Study Bava Kamma folio 16A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
כולה רבי טרפון היא; רישא – בחצר המיוחדת לפירות לאחד מהן, ולזה ולזה לשורים; דלגבי שן הויא לה חצר הניזק. ולגבי קרן הויא רשות הרבים.
The entire Mishnah is in accordance with the opinion of R' Tarfon; the first part of the latter clause is stated with regard to a jointly owned courtyard, which under the terms of their partnership is designated for the use of one of them, i.e., the injured party, to keep his produce there, and for this one and for that one to keep their oxen there. Accordingly, with regard to damage of the category of Eating caused by one partner’s ox to the injured party’s produce in that courtyard, it is equivalent to the case of a courtyard owned exclusively by the injured party, and the ox’s owner is liable for all the damage. But with regard to damage of the category of Goring, since they are both allowed to keep oxen there, the courtyard is equivalent to a public domain, and if one’s innocuous ox causes damage there, one is liable for only half the cost of the damage.
אמר רב כהנא: אמריתה לשמעתא קמיה דרב זביד מנהרדעא, ואמר לי: מי מצית מוקמת לה כולה כרבי טרפון?! הקתני: ״השן מועדת לאכול את הראוי לה״; ראוי לה – אין, שאין ראוי לה – לא;
Rav Kahana said: I stated this teaching of R' Elazar before Rav Zevid of Neharde’a, and he said to me: Are you really able to interpret that the entire Mishnah is in accordance with the opinion of R' Tarfon? But doesn’t the Mishnah teach: Concerning acts of damage performed with the tooth, the animal is considered forewarned with regard to eating that which is fitting for it to eat. This indicates that only if what it eats is fitting for it, then yes, one is liable for the full cost of the damage, but if it eats something that is not fitting for it, the owner would not be liable for the full cost of the damage, but only for half the cost of the damage.