Study Bava Batra folio 93B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
נותן לו דמי זרע. אמרו לו: הרבה לוקחין אותו לדברים אחרים.
The seller gives back to the buyer the value of the seeds. Since the majority of flaxseeds are sold are for planting, it is a mistaken transaction. They said to him, i.e., to R' Yosei: Many, i.e., a majority of people, purchase flaxseeds for purposes other than planting. Consequently, the sale stands.
מאן תנאי? אילימא רבי יוסי ו״אמרו לו״; תרוייהו בתר רובא אזלי – מר אזיל בתר רובא דאינשי, ומר אזיל בתר רובא דזריעה!
The Talmud asks: Who are the tanna’im in this baraita who have a dispute that parallels the dispute between Rav and Shmuel? If we say that they are R' Yosei and the opinion cited as: They said to him, that is incorrect, as both of them hold that one follows the majority in monetary matters. Their dispute concerns only which majority to follow: One Sage, i.e., the opinion cited as: They said to him, follows the majority of people making purchases, and one Sage, i.e., R' Yosei, follows the majority of the volume of seeds that are sold overall. The disparity arises because the majority of sales are each made with a relatively small quantity of seeds that are purchased for purposes other than planting. The minority of sales involve large quantities of seeds that are purchased for planting. This means that the majority of the seeds sold overall are purchased for planting, but the majority of people purchasing seeds do so for purposes other than planting.
אלא אי תנא קמא ורבי יוסי, אי תנא קמא ו״אמרו לו״.
Rather, the dispute that parallels the dispute between Rav and Shmuel is either the dispute between the first tanna and R' Yosei, or the dispute between the first tanna and the opinion cited as: They said to him.