Bava Batra 107b — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Tzadok says: it is assessed at ninety. He holds: this land ![](pamud.bmp "

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ninety

dinars

is worth, and this one who says twenty

sela, that is, eighty dinars,

is erring by ten backward. And this one who says a maneh, [

one hundred dinars]

is erring by ten forward.

And the Gemara raises an objection: Why do we follow the first two,

on the contrary,

we should have followed the latter ones and said that

this land is worth one hundred and ten, and this one who says a maneh is erring by ten backward, and this one who says thirty

sela, which are one hundred and twenty dinars,

is erring by ten forward?

And the Gemara answers: Since it is possible to say this way, and it is possible to say that way,

at least take the first two in your hand, [

it is preferable to follow the first two], for “If you grasp the greater, you have not grasped.” And since

the entire world

everyone

does not remove it from the category of a maneh

and according to everyone the assessment is close to a maneh, he gives ninety.

Others say: they make an assessment between them and divide the difference into thirds. They hold that this land is worth ninety-three and one-third,

this one who says twenty is erring by thirteen and one-third backward. And this one who says a maneh is erring by thirteen and one-third forward.

And in truth he should have said more, [

he should have said: a maneh, six dinars, and two-thirds],

but the reason he did not say it is that he holds: it is enough for me that I add so much upon my fellow [

it is enough for me with what I have already added to my fellow’s assessment] .

And the Gemara raises an objection: Why do we follow the first two,

on the contrary,

we should have followed the latter ones and said that

this land is worth one hundred thirteen and one-third. This one who says a maneh is erring by thirteen and one-third backward. And this one who says thirty is erring by thirteen and one-third forward. And in truth he should have said more,

but

he holds: is it enough for me that I add so much upon my fellow!?

And the Gemara answers: Since it is possible to say this way, and it is possible to say that way,

at least take the first two in your hand, [

it is preferable to follow the first two], for “If you grasp the greater, you have not grasped.” And since

the entire world

everyone

does not remove it from the category of one hundred [

according to everyone the assessment is close to a maneh], therefore, he gives ninety-three and one-third.

Rav Huna said: The halakha is according to Others.

Rav Ashi said: We do not know the reasoning of Others, [

that is, it is not a plausible reasoning, and if so, is it that

we establish the halakha according to them?!

Rather, we rule according to the first tanna, who says: “It is assessed at a maneh.”

The judges of the Diaspora taught [

Shmuel and Karna],

they make an assessment between them and divide the difference into thirds.

That is, according to the view of Others.

Rav Huna said: The halakha is according to the judges of the Diaspora.

As above.

Rav Ashi said: We do not know the reasoning of the judges of the Diaspora,

and if so, is it that

we establish the halakha according to them?!

As above.

Mishna:

One who says to his fellow, “I am selling you half a field,”

and there were in it fertile portions and lean portions.

How shall they divide it between them?

They assess between them,

that is, they assess the entire field, and the seller leaves the fertile portions for himself, according to the value of half the field,

and

the buyer takes according to the value of

half his field,

from the lean plots in it.

And the seller has the advantage to say to the buyer: “I did not intend to sell you an actual half, but rather an amount equal to the value of half the field.”

And likewise, if he said to him,

“I am selling you its southern half,” they assess between them,

that is, they assess how much the half of the field in the south is worth,

and

the buyer takes lean land in the field, as the value of

its half

that

in the south.

And he [

the seller]

undertakes

to deduct from his portion

space

for

the fence,

and likewise space for

a ditch and a lesser ditch.

And how large is a ditch?

Six handbreadths.

And a lesser ditch, three.

And in the Gemara it will be explained.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “One who says to his fellow, ‘I am selling you half a field,’ they assess between them, and he takes half his field”:

The Gemara explains:

Rav Hiyya bar Abba said that Rav Yohanan said:

The intention of the Mishna is to say that the

buyer

takes

the

lean portion in it,

as the value of half the field.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said to Rabbi Yohanan: But we learned, “They assess between them”?

And it implies that the hand of both of them is equal in the assessment, to take from the fine and the lean equally ?

He said to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

While you were eating dates in Babylonia, explain it from the end [

while you were eating delicacies in Babylonia and not engaging in Torah, you should have resolved our words from the end of our Mishna].

For it teaches at the end: “I am selling you its southern half; they assess between them, and he takes its southern half.”

And

And if it is as you say, that he gives him an actual half-field,

why do they assess between them [

why must they assess the entire field]

? But he said to him, “Its southern half,”

and he should have given him the portion that they stipulated between them.

Rather,

certainly, the intention of the Mishna with the expression “they assess between them” is not as you say, but rather

to

to say that he gives him

the value of

half the field, from the lean land.

And

here too [

in the first clause] the intention of the Mishna is

the value.

We learned in the Mishna: “And he

undertakes [to provide] space

for the

fence

ditch and lesser ditch.”

etc.:

The Gemara explains: Why did they need a ditch and a lesser ditch?

A tanna taught

in a beraita:

A ditch [

a trench six handbreadths deep, of which the Mishna spoke, he makes]

on the outside,

toward the outside.

And

And adjacent to it, he also makes

a lesser ditch [

a trench three handbreadths deep]

on the inside,

toward the fence, that is, between the ditch and the fence.

And both this and that,

the ditch and the lesser ditch, both are located

behind the fence,

on its outer side of the field, and this,

so that an animal should not be

jump

up to the fence and enter the field.