Bava Metzia 74b

בבא מציעא ע״ד ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 74b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Prepaid purchases when prices change (מי שפרע and רבי שמעון), and lending seed wheat to sharecroppers without ריבית

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier question: the practical difference between two opinions about buying manure in advance is the rainy season. The משנה then allows a buyer to set a price 'at the highest rate', so he gets the best price the market reaches. In a real case, a groom paid in advance for dowry goods for his father-in-law, and the price dropped. רב פפא rules that he pays today's price if he made a 'highest rate' deal, and the original price if he did not. When the רבנן object that money alone does not acquire, רב פפא explains that he only meant to decide who is backing out and so must accept the curse of מי שפרע. רבינא suggests the rule really follows רבי שמעון, who says money acquires. רב פפא answers from a ברייתא that even רבי שמעון does not say money acquires once the price has changed. רב אשי then explains that the groom was a merchant, not a simple שליח. A new משנה allows lending wheat to sharecroppers for seed, to be paid back in wheat, and tells how רבן גמליאל was extra strict with himself. רבא explains that this משנה and a stricter ברייתא reflect places with different customs about who supplies the seed. The amud ends as a new ברייתא begins.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. ResponseThe difference between the opinions is the rainy season
2. StatementThe משנה: you may set a price at the highest rate
3. Statementרב פפא rules on dowry goods whose price dropped
4. ChallengeThe רבנן object: money alone does not acquire
5. Resolutionרב פפא explains: it is about the curse of מי שפרע
6. Challengeרבינא asks: maybe this rule follows רבי שמעון
7. Resolutionרב פפא: רבי שמעון only means a price that did not change
8. ProofProof from a ברייתא that רבי שמעון uses מי שפרע
9. Proof'In any case' means the buyer is cursed too
10. Conclusionרבי שמעון's rule is only when the price stayed the same
11. ChallengeWhy not just say he was a שליח?
12. ResolutionHe was a merchant, not a שליח
13. StatementLending wheat to sharecroppers for seed
14. Statementרבן גמליאל was strict with himself
15. StatementA ברייתא adds a limit: only before the sharecropper went down to the field
16. QuestionWhy does the ברייתא make a difference that the משנה does not?
17. ResponseIn our משנה's place, the sharecropper normally brings the seed
18. ResponseIn the ברייתא's place, the landowner normally supplies the seed
19. StatementA new ברייתא begins about what one person may say to another