Study Bava Metzia folio 98A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דאמר רבא: ״מנה לי בידך״, והלה אומר: אין לך בידי אלא חמשים, והשאר איני יודע. מתוך שאינו יכול לישבע – משלם.
as Rava says: One who approaches another and says: I have 100 dinars in your possession, and the other says: You have in my possession only 50 dinars that I am sure about, and as for the rest, I do not know. As one who admitted to part of a claim, he is liable, by Torah law, to take an oath that he does not owe the other 50 dinars. Since he cannot take an oath to that effect, as he is unsure if he owes it, he must pay.
משכחת לה רישא בשתים וסיפא בשלש.
The Talmud explains how the Mishnah can be interpreted as referring to a case in which the defendant makes a partial admission, thereby requiring him to take an oath: You find it in the first clause, i.e., in the first two cases of the Mishnah, in a situation where he took hold of two cows, and in the latter clause, i.e., in the third case, in a situation where he took hold of 3 cows.
רישא בשתים – דאמר ליה: שתי פרות מסרתי לך, פלגיה דיומא בשאילה, ופלגיה דיומא בשכירות. אי נמי: חד יומא בשאילה, וחד יומא בשכירות, ומתו תרוייהו בעידן שאילה.
The Talmud explains: One can interpret the first clause to be referring to a case where one took hold of two cows, as follows: The case is that the owner said to the bailee: I delivered two cows to you under the agreement that one half of the day you would have them through borrowing and the other half of the day through renting, or, alternatively, one day through borrowing and one day through renting. And I claim that both died during a period of borrowing, so you are liable to pay for both of them.