מאי בינייהו?
The Talmud asks: What is the difference between the opinion of Rav Pappa and that of Rav Huna, son of Yehoshua, as both agree that the orphans are exempt from repaying the debt until they reach majority?
Study Bava Batra folio 174B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
מאי בינייהו?
The Talmud asks: What is the difference between the opinion of Rav Pappa and that of Rav Huna, son of Yehoshua, as both agree that the orphans are exempt from repaying the debt until they reach majority?
איכא בינייהו כשחייב מודה. אי נמי, דשמתוהו ומת בשמתיה.
The Talmud answers: The difference between them is in a case where the one who owed the money, i.e., the deceased, admits explicitly just before his death that he did not yet repay any of his loan. Alternatively, there is a difference between them in a case where the court excommunicated the deceased for not cooperating with the court in repaying his debt, and he died while still in a state of excommunication, which demonstrates that the debt had not been repaid prior to his death. In both of these cases Rav Pappa would exempt the minor orphans from payment, as minors are not obligated to perform mitzvot, while Rav Huna, son of Yehoshua, would require them to repay the debt immediately, as there is no possibility that their father had repaid the debt.
שלחו מתם: שמתוהו ומת בשמתיה, הלכתא כרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע.
The rabbis of Eretz Yisrael sent a ruling from there to Babylonia: In a case where the court had excommunicated a debtor for not cooperating in repaying his debt, and the debtor died while still in a state of excommunication, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, and the orphans must repay the debt immediately.
מיתיבי: ערב שהיה שטר חוב יוצא מתחת ידו – אינו גובה. ואם כתוב בו: ״התקבלתי ממך״ – גובה.
The Talmud raises an objection from a baraita (Tosefta 11:15): A guarantor for a debt who has the promissory note for that debt in his possession, indicating that he has repaid the debt, and now seeks reimbursement from the debtor, cannot collect if the debtor has died and the obligation for the debt has fallen to his minor heirs. But if it is written by the creditor in the promissory note: I received repayment from you, the guarantor, then the guarantor can collect the debt from the minor heirs.
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.