Bava Metzia 94b

בבא מציעא צ״ד ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 94b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

שאלה בבעלים, and the Torah sources for the rules of the four שומרים

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה's rule about שאלה בבעלים. If the cow was borrowed first and the owner only afterward, the borrower must pay when the cow dies. The גמרא reads 'the owner with it' as meaning both borrowings happened at the same moment, and it shows two ways that can happen. Then it quotes the משנה of the four שומרים and finds the Torah source for each one's rules. It proves that the second פרשה is about the שומר שכר, because paying the קרן with no way out by oath is stricter than כפל. Next it asks where we learn that a שומר שכר pays for loss: from the doubled verb ״גָּנוֹב יִגָּנֵב״, or from a קל וחומר. Finally it looks for the source that a שואל pays when the animal is captured, and settles on רבי נתן's reading of the word ״או״. This leads into the argument between רבי יאשיה and רבי יונתן about how to read 'and' in a פסוק, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. StatementCow first, owner later: the borrower must pay
2. StatementReading 'with it' as 'at the exact same moment'
3. ChallengeHow can both happen at the same moment?
4. ResolutionFirst answer: the cow is already in the borrower's yard
5. ResolutionSecond answer: the owner's service is delayed until the pulling
6. StatementNew topic: the four kinds of guardians
7. StatementWhat each of the four guardians swears or pays
8. QuestionWhere do these rules come from?
9. ResponseThree Torah passages for three guardians
10. ChallengeWhy not switch the first two passages?
11. ResolutionThe second passage is stricter, so it fits the paid guardian
12. RejectionThe first passage has its own strict rule
13. ResolutionPaying the principal without an oath is the stricter rule
14. ProofProof from the borrower, who pays only the principal
15. ChallengeDoes the borrower really get all the benefit? He must feed the animal
16. ResolutionThe animal grazes in a marsh
17. ChallengeBut the animal needs guarding
18. ResolutionThe borrower is a city guard
19. ResolutionSecond answer: say 'most of the benefit'
20. ResolutionThird answer: borrowing utensils
21. StatementThe משנה: the paid guardian and the renter
22. QuestionTheft has a verse, but where is loss written?
23. ResponseThe doubled verb includes loss
24. ChallengeWhat about the view that a doubled verb is just normal speech?
25. ResolutionIn ארץ ישראל they learn loss from a קל וחומר
26. ResolutionWhy the other opinion still needs the verse
27. QuestionWhere do we learn that a borrower pays for a captured animal?
28. RejectionCapture cannot be learned from injury and death
29. ResponseLearning the borrower from the paid guardian
30. RejectionThe comparison to the paid guardian breaks down
31. ResponseA new source for capture: the word "or"
32. ChallengeThe word "or" is needed to separate the cases
33. ChallengeFine for רבי יונתן, but what about רבי יאשיה?
34. Statementרבי יאשיה on cursing father or mother
35. Statementרבי יונתן: 'And' means both together and each one alone