Study Bava Batra folio 106A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ ״בסימניו ובמצריו״; פחות משתות – הגיעו, עד שתות – ינכה.
Mishnah: If one sells a field to another, telling him that he is selling him a field measuring a beit kor, with its particular demarcations and borders that the seller specifies for the buyer, the field’s measurement is not treated in as exacting a manner as in a standard sale. Therefore, if it later turns out that the field was not precisely a beit kor, but the difference is still less than 1/6th, the field is the buyer’s, and the sale is valid as is. But if the difference is greater, e.g., 1/4th or 1/5th, then, until it is calculated at 1/6th, the seller must deduct the difference from the purchase price and return money to the buyer.
גמ׳ איתמר, רב הונא אמר: שתות – כפחות משתות. רב יהודה אמר: שתות – כיותר משתות.
Talmud: It was stated that the amora’im disagreed about the following issue: Rav Huna says: A difference that is precisely 1/6th is like one that is less than 1/6th, and the sale is valid. Rav Yehuda says: A difference that is precisely 1/6th is like one that is more than 1/6th, and the difference must be deducted from the purchase price.
רב הונא אמר: שתות כפחות משתות – הכי קאמר: פחות משתות, ושתות בכלל – הגיעו. יותר משתות – ינכה. רב יהודה אמר: שתות כיותר משתות – הכי קאמר: פחות משתות – הגיעו. עד שתות, ושתות בכלל – ינכה.
The Talmud explains the respective reasons of the two amora’im: Rav Huna says that a difference of 1/6th is like a difference of less than 1/6th, as this is what the Mishnah is saying: If the difference is less than 1/6th, and including a difference that is precisely 1/6th, it is the buyer’s, as the sale is valid, and if it is more than 1/6th, the seller must deduct the difference from the purchase price. Rav Yehuda says that a difference of 1/6th is like a difference of more than 1/6th, as this is what the Mishnah is saying: If the difference is less than 1/6th, it is the buyer’s, as the sale is valid, and if the difference is greater, until it is calculated at 1/6th, and including a difference that is precisely 1/6th, the seller must deduct the difference from the purchase price.