Bava Batra 162a — the Talmud in English

Rav Amram said: Because one does not derive [legal conclusions] from the last line.

One does not take into consideration what is stated in the last line of the document in order to judge from it for practical purposes. Therefore, the Sages instituted that nothing significant should be written there, for if something were written there, such as a certain condition, then we would collect by means of this document even without fulfillment of the condition. And this would not be according to the law. However, there they write only a summary of the document that was already written above in detail.

And the reason that one does not derive [from] the last line is that it is difficult for the witnesses to be precise and sign immediately adjacent to the end of the document, so that no empty space remains between them. And there is concern lest the holder of the document add new matters in that empty space that were not before the witnesses at the time of their signing. Therefore, they established that the last line is not taken into consideration at all; rather, only the summary of the document is written there. And from now on there is no concern at all, for if the holder of the document does not forge and does not add anything there, no damage will be caused by our not taking the last line into consideration, since there is nothing significant there. And if he adds matters after the last line, in any event we do not take that into consideration.

Rav Nahman said to Rav Amram: From where do you have this,

that one does not derive from the last line?

He said to him,

Rav Amram:

For it was taught in a beraita: If he distanced the

witnesses two lines

lines

from the writing

of the document,

it is invalid.

But if he distanced

one line

only,

it is valid.

And Rav Amram proves:

What is different

in that he distanced two

lines,

that it is invalid, because we are concerned

lest

he forge and write,

that he will add matters there? If so,

one line also

let us be concerned lest he

forge and write?

Rather, is it not so? Learn from this: One does not derive from the last line.

And therefore it is only in the case of two lines that there is concern lest he add two lines and we come to judge from the penultimate line.

And we conclude: Indeed,

learn from this!