Study Bava Kamma folio 21A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
כהדיוט מדעת דמי.
is similar to an action involving non-sacred property belonging to an ordinary person, which was performed with the owner’s knowledge and against his wishes. This is because consecrated property belongs to God, and it is therefore meaningless to speak of a situation where the owner is unaware of what is being done. Consequently, anyone who derives benefit from consecrated property is in violation of the prohibition of misuse, but it cannot be inferred from this that one who resides in another’s courtyard without his knowledge must pay him rent.
שלח ליה רבי אבא בר זבדא למרי בר מר, בעי מיניה מרב הונא: הדר בחצר חבירו שלא מדעתו, צריך להעלות לו שכר, או לא? אדהכי – נח נפשיה דרב הונא.
R' Abba bar Zavda sent a message to Mari bar Mar saying: Raise the following dilemma before Rav Huna: Does one who resides in another’s courtyard without his knowledge need to pay him rent or not? In the meantime, before he was able to respond to the question, Rav Huna died.
אמר ליה רבה בר רב הונא, הכי אמר אבא מרי משמיה דרב: אינו צריך להעלות לו שכר, והשוכר בית מראובן – מעלה שכר לשמעון. שמעון מאי עבידתיה? הכי קאמר: נמצא הבית של שמעון – מעלה לו שכר.
Rabba, son of Rav Huna, said to him in response to the question that was asked of his father: So did my father, my Master, say in the name of Rav: He does not need to pay him rent. And he also stated another halakha: One who rents a house from Reuven must pay rent to Shimon. The Talmud is puzzled: Shimon? What does he have to do with this? The Talmud explains: This is what he is saying, i.e., what he means: If it is discovered that the house he rented did not actually belong to Reuven but rather it was Shimon’s, he must pay rent to Shimon.