Study Bava Batra folio 111A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
״וכל בת ירשת נחלה ממטות בני ישראל״ – היאך בת יורשת שני מטות? אלא זו שאביה משבט אחד ואמה משבט אחר, ומתו, וירשתן.
The verse states: “And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the children of Israel” (Numbers 36:8). Noting the plural in the phrase “from the tribes of the children of Israel,” the baraita asks: How can a daughter inherit land from two tribes? Rather, this is referring to a daughter whose father is from one tribe but her mother is from another tribe, and they both died, and she inherited from both of them. Therefore, it can be seen in this verse that a daughter inherits from her mother.
ואין לי אלא בת, בן מנין? אמרת קל וחומר: ומה בת, שהורע כחה בנכסי האב – יפה כחה בנכסי האם; בן, שיפה כחו בנכסי האב – אינו דין שיפה כחו בנכסי האם? וממקום שבאת – מה להלן בן קודם לבת, אף כאן בן קודם לבת.
The baraita continues: I have derived only that a daughter inherits from her mother; from where do I derive that a son inherits from his mother as well? You can say an a fortiori inference: And just as a daughter, whose power is diminished with regard to her father’s property in that she does not inherit it when there is a son, yet her power is enhanced with regard to her mother’s property in that she inherits it; with regard to a son, whose power is enhanced with regard to his father’s property in that he is first in the order of inheritance, is it not logical that his power is enhanced with regard to his mother’s property? The baraita continues: And from the place that you came, i.e., from the inference that was just stated, one can say the following: Just as there, with regard to a father’s property, a son precedes a daughter, so too here, with regard to a mother’s property, a son precedes a daughter. This is the opinion of the first tanna.