Study Ketubot folio 19B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואמר רב ששת בריה דרב אידי: שמע מינה מדרב כהנא, עדים שאמרו ״אמנה היו דברינו״ — אין נאמנין. מאי טעמא? כיון דעולה הוא — אעולה לא חתמי.
And Rav Sheshet, son of Rav Idi, says: Conclude from the statement of Rav Kahana that witnesses who said: Our statement was a statement of trust, and the document we signed was a document of trust, are not deemed credible. What is the reason? Since that document is an injustice, they would not sign a document of injustice. Their contention that they signed the document would incriminate them and is therefore not accepted.
אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: אסור לו לאדם שישהה שטר פרוע בתוך ביתו, משום שנאמר: ״אל תשכן באהליך עולה״. במערבא משמיה דרב אמרי: ״אם און בידך הרחיקהו״ — זה שטר אמנה ושטר פסים. ״ואל תשכן באהליך עולה״ — זה שטר פרוע.
R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is prohibited for a person to keep a repaid document within his house, due to the fact that the verse states: “And let not injustice reside in your tents” (Job 11:14). Even if he does not use the document to collect payment, the concern is that it might fall into the hands of one who will use it illegally to collect payment. In the West, in Eretz Yisrael, they say in the name of Rav: With regard to the first half of the verse: “If iniquity be in your hand, put it far away” (Job 11:14), this is referring to a document of trust and a document of security [passim]. With regard to the second half of the verse: “And let not injustice reside in your tents,” this is referring to a repaid document.
מאן דאמר שטר פרוע, כל שכן שטר אמנה. ומאן דאמר שטר אמנה — אבל שטר פרוע לא, דזמנין דמשהי ליה אפשיטי דספרא.
They note: With regard to the one who said that a repaid document is the injustice referred to in the verse, all the more so a document of trust is an injustice and may not be kept, as a document of trust is fundamentally false. And with regard to the one who said that a document of trust is the injustice referred to in the verse, however, with regard to a repaid document, perhaps it is permitted to keep it, as, at times people keep it and do not return it to the borrower. This is because in those cases it serves as security for the coins of the scribe, whose fee has not yet been paid by the borrower, who is legally responsible to pay the scribe for writing the document.