Study Bava Metzia folio 36A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
פעמים ששניהם באשם. פעמים שהשוכר בחטאת והשואל באשם, פעמים שהשוכר באשם והשואל בחטאת.
there are times that both are liable to bring a guilt-offering; there are times that the renter is liable to bring a sin-offering and the borrower is liable to bring a guilt-offering; there are times that the renter is liable to bring a guilt-offering and the borrower is liable to bring a sin-offering.
הא כיצד? כפירת ממון – אשם. ביטוי שפתים – חטאת.
The Talmud elaborates: How so? One who takes a false oath that involves the denial of a monetary matter is liable to bring a guilt-offering. One who takes a false oath on an utterance of the lips that involves no denial of a monetary debt is liable to bring a sin-offering.
פעמים ששניהם בחטאת – כגון שמתה כדרכה, ואמרו נאנסה. שוכר דבין כך ובין כך מיפטר פטור בחטאת, שואל דבין כך ובין כך חיובי מיחייב בחטאת.
The Talmud elaborates: There are times that both are liable to bring a sin-offering. This is in a case where the cow died in its typical manner and the renter and the borrower both said that it died due to circumstances beyond his control. A renter, who in any case is exempt from paying whether it died of natural causes or due to circumstances beyond his control, is liable to bring a sin-offering if he took a false oath. A borrower, who in any case is liable to pay regardless of the circumstances of its death, is liable to bring a sin-offering if he took a false oath. In both cases, the oath involved no denial of monetary debt.
פעמים ששניהם באשם – כגון שנגנבה, ואמרו מתה מחמת מלאכה, דתרוייהו קא כפרי ממונא, דהא מיחייבי, וקא פטרי נפשייהו.
There are times that both are liable to bring a guilt-offering. This is in a case where the cow was stolen from a borrower, and the renter and the borrower both said that it died due to ordinary labor. That is a case where both denied a monetary matter, as they are both liable to pay in a case of theft, and both take an oath on a claim with which they seek to exempt themselves.