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Bava Metzia 57b

בבא מציעא נ״ז ע״ב

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Topic

אונאה and רבית with הקדש, and why land, slaves, documents and הקדש are excluded from double payment and the watchman laws.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a statement: with הקדש, even an overcharge smaller than the usual measure of אונאה lets the sale be undone. A ברייתא saying 'no רבית and no אונאה for הקדש' seems to contradict this. The גמרא reads it as meaning that only the ordinary one-sixth rules of אונאה do not apply. It explains that the ברייתא's 'stringency of the הדיוט' refers only to רבית, and that הקדש has too many stringencies to name just one. The גמרא then asks what a case of רבית with הקדש would look like. רב הושעיא answers with a flour-supply deal where הקדש always gets the better price, and רב פפא answers with building stones that are still חולין. Next, ברייתות use the pattern of כלל ופרט וכלל to show that land, slaves and documents have no double payment and are outside the laws of the unpaid and paid watchman. הקדש is left out of these laws by the word 'רעהו'. Finally, the גמרא begins a contradiction to the rule about הקדש from a משנה about shekels sent to the Temple that were stolen or lost.

Opening lines

דַּאֲפִילּוּ פָּחוֹת מִכְּדֵי אוֹנָאָה חוֹזֵר.

that even if it is less than the measure of exploitation, he may go back on the sale.

מֵיתִיבִי: רִבִּית וְאוֹנָאָה לַהֶדְיוֹט,

They raised an objection: Interest and exploitation apply to a layman,

וְאֵין רִבִּית וְאוֹנָאָה לַהֶקְדֵּשׁ!

but interest and exploitation do not apply to consecrated property!

מִי אַלִּימָא מִמַּתְנִיתִין

Is it stronger than our mishna,

The steps (26)

  1. StatementWith הקדש, even a small overcharge reverses the sale
  2. ChallengeA ברייתא says there is no אונאה for הקדש
  3. ResolutionRead the ברייתא the same way as the משנה
  4. ChallengeThe end of the ברייתא calls the הדיוט stricter
  5. ResolutionThat stringency is only about רבית
  6. ChallengeThen list the הקדש stringency about אונאה too
  7. Rejectionהקדש has too many stringencies to list just one
  8. QuestionWhat case of רבית with consecrated property is meant?
  9. Responseרב הושעיא: a flour-supply deal with the Temple
  10. ProofA ברייתא: the Temple always gets the better deal
  11. Responseרב פפא: building stones not yet consecrated
  12. QuestionWhere do we learn there is no double payment for these items?
  13. ResponseThe verse of double payment: general, specific, general
  14. ResponseThe rule: only things like the examples in the פסוק
  15. ConclusionLand, slaves, documents and הקדש are left out
  16. QuestionWhy no four-or-five payment for הקדש?
  17. ResponseThe תורה said four and five, not three and four
  18. QuestionSource that a שומר חנם does not swear over these items
  19. ResponseA ברייתא finds another general-detail-general pattern
  20. ResponseApplying the general-detail-general rule to the unpaid watchman
  21. ConclusionLand, slaves, documents and הקדש are left out of the unpaid watchman's oath
  22. QuestionWhere do we learn that a paid watchman does not pay for these items?
  23. ResponseThe paid watchman's verse is also general, detail, general
  24. ResponseApplying the rule to the paid watchman
  25. ConclusionLand, slaves, documents and Temple property are left out for the paid guardian too
  26. ChallengeA contradiction from shekels sent to the Temple