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Bava Metzia 83a

בבא מציעא פ״ג ע״א

Learn Bava Metzia 83a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Carriers who break what they carry: the oath as a תקנת חכמים, איסי's rule that proof replaces an oath, porters' liability, and the new chapter on local custom in hiring workers.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the problems with the idea that the barrel-carrier's oath is about a slope. Even there, an oath only makes sense when there are no witnesses, as איסי בן יהודה learns from a פסוק. Then ר׳ חייא בר אבא, quoting ר׳ יוחנן, says the oath is a תקנת חכמים, made so that people will still agree to carry barrels for others. רבא gives its wording: 'I did not break it on purpose.' The גמרא then rereads רבי יהודה and רבי אלעזר according to this approach. Next, רבא rules twice like איסי, in the case of a barrel broken in the busy market of מחוזא and the case of 400 jugs of wine that went sour: where proof can be found, one must bring it. רב חייא בר יוסף sets a half-payment rule for porters who carry with a pole, and רב tells רבה בר בר חנן to go beyond the law with poor porters who broke his barrel. The chapter ends, and a new משנה teaches that workers' hours and food follow local custom. The גמרא explains that rule, and ריש לקיש's statement begins, continuing on the next amud.

Opening lines

וַאֲפִילּוּ בִּמְקוֹם מִדְרוֹן נָמֵי –

And even in the case of a slope too —

הֲתִינַח הֵיכָא דְּלֵיכָּא רְאָיָה,

this works out well where there is no evidence,

אֲבָל הֵיכָא דְּאִיכָּא רְאָיָה –

but where there is evidence —

נַיְתֵי רְאָיָה וְנִפְּטַר.

let him bring evidence and be exempt.

The steps (39)

  1. ChallengeEven on a slope, why not just bring witnesses?
  2. Proofאיסי בן יהודה: no oath when there is an eyewitness
  3. Statementר׳ יוחנן: the oath is an enactment of the Sages
  4. QuestionWhat exactly does he swear?
  5. Responseרבא: 'I did not break it on purpose'
  6. StatementHow רבי יהודה fits ר׳ יוחנן's approach
  7. Statementרבי אלעזר: the tradition follows רבי מאיר, but he wonders
  8. ChallengeWhy would a שומר שכר swear at all?
  9. ChallengeEven a שומר חנם: off a slope, how can he swear?
  10. ChallengeEven on a slope, why swear if witnesses could be found?
  11. Proofאיסי בן יהודה's source: no witness means oath, a witness means proof
  12. StatementThe broken barrel in the market of מחוזא
  13. Questionרב יוסף asks: Are you ruling like איסי?
  14. Responseרבא: Yes, like איסי, and that is our הלכה
  15. StatementThe four hundred jugs of wine that went sour
  16. Statementרבא: Something this big gets known, so bring proof
  17. Questionרב יוסף asks again: Like איסי?
  18. Conclusionרבא confirms again: We hold like איסי
  19. StatementA rule for porters who carry with a pole
  20. QuestionWhy only half?
  21. ResponseHalfway between accident and carelessness
  22. StatementWith a two-person carrying tool he pays in full
  23. StatementPorters break רבה בר בר חנן's wine barrel
  24. Statementרב: give them back their cloaks
  25. QuestionIs that really the law?
  26. ResponseYes: walk in the way of good people
  27. StatementThe porters plead: we are poor and hungry
  28. Statementרב: pay them their wages
  29. QuestionAgain: is that really the law?
  30. ConclusionYes: keep the paths of the righteous
  31. ConclusionHadran: closing פרק השוכר את האומנין
  32. StatementNew משנה: an employer can't force early starts or late finishes
  33. StatementFood and treats also follow local custom
  34. StatementThe son promises the workers food
  35. StatementThe father warns that the promise has no limit
  36. StatementLocal custom decides, so no condition was needed
  37. ChallengeWhy does the משנה need to teach this?
  38. ResolutionHigher pay buys better work, not longer hours
  39. Statementריש לקיש begins a new statement