether a coin can be used for חליפין, and רב פפא explains the view that it cannot, since a coin's value rests on a stamp that can be cancelled. The גמרא tests this against the rule "the gold acquires the silver," going back and forth over whether that case is a plain purchase (דמים) or an exchange (חליפין). רב אשי keeps the purchase reading, and רב פפא says a coin can be acquired through חליפין even if it cannot make one. A ברייתא about a man giving away his produce at the threshing floor begins a challenge to רב פפא, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁמָּא יְשַׁהֶה עֲלִיּוֹתָיו,

lest he delay his trips up to ירושלים,

דְּזִימְנִין דְּלָא מָלוּ

for sometimes they do not fill up

זוּזֵי בְּדִינָרָא וְלָא מַסֵּיק.

the silver coins to a gold dinar, and he will not go up.

וּבֵית הִלֵּל סָבְרִי:

And בית הלל hold:

The steps (18)

  1. StatementFirst view: a rabbinic worry about delaying the trip to Jerusalem
  2. StatementSecond view: the dispute covers produce too
  3. ChallengeThe wording of the משנה fits a rabbinic decree, not Torah law
  4. ConclusionThe challenge stands
  5. StatementNew topic: can a coin be used for חליפין?
  6. Statementרב פפא explains: people value a coin for its stamp, which can be cancelled
  7. ProofA proof from the משנה that a coin can be used for exchange
  8. RejectionNo, the משנה is talking about a plain purchase
  9. ChallengeThen the משנה should have said the gold 'obligates'
  10. ResolutionRead the משנה as 'the gold obligates'
  11. ProofThe end of the משנה supports the 'purchase' reading
  12. ProofA ברייתא gives a second support for the 'purchase' reading
  13. ChallengeBut the start of the same ברייתא sounds like more than a purchase
  14. ChallengeThe wording 'acquired wherever it is' fits barter, not a purchase
  15. Resolutionרב אשי: 'wherever it is' means 'exactly as promised'
  16. Resolutionרב פפא: A coin cannot make a barter but can be acquired through one
  17. ProofThe comparison to produce explained
  18. ChallengeA challenge from a ברייתא about giving produce as a gift