Study Bava Batra folio 153A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
סבור מיניה, הני מילי לאחר, אבל לעצמו – לא; אמר להו רב חסדא: כי אתא רב הונא מכופרי, פירשה: בין לעצמו בין לאחרים.
Rav’s disciples understood from this that this statement applies only when the person on his deathbed wishes to retract his gift and transfer it to another. But if he recovers and wishes to retract the gift and retain it for himself, Shmuel’s statement does not apply. Rav Ḥisda said to them: When Rav Huna came from Kufrei, he explained that Shmuel’s statement applies both to retaining the property for himself and to transferring it to others.
The Talmud relates: There was a certain person on his deathbed who wrote a deed of transfer granting his property to another, and it was acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition. He subsequently recovered and wanted to retract the gift, and he came before Rav Huna. Rav Huna said to him: What can I do for you? You cannot retract the gift, as you did not transfer the gift in the manner that people on their deathbed transfer ownership of gifts, and you enhanced the legal power of the recipient by performing an act of acquisition.
ההיא מתנתא דהוה כתוב בה ״בחיים ובמות״ – רב אמר: הרי היא כמתנת שכיב מרע. ושמואל אמר: הרי היא כמתנת בריא.
§ The Talmud relates: There was a deed pertaining to a certain gift of a person on his deathbed, in which it was written that the gift is given both in life and in death. In such a case, Rav says: It is like the gift of a person on his deathbed, and if he recovers he can retract it. And Shmuel says: It is like the gift of a healthy person, and he cannot retract it.