Bava Batra 175A

הכא נמי, אדם עשוי שלא להשביע את עצמו!

Here, too, with regard to the Temple treasury, apply the same principle and say: A person is prone to make false statements so as not to make himself appear sated. It is therefore possible that the money was not owed, and payment should not be made from the consecrated property.

כי קאמר רב הונא התם ⁠– דנקיט שטרא.

The Talmud answers: When does Rav Huna say that payment should be made there, in the case of a person on his deathbed who consecrated all his property? In a case where the creditor, to whom the deceased admitted owing money, holds a promissory note corroborating the deceased’s admission.

מכלל דרב ושמואל ⁠– דלא נקיט שטרא; אמר ״תנו״⁠ – נותנין?! מלוה על פה הוה, ורב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו: מלוה על פה ⁠– אינו גובה לא מן היורשין ולא מן הלקוחות!

The Talmud comments: By inference, the statement of Rav and Shmuel, where the money is not given to the creditor unless the person on his deathbed explicitly requests that it be given, is applicable in a case where the creditor does not hold a promissory note corroborating the admission. The Talmud asks: If so, how can it be that if the deceased says: Give him the money, the children give it to him, i.e., it is collected from the estate left to the heirs, as it is a loan by oral contract, and as Rav and Shmuel both say: One does not collect a loan by oral contract from heirs nor from purchasers who bought land from the debtor after the loan was granted?

אלא אמר רב נחמן: אידי ואידי דנקיט שטרא, ולא קשיא ⁠– הא דמקויים, הא דלא מקויים; אמר ״תנו״⁠ – קיימיה לשטריה, לא אמר ״תנו״⁠ – לא קיימיה לשטריה.

The Talmud gives a different answer to this question. Rather, Rav Naḥman said: Both this case and that case are discussing where the creditor holds a promissory note corroborating the deceased’s admission. And yet it is not difficult. In this ruling of Rav Huna, the case is where the creditor’s promissory note has been ratified by the court, and in that ruling of Rav and Shmuel, the case is where the creditor’s promissory note has not been ratified by the court. Therefore, in the latter case, if the person on his deathbed says: Give him the money, he has in effect ratified the creditor’s promissory note, and if he did not say: Give him the money, he has not ratified the creditor’s promissory note.