Shevuos 37b

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Shevuot 37b

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Topic

Does denying a money claim count as a real כפירה (denial) when there are עדים who could prove the claim anyway? The גמרא tests this with two ברייתות, and both proofs are pushed aside with רבינא's answer.

Overview

The גמרא keeps challenging רבה, who says that falsely denying money backed by עדים brings no קרבן. Two ברייתות are answered with רבינא's case of witnesses related through dying wives, and a third is set aside because of רב כהנא's version of its wording. A fourth ברייתא, comparing a נזיר טמא, proves there were valid עדים, and רבה is refuted. Next, רבי יוחנן rules that denying money backed by עדים makes one liable, but a debt backed by a שטר is exempt. רב פפא's reason, that witnesses may die, is rejected. רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע explains instead that a שטר is a lien on land, and no קרבן comes for denying a lien on land, which shows that רבי יוחנן also exempts witnesses about land. רבי ירמיה asks whether this matches the dispute of רבי אליעזר and the רבנן about a stolen field, and רבי אבהו answers that the one who exempts could even follow רבי אליעזר. Finally, רב פפא and רב פפי, both quoting רבא, debate whether the משנה shows that a stolen slave is treated like land.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. ChallengeThe second set of witnesses was available
2. ResolutionThe second set was related through dying wives
3. ChallengeThe homeowner who claimed a thief took the deposit
4. ResolutionAnswer the second proof the same way as רבינא
5. Challengeרבינא's proof from the lashes in the oath-on-a-deposit ברייתא
6. Rejectionרב מרדכי sets the proof aside using רב כהנא's version
7. ChallengeChallenge from the ברייתא comparing a נזיר טמא
8. Conclusionרבה is refuted
9. Statementרבי יוחנן: witnesses mean liable, a document means exempt
10. Questionרב פפא asks for רבי יוחנן's reason
11. ResponseWitnesses can die, but a document stays
12. ChallengeA Document Can Also Get Lost
13. ResolutionThe Real Reason: A Document Creates a Lien on Land
14. StatementMaking Witnesses About Land Swear: A Dispute
15. ProofProving רבי יוחנן Is the One Who Exempts
16. ConclusionConfirmed: רבי יוחנן Exempts
17. QuestionIs This the Same as an Older Dispute?
18. ProofThe Source: A Stolen Field Flooded by a River
19. StatementThe Root of Their Dispute: How to Read the פסוקים
20. StatementHow רבי אליעזר reads the פסוקים as inclusions and limits
21. StatementInclude, limit, include: everything except שטרות
22. StatementHow the רבנן read the same פסוקים as general and specific
23. StatementOnly movable things worth money: land, עבדים and שטרות are left out
24. QuestionDo the two arguments line up?
25. RejectionEven רבי אליעזר may agree to exempt
26. ProofThe משנה mentions a stolen ox but not a stolen slave
27. RejectionThe 'this is the rule' line may include a stolen slave