Bava Batra 86b — the Talmud in English

Come and hear

from our Mishna, for we learned in it:

One who sells produce to his fellow: if he pulled it, but did not measure it, he acquires it.

But produce, which

are light things, and

are subject to acquisition by lifting, and yet it teaches that he acquires by pulling,

so this is difficult for the one who says that things whose usual acquisition is by lifting are not acquired by pulling

! And we answer:

Here, with what are we dealing? With large bundles,

with large loads of produce that are difficult to lift, and therefore the buyer acquires them by pulling. But with a light thing that can be lifted, pulling is not effective.

And we raise a difficulty:

If so,

say the latter clause: One who purchases flax from his fellow,

he

does not acquire it until he moves it from this place to another place,

that is, until he lifts it.

And according to your words, what is different about produce, and what is different about flax

? Is it so,

and does

flax in large bundles not exist,

and is it not people’s practice to bind flax in large bundles

And if, in the latter clause, concerning flax, it is speaking of large bundles as in the first clause, why is pulling not enough? And if it is speaking of small bundles of flax, presumably in the first clause too, concerning produce, it is speaking of small bundles; and how is pulling effective with them

And we answer: The latter clause cannot be compared to the first clause! Indeed, in the first clause, concerning produce, it is speaking of a large bundle that is difficult to lift; therefore the buyer acquires it by pulling. But in the latter clause, concerning flax, it is speaking of small bundles, since

flax is different

from other produce,

for

this

slips away,

it slips immediately from the hand of the one carrying it, and they cannot make large bundles of it. Therefore bundles of flax are acquired only by lifting and not by pulling.

Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Come and hear

from a Mishna in Kiddushin [25b], for we learned:

A large animal is acquired by handing over

and it is not necessary to lift it.

And

an animal

small

is acquired

by lifting

and not by handing over; these are

the words of Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar.

And the Sages say: A small animal

is acquired

by pulling.

But a small animal is a thing subject to lifting,

for it is light in weight,

and it teaches that it is acquired by pulling

according to the Sages

! And we answer:

An animal is different

from other movable property because

it clings,

it drags and adheres with its legs to the ground, and it is possible to lift it only with difficulty, therefore the manner of acquiring it is by pulling. But other movable property that is light in weight is acquired by lifting and not by pulling.

This sugya too was brought here because the Gemara wished to prove the law from the beraita of the four measures among sellers.

Rav and Shmuel both said,

both of them stated the following law: One who says to his fellow:

A kor,

thirty seahs of grain,

for thirty

sela

I sell to you,

and they began measuring the grain, he

may retract

as long as he has not measured for him a complete kor, and

even

when they are occupied

with

measuring the

last seah —

he has acquired nothing at all, and he may retract from the entire purchase. And if he said to him:

A kor

of grain

for thirty

sela, every

seah

and seah

I sell to you for one sela —

each seah of grain is considered a purchase in its own right; therefore,

the first one acquires first.

Each seah that was measured is acquired by the buyer, and it is no longer possible to retract from the purchase of that seah.

Come and hear

from the beraita of the four measures, which teaches that even before the measure was filled, the buyer acquired it and may not retract:

If the measure belonged to one of them,

such as the buyer’s —

the first one

that enters the measure

he acquires

the buyer immediately, even though the measure was not filled.

The Gemara assumed that this beraita is speaking of one who sells him a certain quantity of grain, and the buyer acquires each and every amount immediately when it enters the measure.

And this is difficult for Rav and Shmuel, who said that the purchase does not take effect until he measures the entire quantity being sold

And we answer: Here it is speaking

of a case where he said to him,

the seller:

A hin,

a quantity of twelve logs,

for twelve selaim,

each

log

and log

I sell to you for one sela.

And what we learned, “the first one acquires first,” does not mean each and every amount that enters the measure, but rather it refers to each and every log.

And as Rav Kahana said [

in Shabbat 80b ] “

There were markings in the hin.

In a large vessel designated for measuring a “hin” [twelve logs], they sometimes made “markings,” meaning signs in the form of grooves inside the vessel, so that a smaller quantity could also be measured with it. One mark for the measure of one log, a second mark for two logs, and so on.’

Here too,

in our beraita,

there were markings in the measures.

Therefore we learned, “the first one acquires first.” For although the entire vessel holds the measure of a “hin,” nevertheless, if he said to him, “I sell each log to you for one sela,” then when he filled the vessel to the mark of one log, the buyer acquired it, and they could not retract from the purchase of this log. And likewise, when he filled the vessel to the mark of two logs, the second log too was acquired by the buyer.

Come and hear

from a beraita, unlike Rav and Shmuel:

Just as it is forbidden for a person to lend money to his fellow with interest, so it is forbidden for him to sell an object cheaply because of advancing the purchase money in advance.

One who hires the laborer

in the month of Nisan, in order to

do,

that the laborer should do

with him

work

for the threshing floor,

at the time of gathering the grain to the threshing floor, and paid him his wage in advance—in Nisan.

If the hirer stipulated to pay the laborer:

today for a dinar,

a dinar for each day of his work at the time of the threshing floor—