Ketubot 92a (צב.) — the Talmud in English

And Reuven’s creditor came

Reuven’s creditor came, whose document predated the first sale that Reuven made to Shimon; he could also have taken it from Shimon had he wished, but he did not do so] —

and he repossessed it from him,

from Reuven, after Shimon subsequently sold it to him.

The law is that Shimon should go and compensate him,

the law is that Shimon should come and compensate Reuven by virtue of the guarantee that he gave him for the field. For just as, if Shimon had sold it to another and Reuven’s creditor had come and repossessed it from that purchaser, Shimon would have been obligated to compensate him, so too, if he sold it to Reuven, who is the debtor, Shimon must compensate Reuven, since he sold it to him with a guarantee.

Rava said to

Rami bar Ḥama:

Granted,

even though

ordinary guarantee

any claims against it that do not arise because of the purchaser]

Shimon accepted upon himself

when he sold the field to Reuven,

did he accept personal guarantee upon himself

and did Shimon also accept responsibility for a loss caused by the purchaser]!?

And

nevertheless

Rava concedes,

that Shimon is obligated to pay Reuven compensation under the guarantee:

In a case where Reuven inherited a field from

In the case of Reuven, who inherited a field from

Jacob, and sold it to

his father Jacob and sold it to

his fellow Shimon without a guarantee; Shimon then sold it to Reuven with a guarantee; and Jacob’s creditor came and repossessed it from him

and Jacob’s creditor repossessed the field from Reuven, by virtue of the land having been liened to him when it was in Jacob’s possession] —

That

is the law: Shimon should go and compensate him

that is the law, that Shimon should compensate Reuven].

We do not say that Reuven is “his father’s leg,” and that when the field is repossessed because of Jacob it is as though it were repossessed because of Reuven; for Shimon did not accept responsibility for repossession caused by Reuven.

What is the reason?

For

Jacob’s creditor is considered an ordinary creditor

he is like other creditors, and we do not regard him as Reuven’s creditor.

.

And

:

Rami bar Ḥama said:

If Reuven sold a field to Shimon with a guarantee of responsibility, and recorded

If Reuven sold a field to Shimon with a guarantee, and Reuven recorded

upon him

against him [against Shimon] the money for the field

as a loan,

that is, Shimon did not pay Reuven the price of the field; rather, Shimon wrote him a promissory note for the money,

and

and before Shimon paid his debt to Reuven,

Reuven died —

And Reuven’s creditor came and sought to repossess it from Shimon

Reuven’s creditor came in order to repossess the land from Shimon],

and Shimon appeased

the creditor

with money.

There are several reasons to consider Shimon exempt from paying the price of the land to Reuven’s sons. The first is that Shimon discharged the orphans’ creditor, which is as though he had paid them money.

The second is that the creditor is repossessing the orphans’ debt, and consequently Shimon should pay him what he owes them.

The third is that had the creditor repossessed the land from Shimon, Shimon could have returned to the orphans by virtue of the guarantee, since their father had sold it to him with a guarantee and his assets were liened for payment under that guarantee. If so, Shimon could take the money that he owes the orphans as payment under the guarantee and “purchase” the field from the creditor.

The Gemara explains that neither of these arguments is valid. Rather:

The law is that Reuven’s sons can say

The law is that Reuven’s sons can say to Shimon [this is the law: Reuven’s sons can say to Shimon]:

We

We have no land from our father except those

movable assets —

namely, the debt that you owe us —

our father left with you

that our father left with you,

and orphans’ movable assets

indeed

not encumbered to a creditor

are not liened to a creditor. These words answer both arguments:

Regarding Shimon’s claim that he paid their debt, as though he had paid them, the orphans say to him: The debt is not imposed upon us. We are obligated only to pay all our father’s debts from the land that we inherited from him. Since, apart from the debt that you owe us, we have no additional land, while what we do have from our father—namely, the debt—is movable property and is not liened to a creditor, the creditor is removed from us. We have no concern that you pay him his debt.

And Shimon’s further claim, that his debt was liened either to the creditor or to Shimon himself on account of his liability under the guarantee, is likewise disproved, since it is movable property and is not liened for payment of a debt or a guarantee.

It follows that Shimon has still not paid his debt, and the orphans’ claim for payment of his debt remains in force.

Rava said:

If the other one is clever

If the other one, Shimon, is clever [if Shimon is clever],

he will transfer land to them

he gives them land in payment [he pays the orphans his debt with land],

and then collect it from them

and then collects it back from them [he returns and collects it from them on account of the guarantee he has].

The land that he now transfers to the orphans, although it was never in their father’s possession and was not encumbered to Shimon for the guarantee of responsibility, is nevertheless property that he may collect on account of that guarantee, since the obligation of compensation under the guarantee had rested upon their father, and

. For although this land that he now gives to the orphans had never been in their father’s possession and had not been liened to Shimon for the guarantee, he is nevertheless entitled to collect it on account of the guarantee, since the obligation under the guarantee had rested upon their father, and

this is in accordance with Rav Naḥman.

For Rav Naḥman said in the name of Rabba bar Avuha:

Orphans who collected land in payment of their father’s debt

Orphans who collected land for their father’s debt, as with this land, which they collected for the debt that Shimon owed their father,

the creditor may return and collect it from them.

.

His fields:

Rabba said:

a. The Sages instituted, for the betterment of the world, that “one does not collect from encumbered property when there is unencumbered property.”

b. If a borrower sold part of his land to Reuven, while unencumbered land remained in his possession from which the creditor could collect his debt, and the borrower then sold his remaining land to Shimon, Reuven can say to the creditor: When I purchased the fields from the borrower, I “left you a place”—the unencumbered fields in the borrower’s possession—from which to collect. You could not have come and collected from me, since my fields were encumbered while those in the borrower’s possession were unencumbered. Therefore, even now you may collect your debt only from those fields that I left in the borrower’s possession, which are now in Shimon’s possession.

c. According to most of the Rishonim, this law applies only to a borrower who sold land and retained land in his possession. But if a purchaser from the borrower subsequently sold the land he had purchased, while retaining land in his possession, the second purchaser cannot direct the creditor to the first purchaser and say, “I left you a place from which to collect.” The creditor’s status regarding the second purchaser’s land is the same as regarding the first purchaser’s land. Our sugya will explain that sometimes the creditor can collect only from the first purchaser.

d. There are three types of fields:

Superior-quality land (idit): an injured party collects his debt from it, if such land is found among the tortfeasor’s fields.

Intermediate-quality land (beinonit): a creditor collects his debt from it if such land is available. If the creditor wishes to take specifically inferior-quality land, the Rishonim disagree as to whether he is entitled to do so. If the borrower wishes to pay the creditor from superior-quality land, he is entitled to do so.

Inferior-quality land (zibburit): a woman collects her ketuba from it.

e. The rule we stated—that “one does not collect from encumbered property when there is unencumbered property,” or that the creditor cannot collect from the purchaser because the purchaser says, “I left you a place from which to collect”—applies even when the land in the borrower’s possession, or the land that had been in the borrower’s possession, is inferior-quality land, while that in the possession of the first purchaser is intermediate-quality land.

Reuven sold all his fields to Shimon

If Reuven sold all his fields to Shimon

,

and Shimon subsequently sold one field

to Levi

to Levi,

.

And Reuven’s creditor came [Reuven’s creditor, the lender, came] to collect his debt from these fields, which had been liened to him while they were in Reuven’s possession, since Reuven—the borrower—no longer had unencumbered land from which the creditor could collect, as he had sold all his fields to Shimon —

If he wished,

If he wishes,

from this one

from this one [from the land in Shimon’s possession, whether superior-quality or inferior-quality land]

collects

he collects

If the creditor wishes

—

from this one [from the intermediate-quality land in Levi’s possession]

collects

he collects

, And we said this

we do not say that the lender may also collect from Levi if he wishes,

only when he purchased intermediate-quality land

only when he sold intermediate-quality land,

,

But if he sold superior-quality or inferior-quality land, ,

Levi can say to him

because

: For this reason I exerted myself [

I exerted myself]

and purchased

land that is not suitable for you,

I was initially careful to purchase land that is not suitable for you, namely, superior-grade or inferior-grade land.

Moreover:

and even intermediate-grade land,

even when Levi purchased intermediate-grade land,

we said

that the creditor can collect his debt from Levi as well

only

in a case

that he did not leave

Levi left in Shimon’s possession

intermediate-grade land of that kind [

Levi did not leave in Shimon’s possession intermediate-grade land like the one he purchased].