Bava Kamma 8B

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Text Excerpt

בנזקין נמי נימא הכי!

then also with regard to damages, let the buyer say this to the injured party. He could threaten to return the bill of sale of the inferior-quality land to the debtor, which would force the injured party to collect directly from the debtor’s inferior-quality land. Since the buyer can do so, he can effectively force the injured party to collect from the purchased intermediate-quality land instead of fulfilling his right to collect from superior-quality land. Yet, the baraita teaches that in this case each party collects from the land that was originally liened to him, which means that damages are collected from the superior-quality land, indicating that this threat would not be effective.

אלא הכא במאי עסקינן ⁠– ביתמי, דלאו בני פרעון נינהו, ושיעבודא דיליה עליה דידיה רמיא;

Rather, with what are we dealing here? We are dealing with a case in which the debtor died and his inheritors are his orphans, who are not subject to an obligation to repay the debts of their father. When one dies, his monetary debts are not inherited by his children. And therefore, the lien of the creditor rests solely upon the buyer of the land. Any lien that was in effect with regard to the land he owned at the time he incurred the obligation remains, and his creditors can therefore collect what they are owed from that land, even if it is in the possession of a buyer.

הלכך ליכא למימר הכי.

Therefore, one cannot say that the ruling in the baraita is based on the fact that the buyer can threaten to return the bill of sale to the debtor, or in this case, to his orphans. In this case, even if he were to return the bill of sale, the creditors would not be able to collect from the land now in the orphans’ possession, as they received it anew, not as an inheritance from their father. Therefore, the creditors can still collect from the plots of land that remain with the buyer.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.