Study Kiddushin folio 11B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
והרי טענה, דכתיב: ״כי יתן איש אל רעהו כסף או כלים לשמר״, ותנן: שבועת הדיינין, הטענה – שתי כסף, וההודאה – שוה פרוטה.
But with regard to a claim that someone has not returned a deposit or loan, when the defendant admits that only part of the claim is true, it is written: “If a man deliver to his neighbor money or vessels to guard and it be stolen out of the man’s house” (Exodus 22:6). The following verses teach that if the thief is not found, the case is brought to a court, where the defendant must take an oath. And we learned in a Mishnah with regard to one who admits to part of a claim (Shevuot 38b): The oath administered by the judges to one who admits to part of a claim is administered only when the claim is for at least two silver ma’a, and the defendant’s admission is to at least the value of one peruta. If every sum of money mentioned in the Torah is referring to Tyrian coinage, how did the rabbis arrive at the amount of two ma’a in this case?
התם דומיא דכלים, מה כלים שנים – אף כסף שנים, ומה כסף דבר חשוב – אף כלים דבר חשוב.
The Talmud explains: There, the halakha is derived from a juxtaposition, as the “money” mentioned in the verse is similar to “vessels”: Just as the word “vessels” indicates at least two, so too “money” is referring to at least two coins. And just as money is a significant item, so too the vessels must be a significant item.
והרי מעשר, דכתיב: ״וצרת הכסף בידך״, ותנן: הפורט סלע ממעות מעשר שני! ״כסף״ ״הכסף״ – ריבה.
The Talmud asks: But there is the case of the redemption of second tithe, as it is written: “And bind up the money in your hand” (Deuteronomy 14:25). And yet we learned in a Mishnah (Ma’aser Sheni 2:8): With regard to one who exchanges copper coins of second-tithe money for a sela, Beit Shammai say: He may exchange the copper coins for the entire silver sela. This Mishnah indicates that second-tithe money, mentioned in the Torah, can be in the form of copper coins, and it is not required to be in the form of silver coins. The Talmud explains that the verse does not say money, but “the money.” The addition of the article serves as an amplification. In other words, this addition teaches that second-tithe money can be in any coinage, including copper coins.