Study Kiddushin folio 28B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
כיון שזכה זה נתחייב בחליפין. דיקא נמי, דקתני: כיצד? החליף שור בפרה או חמור בשור. שמע מינה.
once one party in the transaction acquires the item he is receiving, this party is obligated with regard to the item being exchanged for it. The novelty of the Mishnah is that all items, not only vessels, can be used to perform the act of acquisition of exchange. Therefore, one should not infer that the same is the halakha with regard to coins. The Talmud comments: The language of the Mishnah is also precise, as it teaches afterward: How so? If one exchanges an ox for a cow, or a donkey for an ox, once this party acquires the animal that he is receiving, this party is obligated with regard to the item being exchanged for it. This clause apparently explains the previous clause, and employs the example of animals, not coins. The Talmud summarizes: Learn from this clause that the Mishnah is referring to acquisition through the exchange of items, not money.
ולמאי דסליק אדעתין מעיקרא דמטבע נעשה חליפין, מאי כיצד? הכי קאמר: פירות נמי עבדי חליפין. כיצד? החליף בשר שור בפרה או בשר חמור בשור, כיון שזכה זה נתחייב בחליפין.
The Talmud asks: And with regard to what entered our minds initially, that a coin effects symbolic exchange, what is the meaning of the clause: How so, if one exchanged an ox for a cow, once this party acquires the animal that he is receiving, this party is obligated with regard to the item being exchanged for it. This example does not involve a coin. The Talmud explains that it was assumed that this is what the Mishnah is saying: Not only can a coin be used in the act of acquisition of exchange, but produce can also effect exchange. How so? If one exchanged meat of an ox for a cow, or the meat of a donkey for an ox, once this party acquires the item that he is receiving, this party is obligated with regard to the item being exchanged for it.