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Gittin 42a

גיטין מ״ב ע״א

Learn Gittin 42a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Freeing half a slave: רבה's limit on the מחלוקת, the two ברייתות about giving property to slaves, and the half-slave's daily status

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an answer: a person can be half slave and half free when two partners own a slave and one of them frees his share, and everyone agrees about that case. רבה then says that רבי and רבנן argue about freeing half a slave only when the master keeps the other half. If the master sells or gives away the other half, everyone agrees the freeing works. אביי challenges this with two ברייתות about a master who gives his property to two slaves: one says they free each other, the other says they get nothing. The גמרא offers several ways to settle the clash: 'all of it' versus 'half and half', one document versus two, and giving at the same time versus one after the other. The timing answer is rejected. רב אשי suggests that calling them 'my slaves' shows the master did not mean to free them, but רפרם proves from a משנה that 'my slave' can just mean 'who was my slave'. The גמרא then turns to a half-slave gored by an ox: the payment follows whose day it was, but marriage prohibitions do not switch by the day. Finally, a ברייתא about an ox that killed a half-slave is brought to test the day-by-day rule, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּעֶבֶד שֶׁל שְׁנֵי שׁוּתָּפִין,

With a slave belonging to two partners,

וְדִבְרֵי הַכֹּל.

and that is everyone's opinion.

אָמַר רַבָּה:

Rabba said:

מַחֲלוֹקֶת – בְּשֶׁשִּׁיחְרֵר חֶצְיוֹ

The dispute is when he freed half of him

The steps (23)

  1. ResolutionThe half-slave is one owned by two partners
  2. Statementרבה limits the dispute to a master who keeps the other half
  3. Challengeאביי brings two ברייתות that seem to contradict each other
  4. Challengeאביי explains the ברייתות as following רבי and רבנן
  5. ResolutionBoth ברייתות follow רבנן: 'all of it' versus 'half and half'
  6. ChallengeThe end of the second ברייתא suggests its beginning is the 'all of it' case
  7. ResolutionThe end clause is only explaining the beginning
  8. ProofLogic supports reading the second ברייתא as one case
  9. RejectionThe logical support is pushed away: the end clause could reveal the beginning
  10. ResolutionAnother answer: one document versus two documents
  11. ChallengeWhy mention half and half if one document never works?
  12. ResolutionThe ברייתא teaches two separate rules
  13. ResolutionAnother answer: at the same time versus one after the other
  14. ChallengeThe first slave should still acquire
  15. ConclusionBack to the earlier answer
  16. Resolutionרב אשי: The Master Called Them 'My Slaves'
  17. Challengeרפרם: 'My Slaves' May Mean Former Slaves
  18. Proofרפרם Brings a משנה About Writing All Property to a Slave
  19. RejectionProof: 'My Slave' Means 'Who Was My Slave'
  20. StatementHalf-Slave Gored by an Ox: Payment Follows the Day
  21. ChallengeThen He Should Marry Differently Each Day
  22. ResolutionThe Daily Split Does Not Apply to Prohibitions
  23. ChallengeAn ox that killed a half-slave half-free man pays half the fine to the master