Bava Batra 151B

וכי קיימא הות הדרא בה. זימנא חדא חלשא, שלחה ליה: תא קני. שלח: לא בעינא. שלחה ליה: תא קני כל היכא דבעית. אזל שיירה וקנו מינה. כי קיימא, הדרא בה.

and when she recovered she would retract her gift. On one occasion she was sick. She sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come and acquire my property. He sent a message back to her: I do not want to come. She sent a message to him: Come and acquire my property in any manner that you want. He went and reserved for her part of the orchard, and he acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition. When she recovered she retracted the gift.

אתאי לקמיה דרב נחמן, שלח ליה: תא. לא אתא. אמר: מאי איתי? הא שיירה וקנו מינה! שלח ליה: אי לא אתית, מחינא לך בסילוא דלא מבע דמא.

She came before Rav Naḥman to reclaim it. Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come to court. Rav Dimi did not come. He said: What reason is there for me to come? Didn’t I reserve part of the property for her, and I acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition? Therefore, the acquisition is complete. Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: If you do not come, I will strike you with a thorn [besileva] that does not draw blood, i.e., I will excommunicate you.

אמר להו לסהדי: היכי הוה מעשה? אמרו ליה, אמרה הכי: ״ווי דקא מיתה הך איתתא!״ אמר להו: אם כן, הוה מצוה מחמת מיתה, ומצוה מחמת מיתה ⁠– חוזר.

Inquiring into the matter, Rav Naḥman said to the witnesses: How did the act of transferring the property take place? The witnesses said to Rav Naḥman: This is what she said: Woe, that woman is dying! Rav Naḥman said to them: If so, this is a case of one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his expectation of his imminent death. And one who issues directives due to his expectation of his imminent death can retract his gift even if he did not transfer all of his property, as he evidently granted the gift only because he expected to die.