Gittin 42A

בעבד של שני שותפין, ודברי הכל.

The Mishnah is referring to a slave belonging to two partners, and in that case everyone agrees that each one of them can emancipate his portion of the slave. Consequently, there could be a half-slave half-freeman even according to Rav Yosef’s understanding of the opinion of the Rabbis.

אמר רבה: מחלוקת ⁠– בששיחרר חציו והניח חציו; אבל שיחרר חציו, ומכר חציו או נתן במתנה חציו, כיון דקנפיק מיניה כוליה ⁠– דברי הכל קנה.

§ The Talmud discusses another dispute with regard to one who emancipates half of his slave. Rabba said: The dispute between R' Yehuda HaNasi and the Rabbis concerning whether the slave can be half-emancipated applies only when the master freed half of him and left the other half of him unaffected. However, if he freed half of him and sold the other half of him, or gave the other half of him as a gift to someone else, then, since the slave left him entirely, as the original master no longer owns any portion of the slave, everyone agrees that the slave has acquired half of his freedom.

אמר ליה אביי: ובכולו ⁠– לא פליגי?! והתני חדא: הכותב נכסיו לשני עבדיו ⁠– קנו ומשחררין זה את זה. ותניא אידך, האומר: ״כל נכסי נתונין לפלוני ופלוני עבדיי״⁠ – אף עצמם לא קנו.

Abaye said to him: And do they not disagree with regard to a case where he is released entirely? But it is taught in one baraita: In the case of one who writes his property to his two slaves, i.e., gives it to them via a document, they acquired the property and they free each other, because each one has ownership over half of the other slave. And it was taught in another baraita that in the case of one who says: All of my property is given to so-and-so and so-and-so my slaves, they did not acquire even themselves, and all the more so they did not acquire the property. Seemingly, the two baraitot contradict each other.