Study Bava Batra folio 95A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
התם, ״הן חסר הן יתיר״ אמר ליה, מיהו רביע לא חשיב; יתר מרביע – חשיב,
There, in the case of the sale of land, the reason the buyer may keep the extra land when it is less than the acceptable limit is that the seller said to him: I am selling you this piece of land whether it is slightly less or slightly more than a beit kor, i.e., he agrees to accept a small deviation from the stated area. But while an extra quarter-kav area per beit se’a is not significant, and therefore the seller is willing to forgo it, more than 1/4th-kav area per beit se’a is significant, and the seller is not willing to forgo any of it. Consequently, all of the extra land must be returned. By contrast, in the case of Rav Huna’s ruling, the buyer is aware that it is normal to have a certain proportion of impurities mixed in and accepts this possibility from the outset. Accordingly, even if the proportion of impurities is greater than the acceptable limit, it might be sufficient if the seller takes back only the quantity of impurities above the acceptable limit.
The Talmud explains why more than an area required to sow 1/4th-kav of seed per beit se’a of land is significant: The reason is that since all those extra areas of land are fit to combine together to form an area in which one could sow 9 kav of seed, the extra land is a significant plot of land in its own right, and therefore it must all be returned. The land that was sold was stated to be a beit kor, which is 30 beit se’a. If the area of the extra land was of a proportion somewhat more than an area required to sow 1/4th-kav of seed per beit se’a of land, then 30 such areas would collectively be about equal to an area required to sow 9 kav.