Study Bava Kamma folio 85A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
בכלל ופרט המרוחקים זה מזה קמיפלגי –
R' Yehuda HaNasi and ben Azzai disagree over whether the hermeneutical principle of a generalization and a detail is applied with regard to a generalization and a detail that are distant from each other. When a generalization is followed by a detail, the halakha applies only in the case specified in the detail. The verse states: “Keviyya for keviyya, a wound for a wound, ḥabura for ḥabura” (Exodus 21:25). The word “keviyya,” as stated in the beginning of the verse, is a generalization that includes burns not accompanied by bruises as well as burns accompanied by bruises. “Ḥabura,” as stated at the end of the verse, is a detail of a burn that is accompanied by a bruise. The Torah distances the detail, “ḥabura,” from the generalization, “keviyya,” by stating the halakha of: “A wound for a wound” between them.
רבי סבר: אין דנין אותו בכלל ופרט, ובן עזאי סבר: דנין אותו בכלל ופרט. וכי תימא ״חבורה״ לרבי למה לי? לדמים יתרים.
R' Yehuda HaNasi holds that since there is an intervening phrase between the generalization and the detail, one does not derive the halakha from the verse concerning burns and bruises by employing the principle of a generalization and a detail. Therefore, the one who caused the injury is liable to pay compensation for pain in all cases of burns, even those that are not accompanied by bruises. And ben Azzai holds that one does derive the halakha from the verse concerning burns and bruises by employing the principle of a generalization and a detail, and therefore the one who caused the injury is liable to pay compensation for pain only if the burn is accompanied by a bruise. And if you would say: According to the opinion of R' Yehuda HaNasi, why do I need the Torah to state the halakha of “ḥabura for ḥabura,” as that is included as a subset of “keviyya”? The phrase mentioning “ḥabura” is necessary to teach the halakha of additional money, i.e., in a case where someone caused a burn with a bruise, he pays additional compensation for the bruise beyond that for the burn.