Study Bava Batra folio 104A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
פחות כל שהוא – ינכה, יתר כל שהוא – יחזיר. הא סתמא – כ״הן חסר הן יתר״ דמי!
and he gave him even the slightest amount less that what was stipulated, the seller must deduct the difference from the purchase price of the field and return money to the buyer. If he gave him even the slightest amount more than what was stipulated, the buyer must return the difference to the seller. The reason that even the slightest difference in value must be returned is that the seller specified that he was selling land measured precisely with a rope. But had he sold the land without further specification, it would be like he sold it saying that it is a beit kor more or less.
אימא סיפא – ואם אמר לו: ״הן חסר הן יתר״; אפילו פיחת רובע לסאה או הותיר רובע לסאה – הגיעו. הא סתמא – כמדה בחבל דמי! אלא מהא ליכא למשמע מינה.
The Talmud rejects this argument by proposing another, completely opposite proof: Say the latter clause of the Mishnah: And if the seller said to the buyer that he is selling him a beit kor of land more or less, then even if he gave him 1/4th of a kav per se’a less than what was stipulated, or he gave him 1/4th of a kav per se’a more than what was stipulated, it is his and the sale is valid. One can infer: The reason that the sale is valid is that he specified that he was selling a beit kor of land more or less. But had he sold the land without further specification, it would be like he sold it saying that he was selling the land measured precisely with a rope. Rather, since the Mishnah can be interpreted in two opposite ways, no inference is to be learned from the Mishnah.