Arakhin 33B

מתני׳ ואלו הן בתי החצרים ⁠— שני חצרים של שני בתים, אף על פי שמוקפת חומה מימות יהושע בן נון, הרי הן כבתי חצרים.

Mishnah And these are the houses of the unwalled courtyards whose halakha was taught in the previous Mishnah: Any city in which there are two courtyards each containing two houses, although it is surrounded by a wall from the era of Joshua, son of Nun, their halakhic status is like that of the houses of the unwalled courtyards.

גמ׳ תנו רבנן: ממשמע שנאמר ״בתי החצרים״ איני יודע שאין להם חומה? מה תלמוד לומר ״אשר אין להם חומה״? אף על פי שיש להם חומה כמי שאין להם חומה. וכמה? בתים ⁠— שנים, חצירות ⁠— שנים, שתי חצירות של שני בתים.

Talmud A baraita states: By inference from that which is stated: “The houses of the courtyards” (Leviticus 25:31), do I not know that they have no wall around them? If so, what is the meaning when the verse states: “Which have no wall”? It means that there are certain places that even though they have a wall, they are considered like places that do not have a wall. And how many, i.e., what is considered such a place? The term “houses” indicates a minimum of two, and the term “courtyards” likewise indicates a minimum of two. Therefore, if a city has only two courtyards each containing two houses, its houses are considered like the houses of the unwalled courtyards.

ואימא בית וחצר! אם כן ליכתוב רחמנא ״חצרים״, וכי תימא אי כתב רחמנא ״חצרים״⁠ — חצר בלא בית משמע, ההוא קרפף איקרי.

The Talmud objects: But you can say that the phrase: Houses of the courtyards, means one house and one courtyard, i.e., one house in each courtyard. Consequently, if each courtyard contains two houses, the city should be considered like a walled city. The Talmud explains: If so, let God write: “Courtyards,” without mentioning houses, as a courtyard must contain at least one house. And if you would say: If God had written only: “Courtyards,” then one might mistakenly have concluded that the verse indicates a courtyard without a house and that if the courtyard contains a house then the city is considered walled, one could not have arrived at that conclusion, since such an area is called an enclosure [karpef ], not a courtyard.