Study Bava Batra folio 160B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
זה פשוט. ״וחתום״ – זה מקושר. ״והעד״ – שנים, ״עדים״ – שלשה. הא כיצד? שנים לפשוט, שלשה למקושר.
this is referring to an ordinary document. When the verse states: “And seal them,” this is referring to a tied document. The next phrase, “and call witnesses [veha’ed edim],” which more literally would be translated: And have witnesses bear witness, is interpreted as follows: “And have bear witness [veha’ed],” this indicates the need for two witnesses, as the term “witness [ed]” in the Torah generally refers to two witnesses. As to the word “witnesses [edim],” this additional term indicates the need for 3 witnesses. How so? How can the verse call for both two witnesses and 3 witnesses? R' Ḥanina explains: Two witnesses are required for an ordinary document, and 3 are required for a tied document.
ואיפוך אנא! מתוך שנתרבה בקשריו, נתרבה בעדיו.
The Talmud questions this explanation: But I can just as well reverse it, requiring two witnesses for a tied document and 3 for an ordinary one. The Talmud answers: Since the tied document requires more to be done with regard to its ties, it stands to reason that it requires more to be done with regard to its witnesses, requiring 3 rather than two.
רפרם אמר, מהכא: ״ואקח את ספר המקנה, את החתום המצוה והחקים, ואת הגלוי״; ״ואקח את ספר המקנה״ – זה פשוט. ״את החתום״ – זה מקושר. ״ואת הגלוי״ – זה פשוט שבמקושר.
Rafram says that there is a different source for two kinds of documents, from here: “So I took the deed of the purchase, that which was sealed, the terms and conditions, and that which was open” (Jeremiah 32:11). When the verse states: “So I took the deed of the purchase,” this is referring to an ordinary document. When it states: “That which was sealed,” this is referring to a tied document. When it states: “And that which was open,” this is referring to the ordinary, unfolded part of a tied document.