Study Bava Kamma folio 3B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואי דלא אפקרינהו – אי לשמואל, דאמר: כולם מבורו למדנו, היינו בור; ואי לרב, דאמר: כולם משורו למדנו, היינו שור!
And if it is a case where one did not declare them ownerless, there is still a difficulty. If Rav Pappa’s statement is in accordance with the opinion of Shmuel, who says: We learned that one is liable for damage caused by all obstacles that he places in a public domain, whether or not he declares them ownerless, from the halakhot with regard to one’s pit, these cases are a subcategory of Pit. And if Rav Pappa’s statement is in accordance with the opinion of Rav, who says: We learned that one is liable for damage caused by all obstacles that he places in a public domain that he did not declare ownerless, from the halakhot with regard to one’s ox that gored another animal, these cases are a subcategory of Ox. With regard to the subcategories of Ox, the Talmud already established that their legal status is like that of the primary category of Ox.
מאי שנא בור – שכן תחלת עשייתו לנזק, וממונך ושמירתו עליך; הני נמי – תחלת עשייתן לנזק, וממונך ושמירתן עליך! אלא תולדה דבור כבור, וכי קאמר רב פפא – אתולדה דמבעה.
The Talmud asks concerning an obstacle that is a subcategory of Pit: What is different about Pit that it is defined it as a unique category? It is that its initial formation, i.e., the digging of the pit, is done in a manner that can result in damage, and it is your property, and responsibility for its safeguarding, to prevent it from causing damage to others, is incumbent upon you. In these subcategories of Pit, too, their initial formation, i.e., the placement of the obstacle in the public domain, is done in a manner that can result in damage, and they are your property, and responsibility for their safeguarding, to prevent them from causing damage, is incumbent upon you. Rather, it is apparent that the status of a subcategory of Pit is like that of the primary category of Pit, and when Rav Pappa says: There are among them some whose subcategories are dissimilar to them, he is referring to a subcategory of Maveh.