Bava Batra 89a — the Talmud in English

From “And if you diligently obey” [Deuteronomy 28:1], which begins with the letter vav,

through “to serve them” [Deuteronomy 28:14], which ends with the letter mem, making eight letters.

until “to serve them”

[ibid., 14], which ends with the letter mem—that is, eight letters.

And He cursed them with twenty-two

letters—from

“And if you do not obey”

the voice of the Lord [Deuteronomy 28:15], which begins with the letter vav,

to “and there is no buyer” [Deuteronomy 28:69], which ends with the letter heh. If one proceeds in order from the letter vav and returns until reaching the letter heh, one passes through all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, namely, twenty-two letters.

[ibid., 68], which ends with the letter heh. If one proceeds in order from the letter vav and returns until reaching the letter heh, one passes through all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet—that is, twenty-two letters.

We learned in the Mishna:

In a place where the custom is to measure with a heaping measure,

one may not measure with a level measure. If the custom is to level the measure, one may not heap it; and if the custom is to heap it, one may not level it.

(A mnemonic

for the following laws:

One may not level, and one may not heap, with the standard measures; with a litra, three-quarters, and one-tenth; weights; leveling a thick measure; you shall not do; it shall not be done.)

The Sages taught: From where is it derived that one may not level a measure in a place where the custom is to heap it,

even if the buyer waives his claim,

and one may not heap a measure in a place where the custom is to level it,

even if the seller waives his claim?

The verse says [Deuteronomy 25:15]:

[Deuteronomy 25:15]:

“A full measure,”

which teaches that the measure must be full, so that people will not come to deceive others. If they deviate from the local custom, even if they waive their claims to one another, there is concern that others will see them and say, “This is the local custom,” and thereby come to deceive others.

And from where is it derived that if

the seller

says: “I will level the measure in a place where the custom is to heap it and reduce

the buyer’s

payment”

by the amount represented by the leveling,

“and I will heap the measure in a place where the custom is to level it and add

to the buyer’s

payment”

by the amount represented by the added heap—so that there is no concern that others will see this and not realize that the custom was changed, since they see that the price was changed according to the amount leveled or heaped—from where is it derived

that we do not heed him

even in this case?

The verse says [Deuteronomy 25:15]:

[Deuteronomy 25:15]:

“A full and honest measure shall you have,”

and the word “honest” is expounded to teach that even in this case he may not measure in this manner. Rather, he must measure honestly, according to the local custom, because even this can lead to deception: someone may see the measuring but not see the payment, and not know that the buyer altered the payment, and may think that this is the local custom.

The Sages taught: From where is it derived that one may not weigh

with the scales perfectly evenly, with the pans exactly level,

in a place where the custom is to tip

the pan of the scales one handbreadth in favor of the buyer,

and one may not tip

the pan of the scales in favor of the buyer

in a place where the custom is to weigh

with the pans exactly level?

The verse says: “A complete weight,”

teaching that the weight—the stone—must be complete according to the practice of that place, neither less nor more, so that people will not come to deceive others.

And from where is it derived that if

the seller

says: “I will level

the weighing scales

in a place where the custom is to tip

the pan of the scales in favor of the buyer

and reduce

the buyer’s

payment

by the amount of the tipping,

and I will tip

the pan in favor of the buyer

in a place where the custom is to weigh

with the weighing scales level,

and add

to the buyer’s

payment

the amount of the additional tipping—so that the change in payment makes it clear that he altered the local custom—from where is it derived

that we do not heed him

to do so?

The verse says: “A complete and honest weight,”

teaching that even in this case he may not measure in this manner. Rather, he must measure honestly, according to the local custom, because even this can lead to deception: someone may see the measuring but not see the payment, and not know that the buyer altered the payment, and may think that this is the local custom.

Rav Yehuda of Sura said

that the verse [Deuteronomy 25:14], “You shall not have in your house a measure and a measure,” is expounded homiletically.

“You shall not have in your house”

money, and in the end you will become poor, with nothing in your house.

What is the reason? Because

you engaged in commerce in the manner of

“a measure and a measure.”

“You shall not have in your pouch”

money.

What is the reason? Because

you had in your pouch

“a weight and a weight.”

But

if you conduct yourself in the manner of

“a complete and honest weight,”

then

you will have

money. As they said [Nidda 70b]: What should a person do to become wealthy? He should conduct his business faithfully.

Similarly, if you conduct yourself in the manner of

“a full and honest measure,”

then

you will have

money.

The Sages taught:

It is written [Deuteronomy 25:13]:

“You shall not have

in your pouch a weight and a weight, a large one and a small one, and so on; a complete and honest weight shall you have, and so on.” It could have been written: “You shall not have a weight and a weight, but only a complete and honest weight.” From the superfluous wording we derive:

It teaches that inspectors are appointed over measures,

officials authorized to flog and punish those who deceive with measures.

But inspectors are not appointed over prices,

to supervise prices so that merchants will not sell at excessive prices, since the buyers will themselves go to another seller who charges less, and the first seller will inevitably have to lower his price.

An incident occurred:

At the house of the Nasi, they appointed

at the Nasi’s residence

inspectors both over measures and over prices. Shmuel said to Karna,

his student:

“Go and teach them,”

go out and teach them:

“Inspectors are appointed over measures, but inspectors are not appointed over prices.”

He went out and taught them:

Karna went out and expounded to them:

“Inspectors are appointed both over measures and over prices.”

The matter became known to Shmuel.

He said to him,

Shmuel said to Karna:

“What is your name?”

He said to him:

“Karna.”

Shmuel said to him:

“May a horn emerge in Karna’s eye,”

may a horn emerge in his eye.

And because of Shmuel’s curse, indeed

a horn emerged in his eye,

a horn emerged in his eye—that is, a growth of flesh developed on his eye.

And he,

Karna, who deviated from the words of his teacher,

in accordance with whose opinion did he hold?

He held

in accordance with that which Rami bar Ḥama said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: “Inspectors are appointed both over measures and over prices, because of the deceivers,”

who wait until one seller sells cheaply and then sell at a high price.

Another explanation: “because of the deceivers”—those who sell at a high price and claim that they have added to the measure, or who place higher-quality wheat on the outside of a package and lower-quality wheat inside it, or engage in other forms of deception.

The Sages taught: If

the buyer

asked him,

the seller, to sell by weight,

one litra,—

he weighs for him

the seller, using a weight that weighs

one litra.

And if the buyer asked to purchase

half a litra,—

he weighs for him

using a weight of

half a litra; a quarter-litra—

he weighs for him a quarter-litra.

What does this teach us?

It is obvious that the seller weighs for him the amount that he purchases.

And we answer: The baraita teaches us

that weights are prepared only up to this point,

that weights are made only in these measures: one litra, half a litra, and a quarter-litra. The earlier court established that no other weights should be made, so that people would not come to deceive and mislead customers regarding the size of the weights. If one needs to weigh an amount smaller than a quarter-litra, he should weigh it using coins.

The Sages taught: If

the buyer

asked him

for a weight of

three-quarters of a litra,

and there is no weight that measures three-quarters of a litra,

the buyer should not say to him

the seller:

“Weigh me three-quarters of a litra, one quarter at a time,”

each quarter-litra separately, because the seller cannot weigh precisely and must add to the weight, causing the seller a loss, since he must add something on every weighing.

Rather, he weighs

the seller, using a weight of

one litra

in one pan of the scales,

and places

a weight of

a quarter-litra

in the other pan, together

with the meat

being sold. In this way, he weighs the three-quarters of a litra of meat all at once.

The Sages taught: If

the buyer

asked him

for a weight of

ten litrin, the buyer should not say to him

the seller:

“Weigh them one at a time and tip the pan

at every weighing,” because a small amount is always added with each tipping, causing the seller a loss.

Rather, he weighs them all at once and gives one additional amount for all of them.

The Sages taught:

What are the dimensions of the scales?

For scales intended for weighing heavy objects,

the central beam of the scales,

the upper part from which the scales hang, must be

suspended in the air,

at a distance from the ceiling of

three handbreadths,

so that the scales will not touch the ceiling when the pan is tipped in favor of the buyer.

And it must be three handbreadths above the ground,

so that the pan will not touch the ground when it is tipped.

And the beam,

from whose two sides the pans of the scales hang,

and its suspension cords,

the cords by which each pan hangs from the scales, must together be

twelve handbreadths

long: four handbreadths for the beam and four handbreadths for each of the cords hanging from the two ends of the beam. If they are shorter, the scales will not tip by a small amount, since they carry a heavy weight.

And the scales of wool merchants,

who sell wool by weight,

and those of glass merchants,

who sell glassware—their weights are lighter, and they do not need such large scales. Rather, the dimensions of the scales they need are that they be

suspended in the air

at a distance from the ceiling of

two handbreadths, and two handbreadths above the ground; and the beam and its suspension cords

must together be

nine handbreadths

long: three handbreadths for the beam and three handbreadths for each of the cords hanging from the two ends of the beam.

And the scales of a shopkeeper and of a homeowner,

who weigh with still lighter weights, must have the following dimensions: they must be

suspended in the air

at a distance from the ceiling of

one handbreadth, and one handbreadth above the ground; and the beam and its suspension cords

must together be

six handbreadths

long: two handbreadths for the beam and two handbreadths for each of the cords hanging from the two ends of the beam.

And the scales of a goldsmith,

who sells gold and silver and weighs with still lighter weights, must have the following dimensions: they must be

suspended in the air

at a distance from the ceiling of

three fingerbreadths, and three fingerbreadths above the ground .

And as for the beam and its suspension cords, I do not know

what their required length is.

All the dimensions of the scales mentioned in the baraita are explained according to what they are intended for, except for the first scales,

but these first ones

the large scales mentioned first by the baraita—

what are they for?

What are they intended to weigh?