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Kesubos 34b

כתובות ל״ד ע״ב

Ketubot 34b

Learn Kesubos 34b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kesubos 34b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Paying a קנס (fine) for slaughtering a stolen animal when the act also carries the death penalty: רבה's rulings on שבת and מחתרת, and רב פפא's case of a cow.

Overview

The גמרא explains that רבי מאיר accepts 'flogged and pays' but not 'dies and pays.' A קנס is different, though, because the Torah made a special rule that a fine is paid even by someone liable to death. רבה follows this idea. A thief who stole an animal earlier and then slaughters it on שבת, or during a break-in (מחתרת), still pays the fine. If the stealing and the capital act happen together, he is exempt from everything. The גמרא shows why רבה needed to teach both cases. רב פפא then teaches that a borrowed cow slaughtered on שבת brings no payment, because a borrower's liability for accidents begins only when the accident happens. רבא rules on heirs who inherit a borrowed cow, and the גמרא gives two versions of his ruling, one that agrees with רב פפא and one that does not. Finally the גמרא returns to the argument between רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש about an unwarned sinner who deserves death or lashes and also owes money. ריש לקיש begins a challenge from a פסוק, and the challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְרַבִּי מֵאִיר, לוֹקֶה וּמְשַׁלֵּם אִית לֵיהּ,

And Rabbi Meir holds that one is flogged and pays,

מֵת וּמְשַׁלֵּם לֵית לֵיהּ.

but he does not hold that one dies and pays.

וְשָׁאנֵי הָנֵי,

And these cases are different,

דְּחִידּוּשׁ הוּא שֶׁחִידְּשָׁה תּוֹרָה בִּקְנָס,

for it is a novelty that the Torah introduced regarding a fine:

The steps (15)

  1. Resolutionרבי מאיר's view: flogged and pays, but not dies and pays
  2. ResolutionFines are a special Torah exception
  3. Proofרבה's ruling: a stolen kid slaughtered on שבת
  4. Statementרבה's ruling: a stolen kid slaughtered during a burglary
  5. ResolutionWhy רבה needed to teach both cases
  6. Statementרב פפא: a stolen cow versus a borrowed cow slaughtered on Shabbat
  7. ChallengeWhat did רב פפא add?
  8. Resolutionרב פפא's real point is the borrowed cow
  9. StatementChildren who inherit a borrowed cow
  10. StatementTwo versions of where רבא's last line applies
  11. QuestionWhy didn't ריש לקיש explain it like רבי יוחנן?
  12. ResponseNo warning should not create a payment
  13. StatementThe two אמוראים follow their own wider reasoning
  14. StatementThe reasons behind each side
  15. Challengeריש לקיש begins a challenge from a פסוק