Sanhedrin 29b

סנהדרין כ״ט ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 29b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 29b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When an admission of debt is binding, and when it may be written into a document

Overview

This amud is about when an admission of a debt really counts. It starts with a man who admitted a debt casually and later said 'it never happened.' One view calls him a כפרן, but רבא's version says people simply forget casual remarks. Next come stories of lenders who hid witnesses to catch an admission. From them we learn that an admission counts unless the borrower openly says 'no' to being witnessed. Then come cases about people who talk about debts so they won't look rich, including a deathbed admission on which רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי and רבי חייא ruled differently. The גמרא then asks when witnesses may write an admission into a document: with a קנין, before three people acting as a בית דין, and for land as opposed to movables. It ends with the wording of admission documents. The amud closes as a new case about a document called 'a record of the proceedings' begins; that case continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. StatementDenying that the admission ever happened makes him a liar
2. RejectionAnother version: people forget casual remarks
3. StatementWitnesses hidden in the bed canopy
4. StatementWitnesses hidden in a grave
5. ProofSilence would have made the admission count
6. StatementThe man nicknamed 'a קב of debts'
7. StatementPeople downplay their wealth
8. StatementThe man nicknamed 'a mouse lying on dinars'
9. StatementA deathbed admission is believed
10. StatementA second judge says a father hides his sons' wealth
11. QuestionThe heirs ask to undo the first payment
12. ResponseAn elder already ruled, so the first ruling stands
13. StatementAn admission before two witnesses is written only with a קנין
14. StatementAdmission before three without a קנין: רב אמי and רב אסי argue
15. ConclusionIn a real case, רב was concerned for רב אסי's view
16. StatementWho gathered the three people decides whether we write
17. StatementHe must say 'be my judges'
18. StatementThe full court procedure is needed
19. StatementAdmission about movables needs a קנין
20. QuestionWhat about land without a קנין?
21. Responseאמימר and מר זוטרא disagree
22. ConclusionThe law: we write it
23. QuestionAre movables that still exist treated like land?
24. Responseרבינא: they are like land
25. Responseרב אשי: not like land, since they have not been collected
26. StatementAn admission document missing 'he told us to write'
27. Proofריש לקיש: witnesses only sign when things were done properly
28. Challengeרב פפי: would the scribes know what the חכמים don't?
29. ResolutionThe scribes of אביי and רבא were tested and knew the rule
30. StatementA new case: a document of admission called 'a record of the proceedings'