Bava Batra 54b (נד:) — the Talmud in English

And

if he struck the ground in a field

that was not delineated by its boundaries

but stood in a large, open valley adjoining other fields or the public domain,

how far

must he dig—in accordance with Rav’s view— in order to acquire all of it?

Rav Pappa said:

To the extent that the team of oxen goes and returns

[when he plows with a pair of oxen, going and returning], meaning, if he plowed two furrows in the field—one going and one returning—from the beginning to the end of the field, from east to west, then he acquired all of it from north to south.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel:

The property of a gentile,

that is, if a gentile sold land to a Jew and the gentile received from the Jew money alone, without a document, and the Jew did not take possession of it,

is

the land

like a desert

which is ownerless, and

whoever takes possession of it

before the Jew who gave the money takes possession of it,

acquires it.

And we explain:

What is the reason?

Because

once the money reaches the gentile’s hand, the gentile withdraws from it

[the gentile, whose acquisition is effected only through money, withdraws his ownership once he has received his money], whereas

a Jew does not acquire

it through money

until the document reaches his hand

[whereas a Jew does not acquire either from another Jew or from a gentile through money without a document],

therefore

until the Jew takes possession of it,

it is like a desert

which is ownerless,

and whoever takes possession of it acquires it.

He said

in astonishment

Abaye challenged Rav Yosef: Did Shmuel say this,

that is, did Shmuel say that the second person acquires the land through possession alone, even though he has no document from the gentile!?

But Shmuel said

himself: “

The law of the kingdom is law,”

and the king

has

said

[and the law of the kingdom is]:

One may acquire land only through a document

[a person does not acquire land except through a document], and since the second person has no document from the gentile, he did not acquire it, and the first buyer is the one who will acquire it by virtue of “the law of the kingdom” when the document reaches his possession!?

He said to him

Rav Yosef said to Abaye:

I do not know,

but there was an incident in Dura de-Re‘uta, involving a Jew who purchased land from a gentile

with money, without a document,

and another Jew came and plowed it a little

in order to acquire it.

He came before Rav Yehuda,

and

he placed it

Rav Yehuda, who was Shmuel’s disciple,

in the possession of the second person.

I do not know, but I do know that there was an incident of this kind in a place called “Dura de-Re‘uta,”

where a Jew purchased land from a gentile with money, without a document, and another Jew came and plowed it a little. Rav Yehuda, who conducted most of his rulings according to his teacher Shmuel, ruled that the land should remain in the possession of the second person].

It is thus clear that although Shmuel maintains, “The law of the kingdom is law,” nevertheless, the property of gentiles is like a desert.

He said to him

Abaye said to Rav Yosef:

Are you speaking of Dura de-Re‘uta

[you are bringing proof from Dura de-Re‘uta]!?

There, they were concealed fields, for the fields themselves did not pay the land tax to the king, and the king

had

said: Whoever pays the land tax may consume the land!

The fields there were “concealed fields”: they had hidden them from the king’s sight and did not pay the tax to the king. The law of the kingdom was: Whoever paid its tax, the land belonged to him. Those who had not paid the tax did not have the legal power, under the law of the kingdom, to sell them. Rather, the second buyer, who established possession on the condition that he would pay the tax to the king, acquired the land under the law of the kingdom through possession, without a document.

But with regard to land that a gentile inherited from his ancestors and then sold, I can always say that if another person came and took possession of it, it would be removed from his possession and returned to the first buyer once he obtained a document from the seller.

An incident involving

Rav Huna

who

purchased land from a gentile, and another Jew came and plowed it a little

in order to acquire it.

He came

that other person

before Rav Nahman, and he placed it

Rav Nahman

in his possession.

An incident involving Rav Huna, who gave money to a gentile without a document, and another Jew came and plowed a little in the field. That second person came before Rav Nahman, and Rav Nahman placed the field in the possession of the second person.

He said

in astonishment

to him

Rav Huna said to Rav Nahman:

What is your reasoning

[why did you rule this way]!? Is it

because Shmuel said: The property of a gentile is like a desert, and whoever takes possession of it acquires it!?