Gemara Clarity

Bava Metzia 47a

בבא מציעא מ״ז ע״א

Learn Bava Metzia 47a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Metzia 47a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Coins, חליפין, and symbolic acquisition: "sell me for these," exchanges with set prices, whose vessel is used, and whether produce can be used.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ruling: if a buyer says "sell me for these" and the seller doesn't care about the exact sum, the buyer acquires at once, like חליפין, but there is still אונאה. In רב אבא's report, רב הונא says there is no אונאה. The גמרא then asks about a real חליפין where the parties do care about the values. A ברייתא about trading a cow for a donkey seems to show such a trade fails, but רבא explains that the ברייתא is about an incomplete משיכה. Next the גמרא asks whether רב הונא lets a coin act as חליפין, and another version has him say plainly that it cannot. רב and לוי then argue whose vessel is used for symbolic חליפין, and the גמרא ties this to a dispute of תנאים about the shoe in רות. רב נחמן and רב ששת argue whether produce can be used, each reading the same פסוק. The amud ends with the wording of documents, whose explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְיֵשׁ לוֹ עָלָיו אוֹנָאָה.

And he has a claim of overcharging against him.

קָנָה – אַף עַל גַּב דְּלָא מָשַׁךְ,

He acquires – even though he did not pull it,

דְּכֵיוָן דְּלָא קָפֵיד – קָנָה,

because since he is not particular – he acquires,

דְּכִי חֲלִיפִין דָּמֵי.

as it is similar to an exchange.

The steps (32)

  1. StatementThe ruling ends: there is still a claim of overcharging
  2. StatementExplaining both parts of the ruling
  3. StatementAnother report of רב הונא: no claim of overcharging
  4. QuestionThe reverse question: an exchange where values matter
  5. ProofA proof begins: the cow-and-donkey case
  6. ProofThe ending of the cow-and-donkey ברייתא
  7. ResponseLesson from the ברייתא: a carefully valued trade does not take effect
  8. Rejectionרבא: everyone cares about value in a trade
  9. Resolutionרבא's reading: donkey for a cow plus a lamb
  10. QuestionDoes רב הונא hold that a coin can be used for חליפין?
  11. Rejectionרב הונא's ruling is really about money acquiring by Torah law
  12. StatementAnother version: רב הונא explicitly says a coin cannot be חליפין
  13. QuestionWhose vessel is used for a symbolic exchange?
  14. Responseרב: the buyer's vessel is used
  15. Responseלוי: the seller's vessel is used
  16. ChallengeChallenge to לוי: land would be acquired along with a cloak
  17. ResolutionThe land is transferred because of the seller's pleasure, not along with the cloak
  18. StatementThe dispute matches a dispute of תנאים; the verse in רות is explained
  19. QuestionWho gave the shoe to whom?
  20. Responseבועז gave to the גואל; רבי יהודה says the גואל gave to בועז
  21. StatementA vessel works for חליפין even if worth less than a פרוטה
  22. Statementרב נחמן: only a vessel; רב ששת: even produce
  23. QuestionWhat is רב נחמן's reason?
  24. ResponseThe verse says 'his shoe': only a shoe-like item works
  25. QuestionWhat is רב ששת's source?
  26. Responseרב ששת learns from 'to confirm all matters'
  27. ChallengeWhat does רב נחמן do with 'all matters'?
  28. Resolution'All matters' means everything that can be acquired
  29. ChallengeWhat does רב ששת do with 'his shoe'?
  30. Resolution'His shoe' teaches a complete item
  31. QuestionWhose view does the document wording follow?
  32. ResponseEach word of the formula excludes an opinion