Kesubos 30b

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Ketubot 30b

Learn Kesubos 30b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kesubos 30b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why one who is liable to death is exempt from paying (the rule of רבי נחוניא בן הקנה), and the difference between the reasons of אביי and רבא

Overview

The גמרא finishes quoting a ברייתא which shows that after the courts stopped judging capital cases, Heaven still brings each sinner a death that matches his court penalty. From this it learns that a lion and bandits count as בידי שמים, while cold and heat count as בידי אדם, so it reverses an earlier statement. רבא then gives his own source for רבי נחוניא בן הקנה's rule: a פסוק about מולך compares כרת to court death, so כרת also exempts from payment. The difference between אביי and רבא is a זר who ate תרומה: אביי exempts him from paying, and רבא makes him pay. The גמרא challenges אביי using רב חסדא's case of stolen חלב, where the theft comes before the sin. It defends אביי by narrowing the case step by step: someone else put the food into the זר's mouth, then straight into his throat, where he could bring it back up only with great effort. רב פפא instead says it was liquid תרומה, and רב אשי begins a third answer, a זר eating his own תרומה, which continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

The steps (13)

1. ChallengeHeaven still carries out the four court death penalties
2. ResolutionReverse the earlier statement
3. Statementרבא's source: כרת is like court death
4. QuestionWhat is the difference between אביי and רבא?
5. ResponseA זר who ate תרומה
6. Challengeרב חסדא's stolen חלב case challenges אביי
7. ResolutionSomeone else pushed it into his mouth
8. ChallengeChewing comes before swallowing
9. ResolutionPushed straight into the throat
10. ChallengeCould he bring it back up or not?
11. ResolutionHe could bring it back only with great effort
12. Resolutionרב פפא: liquids of תרומה
13. Resolutionרב אשי: a זר who ate his own תרומה