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Kesubos 18a

כתובות י״ח ע״א

Ketubot 18a

Learn Kesubos 18a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why the משנה chose the field case for הפה שאסר הוא הפה שהתיר, and the dispute over whether someone who admits a debt and claims he repaid half must swear.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier answer: between יהודה and גליל, the normal situation counts like a time of crisis. Then the גמרא asks why the משנה did not use other examples of הפה שאסר הוא הפה שהתיר. The loan case ('I borrowed and repaid') cannot work, because a loan made with witnesses can still be repaid without them. That means the משנה's contrast 'with witnesses he is not believed' would fail. The case 'your father had a מנה with me and I repaid half' cannot work either, because a ברייתא shows it is debated. The חכמים treat the man as a משיב אבידה who is exempt, while רבי אליעזר בן יעקב requires an oath. The גמרא asks why רבי אליעזר בן יעקב does not exempt a משיב אבידה. רב answers that a son was making a claim, but that answer runs into problems and is finally dropped. Instead, the גמרא says the dispute depends on רבה's reasoning for why a מודה מקצת must swear: a person does not dare deny a whole debt to his creditor's face. רבה's statement continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דִּסְתַם יְהוּדָה וּגְלִיל

That the usual situation of Judea and the Galilee

כִּשְׁעַת חֵירוּם דָּמוּ.

is like a time of crisis.

וְלִיתְנֵי: מוֹדֶה רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

And let it teach: Rabbi Yehoshua agrees

בְּאוֹמֵר לַחֲבֵירוֹ

in a case where one says to his fellow

The steps (15)

  1. ResolutionJudea and the Galilee count as a crisis situation
  2. ChallengeWhy not use the case of a loan that was repaid?
  3. ResolutionThe loan case cannot support the ending of the משנה
  4. ChallengeWhy not use the case of 'I repaid your father half'?
  5. ResolutionThat case is a debate among the תנאים, and neither view fits
  6. ProofThe ברייתא behind the half-repaid debate
  7. ChallengeDoes רבי אליעזר בן יעקב reject the rule of returning a lost object?
  8. Resolutionרב: a minor was making a claim against him
  9. ChallengeBut we do not swear on a minor's claim
  10. ResolutionThe 'minor' is really an adult
  11. ChallengeThen it is not 'his own claim'
  12. ResolutionSomeone else's claim, but his own admission
  13. ChallengeThat is true of every oath case
  14. ResolutionA new explanation: the dispute is about רבה's principle
  15. Statementרבה: why a partial admitter must swear